Cultural Anthropology - The Human Challenge

Cultural
Anthropology
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Fifteenth Edition
Cultural
Anthropology
The Human Challenge
W I L L I A M A . H AV I L A N D
Professor Emeritus, University of Vermont
HARALD E. L . PRINS
Kansas State University
BUNNY McBRIDE
Kansas State University
DA NA WA L R AT H
University of Vermont
Australia ● Brazil ● Mexico ● Singapore ● United Kingdom ● United States
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DEDICATION
Dedicated to Na’imah Musawwir Khalil, a bright and beautiful African

American girl who first heard about different cultures while curled in her young mother’s womb
in a lecture hall at Kansas State University. May the deeper insights—born of unbiased
knowledge about humanity in its sometimes-bewildering variety—guide your generation in
seeking peace and happiness for all.
Putting the World
in Perspective
Although all humans we know about are capable of

producing accurate sketches of localities and regions
with which they are familiar, cartography (the craft
of mapmaking as we know it today) had its beginnings
in 16th-century Europe, and its subsequent develop-
ment is related to the expansion of Europeans to all
parts of the globe. From the beginning, there have been
two problems with maps: the technical one of how
to depict on a two-dimensional, flat surface a three-
dimensional spherical object, and the cultural one of
whose worldview they reflect. In fact, the two issues are
inseparable, for the particular projection one uses inevi-
tably makes a statement about how one views one’s own
people and their place in the world. Indeed, maps often
shape our perception of reality as much as they reflect it.
In cartography, a projection refers to the system of
intersecting lines (of longitude and latitude) by which
part or all of the globe is represented on a flat surface.
There are more than a hundred different projections in
use today, ranging from polar perspectives to interrupted
“butterflies” to rectangles to heart shapes. Each projection
causes distortion in size, shape, or distance in some way or
another. A map that correctly shows the shape of a land-
mass will of necessity misrepresent the size. A map that is
accurate along the equator will be deceptive at the poles.
Perhaps no projection has had more influence
on the way we see the world than that of Gerhardus
Mercator, who devised his map in 1569 as a naviga-
tional aid for mariners. So well suited was Mercator’s
map for this purpose that it continues to be used
for navigational charts today. At the same time, the
Mercator projection became a standard for depicting
landmasses, something for which it was never intended.
Although an accurate navigational tool, the Mercator
projection greatly exaggerates the size of landmasses in
higher latitudes, giving about two-thirds of the map’s
surface to the northern hemisphere. Thus the lands
occupied by Europeans and European descendants
appear far larger than those of other people. For
example, North America (19 million square kilometers)
appears almost twice the size of Africa (30 million
vi
Putting the World in Perspective vii
square kilometers), whereas Europe is shown as equal in The Robinson Projection, which was adopted by
size to South America, which actually has nearly twice the National Geographic Society in 1988 to replace the
the landmass of Europe. Van der Grinten, is one of the best compromises to
A map developed in 1805 by Karl B. Mollweide date between the distortions of size and shape. Al-
was one of the earlier equal-area projections of the world. though an improvement over the Van der Grinten,
Equal-area projections portray landmasses in correct the Robinson Projection still depicts lands in the
relative size, but, as a result, distort the shape of con- northern latitudes as proportionally larger at the same
tinents more than other projections. They most often time that it depicts lands in the lower latitudes (repre-
compress and warp lands in the higher latitudes and senting most Third World nations) as proportionally
vertically stretch landmasses close to the equator. smaller. Like European maps before it, the Robinson
Other equal-area projections include the Lambert Projection places Europe at the center of the map with
Cylindrical Equal-Area Projection (1772), the Hammer the Atlantic Ocean and the Americas to the left, em-
Equal-Area Projection (1892), and the Eckert Equal-Area phasizing the cultural connection between Europe
Projection (1906). and North America, while neglecting the geographic
The Van der Grinten Projection (1904) was a com- closeness of northwestern North America to north-
promise aimed at minimizing both the distortions of eastern Asia.
size in the Mercator and the distortion of shape in The following pages show four maps that each con-
equal-area maps such as the Mollweide. Although an vey quite different cultural messages. Included among
improvement, the lands of the northern hemisphere them is the Gall-Peters Projection, an equal-area map
are still emphasized at the expense of the southern. For that has been adopted as the official map of UNESCO
example, in the Van der Grinten, the Commonwealth (the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and
of Independent States (the former Soviet Union) and Cultural Organization), and a map made in Japan,
Canada are shown at more than twice their relative size. showing us how the world looks from the other side.
The Robinson Projection
The map below is based on the Robinson Projection, less than most other projections. Still, it places Europe at
which is used today by the National Geographic Society the center of the map. This particular view of the world
and Rand McNally. Although the Robinson Projection has been used to identify the location of many of the
distorts the relative size of landmasses, it does so much cultures discussed in this text.
INUIT
INUPIAT
ESKIMO NETSILIK INUIT
YUPIK
ESKIMO TLINGIT
SCOT
INUIT TORY
NASKAPI (INNU) ISLANDER DUTCH
BELLA COOLA
CREE SWISS
KWAKIUTL ABENAKI MONTAGNAIS (INNU)
OJIBWA
BLACKFEET MALISEET
CROW IROQUOIS CR
ARAPAHO MI’KMAQ FRENCH
N. PAIUTE LAKOTA MESKWAKI PENOBSCOT
SHOSHONE BASQUE
POMO OMAHA PEQUOT
CHEYENNE AMISH
MORMON UTE COMANCHE
S. PAIUTE ORTHODOX JEWISH
HOPI NAVAJO
CHEROKEE
PUEBLO PUEBLO MEXICAN
ZUNI APACHE
YAQUI
GOMERAN
HAITIAN
HUICHOL AZTEC
MAYA PUERTO RICAN
HAWAIIAN JAMAICAN TUAREG
ZAPOTEC FUL
CARIBBEAN
YORUBA
MENDE BAULE FON BENIN
IBIB
IGBO
SHUAR KPELLE
Y˜ NOMAMI EGBU
GA
YAKO
CANELA ASHANTI
MUNDURUCU
SHERENTE
CINTA-LARGA
MEKRANOTI KAYAPO
KAYAPO
SAMOAN PITCAIRN KUIKURO
QUECHUA JU/’H
ISLANDER NAMBIKWARA
TAHITIAN
RAPANUI AYMARA BUS
AYOREO
BUSHMAN
GUARANI
MAPUCHE
YAGHAN
viii
SÁMI
NENETS
YUPIK
KHANTY ESKIMO
RUSSIAN TUVAN
S
SLOVAKIAN
MONGOLIAN
ROAT SERB CHECHEN
BOSNIAN UYGHUR
ARMENIAN
TURK UZBEK
TAJIK
KURD
JAPANESE
SYRIAN KUCHI KOHISTANI
BAKHTIARI NYINBA TIBETAN
HAN CHINESE
PASHTUN
AWLAD 'ALI
BEDOUIN
BAHRAINI
MOSUO TAIWANESE
KAREN
TRUK
SHAIVITE
LANI
NUER TIGREAN HANUNÓO
NAYAR ANDAMAN
DINKA AFAR SOMALI
KOTA AND VEDDA
AZANDE ACHOLI KURUMBA PINGELAP ISLANDER
BIO ACEH WAPE
TURKANA MALDIVIAN TODA AND
BADAGA KAPAUKU ENGA
MBUTI NANDI
KIKUYU MINANGKABAU TSEMBAGA
HUTU MAASAI
GUSII BUGIS SOLOMON ISLANDER
TUTSI TIRIKI
HADZA ARAPESH
BALINESE
TROBRIANDER
DOBU
HOANSI
SHMAN
SWAZI
ABORIGINAL
ZULU
BASUTO
MAORI
TASMANIAN
ix
The Gall-Peters Projection
The map below is based on the Gall-Peters Projection, by a ratio of 2 to 1), the Gall-Peters Projection does
which has been adopted as the official map of show all continents according to their correct relative
UNESCO. Although it distorts the shape of continents size. Though Europe is still at the center, it is not shown
(countries near the equator are vertically elongated as larger and more extensive than the Third World.
AUSTR
GREENLAND GERMANY
ICELAND DENMARK
UNITED NORWAY
STATES NETHERLANDS
BELGIUM
UNITED
KINGDOM
CANADA
IRELAND
FRANCE
SWITZERLAND
IT
AL
Y
SPAIN
PORTUGAL
UNITED STATES SLOVEN
TUNISIA
O
CC
RO
MO
ALGERIA
BAHAMAS
MEXICO
WESTERN
SAHARA
A
NI
HAITI
ITA
CUBA
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
UR
MA
JAMAICA MALI
BELIZE NIGER
GUATEMALA HONDURAS SENEGAL

EL SALVADOR NICARAGUA GAMBIA
GUINEA-BISSAU
A
GUINEA
RI
COSTA RICA
GE
NI
PANAMA VENEZUELA FRENCH GUIANA SIERRA LEONE
LIBERIA
COLOMBIA CÔTE D’IVOIRE

BURKINA FASO
GUYANA GHANA
SURINAM TOGO
BENIN
ECUADOR
EQUATORIAL GUINEA
BRAZIL
PERU
BOLIVIA
PARAGUAY
CHILE
ARGENTINA
URUGUAY
ANTARCTICA
RIA CZECHOSLOVAKIA
EN
ED
SW FINLAND
RUSSIA
ESTONIA AZERBAIJAN
LATVIA
LITHUANIA ARMENIA
POLAND BELARUS GEORGIA
KAZAKHSTAN
ROMANIA
UKRAINE KYRGYZSTAN
HUNGARY MOLDOVA
TAJIKISTAN MONGOLIA
SERBIA UZ NORTH
BULGARIA BE KOREA
MONTENEGRO KI
ST
TU AN
MACEDONIA SOUTH
RK
NIA ALBANIA ME KOREA
GREECE TURKEY NI
ST PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC
AN
BOSNIA-
HERZEGOVINA SYRIA OF CHINA
CROATIA AFGHAN-
LEBANON IRAN ISTAN JAPAN
IRAQ
ISRAEL
BHUTAN
AN
BAHRAIN I ST NEPAL
JORDAN K
PA
LIBYA KUWAIT
EGYPT
MYANMAR
INDIA
QATAR TAIWAN
SAUDI OMAN
ARABIA
UNITED
ARAB BANGLA- LAOS
R EMIRATES DESH
CHAD
SUDAN N
ME THAILAND
YE
VIETNAM PHILIPPINES
DJIBOUTI CAMBODIA
SOUTH ETHIOPIA
CENTRAL SUDAN BRUNEI
AFRICAN
REPUBLIC MALAYSIA
SRI LANKA
LIA
MA
CAMEROON PAPUA
SO
SINGAPORE NEW
UGANDA GUINEA
GABON
CONGO INDONESIA
KENYA
RWANDA
BURUNDI
DEMOCRATIC
REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA
CONGO
MALAWI
ANGOLA
ZAMBIA
MADAGASCAR
NAMIBIA
ZIMBABWE
BOTS-
WANA
AUSTRALIA
MOZAMBIQUE
SWAZILAND
LESOTHO
SOUTH
AFRICA
NEW ZEALAND
ANTARCTICA
xi
Japanese Map
Not all maps place Europe at the center of the world, world, this map has the virtue of showing the geographic
as this Japanese map illustrates. Besides reflecting the proximity of North America to Asia, a fact easily
importance the Japanese attach to themselves in the overlooked when maps place Europe at their center.
GREENLAND
GREENLAND
NORWAY
NORWAY
ICELAND
ICELAND GERMANY
GERMANY
DENMARK
DENMARK
ED N
EN
SWEDE
NETHERLANDS
NETHERLANDS
LA D
ND
SW
BELGIUM
BELGIUM
FINLAN
RUSSIA
RUSSIA
FIN
ESTONIA
ESTONIA
UNITED
UNITED LATVIA
LATVIA
KINGDOM
KINGDOM
LITHUANIA
LITHUANIAARMENIA
ARMENIA
IRELAND
IRELAND POLAND
POLAND BELARUS GEORGIA
BELARUS GEORGIAAZERBAIJAN
AZERBAIJAN
HUNGARY
HUNGARY KAZAKHSTAN
KAZAKHSTAN
CZECHOSLOVAKIA
CZECHOSLOVAKIA ROMANIA
ROMANIA
AUSTRIA
AUSTRIA UKRAINE
UKRAINE KYRGYZSTAN
KYRGYZSTAN
SWITZERLAND
SWITZERLAND MOLDOVA
MOLDOVA
MONGOLIA
MONGOLIA
FRANCE
FRANCE SERBIA
SERBIA TAJIKISTAN
TAJIKISTAN NORTH
NORTH
UZ UZ
ITA
ITALY
BULGARIA
BULGARIA BE BE KOREA
KOREA
LY
KI KI
SPAIN
SPAIN TU TU ST ST
PORTUGAL
PORTUGAL SLOVENIA
SLOVENIA MACEDONIA
MACEDONIA R R
KMKM A A
N N SOUTH
SOUTH
CROATIA
CROATIA GREECE
GREECE TURKEY
TURKEY ENEN KOREA
KOREA
ISTIST PEOPLE’S
PEOPLE’S
REPUBLIC
REPUBLIC
ANAN
BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA
BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA ALBANIA
ALBANIA SYRIA
SYRIA OFOF
CHINA
CHINA
TUNISIA MONTENEGRO
TUNISIA MONTENEGRO LEBANON
LEBANON IRAN
IRAN AFGHAN-
AFGHAN-
IRAQ
IRAQ JAPAN
JAPAN
MOROCCO
MOROCCO ISRAEL
ISRAEL KUWAIT ISTAN
KUWAIT ISTAN
AN AN NEPAL
NEPAL
BHUTAN
BHUTAN
BAHRAIN
BAHRAIN ST ST
ALGERIA
ALGERIA JORDAN
JORDAN AKIAKI
LIBYA
LIBYA EGYPT
EGYPT P P
WESTERN
WESTERN MYANMAR
MYANMAR
SAUDI
SAUDI INDIA
INDIA
SAHARA
SAHARA ARABIA
ARABIA TAIWAN
TAIWAN
QATAR
QATAR UNITED
UNITED
O AN
AN
MAURITANIA
MAURITANIA SUDAN
SUDAN ARABARAB
M
M
MALI NIGER
MALI NIGER CHAD BANGLA-
BANGLA- VIETNAM
VIETNAM
O
CHAD EMIRATES
EMIRATES
SENEGAL
SENEGAL ENEN DESH
DESH LAOS
LAOS PHILIPPINES
PHILIPPINES
GAMBIA
GAMBIA CENTRAL
CENTRAL YEM
YEM
GUINEA-
GUINEA- AFRICAN
AFRICAN DJIBOUTI
DJIBOUTI THAILAND
THAILAND
NIGERIA
NIGERIA REPUBLIC
REPUBLIC SOMALIA
SOMALIA
BISSAU
BISSAU SOUTH
SOUTHETHIOPIA CAMBODIA
CAMBODIA BRUNEI
BRUNEI
ETHIOPIA
GUINEA
GUINEA SUDAN
SUDAN MALAYSIA
MALAYSIA
SIERRA
SIERRA LEONE
LEONE SRISRI
LANKA
LANKA PAPUA
PAPUA
DEMOCRATIC
DEMOCRATIC NEW
NEW
LIBERIA
LIBERIA REPUBLIC
REPUBLIC OFOF KENYA
UGANDA
UGANDA SINGAPORE
SINGAPORE
KENYA GUINEA
GUINEA
CÔTE
CÔTE D’IVOIRE
D’IVOIRE CONGO
CONGO INDONESIA
INDONESIA
BURKINA
BURKINA FASO
FASO RWANDA
RWANDA
GHANA
GHANA TANZANIA
TANZANIA
BURUNDI
BURUNDI
TOGO
TOGO CONGO
CONGO
MALAWI
MALAWI
BENIN
BENIN
CAMEROON
CAMEROON ANGOLA
ANGOLA ZAMBIA
ZAMBIA
EQUATORIAL
EQUATORIAL MADAGASCAR
MADAGASCAR
GUINEA
GUINEA NAMIBIA
NAMIBIA ZIMBABWE
ZIMBABWE
GABON
GABON
AUSTRALIA
AUSTRALIA
BOTSWANA
BOTSWANA MOZAMBIQUE
MOZAMBIQUE
SWAZILAND
SWAZILAND
SOUTH
SOUTH
AFRICA
AFRICA LESOTHO
LESOTHO
ANTARCTICA
ANTARCTICA
xii
GREENLAND
GREENLAND
UNITED
UNITED
STATES
STATES
CANADA
CANADA
UNITED
UNITED STATES
STATES
BAHAMAS
BAHAMAS
MEXICO
MEXICO HAITI
HAITI
DOMINICAN
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
REPUBLIC
CUBA
CUBA
JAMAICA
JAMAICA
BELIZE
BELIZE NICARAGUA
NICARAGUA
GUATEMALA
GUATEMALA
EL EL SALVADOR
SALVADOR VENEZUELA
VENEZUELA FRENCH
FRENCH GUIANA
GUIANA
HONDURAS
HONDURAS
COSTA
COSTA RICA
RICA COLOMBIA
COLOMBIA
PANAMA
PANAMA
GUYANA
GUYANA
ECUADOR
ECUADOR SURINAM
SURINAM
BRAZIL
BRAZIL
PERU
PERU
BOLIVIA
BOLIVIA
PARAGUAY
PARAGUAY
CHILE
CHILE
ARGENTINAURUGUAY
ARGENTINA URUGUAY
NEW
NEW ZEALAND
ZEALAND
ANTARCTICA
ANTARCTICA
xiii
The Turnabout Map
The way maps may reflect (and influence) our thinking is things upside-down may cause us to rethink the way North
exemplified by the Turnabout Map, which places the South Americans regard themselves in relation to the people of
Pole at the top and the North Pole at the bottom. Words Central America.
and phrases such as “on top,” “over,” and “above” tend © 1982 by Jesse Levine Turnabout Map™—Dist. by Laguna Sales, Inc.,
to be equated by some people with superiority. Turning 7040 Via Valverde, San Jose, CA 95135
xiv
Brief Contents
1 The Essence of Anthropology 3

2 Characteristics of Culture 27
3 Ethnographic Research—Its History, Methods, and Theories 47
4 Becoming Human—The Origin and Diversity of Our Species 75
5 Language and Communication 111
6 Social Identity, Personality, and Gender 135
7 Patterns of Subsistence 157

8 Economic Systems 181
9 Sex, Marriage, and Family 205
10 Kinship and Descent 231
11 Grouping by Gender, Age, Common Interest, and Social Status 253
12 Politics, Power, War, and Peace 271
13 Spirituality, Religion, and Shamanism 297
14 The Arts 325
15 Processes of Cultural Change 347
16 Global Challenges, Local Responses, and the Role of Anthropology 369
xv
Features Contents
Anthropologists of Note The Biology of Human Speech 129

A Cross-Cultural Perspective on Psychosomatic
Franz Boas 14
Symptoms and Mental Health 152
Matilda Coxe Stephenson 14
Surviving in the Andes: Aymara Adaptation to High
Bronislaw Malinowski 39
Altitude 159
Margaret Mead 62
Cacao: The Love Bean in the Money Tree 196
Gregory Bateson 62
Marriage Prohibitions in the United States 211
Jane Goodall 82
Maori Origins: Ancestral Genes and Mythical
Svante Pääbo 82
Canoes 232
Ruth Fulton Benedict 142
African Burial Ground Project 265
Rosita Worl 198
Sex, Gender, and Human Violence 287
Claude Lévi-Strauss 212
Change Your Karma and Change Your Sex? 304
Laura Nader 279
Peyote Art: Divine Visions among the Huichol 332
Michael J. Harner 307
Studying the Emergence of New Diseases 365
Eric R. Wolf 349
Toxic Breast Milk Threatens Arctic Culture 387
Paul Farmer 390
Anthropology Applied Globalscape

Safe Harbor? 23
Forensic Anthropology: Voices for the Dead 16
Chicken Out: Bush’s Legs or Phoenix Talons? 174
New Houses for Apache Indians 34
How Much for a Red Delicious? 200
When Bambi Spoke Arapaho: Preserving Indigenous
Transnational Child Exchange? 227
Languages 120
Playing Football for Pay and Peace? 267
Agricultural Development and the
Pirate Pursuits in Puntland? 285
Anthropologist 168
Do Coffins Fly? 339
Global Ecotourism and Local Indigenous Culture in
Probo Koala’s Dirty Secrets? 388
Bolivia 188
Resolving a Native American Tribal Membership
Dispute 241 Original Study
Anthropologists and Social Impact Assessment 261 Whispers from the Ice 18
William Ury: Dispute Resolution and the The Importance of Trobriand Women 64
Anthropologist 293 Reconciliation and Its Cultural Modification
Bringing Back the Past 342 in Primates 83
Development Anthropology and Dams 364 Can Chantek Talk in Codes? 112
Anthropologist S. Ann Dunham, Mother of a The Blessed Curse 146
U.S. President 382 Gardens of the Mekranoti Kayapo 166
Arranging Marriage in India 216
Biocultural Connection Honor Killing in the Netherlands 238
The Jewish Eruv: Symbolic Place in Public
Picturing Pesticides 8
Space 258
Modifying the Human Body 41
Sacred Law in Global Capitalism 316
Pig Lovers and Pig Haters 69
The Modern Tattoo Community 329
Paleolithic Prescriptions for Diseases of Today 90
xvi
Contents
Preface xxv Culture Is Integrated 36

Culture Is Dynamic 38
Acknowledgments xxxvii
Functions of Culture 38
About the Authors xxxviii Culture, Society, and the Individual 39
Culture and Change 40
Ethnocentrism, Cultural Relativism, and Evaluation
of Cultures 42
Chapter 1
Anthropology Applied: New Houses for Apache
The Essence of Anthropology 3 Indians 34
The Anthropological Perspective 3 Anthropologist of Note: Bronislaw Malinowski

Anthropology and Its Fields 5 (1884–1942) 39
Cultural Anthropology 6 Biocultural Connection: Modifying the Human Body 41
Linguistic Anthropology 9
Archaeology 10 Chapter Checklist 44
Biological Anthropology 12 Questions for Reflection 45
Anthropology, Science, and the Humanities 14 Digging into Anthropology 45
Doing Anthropology in the Field 15
Questions of Ethics 20
Anthropology and Globalization 21 Chapter 3
Biocultural Connection: Picturing Pesticides 8
Ethnographic Research—Its
Anthropologists of Note: Franz Boas (1858–1942),
Matilda Coxe Stephenson (1849–1915) 14 History, Methods,
Anthropology Applied: Forensic Anthropology: Voices and Theories 47
for the Dead 16
History of Ethnographic Research and Its Uses 48
Original Study: Whispers from the Ice 18 Salvage Ethnography
or Urgent Anthropology 48
Chapter Checklist 24
Acculturation Studies 48
Questions for Reflection 25
Applied Anthropology 49
Digging into Anthropology 25
Studying Cultures at a Distance 50
Studying Contemporary State Societies 51
Chapter 2 Studying Peasant Communities 51
Characteristics of Culture 27 Advocacy Anthropology 52
Studying Up 53
Culture and Adaptation 27 Globalization and Multi-Sited
The Concept and Characteristics of Culture 30 Ethnography 53
Culture Is Learned 30 Doing Ethnography 55
Culture Is Shared 31 Site Selection and Research Question 55
Culture Is Based on Symbols 35 Preparatory Research 55
xvii
xviii Contents
Participant Observation: Ethnographic Tools The First Bipeds 87

and Aids 56 Early Homo 89
Data Gathering: The Ethnographer’s Archaic Humans 94
Approach 56 Neandertals 94
Challenges of Ethnographic Fieldwork 60 Denisovans as Long-Lost Archaic
Social Acceptance 60 Cousins 97
Physical Danger 62 Global Expansion of Homo sapiens 97
Subjectivity, Reflexivity, and Validation 63 Anatomically Modern Peoples in the Upper
Completing an Ethnography 65 Paleolithic 98
Building Ethnological Theories 66 Human Migrations from Siberia to
Ethnology and the Comparative America 101
Method 67 New Human Era with the Domestication of Animals
A Brief Overview of Anthropology’s Theoretical and Plants 101
Perspectives 67 Human Biological Variation and the Problem of
Mentalist Perspective 67 Race 101
Materialist Perspective 68 Skin Color 102
Other Theoretical Perspectives 68 Race as a Social Construct 103
Ethical Responsibilities in Anthropological Anthropologists of Note: Jane Goodall (b. 1934),
Research 68 Svante Pääbo (b. 1955) 82
Anthropologists of Note: Margaret Mead (1901–1978), Original Study: Reconciliation and Its Cultural
Gregory Bateson (1904–1980) 62 Modification in Primates 83
Original Study: The Importance of Trobriand Women 64 Biocultural Connection: Paleolithic Prescriptions for
Biocultural Connection: Pig Lovers and Pig Diseases of Today 90
Haters 69
Chapter Checklist 71 Questions for Reflection 108
Questions for Reflection 72 Digging into Anthropology 108
Chapter 5
Chapter 4 Language and
Becoming Human—The Origin Communication 111
and Diversity of Our Species 75
Linguistic Research and the Nature of
Humans and Other Primates 75 Language 114
An African Perspective on Great Apes 76 Descriptive Linguistics 114
Europeans Classify Apes as Humanlike Phonology 115
Animals 77 Morphology, Syntax, and Grammar 115
Linnaeus Orders the Natural System 77 Historical Linguistics 116
A Short History of Research on Evolution Processes of Linguistic Divergence 117
and Genetics 78 Language Loss and Revival 117
Darwin as Father of Evolutionary Theory 78 Language in Its Social and Cultural Settings 119
Mendel as Father of Genetics 79 Sociolinguistics 119
A Microscopic Perspective on Biological Ethnolinguistics 122
Evolution 79 Language Versatility 123
Molecular Clock 79 Beyond Words: The Gesture–Call System 124
Genetic Mapping 80 Nonverbal Communication 124
Evolution Through Adaptation 80 Paralanguage 126
Primate Anatomical Adaptation 81 Tonal Languages 126
Primate Behavioral Adaptation 83 Talking Drums and Whistled Speech 126
Human Ancestors 86 The Origins of Language 127
Contents xix
From Speech to Writing 128 Chapter 7

Literacy and Modern Telecommunication 130
Original Study: Can Chantek Talk in Codes? 112
Patterns of Subsistence 157
Anthropology Applied: When Bambi Spoke Arapaho: Adaptation 157

Preserving Indigenous Languages 120 Adaptation, Environment, and Ecosystem 158
Biocultural Connection: The Biology of Human Case Study: The Tsembaga 158
Speech 129 Adaptation and Culture Areas 158
Modes of Subsistence 160
Chapter Checklist 131 Food-Foraging Societies 160
Questions for Reflection 132 Characteristics of Food-Foraging Societies 160
Digging into Anthropology 133 How Technology Impacts Cultural Adaptations
among Foragers 164
Food-Producing Societies 164
Chapter 6
Producing Food in Gardens: Horticulture 165
Social Identity, Personality, Producing Food on Farms: Agriculture 167
and Gender 135 Mixed Farming: Crop Growing and Animal
Breeding 169
Enculturation: The Self and Social Identity 136 Herding Grazing Animals: Pastoralism 169
Self-Awareness 136 Case Study: Bakhtiari Herders 170
Social Identity Through Personal Intensive Agriculture: Urbanization
Naming 137 and Peasantry 171
Self and the Behavioral Environment 139 Industrial Food Production 172
Culture and Personality 139 Adaptation in Cultural Evolution 173
A Cross-Cultural Perspective on Gender Types of Cultural Evolution 175
and Personality 140 Case Study: The Environmental Collapse of
Case Study: Childrearing and Gender among Easter Island 176
the Ju/’hoansi 140 Population Growth and the Limits of Progress 177
Three Childrearing Patterns 141 Biocultural Connection: Surviving in the Andes: Aymara
Group Personality 144 Adaptation to High Altitude 159
Alternative Gender Models 146 Original Study: Gardens of the Mekranoti Kayapo 166
Intersexuality 147
Anthropology Applied: Agricultural Development and the
Transgender 148
Anthropologist 168
Castration 149
The Social Context of Sexual and Gender Chapter Checklist 177
Identity 150 Questions for Reflection 178
Normal and Abnormal Personality in Social Digging into Anthropology 179
Context 150
Sadhus: Holy Men in Hindu Culture 150
Mental Disorders Across Time and
Cultures 152
Personal Identity and Mental Health in Globalizing
Society 153
Anthropologist of Note: Ruth Fulton Benedict
(1887–1947) 142
Original Study: The Blessed Curse 146
Biocultural Connection: A Cross-Cultural Perspective
on Psychosomatic Symptoms and Mental Health 152

xx Contents
Chapter 8 Family and Household 221

Forms of the Family 222
Economic Systems 181 Residence Patterns 224
Marriage, Family, and Household in
Economic Anthropology 181
Our Technological and Globalized
Case Study: The Yam Complex
World 226
in Trobriand Culture 181
Adoption and New Reproductive
Production and Its Resources 183
Technologies 226
Land and Water Resources 183
Migrant Workforces 226
Technology Resources 184
Biocultural Connection: Marriage Prohibitions
Labor Resources and Patterns 184
in the United States 211
Distribution and Exchange 189
Reciprocity 189 Anthropologist of Note: Claude Lévi-Strauss
Redistribution 192 (1908–2009) 212
Market Exchange and the Marketplace 194 Original Study: Arranging Marriage in India 216
Money as a Means of Exchange 195
Local Economies and Global Capitalism 195 Chapter Checklist 228
Informal Economy and the Escape from State Questions for Reflection 229
Bureaucracy 199 Digging into Anthropology 229
Anthropology Applied: Global Ecotourism and Local
Indigenous Culture in Bolivia 188
Biocultural Connection: Cacao: The Love Bean in the Chapter 10
Money Tree 196
Kinship and Descent 231
Anthropologist of Note: Rosita Worl 198
Descent Groups 231
Chapter Checklist 201 Unilineal Descent 233
Questions for Reflection 202 Other Forms of Descent 237
Digging into Anthropology 202 Descent Within the Larger Cultural System 237
Lineage Exogamy 240
Chapter 9 From Lineage to Clan 240
Phratry and Moiety 242
Sex, Marriage, and Family 205 Bilateral Kinship and the Kindred 243
Kinship Terminology and Kinship
Regulation of Sexual Relations 206
Groups 244
Marriage and the Regulation of Sexual
The Eskimo System 245
Relations 206
The Hawaiian System 246
Marriage as a Universal Institution 208
The Iroquois System 247
Sexual and Marriage Practices among
Making Relatives 247
the Nayar 208
Fictive Kin by Ritual Adoption 247
Incest Taboo 209
Kinship and New Reproductive
Endogamy and Exogamy 209
Technology 249
Distinction Between Marriage
Biocultural Connection: Maori Origins: Ancestral
and Mating 210
Genes and Mythical Canoes 232
Forms of Marriage 211
Monogamy 211 Original Study: Honor Killing in the
Polygamy 213 Netherlands 238
Other Forms of Marriage 214 Anthropology Applied: Resolving a Native American
Choice of Spouse 215 Tribal Membership Dispute 241
Cousin Marriage 218
Same-Sex Marriage 218 Chapter Checklist 249
Marriage and Economic Exchange 219 Questions for Reflection 250
Divorce 220 Digging into Anthropology 250
Contents xxi
Chapter 11 Violent Conflict and Warfare 284

Why War? 284
Grouping by Gender, Evolution of Warfare 287
Age, Common Interest, Ideologies of Aggression 288
Genocide 290
and Social Status 253 Armed Conflicts Today 290
Grouping by Gender 253 Peacemaking 291
Grouping by Age 254 Peace Through Diplomacy 291
Institutions of Age Grouping 254 Politics of Nonviolent Resistance 291
Age Grouping in East Africa 255 Anthropologist of Note: Laura Nader (b. 1930) 279
Grouping by Common Interest 256 Biocultural Connection: Sex, Gender, and Human
Kinds of Common-Interest Associations 257 Violence 287
Men’s and Women’s Associations 259
Anthropology Applied: William Ury: Dispute Resolution
Associations in the Digital Age 260
and the Anthropologist 293
Grouping by Social Status in Stratified Societies 260
Social Class and Caste 261 Chapter Checklist 294
Historical Racial Segregation in South Africa Questions for Reflection 295
and the United States 264 Digging into Anthropology 295
Indicators of Social Status 264
Maintaining Stratification 264
Social Mobility 266
Original Study: The Jewish Eruv: Symbolic Place
Chapter 13
in Public Space 258 Spirituality, Religion,
Anthropology Applied: Anthropologists and and Shamanism 297
Social Impact Assessment 261
Biocultural Connection: African Burial Ground
Roles of Spirituality and Religion 298
Project 265
Anthropological Approach to Spirituality and
Religion 299
Chapter Checklist 268 Myth and the Mapping of a Sacred
Questions for Reflection 268 Worldview 299
Digging into Anthropology 269 Supernatural Beings and Spiritual Forces 300
Gods and Goddesses 300
Ancestral Spirits 301
Chapter 12 Other Types of Supernatural Beings
and Spiritual Forces 302
Politics, Power, War, Religious Specialists 303
and Peace 271 Priests and Priestesses 303
Spiritual Lineages: Legitimizing Religious
Systems of Political Organization 272 Leadership 304
Uncentralized Political Systems 272 Shamans 305
Centralized Political Systems 275 Ritual Performances 309
Political Systems and the Question of Rites of Purification: Taboo and Cleansing
Authority 278 Ceremonies 309
Politics and Religion 278 Rites of Passage 309
Politics and Gender 280 Rites of Intensification 310
Cultural Controls in Maintaining Order 281 Magical Rituals 311
Internalized Control 281 Sacred Sites: Saints, Shrines, and Miracles 313
Externalized Control 282 Pilgrimages: Devotion in Motion 313
Cultural Control: Witchcraft 282 Desecration: Ruining Sacred Sites 315
Holding Trials, Settling Disputes, and Punishing Cultural Dynamics in the Superstructure:
Crimes 283 Religious and Spiritual Change 316
xxii Contents
Revitalization Movements 318 Chapter 15

Syncretic Religions 318
Syncretic Religions Across the Atlantic: Processes of Cultural Change 347
Vodou in Haiti 318

Cultural Change and the Relativity of
Secularization and Religious Pluralism 319
Progress 348
Biocultural Connection: Change Your Karma
Mechanisms of Change 348
and Change Your Sex? 304
Innovation 348
Anthropologist of Note: Michael J. Harner Diffusion 349
(b. 1929) 307 Cultural Loss 351
Original Study: Sacred Law in Global Repressive Change 352
Capitalism 316 Acculturation and Ethnocide 352
Case Study: Ethnocide of the Ya˓ nomami
Chapter Checklist 321 in Amazonia 353
Questions for Reflection 322 Directed Change 355
Digging into Anthropology 323 Reactions to Change 355
Syncretism 356
Revitalization Movements 356
Rebellion and Revolution 358
Modernization 361
Indigenous Accommodation
to Modernization 361
Globalization in the “Underdeveloped”
World 363
Anthropologist of Note: Eric R. Wolf (1923–1999) 349
Anthropology Applied: Development Anthropology
and Dams 364
Biocultural Connection: Studying the Emergence
of New Diseases 365

Chapter 14 Digging into Anthropology 367
The Arts 325

Chapter 16
The Anthropological Study of Art 326
Visual Art 328 Global Challenges, Local
Verbal Art 331 Responses, and the Role
Musical Art 335
The Functions of Art 337
of Anthropology 369
Art, Globalization, and Cultural Survival 340
Cultural Revolutions: From Terra Incognita to
Original Study: The Modern Tattoo Community 329 Google Earth 369
Biocultural Connection: Peyote Art: Divine Visions A Global Culture? 371
among the Huichol 332 Global Integration Processes 372
Pluralistic Societies and Multiculturalism 373
Anthropology Applied: Bringing Back the Past 342
Pluralistic Societies and Fragmentation 373
Chapter Checklist 343 Structural Power in the Age of
Questions for Reflection 343 Globalization 377
Digging into Anthropology 344 Military Hard Power 378
Contents xxiii
Economic Hard Power 379 Biocultural Connection: Toxic Breast Milk Threatens
Soft Power: A Global Media Environment 380 Arctic Culture 387
Problems of Structural Violence 380 Anthropologist of Note: Paul Farmer (b. 1959) 390
Poverty 381
Hunger, Obesity, and Malnutrition 382 Chapter Checklist 391
Pollution and Global Warming 384 Questions for Reflection 392
Reactions to Globalization 386 Digging into Anthropology 393
Ethnic Minorities and Indigenous Peoples: Struggles
for Human Rights 386 Glossary 394
Anthropology’s Role in Meeting the Challenges Bibliography 401
of Globalization 389
Index 414
Anthropology Applied: Anthropologist S. Ann Dunham,
Mother of a U.S. President 382
Preface
For the last edition of this textbook, we did some se- into the rich diversity of humans as a culture-making
rious housecleaning—sorting through the contents species. Recognizing the wide spectrum of students en-
“clear down to the bottom to determine what should rolled in entry-level anthropology courses, we cover
be kept and what should be tossed to make room for the fundamentals of the discipline in an engaging, il-
new material that warrants a place in a limited space.” lustrative fashion—providing a broad platform on
Our efforts resulted in a book more thoroughly revised which teachers can expand the exploration of concepts
than any new edition since Bill Haviland took on coau- and topics in ways that are meaningful to them and to
thors at the turn of the century. For the current edition their particular group of students.
of Cultural Anthropology: The Human Challenge—the fif- In doing this, we draw from the research and ideas
teenth—we continued our paring down efforts, reduc- of a number of traditions of anthropological thought,
ing the overall narrative by nearly 10 percent in order exposing students to a mix of theoretical perspectives
to give more space to stimulating visuals and other and methodologies. Such inclusiveness reflects our
pedagogical enhancements. Once again, our own on- conviction that different approaches offer distinctly
going research fueled our efforts, as did vital feedback important insights about human biology, behavior,
from students and anthropology professors who have and beliefs.
used and reviewed previous editions. Once again, we If most students start out with only a vague sense
scrutinized the archetypal examples of our discipline of what anthropology is, they often have even less
and weighed them against the latest innovative re- clearly defined (and potentially problematic) views
search methodologies, archaeological discoveries, ge- concerning the position of their own species and cul-
netic and other biological findings, linguistic insights, tures within the larger world. A second task for this
ethnographic descriptions, theoretical revelations, and text, then, is to encourage students to appreciate the
significant examples of applied anthropology. richness and complexity of human diversity. Along
And then, this team of veteran coauthors took an with this goal is the aim of helping them to understand
entirely new turn. Working closely with our publisher, why there are so many differences and similarities in
we adapted our newly trimmed text to MindTap—a the human condition, past and present.
personalized digital learning solution that engages stu- Debates regarding globalization and notions
dents with interactivity while also offering them and of progress; the “naturalness” of the mother, father,
instructors choices in content, platform devices, and child(ren) nuclear family; new genetic technologies;
learning tools. So it is that the fifteenth edition of this and how gender roles relate to biological variation
Haviland et al. anthropology textbook weds depth of all benefit greatly from the distinct insights gained
experience to cutting-edge learning innovations. More through anthropology’s wide-ranging, holistic perspec-
than a traditional textbook, it has become a holistic tive. This aspect of the discipline is one of the most
learning tool that presents both classical and fresh mate- valuable gifts we can pass on to those who take our
rial in variety of ways designed to stimulate student in- classes. If we as teachers (and textbook authors) do our
terest, stir critical reflection, and prompt aha moments. jobs well, students will gain a wider and more open-
minded outlook on the world and a critical but con-
structive perspective on human origins and on their
own biology and culture today. To borrow a favorite
Our Mission line from the famous poet T. S. Eliot, “The end of all
our exploring will be to arrive where we started and
Most students enter an introductory anthropology know the place for the first time” (“Little Gidding,”
class intrigued by the general subject but with little Four Quartets).
more than a vague sense of what it is all about. Thus, We have written this text, in large part, to help
the first and most obvious task of our text is to provide students make sense of our increasingly complex world
a thorough introduction to the discipline—its founda- and to navigate through its interrelated biological and
tions as a domain of knowledge and its major insights cultural networks with knowledge, empathy, and skill,
xxv
xxvi Preface
whatever professional path they take. We see the book plays an important role in the learning process—from
as a guide for people entering the often-bewildering clarifying and enlivening the material to revealing rel-
maze of global crossroads in the 21st century. evancy and aiding recall.
MindTap
Organization and Unifying This all-encompassing innovation heads the inventory
Themes of pedagogical perks in this new edition. MindTap is
a customizable digital learning solution that contains
In our own teaching, we recognize the value of mark- all the material for the course in one easy-to-use on-
ing out unifying themes that help students see the big line interface. On top of an array of tools and apps that
picture as they grapple with the vast array of material help students understand the text, the MindTap for
involved with the study of human beings. In Cultural Cultural Anthropology: The Human Challenge offers
Anthropology: The Human Challenge we employ three several dynamic activities for students that illustrate
such themes: chapter concepts—including photo analysis exercises,
engaging videos, interactive GIS story maps, fieldwork
1. Systemic adaptation. We emphasize that every
activities, and “Mastery Training,” an adaptive learning
culture, past and present, like the human species
study tool that helps students master core concepts.
itself, is an integrated and dynamic system of
adaptation that responds to a combination of
internal and external factors, including influences of Accessible Language
the environment. and a Cross-Cultural Voice
2. Biocultural connection. We highlight the
integration of human culture and biology in In the writing of this text, we consciously cut through
the steps humans take to meet the challenges unnecessary jargon to speak directly to students. Manu-
of survival. The biocultural connection theme script reviewers have recognized this, noting that even
is interwoven throughout the text—as a thread the most difficult concepts are presented in straight-
in the main narrative and in boxed features that forward and understandable prose for today’s first- and
highlight this connection with a topical example second-year college students. Where technical terms
for every chapter. are necessary, they appear in bold type with a clear def-
3. Globalization. We track the emergence of inition in the narrative. The definition appears again
globalization and its disparate impact on various in the running glossary at the bottom of our pages, as
peoples and cultures around the world. European well as in a summary glossary at the end of the book.
colonization was a global force for centuries, To make the narrative more accessible to students,
leaving a significant and often devastating we deliver it in chewable bites—short paragraphs. Nu-
footprint on the affected peoples in Asia, Africa, merous subheads provide visual cues to help students
and the Americas. Decolonization began about track what has been read and what is coming next.
200 years ago and became a worldwide wave in Accessibility involves not only clear writing en-
the mid-1900s. However, since the 1960s, political hanced by visual cues, but also an engaging voice or
and economic hegemony has taken a new and fast- style. The voice of Cultural Anthropology: The Human
paced form: globalization (in many ways a process Challenge is distinct among introductory texts in the
that expands or builds on imperialism). Attention discipline because it has been written from a cross-
to both forms of global domination—colonialism cultural perspective. We avoid the typical Western “we/
and globalization—runs through Cultural they” voice in favor of a more inclusive one to make
Anthropology: The Human Challenge, culminating sure the narrative resonates with both Western and
in the final chapter where we apply the concept non-Western students and professors. Also, we high-
of structural power to globalization, discussing it light the theories and work of anthropologists from all
in terms of hard and soft power and linking it to over the world. Finally, we have drawn the text’s cul-
structural violence. tural examples from industrial and postindustrial soci-
eties as well as nonindustrial ones.
Compelling Visuals
Pedagogy The Haviland et al. texts garner praise from students
Cultural Anthropology: The Human Challenge features a and faculty for having a rich array of visuals, including
range of learning aids, in addition to the three unifying maps, photographs, and figures. This is important be-
themes described previously. Each pedagogical piece cause humans—like all primates—are visually oriented,
Preface xxvii
and a well-chosen image may serve to “fix” key infor- In addition, every Biocultural Connection essay
mation in a student’s mind. Unlike some competing ends with a probing question designed to help stu-
texts, nearly all of our visuals are in color, enhancing dents grapple with and firmly grasp that connection.
their appeal and impact. Also, the Globalscape features conclude with a Global
Twister question, which asks students to think more
Photographs deeply about the issue presented in the essay.
Our pages feature a hard-sought collection of arrest-
ing, content-rich photographs. Large in size, many
of them come with substantial captions composed Integrated Methods: Digging
to help students do a “deep read” of the image. Each into Anthropology
chapter features more than a dozen pictures, including
our popular Visual Counterpoints—side-by-side photos New to this edition is our Digging into Anthropol-
that effectively compare and contrast biological or cul- ogy feature, presented at the end of every chapter, just
tural features. after the Questions for Reflection. These hands-on as-
signments offer students an opportunity to delve into
Maps each chapter’s content through mini fieldwork projects
designed to integrate methodology throughout the
Map features include our “Putting the World in Per-
book and prod students in exploring topics in their
spective” map series, locator maps, and distribution
own culture.
maps that provide overviews of key issues such as pol-
lution and energy consumption. Of special note are the
Globalscape maps and stories, described in the boxed
features section a bit further on.
Integrated Theory:
Barrel Model of Culture
Challenge Issues Past and present, every culture is an integrated and dy-
namic system of adaptation that responds to a combi-
Each chapter opens with a Challenge Issue and accom- nation of internal and external factors. A pedagogical
panying photograph, which together carry forward the device we refer to as the “barrel model” of culture il-
book’s theme of humankind’s responses through time lustrates this. Depicted in a simple but telling drawing
to the fundamental challenges of survival within the (Figure 2.7), the barrel model shows the interrelated-
context of the particular chapter. ness of social, ideological, and economic factors within
a cultural system along with outside influences of envi-
ronment, climate, and other societies. Throughout the
Student Learning Objectives, book examples are linked to this point and this image.
Knowledge Skills,
and Chapter Checklists Integrated Gender Coverage
Each chapter features a set of learning objectives (pre- In contrast to many introductory texts, Cultural Anthro-
sented just after the Challenge Issue and photograph). pology: The Human Challenge integrates coverage of gender
These objectives focus students on the main goals, throughout the book. Thus, material on gender-related
identifying the knowledge skills they are expected to issues is included in every chapter. As a result of this ap-
have mastered after studying each chapter. The main proach, gender-related material in this text far exceeds
goals are incorporated in a closing Chapter Checklist, the single chapter that most books devote to the subject.
which summarizes the chapter’s content in an easy-to- We have chosen to integrate this material because
follow format. concepts and issues surrounding gender are almost al-
ways too complicated to remove from their context.
Spreading this material through all of the chapters has a
Thought-Provoking Questions pedagogical purpose because it emphasizes how consid-
Each chapter closes with four Questions for Reflection, erations of gender enter into virtually everything peo-
including one that relates back to the Challenge Issue ple do. Gender-related material ranges from discussions
introduced in the chapter’s opening. Presented right af- of gender roles in evolutionary discourse and studies
ter the Chapter Checklist, these questions ask students of nonhuman primates to intersexuality, homosexual
to apply the concepts they have learned by analyzing identity, same-sex marriage, and female genital mutila-
and evaluating situations. They are designed to stimu- tion. Through a steady drumbeat of such coverage, this
late and deepen thought, trigger class discussion, and edition avoids ghettoizing gender to a single chapter
link the material to the students’ own lives. that is preceded and followed by resounding silence.
xxviii Preface
Glossary as You Go Anthropologists of Note

Profiling pioneering and contemporary anthropolo-
The running glossary is designed to catch the student’s
gists from many corners of the world, this feature
eye, reinforcing the meaning of each newly introduced
puts the work of noted anthropologists in histori-
term. It is also useful for chapter review, enabling stu-
cal perspective and draws attention to the interna-
dents to readily isolate the new terms from those intro-
tional nature of the discipline in terms of both subject
duced in earlier chapters. A complete glossary is also
matter and practitioners. This edition highlights
included at the back of the book. In the glossaries, each
fourteen distinct anthropologists from all four fields of
term is defined in clear, understandable language. As a
the discipline (see page xvi for a list of the profiles).
result, less class time is required for going over terms,
leaving instructors free to pursue other matters of
interest.
Globalscapes
Appearing in eight chapters, this unique feature charts
the global flow of people, goods, and services, as well
Special Boxed Features as pollutants and pathogens. With a map, a story, and
one or two photos highlighting a topic geared toward
Our text includes five types of special boxed features. student interests, every Globalscape shows how the
Every chapter contains a Biocultural Connection, world is interconnected through human activity. Each
along with two of the following three features: an Orig- one ends with a Global Twister—a question that en-
inal Study, Anthropology Applied, or Anthropologist of courages students to think critically about globaliza-
Note. In addition, about half of the chapters include tion. Check out the titles of Globalscapes on page xvi.
a Globalscape. These features are carefully placed and
introduced within the main narrative to alert students
to their importance and relevance. A complete listing
of features is presented on page xvi.
Highlights in the
Biocultural Connections Fifteenth Edition
Appearing in every chapter, this signature feature of
Most revolutionary among the changes in this edi-
the Haviland et al. textbooks illustrates how cultural
tion is the introduction of MindTap. In addition to
and biological processes interact to shape human bi-
incorporating this enlivening learning tool, Cultural
ology, beliefs, and behavior. It reflects the integrated
Anthropology: The Human Challenge has undergone
biocultural approach central to the field of anthropol-
a thorough updating. Definitions of key terms have
ogy today. All of the Biocultural Connections include a
been honed. Many new visuals and ethnographic ex-
critical thinking question. For a quick peek at titles, see
amples have been added and others dropped. Nearly
the listing of features on page xvi.
every chapter features a new opening photograph and
related Challenge Issue. The much-used Questions
Original Studies for Reflection include at least one new question per
Written expressly for this text, or adapted from eth- chapter, and on the heels of those questions we have
nographies and other original works by anthropolo- added a brand-new Digging into Anthropology fea-
gists, these studies present concrete examples that ture with hands-on assignments that prompt deeper
bring specific concepts to life and convey the passion investigation through mini projects related to each
of the authors. Each study sheds additional light on an chapter’s contents.
important anthropological concept or subject area for As with earlier editions, we further chiseled the
the chapter in which it appears. Notably, each Origi- writing to make it all the more clear, lively, engaging,
nal Study is carefully integrated within the flow of the and streamlined. On average, chapter narratives have been
chapter narrative, signaling students that its content is trimmed by about 10 percent. Statistics and examples
not extraneous or supplemental. Appearing in eleven have been updated throughout—in the narrative, cap-
chapters, Original Studies cover a wide range of topics, tions, and figures. In addition to numerous revisions of
evident from their titles (see page xvi). boxed features, some of these are completely new.
Finally, we have replaced footnotes with in-text
Anthropology Applied parenthetical citations, making sources and dates more
Featured in eleven chapters, these succinct and fasci- visible and freeing up space for larger visuals. The com-
nating profiles illustrate anthropology’s wide-ranging plete listing of citations appears in the bibliography at
relevance in today’s world and give students a glimpse the end of the book.
into a variety of the careers anthropologists enjoy (see Beyond these across-the-board changes, particular
page xvi for a listing). changes have been made within each chapter.
Preface xxix
Chapter 1: The Essence of Anthropology The main narrative begins with a section on culture
This opening chapter emphasizes the contemporary and adaptation, setting the foundation for a discussion
relevance of anthropology as it introduces students to of culture and its characteristics. Our re-colored “barrel
the holistic perspective, philosophical underpinnings model” illustration shows the integrative and dynamic
and defining methodological approaches that run nature of culture and introduces the key concepts of cul-
across its distinct four fields. Students will come to un- tural infrastructure, social structure, and superstructure.
derstand anthropology in relation to other disciplines We present the Kapauku Papua of Western New Guinea
and as a living laboratory that allows for the testing of as an example of culture as an integrated system and
hypotheses without the influence of culture-bound no- explore pluralistic societies and subcultures through an
tions. A new Challenge Issue, centered on the repur- updated look at the Amish in North America.
posing of free antimalarial mosquito nets as fishing The chapter includes discussions on culture, so-
nets, shows the interconnectedness of our world today ciety, and the individual; ethnocentrism and cultural
as individuals must chose between disease prevention relativism; and cultural change in the age of globaliza-
and the health benefits of increased fishing yields. tion. Special features include the Biocultural Connec-
Our discussion of anthropology and globalization, “Modifying the Human Body with an updated
tion brings students to the current global refugee crisis illustration, an Anthropologist of Note on Bronislaw
through new material on the distinction between na- Malinowski, and the Anthropology Applied feature,
tion and state and a new Globalscape “Safe Harbor?” “New Houses for Apache Indians” by George Esber,
on the plight of Rohingya boat people. Similarly, the who describes his role in designing culturally appropri-
global flow of food and pesticides is highlighted with ate homes for a Native American community. The new
the new placement of the Biocultural Connection “Pic- Digging into Anthropology task, “Hometown Map,”
turing Pesticides.” invites students to map aspects of their community
The diversity of anthropologists and the subjects utilizing the barrel model.
and forms of work they undertake will draw students
in as they see: the collaborative nature of contempo- Chapter 3: Ethnographic Research—Its
rary anthropological research through archaeologist History, Methods, and Theories
Anne Jensen’s work in the Arctic; innovative ethno- Opening with a new Challenge Issue on fieldwork ac-
graphic forms in the work of cultural anthropologist companied by a lively visual of a young anthropologist
Gina Athena Ulysse; novel field sites as with cultural returning from a tortoise hunt with Ayoreo Indians in
anthropologist Philippe Bourgeois’s fieldwork among Paraguay, this chapter takes a distinct approach to dis-
homeless substance abusers; cutting-edge technology cussing ethnographic research. It begins with a histori-
in the genetics work of forensic anthropologist Mer- cal overview on the subject—from the colonial era and
cedes Doretti in the updated Anthropology Applied salvage ethnography to acculturation studies, advo-
feature (“Forensic Anthropology: Voices for the Dead”); cacy anthropology, cyberethnography, and multi-sited
and even the collaboration between archaeologists and ethnography in the era of globalization. Relaying this
microbreweries with the work of biomolecular archae- story, we touch on the work of numerous anthropolo-
ologist Pat McGovern. gists, past and present.
The new Digging into Anthropology feature, The chapter continues with a detailed discussion
“Talking Trash: Hidden in the Middens,” on archaeol- on ethnographic fieldwork research methods—from
ogy and trash provides the opportunity for students to selecting a research question and site to doing prepa-
learn archaeological concepts through hands-on expe- ratory research to engaging in participant observation.
rience. This feature is enhanced by the chapter updates It chronicles the ethnographer’s approach to gathering
on William Rathje’s Garbage Project that focus on trash qualitative and quantitative data, delineates the chal-
production and disposal in large urban areas. lenges of fieldwork, and touches on the creation of an
ethnography in written, film, or digital formats. Readers
Chapter 2: Characteristics of Culture will also find an overview of anthropology’s theoretical
This chapter addresses anthropology’s core concept perspectives, along with discussions of the comparative
of culture, exploring the term and its significance for method and the Human Relations Area Files. Moral di-
individuals and societies. It opens with a vibrant new lemmas and ethical responsibilities encountered in an-
Challenge Issue photo highlighting Kuchi nomads in thropological research are also explored.
Afghanistan, recognizable by their distinctive dress Boxed features include an Original Study on field-
and pack camels. Five other new photos are part of this work in the Trobriand Islands, a Biocultural Connection
chapter’s revision, including a satellite image illustrat- feature on the environmental and economic conditions
ing the transformation of vast stretches of the Arabian that impact attitudes about pigs, and an Anthropolo-
Desert into rich agricultural land with water from non- gists of Note feature highlighting Margaret Mead and
renewable sources deep under ground. Gregory Bateson’s collaborative research in Papua New
xxx Preface
Guinea. The new Digging into Anthropology assign- de Waal’s Original Study, “Reconciliation and Its Cul-
ment calls on students to carry out a bit of multi-sited tural Modification in Primates”; and an Anthropolo-
research with six individuals in their social network: two gists of Note box, pairing primatologist Jane Goodall
with whom they live, two with whom they interact at with paleogeneticist Svante Pääbo. The new Digging
work or school, and two with whom they communicate into Anthropology feature, “Does Racing Get You Any-
via social media channels but rarely see. where?,” invites students to survey others about how
they categorize themselves racially or ethnically and
Chapter 4: Becoming Human—The Origin how they feel about that classification.
and Diversity of Our Species
This chapter conveys biology’s role in culture. Thor-
Chapter 5: Language and Communication
oughly overhauled for this edition, it opens with a new This chapter begins with a dynamic new photograph
photo of an Aboriginal elder in front of a cave painting of a busy Chinatown street in Thailand’s capital city of
depicting ancestral spirit beings. The accompanying Bangkok, where signs appear in multiple languages. It
new Challenge Issue raises questions about the evo- goes on to investigate the nature of language and the
lution of our species, our biological relationship with three branches of linguistic anthropology—descriptive
other primates, and ancient material remains, includ- linguistics, historical linguistics, and the study of lan-
ing fossil bones, tools, and art. guage in its social and cultural settings (ethnolinguis-
We establish primate biology as a vital part of be- tics and sociolinguistics). Also found here are sections
ing human and provide different cultural perspectives on paralanguage and tonal languages and a unique in-
on early humans. Offering an overview of the evolu- troductory exploration of talking drums and whistled
tion and diffusion of Homo, we discuss some of the speech. The sections on sociolinguistics and ethnolin-
disputes concerning that development and note the guistics cover gendered speech, social dialects, code
contrasting roles different disciplines play in piecing switching, and linguistic relativity, drawing on a range
together this complex story. The chapter’s short history of examples from Lakota Indians in South Dakota to
on evolution and genetics includes Darwin, Mendel, Aymara Indians in Bolivia and Hopi Indians in Arizona.
and genetic mapping. After discussing early human Our discussion on language loss and revival in-
evolution, from the first bipeds to Neandertals and cludes a look at modern technology used by linguistic
Denisovans, we trace the global expansion of Homo anthropologists collaborating on field research with
sapiens, human migrations around the world, and the speakers of endangered Khoisan “click” languages in
domestication of animals and plants. southern Africa. It also features the latest data on the
Investigating why the convoluted concept of race digital divide and its impact on ethnic minority lan-
is not useful for analyzing human biological variation, guages—plus an updated chart showing Internet lan-
we present a comparative historical overview on the cre- guage populations. A historical sketch about writing
ation of false racial categories. A new section on the his- takes readers from traditional speech performatives
tory of scientific racism starts with Linnaeus, Blumenbach, and memory devices to Egyptian hieroglyphics to the
and Knox and continues with the ideologies of Grant, conception and spread of the alphabet. A concluding
Hitler, and early 20th-century Chinese. The chapter section on literacy and modern telecommunication
explores race as a social construct and skin color as a looks at issues of language in our globalized world.
biological adaptation, while debunking race as a biologi- New photos include Visual Counterpoint images
cal category. Finally, we describe anthropology’s princi- contrasting social space across cultures. Boxed features
pled stand on eliminating racism, scientific and popular. include S. Neyooxet Greymorning’s Anthropology
New illustrations for this chapter include a Visual Applied essay on language revitalization, Lyn White
Counterpoint on the similarity of human and primate Mile’s Original Study on her research with Chantek the
anatomy; a 17th-century engraving of a chimpanzee, orangutan, and a Biocultural Connection on the biol-
which conveys early confusion about how to classify ogy of human speech. “Body Talk,” a new Digging into
great apes; a photograph of chimp tool use; a painting Anthropology task, asks students to investigate the
depicting Neandertals hunting mammoths; an image relationship between language and culture by docu-
of a statue outside of the American Museum of Natural menting the body language of six people from differ-
History, indicative of racist ideology; and a photo of ge- ent cultures and experimenting with altering their own
netic research in a high-throughput sequencing labora- body language.
tory. The chapter also offers a new image of DNA and
the human genome, an updated depiction of species Chapter 6: Social Identity, Personality,
branching in primate evolution, and revised maps of and Gender
Homo erectus fossil sites and Neandertal range. Looking at individual identity within a sociocultural
Special features include a Biocultural Connection, context, this chapter surveys the concept of self, en-
“Paleolithic Prescriptions for Diseases of Today”; Frans culturation and the behavioral environment, social
Preface xxxi
identity through personal naming, the development foraging—including a section chronicling the im-
of personality, the concepts of group and modal per- pact of technology on foragers, with Mbuti Pygmies
sonality, and the idea of national character. The new providing an ethnographic example. Moving on to
opening Challenge Issue features Khanty mothers and food-producing societies, we discuss pastoralism, crop
their fur-clad children on a reindeer sled at their win- cultivation, and industrial food production, including
ter camp in Siberia—one of several new photos in this a case study of Bakhtiari herders in Iran, a discussion
chapter. on peasantry, and the $55 billion U.S. poultry business.
The section on culture and personality includes A section on adaptation and cultural evolution
Margaret Mead’s classic research on gender and person- touches on the notion of progress, explores convergent
ality, followed by an Anthropologist of Note essay on and parallel evolution through ethnographic exam-
Ruth Benedict. Also featured in this section is a case ples, and features the latest ethnohistorical research on
study on childrearing and gender among traditional ecosystemic collapse on Rapa Nui, commonly known
and nontraditional Ju/’hoansi and a revised overview as Easter Island. A new conclusion looks at population
of three childrearing patterns, including interdepen- growth and the limits of progress.
dence training among the Beng of West Africa. A sec- The chapter’s boxed features include an Original
tion on group personality describes the Y˛a nomami Study on slash-and-burn cultivation in the Amazon
masculine ideal of waiteri, followed by discussions on basin in Brazil, an Anthropology Applied piece about
the questions of national character and core values. reviving ancient farming practices in Peru, and a Glo-
Our exploration of alternative gender models in- balscape on the international poultry industry. “Global
cludes a highly personal Original Study about intersex- Dining,” the topic of this chapter’s Digging into Anthro-
uality. Ethnographic examples concerning transgender pology task, gives students an opportunity to see how
include the Bugis of Indonesia, who recognize five they “embody” globalization by having them locate the
genders. A section on “The Social Context of Sexual sources of their groceries on a map.
and Gender Identity” provides new global statistics on
state-sponsored homophobia. On its heels is the broad- Chapter 8: Economic Systems
ranging section, “Normal and Abnormal Personality
Opening with a new Challenge Issue and photo high-
in Social Context,” which presents the extreme sadhu
lighting an open city market in the highlands of
tradition in India and then discusses mental disorders
Guatemala, this reworked chapter offers eight new
and concepts of “normality” across time and cultures.
photographs and captions, including a new Visual
The Biocultural Connection offers a cross-cultural view
Counterpoint on harvesting and exporting tea. After a
on psychosomatic symptoms and mental health, while
brief description of economic anthropology, illustrated
a concluding section, “Personal Identity and Mental
by a case study on the yam complex in Trobriand cul-
Health in Globalizing Society,” drives home the need
ture, we discuss production and resources (natural,
for medical pluralism with a variety of modalities fit
technological, labor). Considering labor resources and
for humanity in the worldwide dynamics of the 21st
patterns, we look at gender, age, cooperative labor, and
century. This chapter’s new Digging into Anthropology
task specialization, drawing on ethnographic examples
assignment charges students to do intergenerational
that include salt mining in Ethiopia.
interviewing on the concepts of femininity and mascu-
A section on distribution and exchange explains
linity to gain insight on gender differentiation.
various forms of reciprocity (including an illustrated
description of the Kula ring), trade and barter, redistri-
Chapter 7: Patterns of Subsistence bution (with brief accounts of the Inca empire and the
Here we investigate the various ways humans meet northwestern American Indian potlatch), and market
their basic needs and how societies adapt through exchange. The discussion on leveling mechanisms fea-
culture to the environment, opening with a dramatic tures an ethnographically rich photo of a contempo-
new photo of a peasant farmer practicing wet-rice cul- rary Tlingit potlatch in Sitka, Alaska.
tivation on the steep slopes of China’s Guangxi Prov- After providing an overview on the history of
ince—one of half a dozen new visuals enlivening this money as a means of exchange, we conclude with a
chapter. The chapter narrative, significantly revised section on local economies and global capitalism, fea-
and reconfigured with several new headings, begins turing discussions on the informal economy and the
with a general discussion of adaptation, followed by a development and marketing of genetically modified
new section titled “Adaptation, Environment, and Eco- seeds.
system,” which includes a case study on the Tsembaga Boxed features include an Anthropology Applied
who raise pigs in Papua New Guinea. On the heels of piece on global ecotourism in Bolivia, a newly illus-
that comes a brief section on adaptation and culture trated Biocultural Connection on chocolate, and an
areas, featuring a new map. Next come modes of sub- Anthropologist of Note about Tlingit anthropolo-
sistence and their characteristics. It begins with food gist Rosita Worl’s work with Sealaska, an indigenous
xxxii Preface
collective that markets wood products and other goods. socially accepted or prohibited by law or faith and what
The new Digging into Anthropology task, “Luxury the punishment is for breaking the prohibition. The
Foods and Hunger Wages,” asks students to track down second half of the exercise is comparison and analysis.
the source of a luxury food or drink, the ethnicities and
wages of those who harvested it, and the profit margin Chapter 10: Kinship and Descent
of the company that markets it. Beginning with a new photograph of a clan gathering
in Scotland, this chapter marks out the various forms
Chapter 9: Sex, Marriage, and Family of descent groups and the role descent plays as an in-
Exploring the connections between sexual reproductive tegrated feature in a cultural system. The narrative in-
practices, marriage, family, and household, this chapter cludes details and examples of lineages, clans, phratries,
opens with a gorgeous photo of a Muslim bride and her and moieties (highlighting Hopi Indian matriclans and
female relatives and friends displaying hands decorated Scottish highland patriclans, among others), followed
with traditional henna design. Particulars addressed in by illustrated examples of a representative range of kin-
the chapter include the incest taboo, endogamy and ship systems and their kinship terminologies.
exogamy, dowry and bridewealth, cousin marriage, Along with an array of new and revised visu-
same-sex marriage, divorce, residence patterns, and als, this chapter offers ethnographic examples from
nonfamily households. Up-to-date definitions of the Han Chinese, the Maori of New Zealand, and the
marriage, family, nuclear family, and extended family Canela Indians of Brazil; it also takes a look at diasporic
encompass current real-life situations around the world. communities in today’s globalized world. A section en-
Of the dozen visuals in this chapter, six are new. titled “Making Relatives” explores fictive kin and rit-
The diverse ethnographic examples in this chap- ual adoption, illustrating that in cultures everywhere,
ter come from many corners of the world. Opening people have developed ideas about how someone be-
paragraphs on the traditional sexual freedom of young comes “one of us.” We also present a discussion of kin-
people in the Trobriand Islands lead into a discussion ship and new reproductive technologies, touching on
on the regulation of sexual relations across cultures. the mind-boggling array of reproductive possibilities
A section on marriage and the regulation of sexual re- and how they are impacting humanity’s conceptions
lations includes a recent example of Shariah law as it of what it means to be biologically related.
relates to women and adultery—along with a nuanced Boxed features include an Anthropology Applied
commentary about the relationship between such re- piece on resolving Native American tribal membership
strictive rules and the incidence of sexually transmitted disputes, a thought-provoking Original Study on honor
diseases. Also featured is a short case study on sexual killings among Turkish immigrants in the Netherlands,
and marriage practices among the Nayar in India, and a freshly illustrated Biocultural Connection piece
which describes consanguineal and affinal kin. about ancient Maori mythical traditions that are now
A discussion on endogamy and exogamy includes supported by genetic research. The Digging into An-
a fresh look at cousin marriages among Pakistani immi- thropology project invites students to glean the impor-
grants in England. Immigration is also touched upon tance of kin terms by interviewing someone (“EGO”)
in the “Forms of Marriage” section, which notes the and mapping EGO’s kin-group.
impact immigration is having on polygamy statistics
in Europe and the United States, even as the practice Chapter 11: Grouping by Gender, Age,
declines in sub-Saharan Africa. Other ethnographic Common Interest, and Social Status
examples concern woman–woman marriage among Starting with a vibrant photograph of Afghan horse-
the Nandi of Kenya, dowries in the Kyrgyz Republic, men playing buzkashi, their country’s fiercely competi-
all-male households among the Mundurucu in Brazil’s tive national sport, this chapter includes discussions
Amazon rainforest, and matrilocal residence among on grouping by gender, age, common interest, and
traditional Hopi Indians. social status.
A closing section sketches the impact of global The gender grouping discussion features ethno-
capitalism, electronic communication, and transna- graphic material from the Mundurucu of Brazil, among
tionalism on love relations. It includes revised subsec- others, while age grouping highlights the Tiriki and
tions on adoption, new reproductive technologies, and Maasai of East Africa. Common-interest grouping ex-
migrant workforces. Boxed features include an Original amples range from “pink vigilantes” in India to the
Study on arranged marriages in India, a Biocultural African diaspora in the United States. A section on as-
Connection on marriage prohibitions in the United sociations in the digital age provides new figures on
States, and an Anthropologist of Note on Claude Lévi- the rapid and widespread changes in social network-
Strauss. The new Digging into Anthropology feature is ing platforms across the globe. The revised section
titled “Sex Rules?” It involves making a list of six dis- on grouping by social status explores social class and
tinctive sets of sexual relationships, noting which are caste. We give special attention (with poignant new
Preface xxxiii
photographs) to the traditional Hindu caste system Christian holy war in Uganda. Following discussions on
in India and touch on customarily closed European genocide and contemporary armed conflicts, the narra-
social classes known as estates, as well as historical rative looks at approaches to peacemaking—diplomacy,
cial segregation in South Africa and the United States. treaty making, and the politics of nonviolent resistance,
Indicators of social status are discussed, along with including brief profiles of movements led by Gandhi in
social mobility and various means of maintaining India and Aung San Suu Kyi in Myanmar. An updated
stratification. Anthropology Applied box on dispute resolution has
Boxed features include an updated Globalscape been relocated to this section. Other special features in
profiling the impact of football on Côte d’Ivoire’s this chapter include a Biocultural Connection on gender,
ethnic conflicts, a Biocultural Connection about the sex, and human violence and an updated Globalscape on
African Burial Ground Project in New York City, an Somali pirates. “Politics and Purses,” the new Digging into
Original Study on the Jewish eruv, and an Anthropology Anthropology assignment for this chapter, takes students
Applied feature on policy research revealing institution- on a journey to locate links between money and power.
alized inequality. The new Digging into Anthropology
assignment is designed to help students reflect on how Chapter 13: Spirituality, Religion,
their social media self and relationships may differ from and Shamanism
their face-to-face self and relationships.
This chapter, rich with nine new visuals, opens with a
colourful new photo and Challenge Issue highlighting a
Chapter 12: Politics, Power, War, and Peace sacred Buddhist dance ritual in Bhutan. The main nar-
This chapter opens with a new Challenge Issue and rative begins with a discussion of superstructure and
photo in which masses of people, besieged by Syria’s worldview. Noting the distinction between spirituality
civil war, are trying to escape the Yarmouk refugee and religion, we discuss the anthropological approach
neighborhood outside of Damascus. The main narra- to studying them and offer an updated chart and a map
tive begins by defining power and politics, followed showing the numbers of religious adherents and the con-
by descriptions of uncentralized and centralized politi- centrations of major religions around the world. After in-
cal systems and their characteristics—from bands and troducing myths and their role in mapping cosmology,
tribes to chiefdoms and states. Ethnographic examples we discuss supernatural beings and spiritual forces—from
include the Ju/’hoansi Bushmen, the Kapauku Papua, gods and goddesses to ancestral spirits and the concepts
the Pashtun of Afghanistan and Pakistan, and the of animism and animatism. This section features a new
Kpelle of Liberia. We explain the distinction between image of the dual-gender divinity, Ardhanaraishvara.
state and nation, highlighting the Kurdish fight for in- Next we mark out religious specialists. Our over-
dependence. After discussing the concepts of authority view of priests and priestesses includes a Biocultural
and legitimacy, the narrative explores the link between Connection on the masculinization of Taiwanese nuns
politics and religion and gender—touching on the role and a discussion on spiritual lineages, comparing how
religion may play in legitimizing the political order spiritual authority is obtained and passed on among
and leadership and taking a historical, cross-cultural Tibetan Buddhists and three other religious groups. A
look at the incidence of female leadership. Among the comprehensive exploration of shamanism features our
ethnographic examples we present is the dual-gender “shamanic complex” diagram, a description of sha-
government system of the Igbo in Nigeria. manic healing among the Ju/’hoansi with a remarkable
A section titled “Cultural Controls in Maintaining new photo, and an Anthropologist of Note on modern-
Order” investigates internalized control (such as self- day shamanic practitioner-teacher Michael Harner.
control) and externalized control (such as sanctions), In a section on ritual performances, we discuss ta-
as well as witchcraft. The witchcraft discussion features boos and cleansing ceremonies, rites of passage (with
new material on modern witch hunts, including a sear- ethnographic examples noting the phases of separa-
ing photo of a woman who fell victim to one. Under tion, transition, and incorporation), rites of intensifica-
the heading “Holding Trials, Settling Disputes, and tion, magic (imitative and contagious), and divination
Punishing Crimes,” we contrast traditional kin-based (with a new Visual Counterpoint juxtaposing “bone
approaches to those of politically centralized societ- throwing” diviners in South Africa with a feng shui
ies. This includes descriptions of Inuit song duels in master in Hong Kong). A section on witchcraft offers
Canada and Kpelle trials by ordeal in Liberia, plus a a brief cross-cultural overview, followed by a more de-
discussion of restorative justice. tailed description of Navajo skin-walkers. Next come
A section on violent conflict sketches the evolu- sacred sites—from shrines to mountains—and the
tion of warfare and the impact of technology, includ- pilgrimages (devotions in motion) they inspire. This
ing drones. It presents a brief new profile (with photo) includes a subsection on female saints (highlighting
of the self-proclaimed Islamic State and its jihad. Delving Marian devotions and Black Madonnas) and a discus-
further into ideologies of aggression, it chronicles a sion of desecration, past and present.
xxxiv Preface
In a section on cultural dynamics, we explore re- Chapter 15: Processes of Cultural Change
ligious and spiritual change, including revitalization A new opening photo showing a crowd of people
movements and syncretic religions (especially Vodou stranded by a delayed train in India suggests the chal-
in Haiti). Turning to religious pluralism and seculariza- lenge of human dependency on major technologi-
tion, we give an overview of spirituality and religious cal advances made since the invention of the steam
practices today (including an Original Study on Sha- engine. Globalization themes and terms are woven
riah banking), driving home the point that the an- through this chapter, which includes definitions distin-
thropological study of religion is crucial to gaining an guishing progress from modernization and rebellion from
understanding of today’s world. This chapter’s Digging revolution. Discussing mechanisms of change—primary
into Anthropology, “Going Through a Phase,” calls on and secondary innovation, diffusion, and cultural
students to observe a rite of passage, take note of its loss, as well as repressive change—we highlight the
phases, and analyze why the event requires a ritual. spear-thrower (atlatl) and wheel-and-axle technology,
as well as the dynamics that encourage or discourage
Chapter 14: The Arts innovative tendencies. Examples in the discussion on
This chapter begins with a Challenge Issue about artic- diffusion range from bagpipes in Bhutan to the spread
ulating ideas and emotions through various art forms, of maize and the metric system.
illustrated by a dramatic new photograph showing a A streamlined exploration of cultural change and
crowd of Kayapo Indians staging a political protest in loss covers acculturation and ethnocide—featuring
artful ceremonial paint and dress. The main narrative an illustrated passage on Y˛anomami. After discussing
explores three key categories of art—visual, verbal, and directed change, we chronicle reactions to change—
musical. It features eight new photographs, including a explaining syncretism through the story of Trobrian-
new Visual Counterpoint juxtaposing ancient rock art ders transforming the British game of cricket and elab-
and modern urban graffiti. orating on revitalization movements with a description
Describing the distinctly holistic approach an- of cargo cults in Melanesia and the revival of sacred
thropologists bring to the study of art, we note the precolonial rituals such as sun worship in Bolivia. A
range of cultural insights art discloses—from kinship discussion on rebellion and revolution highlights the
structures to social values, religious beliefs, and po- Zapatista Maya Indian insurgency in southern Mexico
litical ideas. We also explain aesthetic and interpretive and the Chinese communist revolution (including a
approaches to analyzing art, as applied to rock art in new photo and caption concerning its long-term im-
southern Africa and cross-cultural depictions of the pact on women). Discussing processes of moderniza-
Last Supper in the Bible. A revised verbal arts section tion, we consider self-determination among indigenous
presents several ethnographic examples, including the peoples with two contrasting examples: the Shuar Indi-
Abenaki creation myth and the culturally widespread ans of Ecuador and a newly illustrated story of Sámi
“Father, Son, and Donkey” tale. reindeer herders in northwest Russia and Scandinavia.
The section on music carries readers from flutes Boxed features include a Biocultural Connection
made of bones from 42,000 years ago to traditional on the emergence of new diseases, an Anthropologist
and new age shamans drumming to evoke trances; of Note on Eric R. Wolf, and an Anthropology Applied
from rapping and beatboxing to online music mash- about development anthropology and dams, with a fas-
ups; from laborers on the edge of the Sahara working cinating satellite image of China’s Three Gorges Dam.
to the beat of a drum to West African griots recount- A new Digging into Anthropology, “Life Without Im-
ing personal histories through percussion and lyrics. ports,” asks students to analyze how their culture would
We touch on the elements of music, including change if they faced a political revolution that prohib-
tonality, rhythm, and melody, and through music we ited the consumption of foreign goods and information.
explore the functions of art. Boxed features include
a Biocultural Connection about the role of peyote Chapter 16: Global Challenges, Local
in Huichol art, a newly illustrated Original Study on Responses, and the Role of Anthropology
tattoos, a Globalscape on artful West African coffins, Our final chapter opens with a new photo of an Inter-
and a moving Anthropology Applied feature about net café in China coupled with a revised Challenge Issue
a Penobscot Indian anthropologist recreating tradi- about cultural adaptations that have fueled population
tional regalia as part of a cultural and economic sur- growth and globalization. The main narrative begins
vival strategy. The new Digging into Anthropology with a new passage describing the stunning globalizing
assignment, “A Heart for Art,” invites students to effect of today’s digital telecommunication technol-
look into a public art performance in their own com- ogy—featuring a new illustration of satellites orbiting
munity and compare that to the Kayapo Indians’ art- earth and raising the question of whether our species
ful political protest featured in the chapter’s opening can successfully adapt to the dynamic ecosystem of the
photo and Challenge Issue. current geological epoch known as the Anthropocene.
Preface xxxv
A section titled “Cultural Revolutions: From Terra Incog-

nita to Google Earth” offers a 500-year overview of tech-
Online Instructor’s Manual
nological inventions that have transformed humanity’s and Test Bank
lifeways, expanded interconnections, and changed our The instructor’s manual offers detailed chapter out-
perceptions about our place and destiny in the uni- lines, lecture suggestions, key terms, and student activ-
verse. It ends with the first full-view photograph taken ities such as video exercises and Internet exercises. In
of earth and speculations by some that a homogenous addition, there are over seventy-five chapter test ques-
global culture is in the making. tions including multiple choice, true/false, fill in the
A section on global integration processes marks blank, short answer, and essay.
out the emergence of international organizations. We
then consider pluralistic societies, multiculturalism, and
fragmentation, illustrating the push-and-pull aspects Online Resources for
of today’s world. A section on global migrations cata-
logues the number of internal and external migrants,
Instructors and Students
including transnationals working in one country while MindTap
remaining citizens of another, plus the millions of refu- MindTap is a digital learning solution providing in-
gees forced outside their countries. Marking out chal- structors with dynamic assignments, activities, and ap-
lenges migrants face, we include a new section titled plications that they can personalize; real-time course
“Diasporas and Xenophobia,” followed by “Migrants, analytics; and an accessible reader. For students, MindTap
Urbanization, and Slums,” reporting on the 1 billion offers tools to better manage limited time, with course
people worldwide now living in slums. material specially customized for them by the instruc-
Next comes what may be most important section tor and streamlined in one proven, easy-to-use interface.
in this chapter, “Structural Power in the Age of Global- An array of tools and apps—from note taking to flash-
ization,” with comprehensive subsections on hard power cards—help reinforce course concepts, helping students
(economic and military) and soft power (media) featur- to achieve better grades and setting the groundwork for
ing updated and newly designed graphs. On its heels is a their future courses. MindTap for Cultural Anthropology:
revised overview of the problems of structural violence— The Human Challenge, 15th edition, features several
from poverty and income disparity; to hunger, obesity, dynamic activities for students that illustrate chapter
and malnutrition; to pollution and global warming. This concepts—including photo analysis exercises, engaging
section features two new world maps—one showing in- videos, interactive GIS story maps, fieldwork activities,
come inequality, the other depicting energy consump- and “Mastery Training,” an adaptive learning study tool
tion. Discussing reactions to globalization, we touch that helps students master core concepts.
on religious fanaticism among Muslims and Christians,
along with the human rights struggles of ethnic minori-
ties and indigenous peoples. The chapter concludes with Readings and Case Studies
an encouraging look at anthropology’s role in meeting
the inequities and other challenges of globalization.
Classic and Contemporary Readings in
Special box features include a Biocultural Connec- Physical Anthropology, edited by M. K.
tion about the threat to Arctic cultures from outside Sandford with Eileen M. Jackson
contamination; an updated Globalscape about dumping This highly accessible reader emphasizes science—its
toxic waste in poor countries; an Anthropology Applied principles and methods—as well as the historical devel-
piece on Ann Dunham (President Obama’s mother), opment of physical anthropology and the applications of
who was a pioneer in microfinancing; and an uplifting new technology to the discipline. The editors provide an
Anthropologist of Note profile about Paul Farmer and introduction to the reader as well as a brief overview of
his global Partners In Health foundation. The new Dig- the article so students know what to look for. Each article
ging into Anthropology feature calls on students to ana- also includes discussion questions and Internet resources.
lyze their use of telecommunication devices.
Classic Readings in Cultural Anthropology,
4th edition, edited by Gary Ferraro
Supplements Now in its fourth edition, this reader includes histori-
cal and recent articles that have had a profound effect
Cultural Anthropology: The Human Challenge comes on the field of anthropology. Organized according to
with a comprehensive supplements program to help the major topic areas found in most cultural anthropol-
instructors create an effective learning environment ogy courses, this reader includes an introduction to the
both inside and outside the classroom and to aid material as well as a brief overview of each article and
students in mastering the material. discussion questions.
xxxvi Preface
Globalization and Change in Fifteen and cultural continuity, reflecting the globalization of
Cultures: Born in One World, Living the world.
in Another, edited by George Spindler
Case Studies on Contemporary Social
and Janice E. Stockard
Issues, edited by John A. Young
In this volume, fifteen case studies describe cultural
Framed around social issues, these contemporary case
change in diverse settings around the world. The fif-
studies are globally comparative and represent the cut-
teen authors of the original case studies provide insight
ting-edge work of anthropologists today.
into the dynamics and meanings of change, as well as
the effects of globalization at the local level.
Case Studies in Archaeology, edited
Case Studies in Cultural Anthropology, by Jeffrey Quilter
edited by George Spindler These engaging accounts of new archaeological tech-
niques, issues, and solutions—as well as studies dis-
and Janice E. Stockard
cussing the collection of material remains—range
Select from more than sixty classic and contemporary from site-specific excavations to types of archaeology
ethnographies representing geographic and topical practiced.
diversity. Newer case studies focus on cultural change
Acknowledgments
No textbook comes to fruition without extensive collabo- and good cheer. Also worthy of note here are the in-
ration. Beyond the shared endeavors of our author team, troductory anthropology teaching assistants at Kansas
this book owes its completion to a wide range of individ- State University and the students from the University
uals, from colleagues in the discipline to those involved of Vermont College of Medicine and the Honors Col-
in development and production processes. Sincere thanks lege who, through the years, have shed light for us on
to colleagues who brought their expertise to bear—as effective ways to reach new generations of students.
sounding boards and in responding to questions concern- And, finally, we recognize the introductory students
ing their specializations: Marta P. Alfonso-Durruty, Frans themselves, who are at the heart of this educational
B. M. de Waal, John Hawks, Amber Campbell Hibbs, endeavor and who continually provide feedback in for-
Heather Loyd, Gillian E. Newell, Martin Ottenheimer, mal and informal ways.
Svante Pääbo, Herbert Prins, and Michael Wesch. We are Our thanksgiving inventory would be incom-
particularly grateful for the manuscript reviewers listed plete without mentioning individuals at Wadsworth/
below, who provided detailed and thoughtful feedback Cengage Learning who helped conceive of this text and
that helped us to hone and re-hone our narrative. bring it to fruition. Of special note is our content de-
We carefully considered and made use of the wide velopment editor Catherine (Cat) Craddock, who came
range of comments provided by these individuals. Our to us midstream when her predecessor Stefanie Chase
decisions on how to utilize their suggestions were in- took another post at Cengage. Both women brought
fluenced by our own perspectives on anthropology and joy, steadiness, and skill to our efforts. Thanks also to
teaching, combined with the priorities and page limits Gordon Lee, our former product manager, and his suc-
of this text. Thus, neither our reviewers nor any of the cessor Elizabeth (Libby) Beiting-Lipps—Gordon for his
other anthropologists mentioned here should be held integrity, brainstorming skills, and lively collaborative
responsible for any shortcomings in this book. They manner, and Libby for welcoming us so graciously to
should, however, be credited as contributors to many her already substantial workload. Additional gratitude
of the book’s strengths: Elizabeth de la Portilla, Tracy to Michael Cook (art director), Cheri Palmer (content
Evans, Julie Goodman-Bowling, Linda Light, Andre project manager), and Jennifer Levanduski (marketing
Nelson, John Otte, and Lakhbir Singh. director).
Thanks, too, go to colleagues who provided ma- In addition to all of the above, we have had the
terial for some of the Original Study, Biocultural Con- invaluable aid of several most able freelancers, includ-
nection, and Anthropology Applied boxes in this text: ing our long-cherished copy editor Jennifer Gordon,
Michael Blakey, Nancy I. Cooper, Hillary Crane, Margo thoroughly kind and kindly thorough; our stellar pro-
DeMello, George S. Esber, S. Neyooxet Greymorning, duction coordinator Jill Traut of MPS Limited, who can
Marvin Harris, Michael M. Horowitz, Ann Kendall, keep more balls in the air than the best of jugglers; and
Susan Lees, Bill Maurer, H. Lyn White Miles, Serena our resilient veteran photo researcher, Sarah Evertson.
Nanda, Jennifer Sapiel Neptune, Martin Ottenheimer, Thanksgiving as well to Larry Didona, cover designer;
Sherry Simpson, Amanda Stronza, William Ury, Lisa Buckley text interior designer; GraphicWorld for
Clementine van Eck, Annette B. Weiner, Dennis new maps; Santosh Kumar for artwork; and lastly the
Werner, and R. K. Williamson. composition team lead by Rakesh Pandey.
We have debts of gratitude to office workers in our And finally, as always, we are indebted to family
departments for their cheerful help in clerical matters: members and close friends who have put up with our
Karen Rundquist and research librarian extraordinaire hectic schedules during every textbook revision season,
Nancy Bianchi. Aram Bingham, Tavid Bingham, and and provided us with good company when we man-
Adrienne Rule tracked innumerable details with insight aged to take a break.
xxxvii
About the Authors
States. A staunch supporter of indigenous rights, he

served as expert witness for the Missisquoi Abenaki of
Vermont in an important court case over aboriginal
fishing rights.
Awards received by Dr. Haviland include being
named University Scholar by the Graduate School of
the University of Vermont in 1990; a Certificate of Ap-
preciation from the Sovereign Republic of the Abenaki
Nation of Missisquoi, St. Francis/Sokoki Band in 1996;
and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Center for
Research on Vermont in 2006. Now retired from teach-
Courtesy of the authors

ing, he continues his research, writing, and lecturing
from the coast of Maine. He serves as a trustee for the
Abbe Museum in Bar Harbor, focused on Maine’s Na-
tive American history, culture, art, and archaeology.
His most recent books are At the Place of the Lobsters
Authors Bunny McBride, Dana Walrath, Harald Prins,
and William Haviland.
and Crabs (2009) and Canoe Indians of Down East Maine
(2012), along with the monograph Excavations in
All four members of this author team share overlapping Residential Areas of Tikal (2015).
research interests and a similar vision of what anthro-
pology is (and should be) about. For example, all are Harald E. L. Prins is a University Distinguished Pro-
true believers in the four-field approach to anthropol- fessor of cultural anthropology at Kansas State Univer-
ogy and all have some involvement in applied work. sity. Academically trained at half a dozen Dutch and
U.S. universities, he previously taught at Radboud
William A. Haviland is professor emeritus at the Uni- University (Netherlands), Bowdoin College and Colby
versity of Vermont, where he founded the Department College in Maine, and as a visiting professor at the Uni-
of Anthropology and taught for thirty-two years. He versity of Lund, Sweden. He has received numerous
holds a PhD in anthropology from the University of honors for his teaching, including the Conoco Award
Pennsylvania. for Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching in 1993,
He has carried out original research in archae- Presidential Award in 1999, Coffman Chair of Distin-
ology in Guatemala and Vermont; ethnography in guished Teaching Scholars in 2004, Carnegie Founda-
Maine and Vermont; and physical anthropology in tion Professor of the Year for Kansas in 2006, and the
Guatemala. This work has been the basis of numer- AAA/Oxford University Press Award for Excellence in
ous publications in various national and international Undergraduate Teaching of Anthropology in 2010.
books and journals, as well as in media intended for His fieldwork focuses on indigenous peoples in
the general public. His books include The Original the western hemisphere, and he has long served as an
Vermonters, coauthored with Marjorie Power, and a advocacy anthropologist on land claims and other na-
technical monograph on ancient Maya settlement. He tive rights. In that capacity, Dr. Prins has been a lead
also served as consultant for the award-winning tele- expert witness in both the U.S. Senate and Canadian
course Faces of Culture, and he is coeditor of the series federal courts. He has refereed for forty academic book
Tikal Reports, published by the University of Pennsylva- publishers and journals. His own numerous academic
nia Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. publications appear in nine languages, with books
Besides his teaching and writing, Dr. Haviland including The Mi’kmaq: Resistance, Accommodation, and
has given lectures for numerous professional as well as Cultural Survival (Margaret Mead Award finalist).
nonprofessional audiences in Canada, Mexico, Leso- Also trained in filmmaking, he served as presi-
tho, South Africa, and Spain, as well as in the United dent of the Society for Visual Anthropology and has
xxxviii
About the Authors xxxix
coproduced award-winning documentaries. He has been for the Women’s World Summit Foundation (based in
the visual anthropology editor of American Anthropolo- Geneva, Switzerland) after ten years on the organiza-
gist, coprincipal investigator for the U.S. National Park tion’s board and three as its president.
Service, international observer in Paraguay’s presidential
elections, and a research associate at the National Dana Walrath—an award-winning writer, artist, and
Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution. anthropologist—is a faculty member at the University
of Vermont College of Medicine. After earning her
Bunny McBride is an award-winning author special- PhD in medical and biological anthropology from the
izing in cultural anthropology, indigenous peoples, University of Pennsylvania, she taught there and at
international tourism, and nature conservation issues. Temple University. Dr. Walrath broke new ground in
Published in dozens of national and international print paleoanthropology through her work on the evolution
media, she has reported from Africa, Europe, China, of human childbirth. She has also written on a wide
and the Indian Ocean. Holding an MA from Colum- range of topics related to gender in paleoanthropology,
bia University and highly rated as a teacher, and she the social production of sickness and health, sex differ-
has taught at the Salt Institute for Documentary Field ences, genetics, and evolutionary medicine. Her work
Studies and at Principia College, where she was a vis- has appeared in edited volumes and in journals such as
iting faculty member in the Sociology-Anthropology Current Anthropology, American Anthropologist, American
Department on and off for many years. Since 1996 she Journal of Physical Anthropology, and Anthropology Now.
has been an adjunct lecturer of anthropology at Kansas Her books include Aliceheimer’s, a graphic memoir, and
State University. Like Water on Stone, a verse novel.
Among McBride’s many publication credits are She developed a novel curriculum in medical ed-
the books Women of the Dawn; Molly Spotted Elk: A ucation at the University of Vermont College of Medi-
Penobscot in Paris; and Our Lives in Our Hands: Micmac cine that brings humanism, anthropological theory
Indian Basketmakers. She has also contributed chapters and practice, narrative medicine, and professionalism
in a dozen books and coauthored several books, skills to first-year medical students. Dr. Walrath also
including Indians in Eden and The Audubon Field Guide has an MFA in creative writing from Vermont College
to African Wildlife. Working on a range of issues and of Fine Arts and has exhibited her artwork in North
projects with Maine Indian tribes since 1981, McBride America and Europe. Her recent work in the field of
received a commendation from the Maine state legis- graphic medicine combines anthropology with mem-
lature for her research and writing on the history of oir and visual art. Spanning a variety of disciplines,
Native American women. Boston Globe Sunday Magazine her work has been supported by diverse sources such
featured a long profile about her, and Maine Public as the National Science Foundation, the Temple-
Television made a documentary about her research and ton Foundation, the Centers for Disease Control, the
writing on Molly Spotted Elk. Health Resources and Services Administration, the
In recent years, McBride has served as coprincipal Vermont Studio Center, the Vermont Arts Council,
investigator for a National Park Service ethnography and the National Endowment for the Arts. She spent
project and curated several museum exhibits, includ- 2012–2013 as a Fulbright Scholar at the American Uni-
ing “Journeys West: The David & Peggy Rockefeller versity of Armenia and the Institute of Ethnography
American Indian Art Collection” for the Abbe Museum and Archaeology of the National Academy of Sciences
in Bar Harbor, Maine. Her exhibit, “Indians & Rusti- of Armenia. She is working on a second graphic mem-
cators,” received a Leadership in History Award from oir that combines her Aliceheimer’s work with her field-
the American Association for State and Local History work on aging and memory in Armenia and a graphic
(2012). As of 2016, she serves on the advisory panel novel about the genetics of mental illness.
Uriel Sinai/The New York Times/Redux
CHALLENGE ISSUE
How do we make sense of the world? Who are we, and how are we connected to the person
pictured here? Why might we look different from this person or speak a different language?
Anthropologists approach such questions holistically, framing them in a broad, integrated
context that considers human culture and biology, in all times and places, as inextricably
intertwined. Consider David Abongo Owich pictured here catching baby catfish in Kenya’s Lake
Victoria with repurposed mosquito nets, provided by health organizations to regions with a
high incidence of malaria, which is spread by mosquitoes. However, the free malarial nets are
useful for trapping fish, so some choose to improve their diet rather than protect themselves
from malaria. This has led to problems not only with the continued spread of the disease but
with overfishing and water contamination from the insecticides in the nets. Historically, disease-
specific interventions have often overlooked the needs and values of each particular human
society. The anthropological perspective equips us to negotiate today’s interconnected, global-
ized world, enabling us to contribute to practical solutions for the problems of contemporary life.
The Essence
of Anthropology 1
The Anthropological Perspective
Anthropology is the study of humankind in all times and places. Of course, In this chapter you
many disciplines focus on humans in some way. For example, anatomy and will learn to
physiology concentrate on our species as biological organisms. Anthropology fo- ●● Describe the discipline
cuses on the interconnections and interdependence of all aspects of the human of anthropology and
experience in all places, in the present and deep into the past, well before written
make connections
between each of its four
history. This unique, broad holistic perspective equips anthropologists to fields.
address that elusive thing we call human nature.
●● Compare anthropology
Anthropologists welcome the contributions of researchers from other disci- to the sciences and the
plines and, in return, offer their findings to these disciplines. Anthropologists may humanities.
not know as much about the structure of the human eye as anatomists or as much ●● Identify the
about the perception of color as psychologists. As synthesizers, however, anthro- characteristics of
pologists seek to understand how anatomy and psychology relate to color-naming anthropological field
methods and the ethics
practices in different societies. Because they look for the broad basis of ideas and
of anthropological
practices without limiting themselves to any single social or biological aspect, research.
anthropologists acquire an expansive and inclusive overview of our species. ●● Explain the usefulness
Embracing a holistic perspective allows anthropologists to guard against possi- of anthropology in light
ble personal or cultural biases. As the old saying goes, people often see what they of globalization.
believe rather than what appears before their eyes. By maintaining a critical aware-
ness of their own assumptions about human nature—checking and rechecking the
ways their beliefs and actions might be shaping their research—anthropologists
strive to gain objective knowledge about humans. With this in mind, anthropol-
ogists avoid the pitfalls of ethnocentrism, a belief that the ways of one’s own
culture are the best or only proper ones. anthropology The study of humankind in all
times and places.
Thus anthropologists have expanded holistic perspective A fundamental
principle of anthropology: The various parts
our understanding of diversity in hu-
of human culture and biology must be viewed
man thought, biology, and behavior, as in the broadest possible context in order
to understand their interconnections and
well as our understanding of the many interdependence.
ethnocentrism The belief that the ways of
things humans have in common. one’s own culture are the only proper ones.
4 CHAPTER 1 The Essence of Anthropology
as for one investigat-

ing tropical food gar-
dens or traditional
healing ceremonies.
We might say anthro-
pology is a discipline
concerned with unbi-
ased evaluation of di-
verse human systems,
including one’s own.
Although other
social sciences have
predominantly concen-
trated on contempo-
rary peoples living in
North American and
European (Western) so-
cieties, anthropologists
have historically fo-
cused on non-Western
peoples and cultures.
Anthropologists work
with the understanding
that to fully access the
complexities of human
ideas, behavior, and bi-
ology, all humans, wher-
ever and whenever,
must be studied. A
Gina Ulysse
cross-cultural and long-
term evolutionary per-
Figure 1.1 Anthropologist Gina Athena Ulysse spective distinguishes
Anthropologists come from many corners of the world and contribute to the field in myriad ways. Dr. anthropology from
Gina Athena Ulysse, pictured here, was born in Pétion-Ville, Haiti, and immigrated to the United States other social sciences.
with her family when she was a teenager. Now an associate professor of anthropology at Wesleyan This approach guards
University, she is a writer and spoken word scholar-artist. Her work explores Haitian history, identity, against theories that
spirituality, and the lingering, dehumanizing effects of colonialism. Her performances incorporate spoken are culture-bound—
word and Vodou chant, blurring the lines between anthropology and art. She recently brought her
based on assumptions
performance back to Haiti while wearing the International Peace Belt, first created from coins that went
about the world and
out of circulation when the euro replaced most former European currencies. Today 115 of the world’s
reality that come from
196 countries are represented on the belt. As a “living link between cultures and a symbol of peace
the researcher’s own
and unity of all nations” (Artists for World Peace, 2015), the belt has traveled to over twenty-five
culture.
countries on five continents.
As a case in point,
consider the fact that
Anthropologists come from many different backgrounds, infants in the United States typically sleep apart from
and individuals practicing the discipline vary in their their parents. To people accustomed to multibedroom
personal, national, ethnic, political, and religious beliefs houses, cribs, and car seats, this may seem normal,
(Figure 1.1). At the same time, they apply a rigorous but cross-cultural research shows that co-sleeping, of
methodology for researching from the perspective of the mother and baby in particular, is more common globally
culture being studied, which requires them to check for (Figure 1.2). Further, the practice of sleeping apart favored
the influences of their own biases. This is as true for an in the United States dates back only about 200 years
anthropologist analyzing the global banking industry (McKenna & McDade, 2005). Cultural norms are neither
universal nor eternal.
Consider also the medical practice of organ transplan-
culture-bound A perspective that produces theories about the world
and reality that are based on the assumptions and values from the tation, which has become widespread since the first kid-
researcher’s own culture. ney transplant between twin brothers in Boston in 1954.
Anthropology and Its Fields 5
V ISUAL
V I S UA L COUNTE
COU N T E R RP
POIOINT
NT
Picture Partners/Alamy
Dinodia Photo
Figure 1.2 Sleeping Habits Across Cultures
A newborn baby in United States lies alone in a hospital cradle. A newborn Ho baby in Chakradharpur, India, sleeps nestled
beside her mother. The patterns set in the first hours of life repeat in the coming weeks, months, and years. The U.S. pattern
promotes the cultural norm of 8 isolated, uninterrupted hours of sleep at night throughout all phases of the life span. Cross-cultural
research shows that co-sleeping and periods of wakefulness during the night are far more common. For U.S. infants sleeping
alone in cribs, the consequences can be dire. They do not benefit from breastfeeding cues provided by someone sleeping nearby.
Consequently, they are more susceptible to sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), a phenomenon in which a baby, usually between
4 and 6 months old, stops breathing and dies while asleep. The highest rates of SIDS are found among infants in the United States
(McKenna, Ball, & Gettler, 2007). That 50 to 70 million adults in the United States suffer from sleep disorders may also be a
product of this cultural pattern (Institute of Medicine, 2006).
Today, transplants between unrelated individuals are

common, so much so that organs are illegally trafficked,
Anthropology
often across continents from the poor to the wealthy. A
practice like organ transplantation can only exist if it fits
and Its Fields
with cultural beliefs about death and the human body. Individual anthropologists tend to specialize in one of four
The dominant North American and European view—that fields or subdisciplines: cultural anthropology, linguistic
the body is a machine that can be repaired much like a anthropology, archaeology, and biological (physical) an-
car—makes organ transplantation acceptable. However, thropology (Figure 1.3). Some anthropologists consider
in Japan the concept of brain death (that a person is archaeology and linguistics to be part of a broader study of
“dead” when the individual’s brain no longer functions, human cultures, but both subdisciplines have close ties to
despite a still-beating heart) is hotly contested. Their idea biological anthropology. For example, although linguistic
of personhood does not incorporate a mind–body split, anthropology focuses on the cultural aspects of language,
so Japanese people do not accept that a warm body is a it has deep connections to the evolution of human lan-
corpse from which organs can be harvested. In addition, guage and to the biological basis of speech and language
the idea of organs as anonymous “gifts” does not fit with studied within biological anthropology.
the Japanese social pattern of reciprocal exchange. Conse- Researchers in each of anthropology’s fields gather and
quently, organ transplants are rarely performed in Japan analyze data to explore similarities and differences among
(Lock, 2001). humans, across time and space. Moreover, individuals
The findings of anthropologists have often challenged within each of the four fields practice applied anthro-
the conclusions of sociologists, psychologists, and econ- pology, using anthropological knowledge and methods
omists. At the same time, anthropology is indispensable to prevent or solve practical problems. Most applied an-
to those in other disciplines because it provides the only thropologists actively collaborate with the communities
consistent check against culture-bound assertions. In a
sense, anthropology is to these disciplines what the lab-
oratory is to physics and chemistry: an essential testing applied anthropology The use of anthropological knowledge and
ground for their theories. methods to solve practical problems, often for a specific client.
specialization appear in many of the Biocultural Connection

A features in this text, including “Picturing Pesticides.”
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d p people—operate. These standards are socially learned—not
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acquired through biological inheritance. Cultures may vary
considerably from place to place, but no person is “more
Figure 1.3 The Four Fields of Anthropology cultured” in the anthropological sense than any other.
Note that the divisions among the fields are not sharp, Integral to all the anthropological fields, the concept of
indicating that their boundaries overlap. Also, all four fields culture might be considered anthropology’s distinguishing
include the practice of applied anthropology. feature. After all, biological anthropologists are distinct from
biologists primarily because they take culture into account.
Cultural anthropologists may study the legal, medical,
in which they work—setting goals, solving problems, economic, political, or religious system of a given society,
and conducting research together. In this book, the An- knowing that all aspects of culture interrelate as part of a
thropology Applied features spotlight how anthropology unified whole. They may focus on divisions in a society—
contributes to solving a wide range of challenges. such as gender, age, or class. These same categories are also
An early example of the application of anthropological significant to archaeologists who study a society through
knowledge to a practical problem is the international public its material remains, to linguistic anthropologists who
health movement that began in the 1920s. This marked the examine ancient and modern languages, and to biological
beginning of medical anthropology—a specialization anthropologists who investigate the physical human body.
that brings theoretical and applied approaches from cultural Cultural anthropology has two main components:
and biological anthropology to the study of human health ethnography and ethnology. An ethnography—a detailed
and disease. The work of medical anthropologists sheds light description of a particular culture—is based on fieldwork,
on connections between human health and political and the term all anthropologists use for on-location research.
economic forces, both locally and globally. Examples of this Ethnographic fieldwork entails a combination of social par-
ticipation and personal observation within the community
being studied and interviews and discussions with indi-
medical anthropology A specialization in anthropology that brings vidual members of a group. This methodology, commonly
theoretical and applied approaches from cultural and biological
anthropology to the study of human health and disease.
referred to as participant observation (Figure 1.4), pro-
cultural anthropology The study of patterns in human behavior,
vides the information used to make systematic comparisons
thought, and emotions, focusing on humans as culture-producing and of cultures all across the world. Known as ethnology, such
culture-reproducing creatures. Also known as social or sociocultural cross-cultural research allows anthropologists to develop
anthropology. theories about differences and similarities among groups.
culture A society’s shared and socially transmitted ideas, values, and
perceptions, which are used to make sense of experience and generate
behavior and are reflected in that behavior. Ethnography
ethnography A detailed description of a particular culture primarily
Through participant observation—eating a people’s food,
based on fieldwork.
fieldwork The term anthropologists use for on-location research.
sleeping under their roof, learning how to speak and be-
participant observation In ethnography, the technique of learning a
have acceptably, and personally experiencing their habits
people’s culture through social participation and personal observation and customs—the ethnographer seeks to understand a
within the community being studied, as well as interviews and discussion particular way of life. Being a participant observer does not
with individual members of the group over an extended period of time. mean that the anthropologist must join in battles to study
ethnology The study and analysis of different cultures from a
a culture in which warfare is prominent; but by living
comparative or historical point of view, utilizing ethnographic accounts
and developing anthropological theories that help explain why certain among a warring people, the ethnographer can ascertain
important differences or similarities occur among groups. how warfare fits into the overall cultural framework.
Figure 1.4 Fieldwork

among Urban Drug Users
For over ten years,
anthropologist Philippe
Bourgois and photographer-
ethnographer Jeff Schonberg
spent time among heroin
and crack users on the
streets of San Francisco.
Their research—including
photographs, field notes,
and audio recordings—
explores the experience of
homelessness, addiction,
and marginalization. Their
book, Righteous Dopefiend:
Homelessness, Addiction, and
Poverty in Urban America, and
an accompanying traveling
Jeffrey Schonberg
exhibit are based on their
findings.
Ethnographers must take care not to place too much anthropology that involves cross-cultural comparisons
emphasis on one part of a culture at the expense of an- and theories that explain differences or similarities
other. Only by discovering how all parts—social, political, among groups. Cross-cultural comparisons can lead to in-
economic, and religious practices and institutions—relate sights about one’s own beliefs and practices. Consider, for
to one another can ethnographers begin to understand example, the amount of time spent on domestic chores
the cultural system. Ethnographers’ essential tools are by industrialized peoples and traditional food foragers—
notebooks, pen/pencil, camera, recording devices, laptop people who rely on wild plant and animal resources for
computer, and, increasingly, smartphones. Most impor- subsistence. Anthropological research has shown that,
tant of all, they need flexible social skills. despite access to “labor-saving” appliances such as dish-
The popular image of ethnographic fieldwork is that washers, washing machines, vacuum cleaners, and mi-
it occurs among hunters, herders, or farmers who live in crowave ovens, urban dwellers in the United States who
far-off, isolated places. To be sure, much ethnographic are not working outside their homes put 55 hours a week
work continues to be done in remote villages in Asia, into their housework. In contrast, Aboriginal women in
Africa, or Latin America, islands of the Pacific Ocean, Australia devoted 20 hours a week to their chores (Bodley,
and deserts of Australia. However, with the demise of 2008, p. 106). Nevertheless, consumer appliances have
colonialism in the mid-20th century, anthropologists become important indicators of a high standard of living
now also focus on industrialized societies and urban across the globe due to the widespread belief that they
neighborhoods. reduce housework and increase leisure time. Systematic
Ethnographic fieldwork is no longer expert Western comparisons allow ethnologists to generate scientific ex-
anthropologists studying people in “other” places; today planations of cultural features and social practices in all
it is a collaborative approach among anthropologists times and places.
from all parts of the world and the varied communities in
which they work. Anthropologists from around the globe
employ the same research techniques developed in the Applied Cultural Anthropology
study of non-Western peoples to explore diverse subjects Today, cultural anthropologists contribute to applied
such as religious movements, street gangs, refugee settle- anthropology in a variety of contexts ranging from
ments, land rights, corporate bureaucracies, and health- business to education to healthcare to governmental
care systems in Western cultures. interventions to humanitarian aid. For example, an-
thropologist Nancy Scheper-Hughes (2003) has taken
her investigative work on the global problem of illegal
Ethnology organ trafficking and used it to help found Organs
Largely descriptive in nature, ethnography provides Watch, an organization dedicated to solving this human
raw data needed for ethnology—the branch of cultural rights issue.
BIOC U LT U R A L CON N E C T ION
Picturing Pesticides
The toxic effects of pesticides have long Yaqui were exposed to consisted of DDT UNITED STATES
been known. After all, these compounds sprayed by the government to control ma-
are designed to kill bugs. However, it has laria. In these communities, indoor bugs
not been as simple to document the toxic were swatted or tolerated. MEXICO
effects of pesticides on humans because Pesticide exposure was linked to child
Yaqui
those impacts may take years to become health and development through two sets
© Cengage Learning
River
apparent. of measures. First, levels of pesticides in
Anthropologist Elizabeth Guillette, work- the blood of valley children at birth and Pacific
ing in a Yaqui Indian community in Mex- throughout their childhood were examined Ocean
ico, combined ethnographic observation, and found to be far higher than in the
biological monitoring of pesticide levels children from the foothills. Further, Guil- exposure to pesticides among the Yaqui
in the blood, and neurobehavioral testing lette found that the breast milk of nursing farmers is typical of agricultural commu-
to document the impairment of child de- mothers from the valley farms revealed the nities globally and has significance for
a
velopment by pesticides. Working with presence of pesticides. changing human practices regarding the
colleagues from the Technological Institute Second, children from the two commu- use of pesticides everywhere.
of Sonora in Obregón, Mexico, Guillette nities were asked to perform a variety of
compared children and families from two normal childhood activities, such as jumping, Biocultural Question
Yaqui communities: a valley farm whose memory games, playing catch, and drawing
Given the documented developmental
residents were exposed to large doses of pictures. The children exposed to high doses
damage these pesticides have inflicted on
pesticides and a ranching village in the of pesticides showed significantly poorer
children, should their sale and use be reg-
foothills nearby. stamina, eye–hand coordination, large motor
ulated globally? Are there potentially dam-
Guillette found that the frequency of coordination, and drawing ability compared
aging toxins in use in your community?
pesticide use among the farming Yaqui to the Yaqui children from the foothills. Nota-
was forty-five times per crop cycle with two bly, although the valley children exhibited no
a
crop cycles per year. In the farming val- overt symptoms of pesticide poisoning, their Guillette, E. A., Meza, M. M., Aquilar,
leys, she also noted that families tended delays and impairment in neurobehavioral M. G., Soto, A. D., & Garcia, I. E. (1998,
to use household bug sprays on a daily abilities may be irreversible. June). An anthropological approach to the
basis, thus increasing their exposure to Though Guillette’s study was thor- evaluation of preschool children exposed
toxic pesticides. In the foothill ranches, oughly embedded in one ethnographic to pesticides in Mexico. Environmental
she found that the only pesticides that the community, she emphasizes that the Health Perspectives 106 (6), 347–353
Foothills Valley
of preschool children exposed to pesticides in Mexico. Environmental Perspectives
From E. A. Guillette, et al. (1998). An anthropological approach to the evaluation
106 (6), 347–353. Courtesy of Dr. Elizabeth A. Guillette.
60-month-old 71-month-old 71-month-old 71-month-old

female male female male
Compare the drawings typically done by Yaqui children heavily exposed to pesticides (valley) to those made
by Yaqui children living in nearby areas who were relatively unexposed to pesticides (foothills).
Figure 1.5 Preserving

Endangered Languages
Linguistic anthropologist Greg
Anderson (right) has devoted
his career to documenting and
saving indigenous languages.
He founded and now heads
the Living Tongues Institute for
Endangered Languages and works
throughout the globe to preserve
languages that are dying out at a
shocking rate of about one every
two weeks. Here he is recording
for the first time the language
of Koro, spoken by some
1,000 people in India’s remote
northeastern state, Arunachal
Living Tongues Institute

Pradesh. Situated near India’s
contested border with China, this
region offers much for linguistic
investigation.
Linguistic Anthropology Descriptive Linguistics

This branch of linguistic anthropology involves the
Perhaps the most distinctive feature of the human species
painstaking work of dissecting a language by record-
is language. Although the sounds and gestures made by
ing, delineating, and analyzing all of its features. This
some other species—especially apes—may serve functions
includes studying its structure (including grammar
comparable to those of human language, no other animal
and syntax), its unique linguistic repertoire (figures of
has developed a system of symbolic communication as
speech, word plays, and so on), and its relationship to
complex as that of humans. Language allows people to
other languages.
create, preserve, and transmit countless details of their
culture from generation to generation.
Linguistic anthropology focuses on the structure Historical Linguistics
and history of human languages and their relation to social Languages, like cultures, are alive, malleable, and chang-
and cultural contexts. It shares data, theories, and methods ing. Online tools such as Urban Dictionary track the
with the more general discipline of linguistics, but it also changes in North American slang, and traditional dictio-
includes distinctly anthropological questions, such as, how naries include new words and usages each year. Historical
does language influence or reflect culture? And how does linguists track these changes to increase understanding
language use differ among distinct members of a society? of the human past. By working out relationships among
In its early years, linguistic anthropology emphasized languages and examining their spatial distributions,
the documentation of languages of cultures under ethno- these specialists may estimate how long the speakers of
graphic study—particularly those whose future seemed those languages have lived where they do. By identifying
precarious due to colonization, forced assimilation, popu- those words in related languages that have survived from
lation decimation, capitalist expansion, or other destruc- an ancient ancestral tongue, historical linguists can sug-
tive forces. When the first Europeans began to colonize the gest not only where but also how speakers of an ancestral
world five centuries ago, an estimated 12,000 distinct lan- language lived. Such work has shown, for example, how
guages existed. By the early 1900s—when anthropological the Bantu family of languages spread from its origins in
research began to take off—many languages and peoples western Africa (in the region of today’s Nigeria and Cam-
had already disappeared or were on the brink of extinction eroon) to the majority of the continent. Over the course
(Figure 1.5). Sadly, this trend continues, with predictions of several millennia, Bantu-speaking peoples came to in-
that nearly half of the world’s remaining 6,000 languages habit most of sub-Saharan Africa, bringing the language,
will become extinct over the next hundred years (Crystal, farming technology, and other aspects of their culture
2002; Knight, Studdert-Kennedy, & Hurford, 2000). with them.
Linguistic anthropology has three main branches:
descriptive linguistics, historical linguistics, and language
in relation to social and cultural settings. All three yield
valuable information about how people communicate linguistic anthropology The study of human languages—looking at
and how they understand the world around them. their structure, history, and relation to social and cultural contexts.
Language in Its Social and Cultural Settings Applied Linguistic Anthropology

Some linguistic anthropologists study the social and cul- Linguistic anthropologists put their research to use in a
tural contexts of a language. The idea of linguistic relativity number of settings. Some, for example, collaborate with
arose in the early 20th century, as European and American recently contacted cultural groups, small nations (or
scholars began to master foreign languages with very dif- tribes), and ethnic minorities in preserving or reviving
ferent grammatical structures. Linguistic relativity is the languages suppressed or lost during periods of oppression
idea that linguistic diversity reflects not just differences in by dominant societies. Their work includes helping to cre-
sounds and grammar but also differences in ways of mak- ate written forms of languages that previously existed only
ing sense of the world. For example, observing that the orally. This sort of applied linguistic anthropology rep-
Hopi Indians of the American Southwest have no words resents a trend toward mutually useful collaboration that
for the concept of past, present, and future led early pro- is characteristic of much anthropological research today.
ponents of linguistic relativity to suggest the Hopi people
had a unique conception of time (Whorf, 1946).
Complex ideas and practices integral to a culture’s Archaeology
survival can also be reflected in language. For example, Archaeology is the branch of anthropology that stud-
among the Nuer, a nomadic group that travels with graz- ies human cultures through the recovery and analysis of
ing animals throughout South Sudan, a baby born with a material remains and environmental data. Such material
visible deformity is not considered a human baby. Instead, products include tools, pottery, hearths, and enclosures
it is called a baby hippopotamus. This name allows for that remain as traces of past cultural practices, as well
the safe return of the “hippopotamus” to the river where as human, plant, and marine remains, some dating back
it belongs. Such infants would not be able to survive in 2.5 million years. These traces and their arrangements
Nuer society, so linguistic practice is compatible with the reflect specific human ideas and behavior. For example,
compassionate choice the Nuer have had to make. restricted concentrations of charcoal that include oxidized
Some theorists have challenged the notion of linguis- earth, bone fragments, and charred plant remains, located
tic relativity, arguing that biological universals underlie near pieces of fire-cracked rock and tools suitable for food
the human capacity for language and thought. Cognitive preparation, indicate cooking. Such remains can reveal
scientist Steven Pinker has even suggested that, at the much about a people’s diet and subsistence practices.
biological level, thought is nonverbal (Pinker, 1994). In addition to studying a single group of people at
Whatever the case, a holistic anthropological approach a specific place and time, archaeologists use material
considers language to be dependent on both a shared bio- remains to investigate broad questions, including settle-
logical basis and on specific cultural patterning. ment or migration patterns across vast areas, such as the
Focusing on specific speech events, some linguistic peopling of the Americas or the spread of the earliest hu-
anthropologists may research how factors such as age, mans from Africa. Together with skeletal remains, material
gender, ethnicity, class, religion, occupation, or financial remains help archaeologists reconstruct the biocultural
status affect speech (Hymes, 1974). Because members of context of past human lifeways and patterns. Archaeolo-
any culture may use a variety of different registers and gists organize this material and use it to explain cultural
inflections, the ones they choose (often unconsciously) variability and change through time. Although archae-
to use at a specific instance convey particular meanings. ologists tend to specialize in particular regions or time
For example, linguistic anthropologists might examine periods, a number of subspecializations exist.
whether U.S. women’s tendency to end statements with
an upward inflection, as though the statements were ques- Historical Archaeology
tions, reflects a pattern of male dominance in this society. Compared to historians, who rely on written records, ar-
Linguistic anthropologists also focus on the socialization chaeologists can reach much further back in time for clues
process through which individuals become part of a culture. to human behavior. But to call a society “prehistoric” does
Children take on this fundamental task as they develop, but not mean that these past peoples were less interested in
it can be seen in adults as well. Adults may need to assimi- their history or that they did not have ways of recording
late because of a geographic move or because of a new pro- and transmitting information. It simply means that writ-
fessional identity. First-year medical students, for example, ten records do not exist.
amass 6,000 new vocabulary words and a series of linguistic Archaeologists are not limited to the study of societies
conventions as they begin to take on the role of a physician. without written records; they may study those for which
historic documents are available to supplement the ma-
terial remains. Historical archaeology, the archaeolog-
ical study of places for which written records exist, often
archaeology The study of cultures through the recovery and analysis
of material remains and environmental data. provides data that differ considerably from the historical
historical archaeology The archaeological study of places for which record. In most literate societies, written records are as-
written records exist. sociated with governing elites rather than with farmers,
fishers, laborers, or slaves, and therefore they include

biases of the ruling classes. In fact, in many historical con-
texts, “material culture may be the most objective source
of information we have” (Deetz, 1977, p. 160).
Bioarchaeology
A number of archaeological specializations deal with pre-
serving cultural practices in the remains of living things.
University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Philadelphia

Bioarchaeology, the study of human remains—bones,
skulls, teeth, and sometimes hair, dried skin, or other
tissue—emphasizes preservation of cultural and social
processes in skeletons. For example, mummified skeletal
remains from the Andean highlands in South America
preserve not only this burial practice but also provide
evidence of some of the earliest brain surgery ever doc-
umented. In addition, these bioarchaeological remains
exhibit skull deformations that were used to distinguish
nobility from other members of society.
Other specializations include archaeological ethnobot-
any, the study of how past peoples made use of indigenous
plants; biomolecular archaeology, the analysis of traces of
living organisms left in material remains (Figure 1.6);
zooarchaeology, the tracking of animal remains recovered
in excavations; and marine archaeology, the investigation Figure 1.6 The Biomolecular Archaeology of Ancient Beverages
of submerged sites or sailing vessels from hundreds or Biomolecular archaeologist Dr. Patrick McGovern is known
even thousands of years ago. as the Indiana Jones of ancient beverages. By chemically
analyzing the residue in ancient vessels, as well as replicating
Contemporary Archaeology the crafting processes, “Dr. Pat” and his team at the University
of Pennsylvania’s Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology in
Although most archaeologists concentrate on the past,
Philadelphia recreate the drinks of long ago, including a honey-
some study material objects in contemporary settings,
grape-saffron beer from the 2,700-year-old tomb of King Midas
including garbage dumps. Just as a 3,000-year-old shell
in Turkey and a chili-chocolate concoction found on 3,400-year-
mound (midden) at the tip of South America offers signifi-
old pottery fragments in Honduras. Through collaboration with
cant clues about prehistoric communities living on mus- the craft brewery Dogfish Head, the beverages that delighted
sels, fish, and other natural resources, modern garbage ancient tongues are now available for today’s connoisseurs.
dumps provide evidence of everyday life in contemporary
societies. For large cities like New York, the accumula-
tion of daily garbage—such as newspapers, rubble, and
Applied Archaeology
plastic—is staggering. In just a few centuries, millions of
The Garbage Project also shows applied archaeology
inhabitants have dumped so much trash that this urban
in action. Its landfill excavation program, initiated in
area has been physically raised 6 to 30 feet (Rathje &
1987, produced the first reliable data on what materials
Murphy, 2001).
actually go into landfills and what happens to them
One of the earliest anthropological studies of modern
there. Again, common beliefs turned out to be at odds
garbage—University of Arizona’s Garbage Project—began
with reality. For example, when buried in deep com-
with a study of household waste of Tucson residents in
post landfills, biodegradable materials such as news-
1973. When surveyed by questionnaire, only 15 percent
papers take far longer to decay than anyone expected.
of households reported consuming beer, and none re-
The data gathered from the Garbage Project’s landfill
ported more than eight cans a week. Analysis of garbage
studies on hazardous wastes and rates of decay of var-
from the same area, however, showed that 80 percent of
ious materials play a major role in landfill and waste
the households consumed beer, and 50 percent discarded
disposal regulation and management today (Rathje &
more than eight cans per week (Rathje & Murphy, 2001).
Murphy, 2001).
Thus, the Garbage Project has tested the validity of re-
search survey techniques, upon which sociologists, econ-
omists, other social scientists, and policymakers rely. The
tests show a significant difference between what people
bioarchaeology The archaeological study of human remains—bones,
say they do and what the garbage analysis shows they skulls, teeth, and sometimes hair, dried skin, or other tissue—to determine
actually do. the influences of culture and environment on human biological variation.
Cultural Resource Management how humans have adapted and where they have migrated.
For many, archaeology evokes images of ancient pyramids As experts in the anatomy of human bones and tissues,
and temples. Instead, much archaeological fieldwork is cul- biological anthropologists lend their knowledge about the
tural resource management. Unlike traditional archae- body to applied areas such as gross anatomy laboratories,
ological research, cultural resource management is a legally public health, and criminal investigations.
required part of any activity that might threaten important
aspects of a country’s prehistoric and historic heritage. Paleoanthropology
Many countries, from Chile to China, use archaeological Dealing with much greater timespans than other branches
expertise to protect and manage their cultural heritage. of anthropology, paleoanthropology is the study of
In the United States, for example, if a construction com- the origins, predecessors, and early representatives of
pany plans to replace a highway bridge, it must first contract the present human species. Focusing on long-time bio-
with archaeologists to identify and protect any significant logical changes (evolution), paleoanthropologists seek to
prehistoric or historic resources that might be affected. And understand how, when, and why we became the species
when archaeological investigation unearths Native Amer- we are today. In biological terms, we humans are Homo
ican cultural items or human remains, federal laws come sapiens, a species in the larger order of primates, one of
into play again. The Native American Graves Protection the many kinds of mammals. Because we share a common
and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), passed in 1990, provides a ancestry with other primates (monkeys and apes), paleo-
process for the return of these remains—especially human anthropologists look back to the earliest primates or even
bones and burial gifts, such as copper jewelry, weapons, and to the earliest mammals to reconstruct the complex path
ceramic bowls—to lineal descendants, culturally affiliated of human evolution. Paleoanthropology, unlike other
Indian tribes, and Native Hawaiian organizations. evolutionary studies, takes a biocultural approach, fo-
In addition to working in all the capacities mentioned, cusing on the interaction of biology and culture.
archaeologists also help engineering firms prepare envi- Paleoanthropologists compare fossilized skeletons of
ronmental impact statements. Some of these archaeolo- our ancestors to other fossils and to the bones of living
gists operate out of universities and colleges, while others members of our species. Combining this knowledge with
are on the staff of independent consulting firms. When biochemical and genetic evidence, they strive to scientif-
state legislation sponsors any kind of archaeological work, ically reconstruct human evolutionary history. With each
it is referred to as contract archaeology. new fossil discovery, paleoanthropologists have another
piece to add to the puzzle.
Biological Anthropology Primatology

Studying the anatomy and behavior of other primates helps
Biological anthropology, also called physical anthropol-
us understand what we share with our closest living relatives
ogy, focuses on humans as biological organisms. Tradition-
and what makes humans unique. Therefore, primatology,
ally, biological anthropologists concentrated on human
or the study of living and fossil primates, is a vital part of
evolution, primatology, growth and development, human
biological anthropology. Primates include the Asian and Af-
adaptation, and forensics. Today, molecular anthro-
rican apes, as well as monkeys, lemurs, lorises, and tarsiers.
pology, or the anthropological study of genes and genetic
Biologically, humans are members of the ape family—
relationships, contributes significantly to our understand-
large-bodied, broad-shouldered primates without tails.
ing of human evolution (paleogenetics), adaptation, and
Studies of apes in the wild show that their social lives
diversity. Comparisons among groups separated by time,
include sharing learned behavior. Increasingly, primatol-
geography, or the frequency of a particular gene can reveal
ogists designate the shared, learned behavior of nonhu-
man apes as culture. Primate studies offer scientifically
grounded perspectives on the behavior of our ancestors
cultural resource management A branch of archaeology concerned and the abilities of our closest living relatives. As hu-
with survey and/or excavation of archaeological and historical remains man activity encroaches on all parts of the world, many
that might be threatened by construction or development; also involved primate species are endangered. Primatologists, such as
with policy surrounding protection of cultural resources.
Jane Goodall (Figure 1.7), champion the rights of these
biological anthropology The systematic study of humans as biological
organisms; also known as physical anthropology. remarkable animals and the preservation of their habitats.
molecular anthropology The anthropological study of genes and
genetic relationships, which contributes significantly to our understanding Human Growth, Adaptation, and Variation
of human evolution, adaptation, and diversity. Some biological anthropologists specialize in the study of
paleoanthropology The anthropological study of biological changes
human growth and development. They examine biological
through time (evolution) to understand the origins and predecessors of
the present human species. mechanisms of growth as well as the impact of the envi-
biocultural An approach that focuses on the interaction of biology and ronment on the growth process. For example, Franz Boas,
culture. a pioneer of American anthropology of the early 20th cen-
primatology The study of living and fossil primates. tury (see the Anthropologists of Note feature) compared
the heights of immigrants who spent

their childhood in the “old coun-
try” (Europe) to the increased heights
reached by their children who grew
up in the United States. Today, bi-
ological anthropologists study the
impact of disease, pollution, and
poverty on growth. Comparisons be-
tween human and nonhuman pri-
mate growth patterns provide clues to
the evolutionary history of humans.
Detailed anthropological studies of
the hormonal, genetic, and physi-
ological bases of healthy growth in
living humans also contribute signifi-
cantly to the health of children today.
Studies of human adaptation fo-
cus on the capacity of humans to
AP Images/Jean-Marc Bouju
adapt to their environment, biolog-

ically and culturally. This branch
of biological anthropology takes a
comparative approach to humans
living today in a variety of environ-
ments. Humans are the only primate Figure 1.7 Primatologist Jane Goodall
group to inhabit the entire earth. Over fifty-five years ago, Jane Goodall began studying chimpanzees to shed light on the
Although cultural adaptations make behavior of our distant ancestors. The knowledge she has amassed reveals striking
it possible for people to live in some similarities with our species. Goodall has devoted much of her career to championing
environmentally challenging places, the rights of our closest living relatives.
biological adaptations also contrib-
ute to survival in extreme cold, heat, Genetic human differences include visible traits such
and high altitude. as height, body build, and skin color, as well as bio-
Some of these biolog- chemical factors such as blood type and susceptibility
ical adaptations are to certain diseases. Still, we remain members of a single
built into the genetic ECUADOR species. Biological anthropology applies all the techniques
makeup of populations. PERU of modern biology to achieve fuller understanding of
The long period of hu- human variation and its relationship to the different
man growth and devel- environments in which people have lived. Biological an-
opment also provides Alt BOLIVIA thropologists’ research on human variation has debunked
ipla
ample opportunity for no false ideas of biologically defined races, a notion based on
the environment to widespread misinterpretation of human variation.
CHILE
shape the human body.
Forensic Anthropology
© Cengage Learning
Such developmental ad- Pacific

Ocean
aptations account for ARGENTINA The application of biological anthropology to legal settings
permanent features of is forensic anthropology. In addition to helping law en-
human variation such forcement identify murder victims and perpetrators, forensic
as the enlargement of anthropologists investigate human rights abuses such as geno-
the right ventricle of the heart among the Quechua Indi- cide, terrorism, and war crimes. These specialists use genetic
ans living at high altitude plains (Altiplano) of the Andes, information and details of skeletal anatomy to establish the
a mountain range that extends along the western rim of age, sex, population affiliation, and stature of the deceased.
South America. Humans also experience physiological ad- Forensic anthropologists can also determine whether a person
aptations, short-term changes in response to a particular was right-handed or left-handed, exhibited any physical ab-
environmental stimulus. For example, if a woman who normalities, or had experienced trauma. (See the Anthropol-
normally lives at sea level flies to La Paz, Bolivia—a city at ogy Applied feature in this chapter to read about the work of
an altitude of 3,660 meters (nearly 12,000 feet)—her body several forensic anthropologists and forensic archaeologists.)
will increase production of the red blood cells that carry ox-
ygen. All of these kinds of biological adaptation contribute forensic anthropology The examination of human biological and
to present-day human variation. cultural remains for legal purposes.
A N T H ROPOL OG I S T S OF NO T E
Franz Boas (1858–1942) ● Matilda Coxe Stephenson (1849–1915)
Franz Boas was not did fieldwork among the Zuni Indians of Arizona. In 1885, she
the first to teach founded the Women’s Anthropological Society in Washington, DC,
anthropology in the the first professional association for women scientists. Three
United States, but years later, hired by the Smithsonian’s Bureau of American Eth-
it was Boas and nology, she became one of the first women in the world to receive
his students, with a full-time scientific position. Along with several other pioneering
their insistence female anthropologists in North America, she was highly influ-
on scientific rigor, ential among women’s rights advocates in the late 1800s. The
who integrated an- tradition of women building careers in anthropology continues. In
thropology courses fact, since World War II more than half the presidents of the more
into college and than 10,000-member American Anthropological Association have
university curricula. been women.
Born and raised in
Germany where he
studied physics,
mathematics, and
© National Anthropological Archives Smithsonian Museum 1895 Neg 02871000

Bpk, Berlin/Art Resource, NY
geography, Boas
did his first ethno-
graphic research
among the Inuit
(Eskimos) in Arctic
Canada in 1883
Franz Boas on a sailing ship, about 1925. and 1884. After a
brief academic ca-
reer in Berlin, he
came to the United States where he worked in museums and
conducted ethnographic research among the Kwakiutl (Kwak-
waka’wakw) Indians in the Canadian Pacific. In 1896, he became a
professor at Columbia University in New York City. He authored an
incredible number of publications, founded professional organiza-
tions and journals, and taught two generations of great anthropolo-
gists, including numerous women and ethnic minorities.
Matilda Coxe Stevenson in New Mexico, about 1900.
As a Jewish immigrant, Boas recognized the dangers of ethno-
centrism and especially racism. Through ethnographic fieldwork
and comparative analysis, he demonstrated that white supremacy Recording observations on film as well as in notebooks,
theories and other schemes ranking non-European peoples and Stevenson and Boas were also pioneers in visual anthropol-
cultures as inferior were biased, ill informed, and unscientific. ogy. Stevenson used an early box camera to document Pueblo
Throughout his long and illustrious academic career, he promoted Indian religious ceremonies and material culture, while Boas
anthropology not only as a human science but also as an instru- photographed Inuit and Kwakiutl Indians from the early 1890s for
ment to combat racism and prejudice in the world. cultural as well as physical anthropological documentation. Today,
Among the founders of North American anthropology were their early photographs are greatly valued not only by anthropolo-
a number of women, including Matilda Coxe Stevenson, who gists and historians, but also by indigenous peoples themselves.
Anthropology, Science, Given their intense involvement with people of all times
and places, anthropologists have amassed considerable in-
and the Humanities formation about human failure and success, weakness and
greatness—the real stuff of the humanities. Anthropologists
Anthropology has been called the most humane of the remain committed to the proposition that one cannot
sciences and the most scientific of the humanities—a fully understand another culture by simply observing it;
designation that most anthropologists accept with pride. one must experience it. A commitment to fieldwork and the
systematic collection of data also demonstrate the scien- interpretations are culture-bound. But by using the an-
tific side of anthropology. Anthropology is an empirical thropological principle that culture shapes our thoughts,
social science based on observations or information about scientists can think outside the “culture box,” framing
humans taken in through the senses and verified by others, their hypotheses and interpretations without bias. By
rather than on intuition or faith. However, anthropology encompassing both humanism and science, the discipline
is distinguished from other sciences by the diverse ways in of anthropology can draw on its internal diversity to over-
which its scientific research is conducted. come the limits culture can impose on scientific inquiry.
Science, a carefully honed way of producing knowl-
edge, aims to reveal and explain the underlying logic
and structural processes of our world. A creative scientific
endeavor seeks testable explanations for observed phe- Doing Anthropology
nomena, ideally in terms of the workings of unchanging
principles or laws. Two basic ingredients are essential for in the Field
this: imagination and skepticism. Imagination, though Because anthropologists are keenly aware that their per-
having the potential to lead us astray, helps us recognize sonal and cultural backgrounds may shape their research
unexpected ways phenomena might be ordered and to
questions or even affect their actual observations, they
think of old things in new ways. Without it, there can be
rely heavily on a technique that has been successful in
no science. Skepticism allows us to distinguish fact (an ob-
other disciplines: They immerse themselves in the data to
servation independently verified by others) from fancy, to
the fullest extent possible. In the process, anthropologists
test our speculations, and to prevent our imaginations from
become so familiar with even the smallest details that they
running wild. In their search for explanations, scientists do
can begin to recognize underlying patterns that might oth-
not assume things are always as they appear on the surface.
erwise have been overlooked. This enables anthropologists
After all, what could be more obvious than the earth stay-
to frame meaningful hypotheses, which then may be sub-
ing still while the sun travels around it every day?
jected to further testing or validation in the field.
Like other scientists, anthropologists often begin their
Although fieldwork was introduced earlier in this chap-
research with a hypothesis (a tentative explanation or
ter in connection with cultural anthropology, it is character-
hunch) about possible relationships between certain ob-
istic of all the anthropological subdisciplines. Archaeologists
served facts or events. By gathering various kinds of data
and paleoanthropologists excavate sites in the field. A bio-
that seem to ground such suggested explanations in evi-
logical anthropologist interested in the effects of globaliza-
dence, anthropologists come up with a theory, an expla-
nation supported by a reliable body of data. Theories guide tion on nutrition and growth will live with a community
us in our explorations and may result in new knowledge. of people to study this question. A primatologist might live
Efforts to demonstrate connections between known facts with a group of chimpanzees or baboons just as a linguist
or events may yield unexpected facts, events, or relation- will study the language of a community by living with that
ships. Newly discovered facts may provide evidence that group. Such immersion challenges anthropologists to be
certain explanations, however popular or firmly believed constantly aware of ways that cultural factors influence re-
to be true, are unfounded. Without supporting evidence, search questions. Anthropological researchers self-monitor
hypotheses must be dropped. Moreover, no scientific through constantly checking their own biases and assump-
theory—no matter how widely accepted by the interna- tions as they work; they present these self-reflections along
tional community of scholars—is beyond challenge. In with their observations, a practice known as reflexivity.
other words, anthropology relies on empirical evidence. Unlike many other social scientists, anthropologists
It is important to distinguish between scientific usually do not go into the field armed with prefigured
theories—which are always open to challenges born of new questionnaires. Though they will have completed back-
evidence or insights—and doctrine. A doctrine, or dogma, ground research and devised tentative hypotheses, an-
is an opinion or belief formally handed down by an author- thropologists recognize that maintaining an open mind
ity as true and indisputable. For instance, those who accept a can lead to the best discoveries. As fieldwork proceeds,
creationist doctrine of human origins as recounted in sacred anthropologists sort out their observations, sometimes
texts or myths do so on the basis of religious authority, con-
ceding that such views may be contrary to genetic, geologi-
cal, biological, or other explanations. Such doctrines cannot empirical An approach based on observations of the world rather than
be tested or proved: They are accepted as matters of faith. on intuition or faith.
Although the scientific approach may seem straight- hypothesis A tentative explanation of the relationships between certain
phenomena.
forward, its application is not always easy. For instance,
theory A coherent statement that provides an explanatory framework for
once a hypothesis has been proposed, the person who
understanding; an explanation or interpretation supported by a reliable
suggested it is strongly motivated to verify it, and this body of data.
can cause one to unwittingly overlook negative evi- doctrine An assertion of opinion or belief formally handed down by an
dence. Scientists might not see that their hypotheses or authority as true and indisputable.
A N T H ROPOL OGY A PPL I E D
Forensic Anthropology: Voices for the Dead

The work of Clyde C. Snow, Mercedes Doretti, and Michael Blakey
Forensic anthropology is the analysis of anthropologists to use skeletal remains to as plane crashes. Forensic anthropologists
skeletal remains for legal purposes. Law identify murder victims, missing persons, have also contributed substantially to the
enforcement authorities call upon forensic or people who have died in disasters such investigation of human rights abuses by
AP Images/Rodrigo Abd
The excavation of mass graves by the Guatemalan Foundation for Forensic Anthropology (Fernando Moscoso
Moller, director) documents the human rights abuses committed during Guatemala’s bloody civil war, a conflict
that left 200,000 people dead and another 40,000 missing. In 2009, in a mass grave in the Quiche region,
Diego Lux Tzunux uses his cell phone to photograph the skeletal remains believed to belong to his brother
Manuel who disappeared in 1980. Genetic analyses allow forensic anthropologists to confirm the identity of
individuals so that family members can know the fate of their loved ones. The analysis of skeletal remains
provides evidence of the torture and massacre sustained by these individuals.
by formulating and testing limited or low-level hypoth- economic turmoil. As well, sites, people, and cultures
eses or by intuition. Anthropologists work closely with change over time. For these reasons, one researcher can-
the community so that the research process becomes not easily confirm the reliability or completeness of an-
a collaborative effort. If the results fail to fit together other’s account. As a result, anthropologists bear a special
in a consistent manner, researchers know they must responsibility for accurate reporting. They must clearly
inquire further. Anthropologists establish validity, or explain details of the research: Why was the specific lo-
the reliability of the research conclusions, through the cation selected as a research site? What were the research
replication of observations and/or experiments by other objectives? What were local conditions during fieldwork?
researchers. It then becomes obvious if one’s colleagues Which local individuals provided key information and
have gotten it right. insights? How were the data collected and recorded? How
In anthropology, having others validate one’s work did the researchers check their own biases? Without this
can be challenging. Access to a particular research site information, it is difficult for others to judge the valid-
may be impeded by difficulties of travel, obtaining ity of the account and the soundness of the researcher’s
permits, insufficient funding, and social, political, and conclusions.
identifying victims and documenting the Because of obstructive government offi- In 1991, in another part of the world,
cause of death. cials, corrupt medical professionals, and construction workers in New York City
Among the best-known forensic anthro- incomplete or inaccurate records, Doretti discovered an African burial ground from
pologists is Clyde C. Snow, who studied could not rely on official documentation the 17th and 18th centuries. Directed by
the remains of General Custer and his men and had to conduct her own investiga- Michael Blakey, the African Burial Ground
from the 1876 battle at Little Big Horn tions. She continues to work closely with Project’s researchers used a bioarchae-
and identified the remains of the Nazi war victims’ families, emphasizing respect ological rather than a strictly forensic
criminal Josef Mengele in Brazil. In 1984, and compassion, and has created fo- approach to examine the complete cultural
Snow was instrumental in establishing rensic DNA banks in Mexico, Honduras, and historical context and lifeways of the
the first forensic team devoted to docu- and El Salvador to help with identifying people buried there. The more than 400
b
menting human rights abuses around the remains. individuals, many of them children, were
world: the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Forensic anthropologists specializing in worked so far beyond their ability to endure
Team (EAAF in Spanish). At the time, the skeletal remains commonly work closely that their spines were fractured—incontro-
newly elected civilian government asked with forensic archaeologists. Their rela- vertible evidence of the horror of slavery in
Snow’s team to help identify remains of the tionship is like that between a forensic this busy North American port.
desaparecidos or “disappeared ones”—the pathologist, who examines a corpse to Thus, several kinds of anthropologists
9,000 or more people who were eliminated establish time and manner of death, and analyze human remains for a variety of
by death squads during seven years of a crime scene investigator, who searches purposes. Their work contributes to the doc-
military rule. Besides providing factual the site for clues. While the forensic umentation and correction of violence com-
accounts of the fate of victims to their anthropologist deals with the human re- mitted by humans of the past and present.
surviving kin and refuting the assertions mains—often only bones and teeth—the In doing so, they shape a more just future.
of revisionists that the massacres never forensic archaeologist controls the site,
happened, the work of Snow and his Argen- recording the position of relevant finds
tinean associates was crucial in convicting and recovering any clues associated with a
“Mercedes Doretti: Forensic Anthropologist.”
several military officers of kidnapping, tor- the remains. (2007, January 28). MacArthur Foundation.
ture, and murder. For example, in 1995, the United Na- http://www.macfound.org/fellows/820/
Since Snow’s pioneering work, forensic tions commissioned a team to investigate (retrieved July 1, 2015)
anthropologists have become increasingly mass murder in Rwanda; the team included b
Borrell, B. (2012, October 8). Forensic
involved in investigating human rights archaeologists from the U.S. National Park anthropologist uses DNA to solve real-life
abuses globally. Mercedes Doretti, an Service’s Midwest Archaeological Center. murder mysteries in Latin America. Scientific
Argentinean who worked with Snow to They performed the standard archaeologi- American. http://www.scientificamerican
establish the EAAF, is a good example of cal procedures of mapping the site; deter- .com/article/qa-forensic-anthropologist
a
today’s forensic anthropologist. In 2003, mining its boundaries; photographing and -mercedes-doretti/ (retrieved July 1, 2015)
she began investigating mishandled and recording all surface finds; and excavating, c
Haglund, W. D., Conner, M., & Scott, D. D.
misidentified human remains in Mex- photographing, and recording buried skel- (2001). The archaeology of contemporary
ico, including murdered women, migrant etons and associated materials in mass mass graves. Historical Archaeology 35 (1),
c
workers, and victims of gang violence. graves. 57–69.
On a personal level, fieldwork requires researchers to authorities who may see them as spies. And there are eth-
step out of their cultural comfort zone into a world that is ical dilemmas: What does one do if faced with a troubling
unfamiliar and sometimes unsettling. Anthropologists in cultural practice such as female circumcision? How do
the field are likely to face a host of challenges—physical, anthropologists deal with demands for food, supplies, or
social, mental, political, and ethical. They may have to medicine? Is it acceptable to deceive people to gain vital
adjust to unfamiliar food, climate, and hygiene conditions. information?
They often struggle with emotional and psychological At the same time, fieldwork often leads to meaningful
challenges such as loneliness, feeling like perpetual outsid- personal, professional, and social rewards—from lasting
ers, being socially awkward in their new cultural setting, friendships to vital knowledge and insights concerning
and having to be alert around the clock because anything the human condition. The following Original Study fea-
that is happening or being said may be significant to turing archaeologist Anne Jensen and the Inupiat Eskimo
their research. Political challenges include the possibility community of Barrow, Alaska, conveys some of the mean-
of unwittingly letting themselves be used by community ing and impact of anthropological research in a context of
factions or being viewed with suspicion by government mutual cooperation and respect.
NAL
ORIGI
S T U DY Whispers from the Ice BY SHERRY SIMPSON
Arctic
Ocean
People grew excited when a summer rainstorm context is like hearing
softened the bluff known as Ukkuqsi, sloughing off huge the past whispering in Barrow
chunks of earth containing remains of historic and prehis- their ears. Elders often
Arctic Circle
toric houses, part of the old village that predates the modern know from experience,
ALASKA
community of Barrow. Left protruding from the slope was or from stories, the
CANADA
a human head. Archaeologist Anne Jensen happened to be answers to the scien-
Bering
in Barrow buying strapping tape when the body appeared. tists’ questions about Sea
Her firm, SJS Archaeological Services, Inc., was closing a how items were used Anchorage
© Cengage Learning
field season at nearby Point Franklin, and Jensen offered the or made. “In this in-
team’s help in a kind of archaeological triage to remove the stance, usually the only Pacific
Ocean U.S.
body before it eroded completely from the earth. puzzled people are the
The North Slope Borough hired her and Glenn Sheehan, archaeologists,” jokes
both associated with Pennsylvania’s Bryn Mawr College, archaeologist Sheehan.
to conduct the work. The National Science Foundation, A modern town of 4,000, Barrow exists in a cultural con-
which supported the three-year Point Franklin Project, tinuum, where history is not detached or remote but still
agreed to fund the autopsy and subsequent analysis of pulses through contemporary life. People live, hunt, and
the body and artifacts. The Ukkuqsi excavation quickly fish where their ancestors did, but they can also buy fresh
became a community event. In remarkably sunny and vegetables at the store and jet to other places. Elementary
calm weather, volunteers troweled and picked through the school classes include computer and Inupiat language stud-
thawing soil, finding trade beads, animal bones, and other ies. Caribou skins, still ruddy with blood, and black brant
items. Teenage boys worked alongside grandmothers. The carcasses hang near late-model cars outside homes equipped
smell of sea mammal oil, sweet at first then corrupt, min- with television antennas. A man uses power tools to work
gled with ancient organic odors of decomposed vegetation. on his whaling boat. And those who appear from the earth
One man searched the beach for artifacts that had eroded are not just bodies, but relatives. “We’re not a people fro-
from the bluff, discovering such treasures as two feather zen in time,” says Jana Harcharek, an Inupiat Eskimo who
parkas. Elder Silas Negovanna, originally of Wainwright, teaches Inupiat and nurtures her culture among young peo-
visited several times, “more or less out of curiosity to see ple. “There will always be that connection between us [and
what they have in mind,” he said. George Leavitt, who our ancestors]. They’re not a separate entity.”
lives in a house on the bluff, stopped by one day while car- The past drew still closer as the archaeologists neared
rying home groceries and suggested a way to spray water the body. After several days of digging through thawed
to thaw the soil without washing away valuable artifacts. soil, they used water supplied by the local fire station’s
Tour groups added the excavation to their rounds. tanker truck to melt through permafrost until they reached
“This community has a great interest in archaeology the remains, about 3 feet below the surface. A shell of clear
up here just because it’s so recent to their experience,” ice encased the body, which rested in what appeared to be
says oral historian Karen Brewster, a tall young woman a former meat cellar. With the low-pressure play of water
who interviews elders as part of her work with the North from the tanker, the archaeologists teased the icy casket
Slope Borough’s division of Inupiat History, Language, from the frozen earth, exposing a tiny foot. Only then did
and Culture. “The site’s right in town, and everybody was they realize they had uncovered a child. “That was kind
really fascinated by it.” of sad, because she was about my daughter’s size,” says
Slowly, as the workers scraped and shoveled, the earth archaeologist Jensen.
surrendered its historical hoard: carved wooden bowls, la- The girl was curled up beneath a baleen toboggan
dles, and such clothing as a mitten made from polar bear and part of a covering that Inupiat elder Bertha Leavitt
hide, bird-skin parkas, and mukluks. The items spanned identified as a kayak skin by its stitching. The child, who
prehistoric times, dated in Barrow to before explorers first appeared to be 5 or 6, remained remarkably intact after her
arrived in 1826. dark passage through time. Her face was cloaked by a cover-
The work prompted visiting elders to recall when they ing that puzzled some onlookers. It didn’t look like human
or their parents lived in traditional sod houses and relied hair, or even fur, but something with a feathery residue.
wholly on the land and sea for sustenance. Some remem- Finally, they concluded it was a hood from a feather parka
bered sliding down the hill as children, before the sea made of bird skins. The rest of her body was delineated
gnawed away the slope. Others described the site’s use as a muscle that had freeze-dried into a dark brick-red color.
lookout for whales or ships. For the archaeologists, having Her hands rested on her knees, which were drawn up to her
elders stand beside them and identify items and historical chin. Frost particles coated the bends of her arms and legs.
“We decided we needed

to go talk to the elders and
see what they wanted, to
get some kind of feeling
as to whether they wanted
to bury her right away, or
whether they were will-
ing to allow some studies
in a respectful manner—
studies that would be of
some use to residents of
the North Slope,” Jen-
sen says. Working with
community elders is not
a radical idea to Jensen
or Sheehan, whose previ-
ous work in the Arctic has
earned them high regard
from local officials who
appreciate their sensitiv-
ity. The researchers feel
Bill Hess
obligated not only to fol-
low community wishes,
but to invite villagers to Here two Inupiat stand above another buried ancestor called Uncle Foot who surfaced along the eroding sea-
sites and to share all in- wall in Barrow. Because Uncle Foot was so close to the shoreline, his remains were ultimately lost to the sea.
formation through public
presentations. In fact, Jen-
sen is reluctant to discuss findings with the press before the concerned that it was reburied in a respectful manner.
townspeople themselves hear it. They were nice enough to come over and ask us.”
“It seems like it’s a matter of simple common courtesy,” The elders also wanted to restrict media attention and
she says. Such consideration can only help researchers, prevent photographs of the body except for a few showing
she points out. “If people don’t get along with you, they’re her position at the site. They approved a limited autopsy
not going to talk to you, and they’re liable to throw you to help answer questions about the body’s sex, age, and
out on your ear.” In the past, scientists were not terribly state of health. She was placed in an orange plastic body
sensitive about such matters, generally regarding hu- bag in a stainless steel morgue with the temperature
man remains—and sometimes living natives—as artifacts turned down to below freezing.
themselves. Once, the girl’s body would have been hauled With the help of staff at the Indian Health Service Hos-
off to the catacombs of some university or museum, and pital, Jensen sent the girl’s still-frozen body to Anchorage’s
relics would have disappeared into exhibit drawers in Providence Hospital. There she assisted with an autopsy
what Sheehan describes as “hit-and-run archaeology.” performed by Dr. Michael Zimmerman of New York City’s
“Grave robbers” is how Inupiat Jana Harcharek refers to Mount Sinai Hospital. Zimmerman, an expert on prehis-
early Arctic researchers. “They took human remains and toric frozen bodies, had autopsied Barrow’s frozen family
their burial goods. It’s pretty gruesome. But, of course, at in 1982 and was on his way to work on the prehistoric
the time they thought they were doing science a big favor. man recently discovered in the Alps.
Thank goodness attitudes have changed.” The findings suggest the girl’s life was very hard. She
Today, not only scientists but municipal officials con- ultimately died of starvation, but also had emphysema
fer with the Barrow Elders Council when local people caused by a rare congenital disease—the lack of an en-
find skeletons from traditional platform burials out on zyme that protects the lungs. She probably was sickly
the tundra, or when bodies appear in the house mounds. and needed extra care all her brief life. The autopsy also
The elders appreciate such consultations, says Samuel found soot in her lungs from the family’s sea mammal oil
Simmonds, a tall, dignified man known for his carving. lamps, and she had osteoporosis, which was caused by a
A retired Presbyterian minister, he presided at burial cer- diet exclusively of meat from marine mammals. The girl’s
emonies of the famous “frozen family,” ancient Inupiats stomach was empty, but her intestinal tract contained
discovered in Barrow [in 1982]. “They were part of us, we dirt and animal fur. That remains a mystery and raises
know that,” he says simply, as if the connection between questions about the condition of the rest of the family.
old bones and bodies and living relatives is self-evident. In “It’s not likely that she would be hungry and everyone
the case of the newly discovered body, he says, “We were else well fed,” Jensen says.
That the girl appears to have been placed deliber- people will continue to learn still more about the region’s
ately in the cellar provokes further questions about culture. Sheehan and Jensen returned to Barrow in winter
precontact burial practices, which the researchers hope 1994 to explain their findings to townspeople. “We expect
Barrow elders can help answer. Historic accounts indi- to learn just as much from them,” Sheehan said before
cate the dead often were wrapped in skins and laid out the trip. A North Slope Cultural Center . . . will store and
on the tundra on wooden platforms, rather than buried display artifacts from the dig sites.
in the frozen earth. But perhaps the entire family was Laboratory tests and analyses also will contribute informa-
starving and too weak to remove the dead girl from the tion. The archaeologists hope measurements of heavy metals
house, Jensen speculates. “We probably won’t ever be in the girl’s body will allow comparisons with modern-day
able to say, ‘This is the way it was,’” she adds. “For that pollution contaminating the sea mammals that Inupiat eat
you need a time machine.” today. The soot damage in her lungs might offer health
The scientific team reported to the elders that radio- implications for Third World people who rely on oil lamps,
carbon dating places the girl’s death in about ad 1200. If dung fires, and charcoal for heat and light. Genetic tests
correct—for dating is technically tricky in the Arctic—the could illuminate early population movements of Inupiats.
date would set the girl’s life about 100 years before her The project also serves as a model for good relations
people formed settled whaling villages, Sheehan says. between archaeologists and Native people. “The larger
Following the autopsy and the body’s return to overall message from this work is that scientists and com-
Barrow . . . , one last request by the elders was honored. munities don’t have to be at odds,” Sheehan says. “In fact,
The little girl, wrapped in her feather parka, was placed in there are mutual interests that we all have. Scientists have
a casket and buried in a small Christian ceremony next obligations to communities. And when more scientists
to the grave of the other prehistoric bodies. Hundreds of realize that, and when more communities hold scientists
years after her death, an Inupiat daughter was welcomed to those standards, then everybody will be happier.”
back into the midst of her community.
The “rescue” of the little girl’s body from the raw forces Source: Simpson, S. (1995, April). Whispers from the ice.
of time and nature means researchers and the Inupiat Alaska, 23–28.
Questions of Ethics decide what changes should, or should not, be introduced

for community development? And who defines “devel-
Anthropologists deal with private and sensitive matters, opment”—the community, a national government, or an
including information that individuals would prefer not international agency like the World Bank?
to have generally known about them. In the early years After the colonial era ended in the 1960s, and in re-
of the discipline, many anthropologists documented action to controversial research practices by some anthro-
traditional cultures they assumed would disappear due pologists in or near violent conflict areas, anthropologists
to disease, warfare, or changes imposed by colonialism, began formulating a code of ethics to ensure that their
growing state power, or international market expansion. research would not harm the groups being studied. This
Some worked as government administrators or consul- code outlines a range of moral responsibilities and obliga-
tants gathering data used to formulate policies concerning tions. It includes this core principle: Anthropologists must
indigenous peoples. Others helped predict the behavior of do everything in their power to ensure that their research
enemies during wartime. does not harm the safety, dignity, or privacy of the people
How does one write about important but delicate with whom they work, conduct research, or perform other
issues and at the same time protect the privacy of the professional activities.
individuals who have shared their stories? The kinds of Recently, some of the debates regarding this code
research carried out by anthropologists, and the settings have focused on potential ethical breaches that might
within which they work, raise important moral questions occur if anthropologists work for corporations or under-
about potential uses and abuses of our knowledge. Who take classified contract work for the military. Although
will utilize our findings and for what purposes? Who the American Anthropological Association (AAA) has
decides what research questions are asked? Who, if any- no legal authority, it issues policy statements on ethics
one, will benefit from the research? For example, in the questions as they come up. For example, the AAA recom-
case of research on an ethnic or religious minority whose mended that research notes from medical settings should
values may be at odds with the dominant society, will be protected and not subject to court subpoena. This
government bureaucracies or industrial corporations use honors the ethical imperative to protect the privacy of
anthropological data to suppress that group? And what individuals who have shared their personal health issues
of traditional communities around the world? Who is to with anthropologists.
Anthropology and Globalization 21
Figure 1.8 A Coltan Miner

in Congo
These are the hands of a
miner holding coltan, a tarlike
mineral mined in eastern Congo.
Refined, coltan turns into a
heat-resistant powder capable
of storing energy. As the key
component of capacitors in
small electronic devices, it is
highly valued on the global
market. Coltan mines, enriching
the warring Congolese factions
that control them, are hellholes
for the thousands of people,
including children, who work the
mines. Bought, transported, and
processed by foreign merchants
and corporations, small bits of
this mineral eventually end up
© Mark Craemer
in cell phones and laptop
computers worldwide.
Emerging technologies have ethical implications that in which they are working, inviting the people being
impact anthropological inquiry. For example, the ability studied to have some say about if and how their stories
to sequence and patent particular genes has led to debates are told. In research involving ancient human remains,
about who has the right to hold a patent—the individuals collaboration with local people not only preserves the
from whom the particular genes were obtained or the remains from market forces but also honors the connec-
researcher who studies the genes? Similarly, do ancient tions of indigenous people to the places and remains
remains belong to the scientist, to the people living in under study.
the region under scientific investigation, or to whoever
happens to have possession of them? Global market forces
have converted these remains into expensive collectibles,
resulting in a systematic looting of archaeological and
fossil sites.
Anthropology
While seeking answers to these questions, anthropolo-
gists recognize that they have special obligations to three
and Globalization
sets of people: those whom they study, those who fund A holistic perspective and a long-term commitment
the research, and those in the profession who rely on to understanding the human species in all its variety
published findings to increase our collective knowledge. equip anthropologists to grapple with a challenge
Because fieldwork requires trust between researchers and that has overriding importance for each of us today:
the community in which they work, the anthropologist’s globalization. This concept refers to worldwide in-
first responsibility is to the people who have shared their terconnectedness, evidenced in rapid global movement
stories and their community. Everything possible must be of natural resources, trade goods, human labor, finance
done to protect their physical, social, and psychological capital, information, and infectious diseases (Figure 1.8).
welfare and to honor their dignity and privacy. This task Although worldwide travel, trade relations, and infor-
is frequently complex. For example, telling the story of mation flow have existed for several centuries, the pace
a people gives information both to relief agencies who and magnitude of these long-distance exchanges have
might help them and to others who might take advantage picked up enormously in recent decades; the Internet, in
of them. particular, has greatly expanded information exchange
Maintaining one’s own culture is an internationally capacities.
recognized basic human right, and any connection
with outsiders can endanger the cultural integrity of
the community being studied. To overcome some of
globalization Worldwide interconnectedness, evidenced in rapid global
these ethical challenges, anthropologists frequently movement of natural resources, trade goods, human labor, finance
collaborate with and contribute to the communities capital, information, and infectious diseases.
The powerful forces driving globalization are technolog-

ical innovations, cost differences among countries, faster
knowledge transfers, and increased trade and financial
integration worldwide. Globalization touches almost every-
body’s life on the planet, and it is as much about economics
Based on an illustration created by Laurens van Lieshout

as it is about politics. Further, globalization changes human
relations and ideas, as well as our natural environments;
even geographically remote communities are quickly be- 1 2 3 4 5 6
coming interdependent—and often vulnerable—through
globalization.
Anthropologists witness the impact of globalization
on human communities in all corners of the world. They
try to explain how individuals and organizations respond
to the massive changes confronting them. A two-edged
sword, globalization may generate economic growth and
prosperity, but it may also undermine long-established in- Figure 1.9 Six Degrees of Separation
stitutions. Generally, globalization has brought significant The phrase “six degrees of separation,” diagrammed here, refers
gains to more educated groups in wealthier countries, while to the idea that everyone is on average approximately six steps
at the same time contributing to the erosion of traditional away, by way of introduction, from any other person on earth.
cultures. Thus, a chain of “a friend of a friend” statements can be made to
Through such upheaval and disruption, globalization connect any two people in six steps or fewer. Originally coined by
contributes to rising levels of ethnic and religious con- Hungarian writer Frigyes Karinthy in his 1929 short story “Chains,”
flict throughout the world. Anthropology’s important it was popularized by the 1993 film Six Degrees of Separation,
distinction between the commonly misunderstood terms created from the play by American John Guare. It became all the
nation and state can help clarify the source of this political more popular after four college students invented the trivia game
turmoil. A nation is a socially organized group of people Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, in which the goal is to link any actor
who putatively share a common origin, language, and to film star Kevin Bacon through no more than six performance
cultural heritage, whereas a state is a politically orga- connections.
nized territory with institutions that are internationally
recognized. Unlike nations, most modern states are recent
phenomena, their borders having been drawn by colonial Because all of us now live in a global village, we can
powers or other authorities. Because of this, states and na- no longer afford the luxury of ignoring our neighbors, no
tions rarely coincide—nations being split among different matter how distant they may seem. In this age of global-
states, and states typically being controlled by members ization, anthropology not only provides humanity with
of one nation. The ruling nation uses its control to gain useful insights concerning diversity, it may also assist us
access to the land, resources, and labor of other national- in avoiding or overcoming problems born of that diver-
ities within the state. sity. In countless social arenas, from schools to businesses
Most armed conflicts and human rights abuses of today to hospitals, anthropologists have done cross-cultural
have roots in this nation/state distinction. The Rohingya, an research that makes it possible for educators, business-
ethnic Muslim minority, provide a case in point. They are a people, doctors, and humanitarians to do their work more
distinct nation of between 1 and 1.5 million people living effectively.
in Myanmar, with an additional several hundred thousand As illustrated by many examples in this textbook,
having fled to neighboring states. In 2012, Myanmar saw ignorance or ethnocentric (mis)information about other
thousands of Rohingya Muslims, who were not recognized societies, beliefs, and practices can cause or fuel serious
by the government as citizens, killed or displaced by the problems throughout the world. This is especially true in
Buddhist majority. See the Globalscape feature for a closer an age when human interactions and interdependence
look at the continuing effects of this conflict. have been transformed by global information exchange
and transportation advances. There are only six degrees
of separation between each of us and any other person on
earth (Figure 1.9). Anthropology offers a way of looking at
nation A people who share a collective identity based on a common
culture, language, territorial base, and history. and understanding the world’s peoples—insights that are
state A political institution established to manage and defend a nothing less than basic skills for survival in an increasingly
complex, socially stratified society occupying a defined territory. globalized world.
GLOBALSCAPE
Arctic
Ocean
ASIA
NORTH EUROPE
AMERICA
Bangladesh
Atlantic Saudi Arabia
Thailand
Ocean
© 2015 Cengage Learning

AFRICA Pacific
Pacific Myanmar Malaysia Ocean
Ocean
Indian
SOUTH Ocean
AMERICA
AUSTRALIA
Jonathan Saruk/Getty Images News/Getty Images

Christophe Archambautl/AFP/Getty Images
ANTARCTICA
Safe Harbor? When the Thai government cracked down on the smuggling
A shabby wooden boat, packed with passengers, sits off the coast routes of these traffickers, Myanmar’s neighbors suddenly found
of Thailand in May 2015. The people on board are exhausted, thousands of migrants landing on their shores. Although these
weeping, and dressed in ragged, dirty clothing. They call out to the countries had been quietly accepting Rohingya refugees for
Thai officials for help—they have been at sea for months, robbed years, they began closing their doors, leaving thousands of mi-
and abandoned by their captain and crew, and they are starving. grants stranded at sea. At the height of this crisis, Saudi Arabia,
Some have died already, their bodies thrown overboard into the a distant country whose state religion is Islam, offered refugees
sparkling Andaman Sea. The survivors seek a harbor, shelter, protection and free residency permits. But otherwise, because
food, and water. The Thai military drops provisions into the water they lacked state citizenship, the Rohingya Muslims had no gov-
near the boat. Then, denying the migrants permission to land, it ernment to appeal to, no embassy to petition, and nowhere to
accompanies them back out to sea once again. go but further adrift at sea while the world wondered what would
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refu- become of them.
gees, Myanmar has 810,000 stateless inhabitants, who do not
have the basic rights of citizenship, and nearly 600,000 other Global Twister
a
internally displaced individuals. After a brutal pogrom in 2012, How can minority nations, like the Rohingya, be protected within
tens of thousands of stateless Rohingya Muslims fled Myanmar states that contain multiple distinct groups? In the case of
to Bangladesh, desperate to escape institutional discrimination Saudi Arabia, religious unity was the motivation for state pro-
and poor living conditions at home. Many other Rohingya lan- tection of the Rohingya refugees. Is that a good way for a state
guished in squalid refugee camps in Bangladesh, where they fell to be defined? Does your state treat all the nations it contains
victim to traffickers who promised them safe passage through equally?
Thailand and a waiting job in Malaysia in exchange for large sums
a
of money. Often, before their journey was done, the fee increased UNHCR: The UN Refugee Agency. (2015a). Myanmar. UNHCR.org.
and the employment prospects vanished. Many never realized the http://www.unhcr.org/pages/49e4877d6.html (retrieved September 29,
promise of a better life. 2015)
23
CH AP T E R CH ECK LI S T
What is anthropology? paleoanthropological survey and excavation, to living

with a group of primates in their natural habitat, to
✓✓Anthropology is the objective and systematic study of biological data gathered while living with a group.
humankind in all times and places. Ethnographic participant observation with a particular
✓✓Anthropology contains four major fields: cultural culture or subculture is the classic field method of
anthropology, linguistic anthropology, archaeology, cultural anthropology.
and biological anthropology. ✓✓After the fieldwork of archaeologists and physical
✓✓Individuals practice applied anthropology in each of anthropologists, researchers conduct laboratory
anthropology’s fields; applied anthropology uses analyses of excavated remains or biological samples
anthropological knowledge to solve practical problems. collected in the field.
✓✓The comparative method is key to all branches of

What do anthropologists do in each of its anthropology. Anthropologists make broad
four fields? comparisons among peoples and cultures—past and
present. They also compare related species and fossil
✓✓Cultural anthropologists study humans in terms of groups.
their cultures, the often-unconscious standards by
which social groups operate. ✓✓Ethnology, the comparative branch of cultural
anthropologists, uses a range of ethnographic accounts
✓✓Linguistic anthropologists study human languages and
to construct theories about cultures from a comparative
may deal with the description of a language, with the
or historical point of view. Ethnologists often focus on
history of languages, or with how languages are used
a particular aspect of culture, such as religious or
in particular social settings.
economic practices.
✓✓Archaeologists study human cultures through the
recovery and analysis of material and biological How do anthropologists face the
remains and environmental data. ethical challenges that emerge
✓✓Biological anthropologists focus on humans as physical through conducting anthropological
organisms; they particularly emphasize tracing the research?
evolutionary development of the human animal and
studying biological variation within the species today. ✓✓Anthropologists must stay aware of the potential uses
and abuses of anthropological knowledge and the ways
How is anthropology different from it is obtained.
other disciplines? ✓✓The anthropological code of ethics, first formalized in
✓✓Anthropology has long emphasized the study of non- 1971 and continually revised, outlines the moral and
Western societies and a holistic approach, which aims ethical responsibilities of anthropologists to the people
to formulate theoretically valid explanations and whom they study, to those who fund the research, and
interpretations of human diversity based on detailed to the profession as a whole.
studies of all aspects of human biology, behavior, and
beliefs in all known societies, past and present. What can anthropology contribute
✓✓The humanities, social sciences, and the natural to our understanding of globalization?
sciences come together in anthropology to create a ✓✓A long tradition of studying the connections among
genuinely humanistic science. Anthropology’s link diverse peoples over time gives anthropology a
with the humanities can be seen in its concern with theoretical framework to study globalization in a world
people’s beliefs, values, languages, arts, and literature— increasingly linked through technological
oral as well as written—but above all in its attempt to advancements.
convey the experience of living in different cultures.
✓✓Anthropology equips global citizens to challenge
How do anthropologists conduct ethnocentrism and to understand human diversity.
research? ✓✓Anthropology has essential insights to offer the
✓✓Fieldwork, characteristic of all the anthropological modern world, particularly when understanding our
subdisciplines, includes complete immersion in neighbors in the global village has become a matter of
research settings ranging from archaeological and survival for all.
Anthropology and Globalization 25
QU E S T IONS FOR RE F L ECT ION
1. In this chapter’s opening Challenge Issue, you learned come from? Why do we act in certain ways? What
about the repurposing of nets intended to combat makes us the way we are?
malaria. Would you support the distribution of these 3. Globalization can be described as a two-edged
nets? What would you do if you had to choose sword. How does it foster growth and destruction
between plentiful food and protection from malaria? simultaneously?
Do you make any similar choices in your own life?
4. This chapter contains several examples of applied
2. Anthropology embraces a holistic approach to explain anthropology. Can you think of a practical problem
all aspects of human beliefs, behavior, and biology. in the world today that would benefit from
How might anthropology challenge your personal anthropological knowledge and methods?
perspective on the following questions: Where did we
DIGGI NG I N TO A N T H ROPOLOGY
Talking Trash: Hidden in the Middens
Archaeologists have long focused on middens, a believe in the notion of recycling truly follow it in
refuse or garbage disposal area in archaeological practice?
sites. The trash ancient peoples have left behind Go through your own trash and use it to
provides many clues about their lifeways. What generate some questions that you might ask
did they eat? What sorts of tools did they use? others. Then find trashcans in two distinct
What kind of work did they do? What did they do residential settings and ask their owners if you
for fun? Modern garbage is just as interesting. can examine them. Before investigating, ask for
What’s more, the information we can glean from their responses to the questions you have devised.
recovered trash can be combined with theories Compare and contrast what you have found.
generated from other sources. For example, how Plastic gloves and a big plastic garbage bag on
does trash from an individual’s kitchen compare to which to lay the trash are a must!
what people say about their diets? Do those who
Scott Olson/GettyImages
CHALLENGE ISSUE
Born naked and speechless, humans are naturally incapable of surviving without culture—a
socially learned adaptive system designed to help us meet the challenges of survival. Each
culture is distinct, expressing its unique qualities in numerous ways, including the way we
speak, what we eat, the clothes we wear, and with whom we live. Although culture goes
far beyond what meets the eye, it is inscribed everywhere we look. Here we see a family
of Kuchi (“migrant”) herders in northeast Afghanistan. Many Kuchi have recently settled
down, but about 1.5 million are still fully nomadic, with livelihoods dependent upon goats
and sheep. Using camels and donkeys to carry their belongings, this family follows age-old
migration routes across mountains and valleys. Because mobility is key to their adaptation
to an arid environment, nearly everything they own is portable. Kuchis come from different
ethnic groups. The cultural identity of each group is marked by language and by the par-
ticular fabrics, forms, and colors of their belongings. They exchange their surplus animal
products—meat, hides, wool, hair, ghee (butter), and quroot (dried yogurt)—for wheat,
sugar, salt, metal and plastic goods, and other trade items. Ecological adaptation and
symbolic expression of group identity are among the many interrelated functions of culture.
Characteristics
of Culture 2
An introductory anthropology course presents what may seem like an endless In this chapter you
variety of human societies, each with its own distinctive way of life, manners, will learn to
beliefs, arts, and so on. Yet for all this diversity, these societies have one thing in ●● Explain culture as
common: Each is a group of human beings cooperating to ensure their collective a dynamic form of
survival and well-being. adaptation.
Group living and cooperation are impossible unless individuals know how ●● Distinguish culture from
others are likely to behave in any given situation. Thus some degree of pre- society and ethnicity.
dictable behavior is required of each person within the society. In humans, it ●● Identify characteristics
is culture that sets the limits of behavior and guides it along predictable paths common to all cultures.
that are generally acceptable to those who fall within the culture. The culturally ●● Describe the connection
specified ways in which we learn to act so that we conform to the social expec- between culture,
society, and individuals.
tations in our community did not develop randomly. Among the major forces
guiding how each culture has developed in its own distinctive way is the process
●● Define and critique
ethnocentrism.
of adaptation.
Culture and Adaptation

From generation to generation, humans, like all animals, have continuously faced
the challenge of adapting to their environment, its conditions and its resources,
as well as to changes over time. The term adaptation refers to a gradual process
by which organisms adjust to the conditions of the locality in which they live.
Organisms have generally adapted biologically as the frequency of advantageous
anatomical and physiological features increases in a population through the process
of natural selection.
Humans have increasingly come to depend on cultural adaptation,
a complex of ideas, technologies, and activities that enables them to survive
and even thrive in their environment.

adaptation A series of beneficial
adjustments to a particular environment.
Biology has not provided people with
cultural adaptation A complex of ideas,
built-in fur coats to protect them in technologies, and activities that enables
people to survive and even thrive in their
cold climates, but it has given us the environment.
27
28 CHAPTER 2 Characteristics of Culture
ability to make our own coats, build fires, and construct This is not to say that everything human beings do
shelters to shield ourselves against the cold. We may not is because it is adaptive to a particular environment. For
be able to run as fast as a cheetah, but we are able to in- one thing, people do not just react to an environment as
vent and build vehicles that can carry us faster and farther given; rather, they react to it as they perceive it, and differ-
than any other creature. ent groups of people may perceive the same environment
Through culture and its many constructions, the in radically different ways. People also react to things
human species has secured not just its survival but its other than the environment: their own biological traits,
expansion as well—at great cost to other species and, their beliefs and attitudes, and the short- and long-term
increasingly, to the planet at large. And by manipulating consequences of their behavior for themselves and other
environments through cultural means, people have been people and life forms that share their habitats.
able to move into a vast range of geographic zones, from Although humans maintain cultures to deal with
the searing Sahara Desert in Africa to the rainiest place on problems, some cultural practices have proved to be mal-
earth in northeast India (Figure 2.1). adaptive, inadequate, or ill fitting, sometimes creating
Moss Chapple/ZUMA Press/Newscom
Figure 2.1 A Living Bridge

This bridge in Meghalaya, India, is made of the roots of living strangler fig trees (Ficus elastica).
Meghalaya (“Abode of the Clouds”) may be the wettest place on earth, receiving an average
rainfall of about 40 feet a year. Nearly all of the rain comes during the summer monsoon
season, turning rivers and streams into raging torrents. The tangled roots of strangler figs help
keep riverbanks from washing away, and the Khasi people living in this region train the roots
into living bridges. Shaping a bridge is an epic project that cannot be accomplished in a single
lifetime. From one generation to the next, individuals pass on the knowledge of how to guide
and connect the hanging roots so they grow into a strong bridge. Dozens of these bridges form
part of an essential and complex network of forest paths connecting the valleys of Meghalaya.
Some of them are many centuries old.
Culture and Adaptation 29
new problems such as toxic water and air caused by plastic and chemicals. Today, with about 4 billion people
certain industrial practices. A further complication is the living in cities, waste management is turning into a huge
relativity of any particular adaptation: What is adaptive in challenge in many parts of the world.
one setting may be seriously maladaptive in another. For Similarly, behavior that is adaptive in the short run
example, the hygiene practices of food-foraging peoples— may be maladaptive over a longer period of time. For in-
their habits of garbage and human waste disposal—are stance, the development of irrigation in ancient Mesopota-
appropriate to contexts of biodegradable materials, low mia (southern Iraq) made it possible for people to increase
population densities, and a degree of residential mobility. food production, but it also caused a gradual accumulation
But these same practices may become serious health haz- of salt in the soil, which contributed to the downfall of
ards in the context of large, fully sedentary populations that civilization about 4,000 years ago. A comparable sce-
lacking space to dump (in)disposable waste, including nario exists in Saudi Arabia today (Figure 2.2).
NASA
Figure 2.2 Growing Crops in the Arabian Desert

Landsat, a satellite constellation jointly managed by NASA Earth Observatory and the U.S.
Geological Survey, captured this image of an expanding patch of green farmland in the middle
of the vast Arabian Desert. The colors pink and yellow indicate dry, barren surfaces (mostly
desert). Located in the basin of Wadi as-Sirhan and close to Rub’ al Khali, the largest sand
desert in the world, this area is inhabited by the Dawasir tribe. Over the past twenty-five years,
this dry desert landscape has transformed into one of the richest agricultural districts in Saudi
Arabia. Farms here depend entirely on fossil water pumped from huge aquifers deep below
the desert surface. These underground lakes were formed during short, heavy rainfall periods
between 2,000 and 6,000 years ago. A nonrenewable source, people have accessed this
water by drilling wells through sedimentary rock, about 1,000 meters (3,300 feet) beneath the
surface. Hydrologists believe it will only be economical to pump it for about fifty years. By then,
the underground oil fields as well as aquifers may have been exhausted.
In many parts of the world today, the development Most animals eat and drink whenever the urge arises.
of prime farmland for purposes other than food produc- Humans, however, are enculturated to do most of their
tion increases dependency on food raised in less than eating and drinking at certain culturally prescribed times
optimal environments. Marginal farmlands can produce and feel hungry as those times approach. Eating times
high yields with costly technology. However, over time, vary from culture to culture, as does what is eaten and
these yields will not be sustainable due to loss of topsoil, how and where it is acquired, prepared, and consumed.
increasing salinity of soil, and silting of irrigation works, Also, humans rely on food for more than nutrition. When
not to mention the high cost of fresh water and fossil used to celebrate rituals and religious activities, food “es-
fuel. Among countless examples is the vast expansion of tablishes relationships of give and take, of cooperation, of
almond orchards in California during a time when the sharing, of an emotional bond that is universal” (Caroulis,
state is experiencing an extended extreme drought. Critics 1996, p. 16).
note that this crop, which consumes 10 percent of the Through enculturation every person learns socially
state’s entire water supply, is unsustainable and increases appropriate ways of satisfying the basic biologically de-
the threat of turning California’s Central Valley into a termined needs of all humans: food, sleep, shelter, com-
dust bowl. panionship, self-defense, and sexual gratification. It is
For any culture to be successful across generations, important to distinguish between the needs themselves,
it must foster collective human behavior that does not which are not learned, and the learned ways in which
destroy its natural environment. In response to this chal- they are satisfied—for each culture determines in its own
lenge, our species has developed a great variety of cultures, way how these needs will be met. For instance, Sinhalese
each with its own unique features befitting the particular children growing up in fishing families on the tropical is-
needs of societies located in different habitats in all cor- land country of Sri Lanka surely have different ideas about
ners of the globe. So, what do we mean by culture? what constitutes a great meal and a comfortable way to
sleep than do the offspring of semi-nomadic Kazakh herd-
ers living in the high steppe grasslands of Central Asia
(Figure 2.3).
The Concept and All mammals exhibit learned behavior to some degree.
Several species may even be said to have elementary cul-
Characteristics of Culture ture, in that local populations share patterns of behavior
that, as among humans, each generation learns from the
Anthropologists conceived the modern concept of culture one before and that differ from one population to an-
toward the end of the 19th century. Reaching deeper than other. It is important to note that not all learned behavior
observable behavior, culture is a society’s shared and is cultural. For instance, a pigeon may learn tricks, but this
socially transmitted ideas, values, and perceptions, which behavior is the result of conditioning by repeated train-
are used to make sense of experience and generate behav- ing, not the product of enculturation.
ior and are reflected in that behavior. Beyond our species, examples of socially learned
Through the comparative study of many human cul- behavior are particularly evident among other primates.
tures, past and present, anthropologists have gained an Chimpanzees, for example, will take a twig, strip it of all
understanding of the basic characteristics evident in all leaves, and smooth it down to fashion a “fishing” tool,
of them: Every culture is socially learned, shared, based which they use to extract termites from the insects’ dirt
on symbols, integrated, and dynamic. A careful study of mounds. Such toolmaking, which juveniles learn from
these characteristics helps us to see the importance and their elders, is unquestionably a rudimentary form of
the function of culture itself. cultural behavior once thought to be exclusively human.
Research shows that in both nature and in captivity,
primates in general and apes in particular “possess a
Culture Is Learned near-human intelligence, generally including the use
All culture is socially learned rather than biologically in- of sounds in representational ways, a rich awareness of
herited. One learns one’s own culture by growing up with the aims and objectives of others, the ability to engage
it, and the process whereby culture is passed on from one in tactical deception, and the faculty to use symbols in
generation to the next is called enculturation. communication with humans and each other” (Reynolds,
1994, p. 4).
Our increasing awareness of such traits in our primate
culture A society’s shared and socially transmitted ideas, values, and relatives has spawned movements to extend human rights
perceptions, which are used to make sense of experience and generate to apes—rights such as freedom from living in fear, re-
behavior and are reflected in that behavior.
spect for dignity, and not being subjected to incarceration
enculturation The process by which a society’s culture is passed on
from one generation to the next and individuals become members of (caging), exploitation (medical experimentation), or other
their society. mistreatment (Hays, 2015; O’Carroll, 2008).
The Concept and Characteristics of Culture 31
David Edwards/National Geographic Creative

Figure 2.3 Learning Culture
Here we see a Kazakh father and son on a hunting expedition with a golden eagle in the Altai
Mountains of Mongolia, Central Asia. For centuries, Kazakhs have trained these birds of prey—
equipped with powerful talons and a wingspan of well over 2 meters (over 7 feet)—to partner
with them in hunting rabbit, fox, mountain goat, and even wolf, primarily for meat and hides.
Eagle hunting is a male tradition. Boys learn from their fathers and uncles how to capture,
raise, train, and handle an eagle from fledgling to maturity. This education includes learning
how to gallop with this huge raptor on their arm and when to release the mighty bird to
pursue the prey.
Culture Is Shared can be no culture without a society. Conversely, there are

no known human societies that do not exhibit culture.
As a shared set of ideas, values, perceptions, and stan- Without culture, human society quickly falls apart. This
dards of behavior, culture is the common denominator cannot be said for all animal species. Ants and bees, for
that makes the actions of individuals intelligible to other example, instinctively cooperate in a manner that clearly
members of their society. Culture enables individuals in indicates a remarkable degree of social organization, yet
a society to predict how fellow members are most likely this instinctual behavior is not a culture.
to behave in a given circumstance, and it informs them Although members of a society share a culture, it is
how to react accordingly. A society is an organized group important to realize that no two people share the exact
or groups of interdependent people who generally share same version of their culture. At the very least, there is
a common territory, language, and culture and who act some distinction between the roles of children and elders,
together for collective survival and well-being. The ways men and women. This stems from the fact that there are
in which these people depend upon one another can be obvious differences between human infants, adults, and
seen in features such as their economic, communication,
and defense systems. They are also bound together by a
general sense of common identity.
society An organized group or groups of interdependent people who
Because culture and society are such closely related generally share a common territory, language, and culture and who act
concepts, anthropologists study both. Obviously, there together for collective survival and well-being.
highly aged individuals, as well as between female and group exists within a society—functioning by its own
male reproductive anatomy and physiology. Every society distinctive set of ideas, values, and behavior patterns
gives cultural meaning to biological sex differences by while still sharing some common standards—we call it
explaining them in a particular way and specifying what a subculture.
their significance is in terms of social roles and expected Amish communities are one example of a subculture in
patterns of behavior. North America. Specifically, they are an ethnic group—
Because each culture does this in its own way, there people who collectively and publicly identify themselves
can be tremendous variation from one society to an- as a distinct group based on various cultural features
other. Anthropologists use the term gender to refer such as shared ancestry and common origin, language,
to the cultural elaborations and meanings assigned to customs, and traditional beliefs. The Amish originated in
the biological differentiation between the sexes. So, western Europe during the Protestant revolutions about
although one’s sex is biologically determined, one’s gen- 500 years ago. Today, members of this group number more
der is culturally constructed within the context of one’s than 200,000 and live mainly in the United States—in
particular society. Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin—as
Apart from sexual differences directly related to repro- well as in Ontario, Canada.
duction, biologically based reasons for contrasting gender These rural pacifists base their lives on their traditional
roles have largely disappeared in modern industrialized Anabaptist beliefs, which hold that only adult baptism
and postindustrial societies. A major factor in this change is valid and that “true Christians” (as they define them)
is technology, which evens up the capabilities of men and should not hold government office, bear arms, or use
women in many tasks requiring muscular strength—such force. They prohibit marriage outside their faith, which
as moving heavy automobile engines in assembly lines calls for obedience to radical Christian teachings, includ-
equipped with hydraulic lifts. Nevertheless, all cultures ex- ing rejection of material wealth and social separation from
hibit at least some role differentiation related to biology— the “evils” of the “outside” world.
some far more so than others. Resisting government attempts to force their children
In addition to cultural variation associated with gen- to attend regular public schools, Amish communities in-
der, there is also variation related to age. In any society, sist that education take place near home and that teachers
children are not expected to behave as adults, and the be committed to Amish ideals. Among themselves, they
reverse is equally true. But then, who is a child and who usually speak a German dialect known as Pennsylvania
is an adult? Again, although age differences are natural, Dutch (from Deutsch, meaning “German”). They use
cultures give their own meaning and timetable to the formal German for religious purposes, although children
human life cycle. In North America, for example, indi- learn English in school. Valuing simplicity, hard work,
viduals are generally not regarded as adults until the age and a high degree of neighborly cooperation (Figure 2.4),
of 18. In many other cultures, adulthood begins earlier— they dress in distinctive plain garb and even today rely on
often around age 12, an age closer to the biological the horse for transportation as well as agricultural work.
changes of adolescence. In sum, the Amish share the same ethnicity. This term,
rooted in the Greek word ethnikos (“nation”) and related
to ethnos (“custom”), refers to the set of cultural ideas held
Subcultures: Groups Within by an ethnic group.
a Larger Society Because economic challenges make it impossible for
Besides age and gender differentiation, there may be most to subsist solely on farming, some Amish work out-
cultural variation between subgroups in complex so- side their communities. Many more market homemade
cieties that share an overarching culture. These may goods to tourists and other outsiders. Their economic sep-
be occupational groups in societies with an extensive aration from mainstream society has declined somewhat,
division of labor, or social classes in a stratified society, but their cultural separation has not (Kraybill, 2001). They
or ethnic groups in pluralistic societies. When such a remain a reclusive community, more distrustful than ever
of the dominant North American culture surrounding
them and mingling as little as possible with non-Amish
people.
gender The cultural elaborations and meanings assigned to the The Amish are but one example of the way a subcul-
biological differentiation between the sexes. ture may develop and be dealt with by the larger culture
subculture A distinctive set of ideas, values, and behavior patterns within which it functions. Different as they are, the Amish
by which a group within a complex society operates, while still sharing actually put into practice many values that other North
common standards with that larger society.
Americans often respect in the abstract: thrift, hard work,
ethnic group People who collectively and publicly identify themselves
as a distinct group based on shared cultural features such as common independence, a close family life. The degree of toler-
origin, language, customs, and traditional beliefs. ance accorded to them, in contrast to some other ethnic
ethnicity The term for the set of cultural ideas held by an ethnic group. groups, is also due in part to their European origin; they
J. Irwin/ClassicStock/Alamy
Figure 2.4 Amish Barn Raising
The Amish people have held onto their traditional agrarian way of life in the midst of
industrialized North American society. Their strong community spirit—reinforced by close
social ties between family and neighbors, common language, traditional customs, and
shared religious beliefs that set them apart from non-Amish people—is also expressed
in a traditional barn raising, a large collective construction project.
are defined as being of the same “white race” as those who sense, culture and subculture represent opposite ends of a
historically comprise dominant mainstream society. continuum, with no clear dividing line between them.
Amish subculture in North America developed gradu- The Anthropology Applied feature on the next page ex-
ally in response to how members of this strict Protestant amines the intersection of culture and subculture with an
sect have adapted to survive within the wider North example concerning Apache Indian housing.
American society while holding tightly to the conserva-
tive rural lifeways of their European ancestors. In contrast,
North American Indian subcultures are distinctive ways Pluralism
of life rooted in traditions of formerly independent so- Our discussion raises the issue of a multi-ethnic or
cieties. Native Americans endured invasion of their own pluralistic society in which two or more ethnic groups
territories and colonization by European settlers and were or nationalities are politically organized into one territo-
brought under the control of federal governments in the rial state but maintain their cultural differences. Pluralistic
United States, Canada, and Mexico. societies emerged after the first politically centralized
Although all American Indian groups have experi- states arose 5,000 years ago. With the rise of the state, it
enced enormous changes due to colonization, many have
retained traditions significantly different from those of
the dominant Euramerican culture surrounding them.
pluralistic society A complex society in which two or more ethnic
This makes it difficult to determine whether they perse- groups or nationalities are politically organized into one territorial state
vere as distinct cultures as opposed to subcultures. In this but maintain their cultural differences.
New Houses for Apache Indians

By George S. Esber
The United States, in common with other of the space needs for their own social open living space. At the same time, hosts
industrialized countries of the world, con- patterns of behavior. feel compelled to offer food to guests as
tains a number of more or less separate My task was to persuade the architects a prelude to further social interaction.
subcultures. Those who live by the stan- to hold back on their planning long enough Thus, cooking and dining areas cannot be
dards of one particular subculture have for me to gather, through participant ob- separated from living space. Nor is stan-
their closest relationships with one an- servation and a review of written records, dard middle-class Anglo kitchen equipment
other, receiving constant reassurance that the data from which Apache housing needs suitable because the need for handling
their perceptions of the world are the only could be abstracted. At the same time, I large quantities among extended families
correct ones and coming to take it for had to overcome Apache anxieties over an requires large pots and pans, which in turn
granted that the whole culture is as they outsider coming into their midst to learn calls for extra-large sinks and cupboards.
see it. As a consequence, members of about matters as personal as their daily Built with such ideas in mind, the new
one subculture frequently have trouble un- lives as they are acted out, in and around houses accommodated long-standing na-
derstanding the needs and aspirations of their homes. With these hurdles overcome, tive traditions.
other such groups. For this reason anthro- I was able to identify and successfully On a return visit to the Tonto Apache
pologists, with their special understanding communicate to the architects those fea- reservation in 2010, I found that the origi-
of cultural differences, are frequently em- tures of Apache life having importance for nal houses were fine, but many more units
ployed as go-betweens in situations requir- home and community design. At the same had been squeezed in to accommodate
ing interaction between peoples of differing time, discussions of my findings with the growing needs on a restricted land base.
cultural traditions. Apaches enhanced their own awareness of A recent acquisition of new lands, which
As an example, while I was still a their unique needs. more than doubled the size of the tiny
graduate student in anthropology, one As a result of my work, the Apaches reservation, offers new possibilities. The
of my professors asked me to work with moved into houses that had been designed Tonto Apache opened a casino in 2007.
architects and the Tonto Apache Indians with their participation, for their specific Its success has resulted in significant
in Arizona to research housing needs needs. Among my findings was the re- changes—from impoverishment to being
for a new tribal community. Although alization that the Apaches preferred to one of the biggest employers in the area.
the architects knew about cross-cultural ease into social interactions rather than
differences in the use of space, they had to shake hands and begin interacting im- Adapted from Esber, G. S. (1987). Designing
no idea how to get relevant information mediately, as is more typical of the Anglo Apache houses with Apaches. In R. M. Wulff
from the Indian people. For their part, pattern. Apache etiquette requires that & S. J. Fiske (Eds.), Anthropological praxis:
the Apaches had no explicit awareness people be in full view of one another so Translating knowledge into action. Boulder,
of their needs, for these were based on each can assess the behavior of others CO: Westview. 2007 & 2010 updates by
unconscious patterns of behavior. For that from a distance prior to engaging in social Esber. Reprinted by permission of George
matter, few people are consciously aware interaction with them. This requires a large, S. Esber.
became possible to bring about the political unification of ethnic groups or nations. Similar state-formation processes
two or more formerly independent societies, each with its have taken place throughout the world, especially in Asia
own culture, thereby creating a more complex order that and Africa, often destabilizing inherently fragile political
transcends the theoretical one culture–one society linkage. conditions in these countries (Figure 2.5).
As mentioned in Chapter 1, anthropology makes an Pluralistic societies, which are common in the world
important distinction between state and nation. States are today, all face the same challenge: They are composed
politically organized territories that are internationally rec- of groups that, by virtue of their high degree of cultural
ognized, whereas nations are socially organized bodies of variation, are all essentially operating by different sets of
people who share ethnicity—a common origin, language, rules. Because social living requires predictable behavior,
and cultural heritage. For example, the Kurds constitute a it may be difficult for the members of any one subgroup
nation, but their homeland is divided among several states: to accurately interpret and follow the different standards
Iran, Iraq, Turkey, and Syria. The international boundaries by which the others operate.
among these states were drawn up after World War I Ethnocentrism—defined in Chapter 1 as the belief that
(1914–1918) with little regard for the region’s indigenous the cultural ways of one’s own culture are superior—is
ETHNOLINGUISTIC GROUPS IN CHINA

Sino-Tibetan Indo-European Altaic RUSSIA
Han Tajik Turkic
Tibeto-Burman Mongolian
Thai Austro-Asiatic Tungusic
Miao-Yao Mon-Khmer Korean
Sparsely populated
KAZAKHSTAN MONGOLIA
NORTH
KOREA
KYRGYZSTAN
CHINA
TIBET
BHUTAN
NE
PAL
INDIA
© Cengage Learning
BANGLADESH Pacific
MYANMAR VIETNAM Ocean
LAOS
Figure 2.5 Ethnolinguistic Groups in China

China is the largest country in the world, with a population of more than 1 billion people. A
pluralistic society, it has fifty-five officially recognized nationalities. By far the largest nationality,
or ethnic group, is the Han, comprising about 90 percent of the population. However, there
are many ethnic minorities speaking radically different languages and having different cultural
traditions. For example, the Uyghur (pictured in Figure 2.6), numbering over 8 million, are a
Turkic-speaking people in Xinjiang Province in northwestern China. Unlike most Han, who are
Buddhists, most Uyghur are Sunni Muslims. Historically dominating the Chinese state, the Han
typically see themselves as the “real” Chinese and ignore the ethnic minorities or view them
with contempt. This ethnocentrism is also reflected in names historically used for these groups.
prevalent around the world and contributes to cross- Because often there is no inherent or necessary relation-
cultural misunderstanding and distrust among different ship between a thing and its representation, symbols are
subgroups within a pluralistic society. There are many cur- arbitrary, acquiring specific meanings when people agree
rent examples of troubled pluralistic societies, including on usage in their communications.
Afghanistan and Nigeria, where central governments face Symbols—ranging from national flags to wedding
major challenges in maintaining peace and lawful order. rings, money, and words—enter into every aspect of cul-
In countries where one ethnic group is substantially larger ture, from social life and religion to politics and econom-
than others, such as the Han in China, greater numbers ics. We are all familiar with the fervor and devotion that a
may be used to political and economic advantage at the religious symbol can elicit from a believer. An Islamic cres-
expense of minority groups (Figure 2.6). cent moon, Christian cross, or a Jewish Star of David—as
well as the sun among Inca, a mountain among Kikuyus,
or any other object of worship—may bring to mind years
Culture Is Based on Symbols
Nearly all human behavior involves symbols. A symbol
is a sound, gesture, mark, or other sign that is linked to symbol A sound, gesture, mark, or other sign that is arbitrarily linked to
something else and represents it in a meaningful way. something else and represents it in a meaningful way.
Ma Hongjie/TAO Images Limited/Alamy

Figure 2.6 The Uyghur Minority in China
The Uyghur, a Turkic-speaking Muslim ethnic minority in China, live in the country’s
northwestern province of Xinjiang. Politically dominated by China’s Han ethnic majority, who
comprise 90 percent of the population, Uyghurs are proud of their cultural identity and strive
to hold onto their distinctive traditional heritage—as is evident in this photo of a Uyghur family
group eating together on carpets woven with traditional Uyghur designs.
of struggle and persecution or may stand for a whole exchange, who they marry, how they raise their children,
philosophy or religion. and how they deal with misfortune, sickness, death, and
The most important symbolic aspect of culture is so on. Because these and all other aspects of a culture
language—using words to represent objects and ideas. must be reasonably well integrated in order to function
Through language humans are able to transmit culture properly, anthropologists seldom focus on one cultural
from one generation to the next. In particular, language feature in isolation. Instead, they view each in terms of
makes it possible to learn from cumulative, shared expe- its larger context and carefully examine its connections to
rience. Without it, one could not inform others about related features.
events, emotions, and other experiences. Language is so For purposes of comparison and analysis, anthropolo-
important that one of the four main subfields of anthro- gists conceptualize a culture as a structured system made
pology is dedicated to its study. up of distinctive parts that function together as an orga-
nized whole. Although they may sharply identify each
part as a clearly defined unit with its own characteristics
Culture Is Integrated and distinctive place within the larger system, anthropol-
The breadth and depth of every culture is remarkable. ogists recognize that social reality is complex and subject
It includes what people do for a living, the tools they to change, and that divisions among cultural units are
use, the ways they work together, how they transform seldom clear-cut. Broadly speaking, a society’s cultural
their environments and construct their dwellings, what features fall within three categories: social structure, in-
they eat and drink, how they worship, what they believe frastructure, and superstructure, as depicted in our “barrel
is right or wrong, what they celebrate, what gifts they model” (Figure 2.7).
Influencing and reinforcing one another—continually

adapting to changing demographic, technological, po-
litical, economic, and ideological factors—the intercon-
SUPERSTRUCTURE nected features in these three interdependent structures
Worldview: the perception
of the self, society, together form part of a cultural system.
and the world around us
Kapauku Culture as an Integrated System
SOCIAL STRUCTURE The integration of economic, social, and ideological as-
Social organization: pects of a culture can be illustrated by the Kapauku Papua,
the patterned social
arrangements of individuals
an indigenous mountain people of Western New Guinea.
within a society Dominated by males, Kapauku economy traditionally
relies on plant cultivation, along with
INFRASTRUCTURE pig breeding, hunting, and fishing.
Economic base:
Although plant cultivation provides WESTERN
the mode NEW GUINEA
of subsistence most of the people’s food,
© Cengage Learning
men achieve political
Pac if i c Oc ean
ENVIRONMENT power and positions of
Natural resources in a society’s habitat
legal authority through WESTERN
NEW GUINEA
pig breeding.
KAPAUKU PAPUA
Figure 2.7 The Barrel Model of Culture Among the Kapauku, NEW
( IN DON E S IA) GUINEA
© Cengage Learning
Every culture is an integrated and dynamic system of adaptation living in an area now
that responds to a combination of internal factors (economic, claimed by Indonesia,
social, ideological) and external factors (environmental, climatic). pig breeding is a com- Co r al
AUS TR AL IA Se a
Within a cultural system, there are functional relationships among plex business. Raising a
the economic base (infrastructure), the social organization (social lot of pigs requires a lot
structure), and the ideology (superstructure). A change in one of food to feed them. The primary fodder is sweet pota-
leads to a change in the others.
toes, grown in garden plots. Gardening and tending to
the pigs are tasks that fall exclusively in the domain of
The Barrel Model of Culture women’s work. Thus, to raise many pigs a man needs
To ensure a community’s biological continuity, a culture numerous women in the household. As a result, multiple
must provide a social structure for reproduction and mu- wives are not only permitted but are highly desired in
tual support. Social structure concerns rule-governed Kapauku society. For each wife, however, a man must pay
relationships—with all their rights and obligations—that a bride-price, and this can be expensive. Furthermore,
hold members of a society together. Households, families, wives have to be compensated for their care of the pigs.
associations, and power relations, including politics, are Put simply, it takes pigs, by which wealth is measured,
all part of social structure. It establishes group cohesion to get wives, without whom pigs cannot be raised in
and enables people to consistently satisfy their basic the first place. This requires considerable entrepreneur-
needs, including food and shelter for themselves and their ship, an ability that produces leaders in Kapauku society
dependents, by means of work. (Figure 2.8).
There is a direct relationship between a group’s social The interrelatedness of these elements with various
structure and its economic foundation, which includes other features of Kapauku culture is even more compli-
subsistence practices and the tools and other material cated. For example, one condition that encourages men to
equipment used to make a living. Because subsistence marry several women is a surplus of adult females, some-
practices involve tapping into available resources to satisfy times caused by loss of males through warfare. Among
a society’s basic needs, this aspect of culture is known as the Kapauku, recurring warfare has long been viewed as a
infrastructure. It comprises strategies for the produc-
tion and distribution of goods and services considered
necessary for life. social structure The rule-governed relationships—with all their rights
and obligations—that hold members of a society together. This includes
Supported by this economic foundation, a society is households, families, associations, and power relations, including politics.
held together by a shared sense of identity and world- infrastructure The economic foundation of a society, including its
view. This superstructure is composed of a collection subsistence practices and the tools and other material equipment used
of ideas, beliefs, and values, including religion, by which to make a living.
members of a society make sense of reality. Worldview, superstructure A society’s shared sense of identity and worldview.
The collective body of ideas, beliefs, and values by which members
also known as ideology, comprises a people’s overarching
of a society make sense of the world—its shape, challenges, and
ideas about themselves and the world around them, and opportunities—and understand their place in it. This includes religion
it gives meaning and direction to their lives. and national ideology.
must be flexible enough to al-

low such adjustments in the
face of unstable or changing
circumstances.
All cultures are, of necessity,
dynamic, but some are far less
so than others. When a culture
is too rigid or static and fails
to provide its members with
the means required for long-
term survival under changing
conditions, it is not likely to
endure. On the other hand,
some cultures are so fluid and
open to change that they may
lose their distinctive character.
The Amish mentioned earlier
in this chapter typically resist
change as much as possible
but are constantly making bal-
© Jutka Rona
anced decisions to adjust when
absolutely necessary. North
Americans in general, however,
Figure 2.8 Kapauku Papua Village, Western New Guinea have created a culture in which
Kapauku economy relies on plant cultivation, hunting, fishing, and especially pig breeding. change has become a positive
Women are responsible for raising the pigs and their main fodder, sweet potatoes. Only men ideal, reflecting rapid and on-
with numerous wives manage to acquire many pigs needed for wealth and prestige. As a going transformations in their
result, multiple wives are not only permitted, but are highly desired in Kapauku society. society’s demography, technol-
ogy, economy, and so on.
necessary evil. By their rules of war, men may be killed but Every culture is dynamically constructed and, not
women may not. This system works to promote the im- unlike a thermostat regulating room temperature, able to
balanced sex ratio that fosters the practice of having more cope with recurrent strains and tensions, even dangerous
than one wife. Having multiple wives tends to work best disruptions and deadly conflicts. Sharing a culture, mem-
if all of them come to live in their husband’s village. With bers of a society are capable of dealing with crises, solving
this arrangement, the men of a village are typically blood their conflicts, and restoring order. Sometimes, however,
relatives of one another, which enhances their ability to the pressures are so great that the cultural features in the
cooperate in warfare. system are no longer adequate or acceptable, and the es-
Considering all these factors, it makes sense that tablished order is changed.
Kapauku typically trace ancestry through fathers, which,
coupled with near-constant warfare, tends to promote
male dominance. So it is not surprising to find that only
men hold positions of leadership in Kapauku, as they ap-
propriate the products of women’s labor to enhance their Functions of Culture
political stature. Such male dominance is by no means
Polish-born British anthropologist Bronislaw Mali-
characteristic of all human societies. Rather, as with the
nowski argued that people everywhere share certain
Kapauku, it arises only under particular sets of circum-
biological and psychological needs and that the ultimate
stances that, if changed, will alter the way in which men
function of all cultural institutions is to fulfill these
and women relate to each other.
needs (see Anthropologist of Note). Others have marked
out different criteria, but the idea is basically the same:
A culture cannot endure if it does not deal effectively
Culture Is Dynamic with basic challenges. It has to equip members of a so-
Cultures are dynamic systems that respond to motions ciety with strategies for the production and distribution
and actions within and around them. When one ele- of goods and services considered necessary for life. To
ment within the system shifts or changes, the entire ensure that the group endures, it must also offer a social
system strives to adjust, just as it does when an outside structure for reproduction and mutual support. Further,
force applies pressure. To function adequately, a culture it has to provide ways and means to pass on knowledge
Culture, Society, and the Individual 39
A N T H ROPOL OG I S T OF NO T E
Bronislaw Malinowski (1884–1942)
Bronislaw Malinowski, born in Poland, earned his doctorate in

anthropology at the London School of Economics and later, as
a professor there, played a vital role in making it an important
center of anthropology. Renowned as a pioneer in participant
observation, he stated that the ethnographer’s goal is “to grasp
the native’s point of view . . . to realize his vision of his world.”a
Writing about culture, Malinowski argued that people every-
where share certain biological and psychological needs and that
the ultimate function of all cultural institutions is to fulfill those
needs. Everyone, for example, needs to feel secure in relation to
the physical universe. Therefore, when science and technology
are inadequate to explain certain natural phenomena—such as
eclipses or earthquakes—people develop religion and magic to ac-
Courtesy Phoebe Apperson Hearst Museum of Anthropology count for those phenomena and to establish a feeling of security.
The quantity and quality of data called for by Malinowski’s re-
search approach set new scientific standards for anthropological
fieldwork. He argued that it was necessary to settle into the com-
munity being studied for an extended period of time in order to
fully explain its culture. He demonstrated this approach with his
research in the Trobriand Islands of the southern Pacific Ocean
between 1915 and 1918. Never before had such intensive field-
work been done nor had such theoretical insights been gained
into the functioning of another culture.
a
Bronislaw Malinowski in the Trobriand Islands about 1916. Malinowski, B. (1961). Argonauts of the western Pacific (p. 25).
New York: Dutton.
and enculturate new members so they can contribute to In sum, for a culture to function properly, its var-
their community as well-functioning adults. Moreover, ious parts must be consistent with one another. But
it must facilitate social interaction and provide ways to consistency is not the same as harmony. In fact, there
avoid or resolve conflicts both within their group and is friction and potential for conflict within every
with outsiders. culture—among individuals, factions, and competing
Because a culture must support all aspects of life, institutions. Even on the most basic level of a society,
as indicated in our barrel model, it must also meet the individuals rarely experience the enculturation process
psychological and emotional needs of its members. This in exactly the same way, nor do they perceive their real-
last function is met, in part, simply by the measure of ity in precisely identical fashion. Moreover, forces both
predictability that each culture, as a shared design for inside and outside the society will change the cultural
thought and action, brings to everyday life. Of course, conditions.
it involves much more than that, including a worldview
that helps individuals understand their place in the
world and face major changes and challenges. For ex-
ample, every culture provides its members with certain
Culture, Society,
customary ideas and rituals that enable them to think
creatively about the meaning of life and death. Many
and the Individual
cultures even make it possible for people to imagine an Ultimately, a society is no more than a union of indi-
afterlife. Invited to suspend disbelief and engage in such viduals, all of whom have their own special needs and
imaginings, people find the means to deal with the grief interests. To survive, it must succeed in balancing the
of losing a loved one and to face their own demise with immediate self-interest of its individual members with the
certain expectations. needs and demands of the collective well-being of society
as a whole. To accomplish this, a society offers rewards for in numerous ways, including standards of beauty (see the
adherence to its culturally prescribed standards. In most Biocultural Connection).
cases, these rewards assume the form of social approval.
For example, in most state societies today, people who
hold a good job, take care of family, pay taxes, and do
volunteer work in the neighborhood may be spoken of as
“model citizens” in the community.
Culture and Change
To ensure the survival of the group, each person Cultures have always changed over time, but never as rap-
must learn to postpone certain immediate personal idly, radically, or massively as today. Change takes place
satisfactions. Yet the needs of the individual cannot be in response to events such as population growth, tech-
overlooked entirely or emotional stress and growing re- nological innovation, climatological shifts, intrusion of
sentment may erupt in the form of protest, disruption, foreigners, or modifications of ideas and behavior within
and even violence. a society.
Consider, for example, the matter of sexual expres- Not all change is cultural. As living creatures, we
sion, which, like anything that people do, is shaped by typically experience multiple changes in the course of a
culture. Sexuality is important in every society for it lifetime that are part of the human life cycle. The longest
helps to strengthen cooperative bonds among members, confirmed human lifespan on record is 121 years, but very
ensuring the perpetuation of the social group itself. Yet few individuals come close to reaching such advanced
sex can be disruptive to social living. Without clear rules age. The average life span is much lower, although it has
about who has sexual access to whom, competition for lengthened considerably in the past few decades. Cur-
sexual privileges can destroy the cooperative bonds on rently, the global average life expectancy is about 73 years
which human survival depends. In addition, uncontrolled for females and 68 for males. In many countries, the life
sexual activity can result in reproductive rates that cause expectancy is at least 20 years less, and in others it is at
a society’s population to outstrip its resources. Hence, as least 10 years more. For example, the overall average in
it shapes sexual behavior, every culture must balance the Angola is 51 years, compared to 84 years in Japan.
needs of society against individual sexual needs and de- Changes in culture may result from technological in-
sires so that frustration does not build up to the point of novation, foreign invasion, new trade goods, population
being disruptive in itself. growth, ecological shifts, and numerous other factors.
Cultures vary widely in the way they regulate sexual Although cultures must have some flexibility to remain
behavior. On one end of the spectrum, societies such adaptive, some changes cause unexpected and sometimes
as the Amish in North America or the Salafis in Saudi disastrous results. For example, consider the relationship
Arabia have taken an extremely restrictive approach, between culture and the droughts that periodically afflict
specifying no sex outside of marriage. On the other so many people living in African countries just south of
end are societies such as the Norwegians who generally the Sahara Desert. The lives of some 14 million nomadic
accept premarital sex and often choose to have children herders native to this region are centered on cattle and
outside marriage, or even more extreme, the Canela other grazing animals. For thousands of years, these no-
Indians in Brazil, whose social codes guarantee that, mads have migrated seasonally to provide their herds with
sooner or later, everyone in a given village has had sex pasture and water, utilizing vast areas of arid lands in ways
with just about everyone of the opposite sex. Yet, even that allowed them to survive severe droughts many times
as permissive as the latter situation may sound, there in the past. Today, however, government officials actively
are nonetheless strict rules as to how the system oper- discourage nomadism because it involves moving back
ates (Crocker & Crocker, 2004). and forth across relatively new and remote international
In all life issues, cultures must strike a balance between boundaries that are often impossible to guard, making it
the needs and desires of individuals and those of society as difficult to track the people and their animals for purposes
a whole. Although some societies require a greater degree of taxation and other government controls.
of cultural uniformity than others, every organized social Viewing the nomads as evading their authority, offi-
group imposes pressure on its members to conform to cer- cials have established policies to keep migratory herders
tain cultural models, or standards, of acceptable public be- from ranging through their traditional grazing territories
havior, speech, and so on. These standards are commonly and to convert them into sedentary villagers. Simultane-
accepted and adhered to, and each society has institu- ously, governments have aimed to press pastoralists into a
tions in place with a repertoire of cultural mechanisms market economy by giving them incentives to raise many
to promote or enforce conformity. In many traditional more animals than required for their own needs so that
societies, religious institutions play a major role in doing the surplus can be sold to augment the tax base. Com-
this, whereas in other places political forces may impose bined, these policies have led to overgrazing, erosion, and
conformity, such as in a communist state. In capitalist a lack of reserve pasture during recurring droughts. Thus,
societies, economic market pressures impose conformity droughts today are far more disastrous than in the past
Modifying the Human Body

Each healthy human individual, like any other perfume, nail polish, hats, and whatever else that American women choose to have breast
biological organism, is genetically pro- to beautify the human body. implants whereas in Africa women are sub-
grammed to develop to its full potential. For thousands of years, people across ject to indoctrination,”b given they undergo
This includes reaching a certain maximum the world have also engaged in modifying the circumcision as young girls. But is a wo-
height as a fully mature adult. What that human body itself—with tattoos, piercings, man’s decision to have breast implants,
height is, however, varies according to circumcision, footbinding, and even altering in fact, the result of indoctrination by the
population group. Dutch adult males, for skull shape. In addition, modern medical beauty-industrial complex?
example, average well over a foot taller technology has provided a vast new range of This multibillion-dollar industry, notes
than Mbuti men, who do not generally surgical procedures aimed at this goal. Nader, “segments the female body and
grow taller than 150 centimeters (5 feet). With medicine as big business, many manufactures commodities of and for the
Whether we actually become as tall as our surgeons have joined forces with the body.”c Among millions of women getting
genes would allow, however, is influenced beauty industry in what U.S. anthropol- “caught in the official beauty ideology”
by multiple factors, including nutrition and ogist Laura Nader calls “standardizing” are those in the United States who have
disease. bodies. Focusing on women’s bodies, she breast implantation. On average, they are
In many cultures, being tall is viewed pos- notes “images of the body appear natural 36 years old with two children. Designated
itively, especially for men. To make up for any within their specific cultural milieus.”a For as the beauty industry’s “insecure consum-
perceived flaw in height, there is not much example, breast implants are not seen as ers,” these women are “recast as patients”
men can do to appear taller beyond wearing odd within the cultural milieu of the United with an illness defined as hypertrophy
shoes with thick soles. But, in other areas, States, and female circumcision and in- (small breasts). Psychological health can
there are many alternatives to increase at- fibulation (also known as female genital be restored by cosmetic surgery correcting
tractiveness and improve social status. Play- mutilation or FGM) are not considered odd this so-called deformity in the female body.
ing on this desire, and fueling it, the fashion among people in several African countries. The doctors who perform these opera-
industry creates and markets ever-changing Many feminist writers “differentiate tions are often regarded as therapists and
styles of shoes, dresses, hairstyles, makeup, [FGM] from breast implantation by arguing artists as well as surgeons. One pioneering
breast implant surgeon “took as his ideal
female figure that of ancient Greek statues,
Selected Surgical and which he carefully measured, noticing the
Nonsurgical Cosmetic exact size and shape of the breasts, their
PROCEDURE NUMBER
Procedures in the United vertical and horizontal locations.”d In re-
Facial resurfacing 2,200,000
(chemical peel,
States, 2013 sponse to beauty marketing, the business
microdermabrasion, etc.) In 2013, the total number of of plastic surgery is booming, and breast
Brow lift 30,000 procedures—including the implantation is spreading across the globe.
Eyelid surgery 16,000
selected cosmetic procedures
Nose 148,000
reshaping pictured here—was about Biocultural Question
Injections (Botox, 5,900,000 11.5 million, comprised of Have you or anyone close to you made
hyaluronic acid, etc.) 2 million cosmetic surgeries body alterations? If so, were these
Facelift 130,000 and 9.5 million nonsurgical changes prompted by an “official beauty
Upper arm lift 20,000
procedures (chemical peels, ideology” or something else?
Breast 313,000
augmentation laser treatments, Botox
injections, and so on) at a total a
Nader, L. (1997). Controlling processes:
cost of about $12 billion. Ninety- Tracing the dynamics of power. Current
one percent of all procedures Anthropology 38 (5), 715.
Tummy tuck 160,000
were done on women, with b
Ibid., 716.
Buttock augmentation 11,500 breast augmentation the most c
Ibid. See also Coco, L. E. (1994).
popular. Although just 5 percent
Liposuction 364,000 Silicone breast implants in America: A
of the world’s population resides
choice of the “official breast”? In L. Nader
in the United States, the country
(Ed.), Essays on controlling processes
accounts for 15 percent of
(pp. 103–132). Kroeber Anthropological
breast procedures performed
Society Papers (no. 77). Berkeley:
worldwide. Since 2013, Brazil
has edged out the United States
University of California Press; and
for the greatest number of Claeson, B. (1994). The privatization
surgical cosmetic procedures of justice: An ethnography of control.
performed in one country. In L. Nader (Ed.), Essays on controlling
However, per capita, South processes (pp. 32–64). Kroeber
© Cengage Learning
Korea has the highest rate of Anthropological Society Papers (no. 77).
procedures, with the United Berkeley: University of California Press.
States ranked fourth. d
Nader, 1997, p. 716.
Mike Goldwater/Alamy
Figure 2.9 Consequences of Cultural Change
Climate and politics have conspired to create drastic cultural change among migratory herders,
such as this man in Niger. Here, as in other semi-arid regions of sub-Saharan Africa, severe
drought combined with restrictions on grazing lands have resulted in the death of many animals
and turned others into “bones on hoofs.” Such catastrophes have forced many herders in these
regions to give up their old lifeways entirely.
because when they occur, they jeopardize the nomads’ itself translates roughly into “true human beings.” In con-
very existence (Figure 2.9). trast, their name for outsiders commonly translates into
The market economy that led nomads to increase their various versions of “subhumans,” including “monkeys,”
herds beyond sustainability is a factor in a wide range of “dogs,” “weird-looking people,” “funny talkers,” and so
cultural changes. Many nomads, including thousands of forth. When it comes to ethnocentrism, it is easy to find
Kuchi herder families in Afghanistan (pictured at the start examples (Figure 2.10).
of the chapter), settle down as farmers or move to cities for Anthropologists have been actively engaged in reducing
cash-earning work opportunities. Across the globe, swift and ethnocentrism ever since they started to study and actually
often radical cultural change is driven by capitalism and its live among foreign peoples with radically different cultures,
demand for market growth. Many welcome these changes, thus learning by personal experience that these “others”
but others are disturbed by the loss of their traditional way of were no less human than anyone else. Resisting the com-
life and feel powerless to stop, let alone reverse, the process. mon urge to rank cultures as higher and lower (better and
worse), anthropologists have instead aimed to understand
individual cultures and the general concept of culture. To
Ethnocentrism, Cultural do so, they have examined each culture on its own terms,
discerning whether or not the culture satisfies the needs
Relativism, and Evaluation and expectations of the people themselves. If a people prac-
ticed human sacrifice or capital punishment, for example,
of Cultures anthropologists asked about the circumstances that made
the taking of human life acceptable according to that par-
People in almost all cultures tend to be ethnocentric and
ticular group’s values.
see their own way of life as the best of all possible worlds.
This brings us to the concept of cultural
This is reflected in the way individual societies refer to
relativism—the idea that one must suspend judgment
themselves. Typically, a society’s traditional name for
of other peoples’ practices in order to understand those
practices in their own cultural context. Only through such
cultural relativism The idea that one must suspend judgment of other an approach can one gain a meaningful view of the values
people’s practices in order to understand them in their own cultural terms. and beliefs that underlie the behaviors and institutions of
Ethnocentrism, Cultural Relativism, and Evaluation of Cultures 43
V ISUAL
V I S UA L COUNTE
COU N T E R RP
POIOINT
NT
David Kadlubowski/Corbis News/Corbis
AP Images/Sergey Ponmarev
Figure 2.10 Perpetrating Ethnocentrism
Many people consider their own nation to be superior to others, framing their pride by proclaiming to be a “master race,” “divine nation,”
or “chosen people” and viewing their homeland as sacred. Such nationalist ideology is associated with militant ethnocentrism and dislike,
fear, or even hatred of foreigners, immigrants, and ethnic minorities. For instance, most Russians now agree with the Nationalist slogan
“Russia for the Russians,” and almost half believe their nation has a natural right to dominate as an empire. Russian Nationalists (right) are
rightwing extremists, protesting the immigration of Tajiks, Turks, and other foreign laborers settling in Russia. Many thousands participate in
anti-immigrant marches in Moscow and other major cities. In their extremism, they are matched by the Minutemen Civil Defense Corps in the
United States. Active nationwide, these vigilantes view fellow whites as the only “true” Americans and are strongly anti-immigrant. The left
photo shows the Minutemen in Palominas, Arizona, erecting a U.S.–Mexico border fence on private ranchland.
other peoples and societies, as well as clearer insights into

the underlying beliefs and practices of one’s own society.
Cultural relativism is not only a guard against eth-
nocentrism, but it is an essential research tool. However,
employing it for research does not mean suspending judg-
ment forever, nor does it require that anthropologists de-
fend a people’s right to engage in any cultural practice,
no matter how destructive. All that is necessary is that
Austin Rishbrook/Splash News/Corbis

we avoid premature judgments until we have a full under-
standing of the culture in which we are interested. Only
then may anthropologists adopt a critical stance and in
an informed way consider the advantages and disadvan-
tages of particular beliefs and behaviors for a society and
its members.
A valid question to ask in evaluating a culture is: How
well does it satisfy the biological, social, and psychological
Figure 2.11 Signs of Cultural Dissatisfaction
needs of those whose behavior it guides? Specific indicators
High rates of crime and delinquency are signs that a culture is
to answer this question are found in the nutritional
not adequately satisfying a people’s needs and expectations.
status and general physical and mental health of its
This photo, taken inside the Men’s Central Jail in Los Angeles,
population; the average life expectancy; the group’s
California, can be seen as such evidence. The United States has
relationship to its resource base; the prevalence of the highest incarceration rate in the world—about 700 prisoners
poverty; the stability and tranquility of domestic life; per 100,000 inhabitants. From a global perspective, the United
and the incidence of violence, crime, and delinquency. States incarcerates nearly 25 percent of the world’s prisoners—
When traditional ways of coping no longer seem to more than 2.3 million people (“Jailhouse nation,” 2015). The
work and people feel helpless to shape their lives in incarceration rate in “the land of the free” has risen sevenfold
their own societies, symptoms of cultural breakdown since the 1970s and is now five times the rate of Great Britain,
become prominent (Figure 2.11). nine times that of Germany, and fourteen times that of Japan.
In short, a culture may be understood as a complex to success may come at the expense of his wife or wives
maintenance system constructed to ensure the continued because women carry the burden of tending the food gar-
well-being of a group of people. It may be deemed success- dens and herding the pigs—the basis of a man’s wealth
ful as long as it secures the survival of a society in a way and prestige. Only by looking at the overall situation can
that satisfies its members. a reasonably objective judgment be made as to how well
What complicates matters is that any society is made a culture is working.
up of groups with different interests, raising the possi- Our species today is challenged by rapid changes
bility that some people’s interests may be better served all across the globe, much of it triggered by powerful
than those of others. For this reason, anthropologists technology and dramatic population growth. In our
must always ask whose needs and whose survival are current age of globalization, we must widen our scope
best served by the culture in question. For example, in and develop a truly worldwide perspective that enables
a male-dominated culture such as that of the Kapauku, us to appreciate cultures as increasingly open and
discussed earlier in this chapter, a tribesman’s pathway interactive systems.
Chapter Check list
What is cultural adaptation? of social behavior through the process of enculturation.

Also, every culture is based on symbols—transmitted
✓✓Cultural adaptation—a complex of ideas, activities, and through the communication of ideas, emotions, and
technologies that enables people to survive and even desires—especially language. And culture is integrated,
thrive in their environment—has enabled humans to so that all aspects function as an integrated whole
survive and expand into a wide variety of (albeit not without tension, friction, and even conflict).
environments. Finally, cultures are dynamic—constructed to adjust to
✓✓Cultures have always changed over time, although recurrent pressures, crises, and change.
rarely as rapidly or massively as many are today. ✓✓As illustrated in the barrel model, all aspects of a
Sometimes what is adaptive in one set of circumstances culture fall into one of three broad, interrelated
or over the short run is maladaptive over time. categories: infrastructure (the subsistence practices or
economic system), social structure (the rule-governed
What is culture, and what characteristics relationships between a society’s members), and
are common to all cultures? superstructure (the collectively shared ideology or
worldview).
✓✓Culture is a society’s shared and socially transmitted
ideas, values, and perceptions, which are used to make ✓✓Cultural change takes place in response to events such
sense of experience and generate behavior and are as population growth, technological innovation,
reflected in that behavior. environmental crisis, intrusion of outsiders, or
modification of values and behavior within a society.
✓✓Although every culture involves a group’s shared Although cultures must change to adapt to new
values, ideas, and behavior, this does not mean that circumstances, sometimes the unforeseen consequences
everything within a culture is uniform. For instance, in of change are disastrous for a society.
all cultures people’s roles vary according to age and
gender. (Anthropologists use the term gender to refer to
the cultural elaborations and meanings assigned to the What are the connections between
biological differences between sexes.) And in some individuals, their culture, and their
societies there are other subcultural variations.
society?
✓✓A subculture (for example, the Amish) shares certain
✓✓As a union of individuals, a society must strike a
overarching assumptions of the larger culture
balance between the self-interest of its members and
collectively shared by members of a complex society,
with the needs and demands of the collective well-
while observing its own set of distinct rules.
being of the group. To accomplish this, a society
✓✓Pluralistic societies are complex societies in which two rewards adherence to its culturally prescribed standards
or more ethnic groups or nationalities are politically in the form of social approval.
organized into one territorial state but maintain their
✓✓However, individual needs cannot be entirely
cultural differences.
overlooked in a society. Doing so can foster stress and
✓✓In addition to being shared, all cultures are learned, growing resentment, which may erupt in violence and
with individual members learning the accepted norms lead to cultural breakdown.
45
What are ethnocentrism and cultural ✓✓The least biased measure of a culture’s success may be
based on answering this question: How well does a
relativism, and what is the measure of a
particular culture satisfy the physical and psychological
society’s success? needs of those whose behavior it guides? The following
✓✓Ethnocentrism is the belief that one’s own culture is indicators provide answers: nutritional status and
superior to all others. To avoid making ethnocentric general physical and mental health of its population;
judgments, anthropologists adopt the approach of the average life expectancy; the group’s relationship to
cultural relativism, which requires suspending its resource base; the prevalence of poverty; the
judgment long enough to understand each culture in stability and tranquility of domestic life; and the
its own terms. incidence of violence, crime, and delinquency.
1. Considering how the forces of globalization threaten the knowledge and respect for one’s own cultural
lifeways of Kuchi nomads and other traditional cultures traditions. Do you know the origins of the
around the world, do you view the disappearance of worldview commonly held by most people in your
such cultures as unavoidable? Do you think tradition community? How do you think that developed over
and ethnic identity are worth holding on to? time, and what makes it so accepted or popular in
2. Many modern societies are complex and pluralistic. Are your group today?
you familiar with any subcultures or different ethnic 4. Today, more than 7.3 billion people inhabit the
groups in your own society? Could you make friends earth. That number is currently increasing by nearly
with or even marry someone from another subculture 80 million a year—the population size of Iran or
or ethnicity? What kind of cultural differences or Germany. With finite natural resources and hugely
problems would you be likely to encounter, and how escalating piles of waste, do you think technological
would you deal with ethnocentrism? inventions alone are sufficient to secure health and
3. An often overlooked first step for developing happiness for humanity on our ever-more crowded
an understanding of another culture is having planet?
Hometown Map
The barrel model offers a simple framework activities, political organization, family life, ethnic
to imagine what a culture looks like from an makeup, and social interactions. Conclude your
analytical point of view. Become a participant study with notes about your home area’s religious
observer in your own culture. Walking, driving, institutions. At the end of your tour, dig into
or riding through your home area, make notes anthropology by fitting the elements you have
about its geographic location, natural or urban described into the three layers of the barrel model
landscape, roads and railways, public spaces and and explaining how they may be interconnected
offices, business and private buildings, economic as a whole—your hometown.
© Harald E. L. Prins
CHALLENGE ISSUE
Anthropologists take on the challenge of studying and describing cultures and finding
scientific explanations for their differences and similarities. Why do people think, feel,
and act in certain ways—and find it wrong or impossible to do otherwise? Answers
must come from fact-based knowledge about cultural diversity—knowledge that is not
culture-bound and is widely recognized as significant. Over the years, anthropology has
generated such knowledge through various theories and research methods. In particular,
anthropologists obtain information through long-term, full-immersion fieldwork based on
participant observation. Here we see U.S. anthropologist Lucas Bessire (in the tan cap)
and a dozen Ayoreo Indians returning to their village after a successful hunting expedi-
tion that yielded thirty-five tortoises. Weighing in at about 30 kilograms (9 pounds) and
roasted in their shells over an open fire, tortoises are part of the Ayoreo’s traditional diet.
Bessire’s vehicle, known among the Ayoreo as the “giant armadillo,” has come in handy
for community emergencies and for research that includes documenting the Ayoreo Indian
community and its rapidly changing environment in the Gran Chaco of Paraguay. Non-Indian
farmers and agribusinesses are rapidly deforesting this dry woodland habitat, destroy-
ing its wildlife and the indigenous cultures traditionally depending on this ecosystem.
Ethnographic
Research—Its
History, Methods,
3
and Theories
As briefly discussed in Chapter 1, cultural anthropology has two main scholarly In this chapter you
components: ethnography and ethnology. Ethnography is a detailed description of a will learn to
particular culture primarily based on firsthand observation and interaction. Ethnology ●● Explain why fieldwork
is the study and analysis of different cultures from a comparative or historical point is essential to
of view, utilizing ethnographic accounts and developing anthropological theories that ethnography.
help explain why certain important differences or similarities occur among groups. ●● Situate historical
Historically, anthropology focused on non-Western traditional peoples changes in research
questions and
whose languages were not written down—people whose communication was
applications within their
often direct and face-to-face and whose knowledge about the past was based economic, social, and
primarily on oral tradition. Even in societies where writing exists, little of inter- political contexts.
est to anthropologists is detailed in writing. Thus, anthropologists have made a ●● Describe ethnographic
point of going to these places in person to observe and experience peoples and research—its
their cultures firsthand. This is called fieldwork.
challenges and
methods.
Today, anthropological fieldwork takes place not only in small-scale communi-
ties in remote corners of the world, but also in modern urban neighborhoods in in-
●● Discuss the relationship
between methods and
dustrial or postindustrial societies. Anthropologists can be found doing fieldwork in
theory.
a wide range of places and within a host of diverse groups and institutions, includ-
●● Contrast key theoretical
ing global corporations, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), mining towns,
perspectives in
tourist resorts, migrant labor communities, slums, prisons, and refugee camps. anthropology.
In our rapidly changing and increasingly interconnected world, where ●● Recognize the ethical
longstanding cultural boundaries between societies are being erased, new social responsibilities of
networks and cultural constructs have emerged, made possible by long-distance anthropological
research.
mass transportation and communication technologies. To better describe, ex-
plain, and understand these complex but fascinating dynamics in a globalizing
world, anthropologists today are adjusting their theoretical frameworks and
research methods and approaches.
47
48 CHAPTER 3 Ethnographic Research—Its History, Methods, and Theories
Our research questions are often influenced by the envi-

ronmental, economic, political, military, or ideological
Salvage Ethnography
concerns of a particular period. What we observe and or Urgent Anthropology
consider significant is shaped or modified by a world- Within this disturbing and often violent historical context,
view, and our explanations or interpretations are framed thousands of traditional communities worldwide have
in theories that gain and lose currency depending on struggled to survive. In fact, many of these threatened
ideological and political-economical forces beyond our peoples have become physically extinct. Others survived
individual control. Taking this into consideration, this but were forced to surrender their territories and lifeways.
chapter presents a historical overview of anthropology, Anthropologists have seldom been able to prevent such
its research methods and theories—underscoring the tragic events, but many have tried to make a record of these
idea that ethnographic research does not happen in a cultural groups. This important practice of documenting
timeless vacuum. endangered cultures was initially called salvage ethnography
and later became known as urgent anthropology, and
it continues to this day (Figure 3.1).
By the late 1800s, many European and North American
History of Ethnographic museums were sponsoring anthropological expeditions to
collect cultural artifacts and other material remains (includ-
Research and Its Uses ing skulls and bones), as well as vocabularies, myths, and
other data. Anthropologists also began taking ethnographic
Anthropology emerged as a formal discipline during photographs, and by the 1890s some began shooting docu-
the heyday of colonialism (1870s–1930s), a system by mentary films or recording speech, songs, and music.
which a dominant society politically claims and controls The first generation of anthropologists often began
a foreign territory primarily for purposes of settling and their careers working for museums, but those coming
economic exploitation. Many European anthropologists later were academically trained in the emerging discipline
focused on the study of traditional peoples and cultures and became active in newly founded anthropology de-
in their colonies overseas. For instance, French anthropol- partments. In North America, most did their fieldwork on
ogists conducted most of their research in North and West tribal reservations where indigenous communities were
Africa and Southeast Asia; British anthropologists studied falling apart in the face of disease, poverty, and despair
in southern and eastern Africa; Dutch anthropologists re- brought on by pressures of forced cultural change. These
searched the region that has become Indonesia, Western anthropologists interviewed elders still able to recall the
New Guinea, and Suriname; and Belgian anthropologists ancestral way of life prior to the disruptions forced upon
traveled to Congo in Africa. Anthropologists in North them. The researchers also collected oral histories, tradi-
America focused primarily on their own countries’ indig- tions, myths, legends, and other information, as well as
enous communities—usually residing in remote Arctic old artifacts for research, preservation, and public display.
villages, or on tracts of land known as Indian reservations Anthropological theories have come and gone during
or First Nation Reserves. the past few hundred years or so, but the plight of indig-
At one time it was common practice to compare enous peoples struggling for cultural survival endures.
peoples still pursuing traditional lifeways—based on Researchers can and still do contribute to cultural preser-
hunting, fishing, gathering, or small-scale farming or vation efforts.
herding—with the prehistoric ancestors of Europeans
and to categorize the cultures of these traditional peoples
as “primitive.” Anthropologists have long abandoned Acculturation Studies
such ethnocentric terminology, but many others still
In the 1930s, anthropologists began researching culture
think and speak of these traditional cultures as “back-
contact, studying how traditional cultures change when
ward” or “undeveloped.” This misconception helped
coming in contact with expanding capitalist societies. For
state societies, commercial enterprises, and other power-
several centuries, such contact primarily took place in the
ful outside groups justify expanding their activities and
context of colonialism.
invading the lands belonging to these peoples, often
In contrast to Africa and Asia, where the natives vastly
exerting overwhelming pressure on them to change their
outnumbered the colonists, European settlers in the Amer-
ancestral ways.
icas, Australia, and New Zealand expanded their territories,
decimating and overwhelming the indigenous inhabitants.
These settler societies became politically independent, turn-
colonialism System by which a dominant society politically claims
ing the colonies into new states. Several—such as Canada,
and controls a foreign territory primarily for purposes of settling and
economic exploitation. Brazil, and the United States—recognized that the indige-
urgent anthropology Ethnographic research that documents nous peoples had rights to land and set aside tracts where
endangered cultures; also known as salvage ethnography. they could live, but not as independent nations. Surviving
© Harald E.L. Prins

Figure 3.1 Endangered Culture
Until recently, Ayoreo Indian bands lived largely isolated in the Gran Chaco, a vast wilderness
in South America’s heartland. One by one, these migratory foragers have been forced to “come
out” due to outside encroachment on their habitat. Today, most dispossessed Ayoreo Indians
find themselves in different stages of acculturation. This photo shows Ayoreo women of Zapocó
in Bolivia’s forest. Dressed in Western hand-me-downs and surrounded by plastic from the
modern society that is pressing in on them, they weave natural plant fibers into traditionally
patterned bags to sell for cash, while men make money by cutting trees for logging companies.
on reservations, these indigenous peoples, or tribal nations, administration of colonies or tribal reservations actively
are bureaucratically controlled as internal colonies. promoted cultural change.
Government-sponsored programs designed to compel The British and Dutch governments, for example, had
tribal communities or ethnic minorities to abandon their a vested interest in maintaining order over enormous colo-
ancestral languages and cultural traditions for those of the nies overseas, ruling foreign populations many times larger
controlling society have ripped apart the unique cultural than their own. For practical purposes, these governments
fabric of one group after another. These programs left imposed a colonial system of indirect rule in which they
many indigenous families impoverished, demoralized, and depended on tribal chiefs, princes, kings, emirs, sultans,
desperate. In the United States, this asymmetrical culture maharajas, or whatever their titles. These indigenous rulers,
contact became known as acculturation. This is the massive supported by the colonial regimes, managed the peoples
cultural change that occurs in a society when it experiences under their authority by means of customary law. In the
intensive firsthand contact with a more powerful society— United States and Canada, a similar political system of indi-
in particular, with an industrialized or capitalist society. In rect rule was established in which indigenous communities
the course of the 20th century, numerous anthropologists residing on tribal reservations were (and still are) governed
carried out acculturation studies in Asia, Africa, Australia, by their own leaders largely according to their own rules,
Oceania, the Americas, and even in parts of Europe, thereby albeit under the surveillance of federal authorities.
greatly contributing to our knowledge of complex and of- Whatever the political condition of indigenous
ten disturbing processes of cultural change. peoples—whether they reside on reservations, in colo-
nies, or under some other form of authority exercised by
a foreign controlling state—the practical value of anthro-
Applied Anthropology pology became increasingly evident in the course of time.
Anthropologists were not the only ones interested in In identifying the disintegrating effects of asymmetrical
acculturation. In fact, business corporations, religious culture contact, acculturation studies gave birth to applied
institutions, and government agencies responsible for the anthropology—the use of anthropological knowledge and
Figure 3.2 Postage Stamp

Honoring Gonzalo Aguirre Beltrán
First trained as a medical doctor,
Gonzalo Aguirre Beltrán (1908–
1996) became one of Mexico’s
most important anthropologists.
He pioneered research on Afro-
Mexicans and studied land tenure
conflict among Mexican Indian
communities in the 1930s.
Influenced by acculturation theories
developed by Melville Herskovits
of Northwestern University and
Robert Redfield of the University of
Chicago, he headed the Instituto
Nacional Indigenista (National
Indigenous Institute) in the 1950s
and 1960s. As an influential
government official, he converted
acculturation theory into state-
sponsored policies integrating and
assimilating millions of indigenous
Mexican Indians into a national
culture embracing ethnic diversity
in a democratic state society.
methods to solve practical problems in communities con- high political positions. The reasons for this are complex,
fronting new challenges. but one factor stands out: Mexico, a former Spanish colony,
In 1937 the British government set up an anthropologi- is a large multi-ethnic democracy inhabited by millions of
cal research institute in what is now Zambia to study the im- indigenous peoples who form the demographic majority
pact of international markets on Central Africa’s traditional in many regions. Converting acculturation theory into
societies. Over the next decade, anthropologists worked on state-sponsored policies, influential government officials
a number of problem-oriented studies throughout Africa, such as anthropologist Gonzalo Aguirre Beltrán sought to
including the disruptive effects of the mining industry and integrate myriad indigenous communities into a Mexican
labor migration on domestic economies and cultures. state that embraces ethnic diversity in a national culture
Facing similar issues in North America, the U.S. Bu- (Aguirre Beltrán, 1974; Weaver, 2002) (Figure 3.2).
reau of Indian Affairs (BIA), which oversees federally Today, many academically trained anthropologists
recognized tribes on Indian reservations, established an specialize in applied research. They conduct research for
applied anthropology branch in the mid-1930s. Beyond a variety of local, regional, national, and international
studying the problems of acculturation, the handful of institutions, in particular nongovernmental organizations
applied anthropologists hired by the BIA were to identify (NGOs), and are active worldwide.
culturally appropriate ways for the U.S. government to
introduce social and economic development programs to
reduce poverty, promote literacy, and solve a host of other
Studying Cultures at a Distance
problems on the reservations. The study of anthropology shifted focus with the begin-
The international Society for Applied Anthropology, ning of World War II and then the Cold War, during which
founded in 1941, aimed to promote scientific investi- capitalist countries (led by the United States) and commu-
gation of the principles controlling human relations nist countries (led by Russia) waged a war of political and
and their practical application. Applied anthropology economic hostility and conflict. Many anthropologists
developed into an important part of the discipline and began studying modern state societies rather than limiting
continued to grow even after colonized countries in Asia their research to small-scale traditional communities.
and Africa became self-governing states in the mid-1900s. Aiming to discover basic personality traits, or psycho-
In Mexico—perhaps more than anywhere else in the logical profiles, shared by the majority of the people in
world—anthropology has gained considerable prestige as modern state societies, several U.S. and British anthropol-
a discipline, and its practitioners have been appointed to ogists became involved in a wartime government program
of national character studies. Officials believed such studies As Powdermaker was wrapping up her Hollywood re-
would help them to better understand and deal with the search, several other anthropologists were launching other
newly declared enemy states of Japan and Germany (in kinds of studies in large-scale societies. In 1950, Swiss an-
World War II) and later Russia and others. thropologist Alfred Métraux put together an international
During wartime, on-location ethnographic fieldwork team of U.S., French, and Brazilian researchers to study
was impossible in enemy societies and challenging at best contemporary race relations in the South American country,
in most other foreign countries. Some anthropologists de- Brazil. The project, sponsored by the newly founded global
veloped innovative techniques for studying “culture at a institution UNESCO (United Nations Education, Science,
distance.” Their methods included the analysis of newspa- and Culture Organization), was part of the UN’s global
pers, literature, photographs, and popular films. They also campaign against racial prejudice and discrimination. Head-
collected information through structured interviews with quartered in Paris, Métraux selected Brazil as a research site
immigrants and refugees from the enemy nations, as well primarily for comparative purposes. Like the United States, it
as foreigners from other countries (Mead & Métraux, 1953). was a former European colony with a large multi-ethnic pop-
To portray the national character of peoples inhabiting ulation and a long history of black slavery. It had abolished
distant countries, anthropologists investigated a variety of slavery twenty-five years later than the United States but had
topics including childrearing practices, in conjunction with made much more progress in terms of its race relations.
examining print or film materials for recurrent cultural In contrast to the racially segregated United States,
themes and values. This cultural knowledge was also used Brazil was believed to be an ideal example of harmonious,
for propaganda and psychological warfare. Some of the intolerant, and overall positive cross-racial relations. The
sights from these long-distance anthropological studies were research findings yielded unexpected results, showing that
found to be useful in dealing with formerly colonized pop- dark-skinned Brazilians of African descent did face sys-
ulations in so-called developing or Third World countries. temic social and economic discrimination—albeit not in
the political and legal form of racial segregation that per-
Studying Contemporary vaded the United States at the time (Prins & Krebs, 2007).
In 1956 and 1957, anthropologist Julian Steward left
State Societies the United States to supervise an anthropological research
team in developing countries such as Kenya, Nigeria,
Although there were theoretical flaws in the national
Peru, Mexico, Japan, Malaya, Indonesia, and Burma (now
character studies and methodological problems in study-
Myanmar). His goal was to study the comparative impact
ing cultures at a distance, anthropological research on
of industrialization and urbanization upon these different
contemporary state societies was more than just a war-
populations. Other anthropologists launched similar proj-
related endeavor. Even when anthropologists devoted
ects in other parts of the world.
themselves primarily to researching non-Western small-
scale communities, they recognized that a generalized
understanding of human relations, ideas, and behavior
depends upon knowledge of all cultures and peoples, in-
Studying Peasant Communities
cluding those in complex, large-scale industrial societies In the 1950s, as anthropologists widened their scope to
organized in political states. And, prior to the Second consider the impact of complex state societies on the
World War, several anthropologists were already research- traditional indigenous groups central to early anthropo-
ing in their own countries in settings ranging from facto- logical study, some researchers zeroed in on peasant com-
ries to farming communities to suburban neighborhoods. munities. Peasants represent an important social category,
One early anthropologist doing research on the home standing midway between modern industrial society and
front was Hortense Powdermaker. Born in Philadelphia, traditional subsistence foragers, herders, farmers, and
Powdermaker went to London to study under Polish fishers. Part of larger, more complex societies, peasant
anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski and did her first communities exist worldwide, and peasants number in
major ethnographic fieldwork among Melanesians in the the many hundreds of millions.
South Pacific. When she returned to the United States, Peasantry represents the largest social category of our
she researched a racially segregated town in Mississippi in species to date. Because peasant unrest over economic
the 1930s (Powdermaker, 1939). During the next decade, and social problems fuels political instability in many de-
she focused on combating U.S. dominant society’s racism veloping countries, anthropological studies of these rural
against African Americans and other ethnic minorities. populations in Latin America, Africa, Asia, and elsewhere
While in the South, Powdermaker became keenly aware are considered both significant and practical. In addition
of the importance of the mass media in shaping people’s to improving policies aimed at social and economic de-
worldviews (Wolf & Trager, 1971). To further explore this velopment in rural communities, anthropological peasant
ideological force in modern culture, she cast her critical studies may offer insights into how to deal with peasants
eye on the domestic film industry and did a year of field- resisting challenges to their traditional way of life. Such
work in Hollywood (1946–1947). anthropological research may be useful in promoting
Many of these issues, which remain focal points to this

day, involve immigrants and refugees coming from places
where anthropologists have conducted research.
Some anthropologists have gone beyond studying
such groups to playing a role in helping them adjust
to their new circumstances—an example of applied an-
thropology. Others have become advocates for peasant
communities, ethnic or religious minorities, or indige-
nous groups struggling to hold onto their ancestral lands,
natural resources, and customary ways of life. Both focus
on identifying, preventing, or solving problems and chal-
lenges in groups that form part of complex societies and
whose circumstances and affairs are conditioned or even
determined by powerful outside institutions or corpora-
tions over which they generally have little or no control.
One of the first anthropological research projects
explicitly and publicly addressing the quest for social
justice and cultural survival took place from 1948 to 1959
among the Meskwaki, or Fox Indians, on their reservation
in the state of Iowa. Based on long-term fieldwork with
this North American Indian community, anthropologist
Sol Tax challenged government-sponsored applied an-
thropological research projects and proposed instead that
researchers work directly with “disadvantaged, exploited,
and oppressed communities [to help them] identify and
© Harald E.L. Prins
solve their [own] problems” (Field, 2004, p. 476; see also

Lurie, 1973).
Over the past few decades, anthropologists committed
to social justice and human rights have become increas-
Figure 3.3 A Voice for Peasants ingly involved in efforts to assist indigenous groups,
Peasant studies came to the fore during the 1950s as peasant communities, and ethnic minorities. Today, most
anthropologists began investigating rural peoples in state anthropologists committed to community-based and po-
societies and the impact of capitalism on traditional small-scale litically involved research refer to their work as engaged
communities. Here a Guaraní-speaking peasant leader addresses a anthropology or advocacy anthropology.
crowd in front of the presidential palace in Paraguay’s capital city of For example, Mexican anthropologist Rosalva Aída
Asunción at a massive protest rally against land dispossession. Hernández Castillo has practiced advocacy anthropology
for two decades. Putting her journalism background to use,
social justice by helping to solve, manage, or avoid social she has combined her academic work with print and broad-
conflicts and political violence, including rebellions and cast media, as well as video, to promote women’s rights
guerrilla warfare or insurgencies (Figure 3.3). in her homeland. Born and raised in Baja California, she
earned her doctorate at Stanford University and returned
to her parental homeland. Now a professor at the Center
Advocacy Anthropology for Advanced Studies in Social Anthropology (CIESAS) in
Mexico City, she has conducted fieldwork in Maya Indian
By the 1960s, European colonial powers had relinquished
communities in Chiapas near the Guatemalan border. Since
almost all of their overseas domains. Many anthropol-
the mid-1990s, this region has been the heartland of an in-
ogists turned their attention to the newly independent
digenous revolutionary movement that effectively defends
countries in Africa and Asia, whereas others focused on
indigenous rights, promotes regional autonomy, and sup-
South and Central America. However, as anti-Western sen-
ports self-determination. Named after a Mexican revolution-
timent and political upheaval seriously complicated field-
ary hero, these Zapatistas oppose neoliberalism (free-market
work in many parts of the world, significant numbers of
capitalism) as pushed by business corporations, defended by
anthropologists investigated important issues of cultural
the central government’s bureaucracy, and made possible by
change and conflict inside Europe and North America.
military force. As noted by this feminist anthropologist, the
Zapatista cause is also “the first military political movement
in Latin America to claim women’s rights as a fundamental
advocacy anthropology Research that is community based and part of its political agenda” (Hernández, 2016). Informed by
politically involved. her experiences with the Zapatistas as well as her work with
Courtesy of Rosalva Aída Hernández Castillo

Figure 3.4 Advocacy Anthropologist Rosalva Aída Hernández Castillo
Through her research among the Maya in the Mexican-Guatemalan borderlands and her work
in various legal activist projects in southwestern Mexico, Rosalva Aída Hernández Castillo
incorporates indigenous perspectives into feminist theory. Here we see her at the VII Encounter
of the Continental Network of Indigenous Women of the Americas, held in Guatemala in
2015. (She is in the center, dressed in white, with her arm around another Network member.)
Collaborating with this Network since its creation in 1995, Hernández is considered one of the
group’s compañeras solidarias (“solidary companions”). For the 2015 gathering, she was invited
to coordinate a workshop on indigenous law, community justice, and gender rights.
women prisoners, Hernández’s feminist theorizing incor- have the capacity and political power to stop or seriously
porates an indigenous perspective with a commitment to obstruct the research or the dissemination of its results.
women’s rights, battling gender discrimination, and fight-
ing racism (Figure 3.4). Globalization and Multi-Sited
Ethnography
Studying Up As noted in Chapter 1, the impact of globalization is
Given anthropology’s mission to understand the human everywhere. Distant localities are becoming linked in
condition in its full cross-cultural range and complexity— such a way that forces and activities occurring thousands
not just in distant places or at the margins of our own of miles away are shaping local events and situations,
societies—some scholars have called for ethnographic and vice versa. Connected by modern transportation,
research in the centers of political and economic power in world trade, finance capital, transnational labor pools,
the world’s dominant societies. This perspective is espe- and information superhighways, even the most geograph-
cially important for applied and advocacy anthropologists ically remote communities have become increasingly
researching groups or communities embedded in larger interdependent. Indeed, all of humanity now exists in
and more complex processes of state-level politics and what we refer to in this text as a globalscape—a worldwide
economics or even transnational levels of global institu- interconnected landscape with multiple intertwining and
tions and multinational corporations. Of particular note overlapping peoples and cultures on the move.
in this effort is U.S. anthropologist Laura Nader. Coining One consequence of globalization is the formation of
the term studying up, she has called upon anthropologists diasporic populations (diaspora is a Greek word, originally
to focus on Western elites, government bureaucracies, meaning “scattering”), living and working far from their
global corporations, philanthropic foundations, media original homeland. Some diasporic groups feel uprooted
empires, business clubs, and so on. and fragmented, but others are able to transcend vast dis-
Studying up is easier said than done because it is a for- tances and stay in touch with family and friends through
midable challenge to do participant observation in such communication technologies. With Internet access to
well-guarded circles. And when these elites are confronted news from their home towns and countries, combined
with research projects or findings not to their liking, they with e-mail, text messaging, and a variety of social media
V I S UA L COU N T E R POI N T
Courtesy of Catherine Besteman
Courtesy of Catherine Besteman

Figure 3.5 Multi-Sited Ethnography
U.S. anthropologist Catherine Besteman began fieldwork with Bantu communities in southern
Somalia’s Jubba Valley in the late 1980s, just before the outbreak of the civil war that decimated
the country and forced many into exile. Since 2003, thousands of Somali Bantu have relocated
to Lewiston, Maine, which has become an additional site for Besteman’s ongoing research.
Some of her undergraduate students at nearby Colby College participate in her work with these
refugees. In the photo on the left, Besteman (in orange blouse) is conducting interviews in the
Somali village of Qardale. In the photo on the right, Besteman’s students Elizabeth Powell and
Nicole Mitchell are interviewing Iman Osman in his family’s Lewiston apartment the year he
graduated from high school. He and his family fled the war when he was just 4 years old; they
lived in a refugee camp for a decade before finally coming to the United States.
platforms, geographically dispersed individuals spend One example of multi-sited ethnographic research on
more and more of their time in cyberspace (Appadurai, a diasporic ethnic group is a study on transnational Han
1996; Oiarzabal & Reips, 2012). This electronically medi- Chinese identities by Chinese American anthropologist
ated environment enables people who are far from home Andrea Louie. Louie’s fieldwork carried her from San
to remain informed, to maintain their social networks, Francisco to Hong Kong to southern China—including
and even to hold onto a historical sense of ethnic identity her ancestral home in the Cantonese village Tiegang in
that culturally distinguishes them from those with whom Guangdong Province. Her paternal great-grandfather left
they share their daily routines in actual geographic space. the village in the 1840s, crossing the Pacific Ocean to
Globalization has given rise to multi-sited work on railroad construction during the California Gold
ethnography—the investigation and documentation of Rush. But other family members remained in their ances-
peoples and cultures embedded in the larger structures of a tral homeland. Here, Louie describes her research inves-
globalizing world, utilizing a range of methods in various tigating Chinese identities from different and changing
locations of time and space. Researchers engaged in such perspectives:
mobile ethnography seek to capture the emerging global
My fieldwork on Chinese identities employed a type
dimension by following individual actors, organizations,
of mobile [ethnography] aimed at examining various
objects, images, stories, conflicts, and even pathogens as
parts of a “relationship” being forged anew across
they move about in various interrelated transnational
national boundaries that draws on metaphors of shared
situations and locations (Marcus, 1995; Robben & Sluka,
heritage and place. . . . I interviewed people in their
2007). Refugee communities around the world also fall
homes and apartments; in cafes, culture centers, and
into this category (Figure 3.5).
McDonald’s restaurants; and in rural Chinese villages
and on jet planes, focusing on various moments and
contexts of interaction within which multiple and
multi-sited ethnography The investigation and documentation of
peoples and cultures embedded in the larger structures of a globalizing often discrepant discourses of Chineseness are brought
world, utilizing a range of methods in various locations of time and space. together. (Louie, 2004, pp. 8–9)
Doing Ethnography 55
Multi-sited ethnography has brought a greater interdis- the more one gains a fresh and revealing perspective on
ciplinary approach to fieldwork, including theoretical ideas one’s own.
and research methods from cultural studies, media studies, But wherever the site, research requires advance plan-
and mass communication. One example is the development ning that usually includes obtaining funding and secur-
of ethnographic studies of social networks, communicative ing permission from the community to be studied (and,
practices, and other cultural expressions in cyberspace by where mandated, permission from government officials
means of digital visual and audio technologies. This digital as well). If possible, researchers make a preliminary trip
ethnography is sometimes also referred to as cyberethnog- to the site to make arrangements before moving there for
raphy or netnography (Murthy, 2011). more extended research.
Even in the fast-changing, globalizing world of the 21st After exploring the local conditions and circumstances,
century, core ethnographic research methods developed ethnographers have the opportunity to better define their
over a century ago continue to be relevant and revealing. specific research question or problem. For instance, what
New technologies have been added to the anthropologist’s is the psychological impact of a new highway on members
toolkit, but the hallmarks of our discipline—holistic re- of a traditionally isolated farming community? Or how
search through fieldwork with participant observation—is does the introduction of electronic media such as cell
still a valued and productive tradition. Having presented phones influence long-established gender relations in cul-
a sweeping historical overview of shifting anthropological tures with religious restrictions on social contact between
research challenges and strategies, we turn now to the men and women?
topic of research methods.
Preparatory Research
Before heading into the field, anthropologists do preparatory
Doing Ethnography research. This includes delving into any existing written,
visual, or audio information available about the people and
Every culture has underlying rules or standards that are place one has chosen to study. It may involve contacting
rarely obvious. A major challenge to the anthropologist is and interviewing others who have some knowledge about or
to identify and analyze those rules. Fundamental to the ef- experience with the community, region, or country.
fort is ethnographic fieldwork—extended on-location Because communication is key in ethnographic re-
research to gather detailed and in-depth information on search, anthropologists need to learn the language used
a society’s customary ideas, values, and practices through in the community selected for fieldwork. Many of the
participation in its collective social life. more than 6,000 languages currently spoken in the world
Although the scope of cultural anthropology has ex- have been recorded and written down, especially during
panded to include urban life in complex industrial and the past century, so it is possible to learn some foreign
postindustrial societies, and even virtual communities in languages prior to fieldwork. However, numerous native
cyberspace, ethnographic methods developed for field- languages have not yet been written down. In such cases,
work in traditional small-scale societies continue to be researchers may be able to find someone who is minimally
central to anthropological research in all types of commu- bilingual to help them gain some proficiency with the
nities. The methodology still includes personal observa- language. Another possibility is to first learn an already
tion of and participation in the everyday activities of the recorded and closely related language, which provides
community, along with interviews, mapping, collection some elementary communication skills during the early
of genealogical data, and recording of sounds and visual phase of the actual fieldwork.
images. It all begins with selecting a research site and a Importantly, anthropologists prepare for fieldwork
research problem or question. by studying theoretical, historical, ethnographic, and
other literature relevant to the proposed research. Hav-
ing delved into the existing literature, they may then
Site Selection formulate a theoretical framework and research question
to guide them in their fieldwork. Such was the case when
and Research Question U.S. anthropologist Napoleon Chagnon applied sociobio-
Anthropologists usually work outside their own culture, logical theory to his study of violence within Ya˛ nomamö
society, or ethnic group, most often in a foreign country.
This is because anthropological study within one’s own digital ethnography An ethnographic study of social networks,
society presents special problems, such as unsuspected communicative practices, and other cultural expressions in cyberspace
biases that can result from private experiences and one’s by means of digital visual and audio technologies; also called
cyberethnography or netnography.
own social standing in the society. For this reason, an-
ethnographic fieldwork Extended on-location research to gather
thropologists tend to begin their careers by first studying detailed and in-depth information on a society’s customary ideas, values,
in other cultures. The more one learns of other cultures, and practices through participation in its collective social life.
Indian communities in South America’s tropical rainfor-

est. Chagnon theorized that males with an aggressive
reputation as killers were reproductively more successful
than those without such a status (Chagnon, 1988a).
Another U.S. anthropologist, Christopher Boehm, took
a different theoretical approach in his research on blood
revenge among Slavic mountain people in Montenegro.
He framed his research question in terms of the ecological
function of this violent tradition because it regulated re-
lations between groups competing for survival in a harsh
environment with scarce natural resources (Boehm, 1987).
Participant Observation:
Ethnographic Tools and Aids
Once in the field, anthropologists rely on participant
observation—a research method in which one learns about
a group’s behaviors and beliefs through social involve-
ment and personal observation within the community,
as well as interviews and discussion with individual
Tara Mandala INC

members of the group over an extended stay in the
community (Figure 3.6). This work requires an ability to
socially and psychologically adapt to a community with
a different way of life. Keen personal observation skills
are also essential, skills that employ all the senses—sight, Figure 3.6 Participant Observation
touch, smell, taste, and hearing—in order to perceive The hallmark research methodology for anthropologists is
collective life in the other culture. participant observation—illustrated by this photo of U.S.
When participating in an unfamiliar culture, anthro- anthropologist Julia Jean (center), who is both observing and
pologists are often helped by one or more generous in- participating in a Hindu ritual at a temple for the goddess
dividuals in the village or neighborhood. They may also Kamakhya in northeastern India.
be taken in by a family—or even adopted—and through
participation in the daily routine of a household, they will
today’s anthropological field kits also include GPS equip-
gradually become familiar with the community’s basic
ment, smartphones, and other handheld technological
shared cultural features.
devices. And some researchers now incorporate small
Anthropologists may also formally enlist the assis-
drones (flying robots) equipped with lightweight video
tance of key consultants—members of the society be-
cameras to collect data and document observations.
ing studied who provide information to help researchers
Researchers may focus on a particular cultural aspect
understand the meaning of what they observe. (Early
or issue, but they will consider the culture as a whole
anthropologists referred to such individuals as informants.)
for the sake of context. This holistic and integrative ap-
These insiders help researchers unravel the mysteries of
proach, a hallmark of anthropology, requires being tuned
what at first is an unfamiliar, puzzling, and unpredictable
in to nearly countless details of daily life, both the ordi-
world. To compensate local individuals for their help,
nary and the extraordinary. By taking part in community
fieldworkers may thank them for their time and expertise
life, anthropologists learn why and how events are orga-
with goods, services, or cash.
nized and carried out. Through alert and sustained partic-
Notebooks, pen/pencil, camera, and sound and video
ipation—carefully watching, questioning, listening, and
recorders are an anthropologist’s most essential ethno-
analyzing over a period of time—they can usually identify,
graphic tools in the field. Most also use laptop comput-
explain, and often even predict a group’s behavior.
ers equipped with data processing programs. Typically,
key consultant A member of the society being studied who provides Data Gathering:
information that helps researchers understand the meaning of what
they observe; early anthropologists referred to such an individual as an The Ethnographer’s Approach
informant.
Information collected by ethnographers falls into two main
quantitative data Statistical or measurable information, such as
demographic composition, the types and quantities of crops grown, or categories: quantitative and qualitative. Quantitative
the ratio of spouses born and raised within or outside the community. data consist of statistical or measurable information, such
Courtesy of Jeffrey Snodgrass

Figure 3.7 Surveys in Cyberspace
U.S. anthropologist Jeffrey Snodgrass has been studying videogaming since 2008. Conducting
participant-observation research in and around the World of Warcraft (WoW), he has gathered
information about this virtual community through interviewing and surveying its members.
Snodgrass has been particularly fascinated by players’ relationships to their WoW avatars,
the in-game graphical representations of their characters. Via avatars, gamers can temporarily
separate or even dissociate from their actual-world identities and enter WoW’s fantasyscape.
Here, Snodgrass (the pointy-eared Draenei shaman seated front left) and his virtual research
team of graduate and undergraduate collaborators pose beneath WoW’s Goblin Messiah.
as population density, demographic composition of people Taking Surveys

and animals, and the number and size of houses; the hours Unlike many other social scientists, anthropologists do
worked per day; the types and quantities of crops grown; not usually go into the field equipped with predeter-
the amount of carbohydrates or animal protein consumed mined surveys or questionnaires. Those who use surveys
per individual; the quantity of wood, dung, or other kinds usually do so after spending enough time on location to
of fuel used to cook food or heat dwellings; the number of have gained the community’s confidence and with the
children born out of wedlock; the ratio of spouses born and experience to compose a questionnaire with categories
raised within or outside the community; and so on. that are culturally relevant. Whether studying a commu-
Qualitative data include nonstatistical informa- nity in geographic space or cyberspace, anthropologists
tion about features such as settlement patterns, natural who use surveys view them as one small part in a large
resources, social networks of kinship relations, customary research strategy that includes a considerable amount of
beliefs and practices, personal life histories, and so on. Of- qualitative data (Figure 3.7). They recognize that only
ten, these unquantifiable data are the most important part by keeping an open mind while thoughtfully watching,
of ethnographic research because they capture the essence listening, participating, and asking questions can they
of a culture; this information provides us with deeper in- discover many aspects of a culture.
sights into the unique lives of different peoples, helping
us understand what, why, and how they feel, think, and qualitative data Nonstatistical information such as personal life stories
act in their own distinctive ways. and customary beliefs and practices.
As fieldwork proceeds, anthropologists sort their com- grow out of cultural knowledge and insights gained during
plex impressions and observations into a meaningful informal ones.
whole, sometimes by formulating and testing limited or Getting people to open up is an art born of a genuine
low-level hypotheses, but just as often by making use of interest in both the information and the person who is
imagination or intuition and following up on hunches. sharing it. It requires dropping assumptions and cultivat-
What is important is that the results are constantly ing an ability to really listen. It may require a willingness
checked for accuracy and consistency. If the parts fail to fit to be the “village idiot” by asking simple questions to
together in a way that is internally coherent, it may be that which the answers seem obvious. Also, effective interview-
a mistake has been made and further inquiry is necessary. ers learn early on that numerous follow-up questions are
Two studies of a village in Peru illustrate the problem vital given that first answers may mask truth rather than
of gathering data through surveys alone. A sociologist reveal it. Questions generally fall into one of two cate-
conducted one study by surveying the villagers with a gories: open-ended questions (Can you tell me about your
questionnaire and concluded that people in the village childhood?) and closed questions seeking specific pieces of
invariably worked together on one another’s privately information (Where and when were you born?).
owned plots of land. By contrast, a cultural anthropologist Interviews are used to collect a vast range of cultural
who lived in the village for over a year (including the brief information: from life histories, genealogies, and myths to
period when the sociologist did his study) witnessed that craft techniques and midwife practices to beliefs concern-
particular practice of communal labor only once. The an- ing everything from illness to food taboos. Genealogical
thropologist’s long-term participant observation revealed information can be especially useful because it provides
that although the idea of labor exchange relations was data about a range of social customs (such as cousin mar-
important to the people’s sense of themselves, it was not riage), worldviews (such as ancestor worship), political
a common economic practice (Chambers, 1995). relations (such as alliances), and economic arrangements
The point here is that questionnaires all too easily em- (such as hunting or harvesting on clan-owned lands).
body the concepts and categories of the researcher, usually Researchers employ an eliciting device—an activity
an outsider, rather than those of the people being studied. or object that encourages individuals to recall and share
Moreover, questionnaires tend to concentrate on what information. There are countless examples of eliciting de-
is measurable, answerable, and workable as a question, vices: taking a walk with a local and asking about songs,
rather than probing the less obvious and more complex legends, and place names linked to geographic features;
qualitative aspects of society or culture. sharing details about one’s own family and neighborhood
Finally, for a host of reasons—fear, ignorance, hostility, and inviting a telling in return; joining in a community ac-
hope of reward—people may give false, incomplete, or tivity and asking a local to explain the practice and why the
biased information (Sanjek, 1990). Keeping culture-bound participants are doing it; taking and sharing photographs
ideas, which are often embedded in standardized ques- of cultural objects or activities and asking locals to explain
tionnaires, out of research methods is an important point what they see in the pictures; presenting research findings
in all ethnographic research. to community members and documenting their responses.
Interviewing Mapping
Asking questions is fundamental to ethnographic fieldwork. Many anthropologists have done fieldwork in remote
Anthropologists pose questions in informal interviews places where there is little geographic documentation.
(unstructured, open-ended conversations in everyday life) Even if cartographers have mapped the region, stan-
and in formal interviews (structured question-and- dard maps seldom show geographic and spatial features
answer sessions carefully annotated as they occur and based that are culturally significant to the people living there.
on prepared questions). Informal interviews may be carried People inhabiting areas that form part of their ancestral
out at any time and in any place—on horseback, in a car or homeland have a particular understanding of the area
canoe, by a cooking fire, during ritual events, while walking and their own names for local places. These native names
through the community with a local inhabitant, and the list may convey essential geographic information, describing
goes on. Such casual exchanges are essential, for it is often the distinctive features of a locality such as its physical
in these conversations that people share most freely. More- appearance, its specific dangers, or its precious resources.
over, the questions put forth in formal interviews typically Place names may derive from certain political realities
such as headquarters, territorial boundaries, and so on.
Others may make sense only in the cultural context of
informal interview An unstructured, open-ended conversation in a local people’s worldview as recounted in their myths,
everyday life.
legends, songs, or other narrative traditions. Thus, to truly
formal interview A structured question-and-answer session, carefully
annotated as it occurs and based on prepared questions. understand a place, some anthropologists make their own
eliciting device An activity or object that encourages individuals to detailed geographic maps documenting culturally relevant
recall and share information. features in the landscape inhabited by the people they
study. In addition to mapping the local place names and inhabitants. Canadian anthropologist Hugh Brody, one of
geographic features, anthropologists may also map out in- the researchers in this ethnogeographic study, explained:
formation relevant to the local subsistence, such as animal
These maps are the key to the studies and their greatest
migration routes, favorite fishing areas, and places where
contribution. Hunters, trappers, fishermen, and berry-
medicinal plants can be harvested or firewood can be cut.
pickers mapped out all the land they had ever used
Many anthropologists are involved in indigenous land
in their lifetimes, encircling hunting areas species
use and occupancy studies for various reasons, including the
by species, marking gathering location and camping
documentation of traditional land claims. Researchers con-
sites—everything their life on the land had entailed
structing individual map biographies may gather information
that could be marked on a map. (Brody, 1981, p. 147)
from a variety of sources: local oral histories; early written
descriptions of explorers, traders, missionaries, and other Today, using global positioning system (GPS) technol-
visitors; and data obtained from archaeological excavations. ogy, researchers can measure precise distances by triangu-
One such ethnogeographic research project took place lating the travel time of radio signals from various orbiting
in northwestern Canada, during the planning stage of satellites. They can create maps that pinpoint human settle-
the building of the Alaska Highway natural gas pipeline. ment locations and the layout of dwellings, gardens, public
Because the line would cut directly though the lands spaces, watering holes, pastures, surrounding mountains,
of indigenous peoples, local community leaders and rivers, lakes, seashores, islands, swamps, forests, deserts,
federal officials insisted that a study be conducted to and any other relevant feature in the regional environment
determine how the new construction would affect native (Figure 3.8).
University of Florida
Figure 3.8 Collecting GPS Data
For U.S. anthropologist Michael Heckenberger, doing fieldwork among the Kuikuro
people of the upper Xingu River in the southern margins of the Amazon rainforest
has become a collaborative undertaking. Together with other specialists on his
research team, he has trained local tribespeople to help with the research project
about their ancestral culture, which includes searching for the remains of ancient
earthworks and mapping them. The photos above show trained local assistant
Laquai Kuikuro collecting GPS data in a modern field of manioc—a dietary
staple of indigenous Amazonian communities in Brazil—and later reviewing the
downloaded data on a computer. On the left is a map showing GPS-charted
indigenous earthworks in the upper Xingu region superimposed over a Landsat
satellite image.
To store, edit, analyze, integrate, and display this

geographically referenced spatial information, some an-
Challenges of
thropologists use cartographic digital technology or a
geographic information system (GIS). A GIS makes it
Ethnographic Fieldwork
possible to map the geographic features and natural re- Ethnographic fieldwork offers a range of opportunities to
sources in a certain environment—and to link these data gain better and deeper insight into the community being
to ethnographic information about population density studied, but it comes with a Pandora’s box of challenges.
and distribution, social networks of kinship relations, sea- As touched upon in Chapter 1, anthropologists in the
sonal patterns of land use, private or collective claims of field are likely to face physical, social, mental, political,
ownership, travel routes, sources of water, and so on. With and ethical challenges, all while having to remain fully
GIS, researchers can also integrate information about be- engaged in work and social activities with the community.
liefs, myths, legends, songs, and other culturally relevant In the following paragraphs we offer details on some of
data associated with distinct locations. Moreover, they the most common personal struggles anthropologists face
can create interactive inquiries for analysis of research in the field.
data as well as natural and cultural resource management
(Schoepfle, 2001).
Social Acceptance
Having decided where to do ethnographic research and
Photographing and Filming
what to focus on, anthropologists embark on the journey
As already noted, during fieldwork, most anthropologists to their field site. Typically moving into a community
use cameras, as well as notepads, computers, or sound re- with a culture unlike their own, most experience culture
cording devices to document their observations. Photog- shock (personal disorientation and anxiety) and loneli-
raphy has been instrumental in anthropological research ness at least during the initial stages of their work—work
for more than a century. For instance, in the early 1880s, that requires them to establish social contacts with strang-
Franz Boas took photographs during his first fieldwork ers who have little or no idea who they are, why they have
among the Inuit in the Canadian Arctic. And just a few come, or what they want from them. In short, visiting an-
years after the invention of the moving picture camera in thropologists are as much a mystery to those they intend
1894, anthropologists began filming people in action— to study as the group is to the researchers.
recording traditional dances and other ethnographic sub- There is no sure way of predicting how one will be
jects of interest. received, but it is certain that success in ethnographic
As film technology developed, anthropologists turned fieldwork depends on mutual goodwill and the ability to
increasingly to visual media for a wide range of cross- develop friendships and other meaningful social relations.
cultural research purposes. Some employed still photog- Anthropologists who are adopted into networks of kin-
raphy in community surveys and elicitation techniques. ship relations gain social access and certain rights—and
Others took film cameras into the field to document the assume social obligations associated with their new kin-
disappearing world of traditional foragers, herders, and ship status. These relationships can be deep and endur-
farmers surviving in remote places. A few focused their ing, as illustrated by Smithsonian anthropologist William
research on documenting traditional patterns of nonver- Crocker’s description of his return to the Canela tribal
bal communication such as body language and use of so- community after a twelve-year absence. He had lived
cial space. Soon after the 1960 invention of the portable among these Amazonian Indians in Brazil off and on for
synchronous-sound camera, ethnographic filmmaking a total of sixty-six months from the 1950s through the
became increasingly important in producing a cross- 1970s (Figure 3.9). When he stepped out of the single-
cultural record of peoples all across the globe. motor missionary plane that had brought him back in
Since the digital revolution that began in the 1980s, 1991, he was quickly surrounded by Canela:
there has been an explosive growth in visual media all
across the world. It is not unusual for anthropologists Once on the ground, I groped for names and terms of
to arrive in remote villages where at least a few native address while shaking many hands. Soon my Canela
inhabitants take their own pictures or record their own mother, Tutkhwey (dove-woman), pulled me over
stories and music. For researchers in the field, native- to the shade of a plane’s wing and pushed me down
made audiovisual documents represent a wealth of pre- to a mat on the ground. She put both hands on my
cious cultural information. The Anthropologists of Note shoulders and, kneeling beside me, her head by mine,
feature in this chapter details the long history of such cried out words of mourning in a loud yodeling
equipment in anthropology. manner. Tears and phlegm dripped onto my shoulder
and knees. According to a custom now abandoned by
the younger women, she was crying for the loss of a
culture shock In fieldwork, the anthropologist’s personal disorientation grown daughter, Tsep-khwey (bat-woman), as well as
and anxiety, which may result in depression. for my return. (Crocker & Crocker, 2004, p. 1)
Challenges of Ethnographic Fieldwork 61
Figure 3.9 Social Acceptance in

Fieldwork
U.S. anthropologist William Crocker
did fieldwork among Canela Indians
in Brazil over several decades. He
still visits the community regularly.
In this 1964 photograph, a Canela
woman (M~i~i- kw’ej, or Alligator
Woman) gives him a traditional
haircut while other members of the
community look on. She is the wife
© Smithsonian Institution/National Anthropological Archives

of his adoptive Canela “brother” and
therefore a wife to Crocker in Canela
kinship terms. Among the Canela, it
is improper for a mother, sister, or
daughter to cut a man’s hair.
Since that reunion, Crocker has visited the Canela All anthropologists face
community every other year, always receiving a warm the overriding challenge
welcome and staying with locals. Although many an- of winning the trust that
thropologists are successful in gaining social acceptance allows people to be them-
and even adoption status in communities where they do selves and share an un-
participant observation, they rarely go completely native masked version of their
and abandon their own homeland. Even after long stays culture with a newcomer. TAJIKISTAN CHINA
in a community, and after learning to behave appro- Some do not succeed in Mountains
Kush Thull
priately and communicate well, few become complete meeting this challenge. So du
Hin
insiders. it was with U.S. anthro- AFGHANISTAN
pologist Lincoln Keiser in Islamabad
his difficult fieldwork in PAKISTAN
© Cengage Learning
the remote town of Thull,
Distrust and Political Tension IRAN INDIA
situated in the mountains
A particularly serious challenge in anthropological field-
of northwestern Pakistan. Arabian Sea
work is the possibility of getting caught in political
Keiser ventured there to
rivalries and unwittingly used by factions within the
explore customary blood
community or being viewed with suspicion by govern-
feuding among a Kohistani tribal community of 6,000
ment authorities who may interpret anthropologists’
Muslims making their living by a mix of farming and
systematic inquiries as spying. For example, U.S. an-
herding in the rugged region. However, the people he had
thropologist June Nash has faced serious political and
traveled so far to study did not want him there. As Keiser
personal challenges doing fieldwork in various Latin
recounted, many of the fiercely independent and armed
American communities experiencing violent changes.
tribesmen in this area despised him as a foreign “infidel”:
As an outsider, she tried to avoid becoming embroiled
in local conflicts but could not maintain her position Throughout my stay in Thull, many people
as an impartial observer while researching a tin mining remained convinced I was a creature sent by the
community in the Bolivian highlands. When the conflict devil to harm the community. . . . [Doing fieldwork
between local miners and bosses controlling the armed there] was a test I failed, for a jirga [political
forces became violent, Nash found herself in a revolu- council] of my most vocal opponents ultimately
tionary setting in which miners viewed her tape recorder forced me to leave Thull three months before I
as an instrument of espionage and suspected her of being had planned. . . . Still, I learned from being hated.
a CIA agent (Nash, 1976). (Keiser, 1991, p. 103)
Margaret Mead (1901–1978) ● Gregory Bateson (1904–1980)
From 1936 to 1938 Margaret Mead and Gregory Bateson did col- That same year, Bateson worked as an anthropological film
laborative ethnographic fieldwork in Bali. Bateson, Mead’s husband analyst studying German motion pictures. Soon Mead and a few
at the time, was a British anthropologist trained by Alfred C. Haddon, other anthropologists became involved in thematic analysis of
who led the 1898 Torres Strait expedition and is credited with mak- foreign fictional films. She later compiled a number of such visual
ing the first ethnographic film in the field. During their stay in Bali, anthropology studies in a coedited volume titled The Study of
Bateson took about 25,000 photographs and shot 22,000 feet of Culture at a Distance.b
motion picture film, and in 1942 the couple coauthored the pho- Mead became a tireless promoter of the scholarly use of
tographic ethnography Balinese Character: A Photographic Analysis.a ethnographic photography and film. In 1960, the year the por-
table sync-sound film camera was invented, Mead was serving
as president of the American Anthropology Association. In her
presidential address at the association’s annual gathering, she
pointed out what she saw as shortcomings in the discipline and
urged anthropologists to use cameras more effectively.c Chiding
her colleagues for not fully utilizing new technological develop-
ments, she complained that anthropology had come “to depend
on words, and words, and words.”
Mead’s legacy is commemorated in numerous venues, includ-
ing the Margaret Mead Film Festival hosted annually since 1977
Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
by the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.

Thus, it was fitting that during the Margaret Mead Centennial
celebrations in 2001 the American Anthropological Association
endorsed a landmark visual media policy statement urging ac-
ademic committees to consider ethnographic visuals—and not
just ethnographic writings—when evaluating scholarly output of
academics up for hire, promotion, and tenure.
a
Bateson, G., & Mead, M. (1942). Balinese character: A
photographic analysis. New York: New York Academy of Sciences.
b
Mead, M., & Métraux, R. (Eds.). (1953). The study of culture at a
In 1938, after two years of fieldwork in Bali, Margaret Mead and
distance. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Gregory Bateson began research in Papua New Guinea, where they
c
staged this photograph of themselves to highlight the importance of Mead, M. (1961, June). Anthropology among the sciences.
cameras as part of the ethnographic toolkit. Note the camera on a American Anthropologist 63 (3), 475–482. Delivered as the
tripod behind Mead and other cameras atop the desk. presidential address at the annual meeting of the American
Anthropological Association, November 18, 1960, Minneapolis.
Gender, Age, Ideology, Ethnicity, Caribbean shipwrights” on the island of Bequia, where he
and Skin Color studied traditional boatmaking (Robben, 2007, p. 61; see
also Johnson, 1984).
The challenges of Keiser’s fieldwork stemmed in part
from his non-Muslim religious identity, marking him as
an outsider in the local community. Gender, age, ethnic- Physical Danger
ity, and skin color can also impact a researcher’s access Ethnographic fieldwork in exotic places can be an ad-
to a community. For instance, male ethnographers may venture, but sometimes it presents physical danger. Some
face prohibitions or severe restrictions in interviewing anthropologists have died in the field due to accidents or
women or observing certain women’s activities. Simi- illnesses—and a small handful have been killed (Embree,
larly, a female researcher may not be welcomed into male 1951; Price, 2011). An accident ended the life of U.S. an-
communities with gender-segregation traditions. With thropologist Michelle Rosaldo. As a 37-year-old mother
respect to skin color, African American anthropologist and university professor, she returned to the Philippines
Norris Brock Johnson encountered social obstacles while for more fieldwork with the Ilongot. Trekking along a
doing fieldwork in the American Midwest, but his dark mountain trail on Luzon Island with her husband and
skin helped him gain “admission to the world of black fellow anthropologist, she slipped and fell to her death.
Challenges of Ethnographic Fieldwork 63
Lund University
Figure 3.10 Dangerous Anthropology
Swedish anthropologist Anna Hedlund has done research in a range of politically tense and
physically dangerous settings. Currently, she is investigating the culture of rebel groups in
the DRC, focusing on how combatants define and legitimize violence. The work is based on
extensive fieldwork in various military camps in South Kivu Province, eastern Congo. Here, we
see her with combatants, pausing during a five-day trek to the rebel camp in the forest. Their
faces have been blocked out to protect their identities.
Another tragic accident involved Richard Condon, define and legitimize violence, she was surrounded by
part of an American and Russian research team funded political tension and conflict (Figure 3.10).
by the U.S. National Science Foundation for an anthro-
pological study of health, population growth, and so-
cialization in Alaska and the Russian Far East. In the late Subjectivity, Reflexivity,
summer of 1995, he and three colleagues, along with five
Yup’ik Eskimos, were traveling along the Bering Strait
and Validation
when their umiak (“skin-boat”) flipped. Apparently, a Whether working near home or abroad, when endeav-
whale, which had been previously wounded by a party oring to identify the rules that underlie each culture,
of seafaring Siberian Eskimo hunters, attacked their boat. ethnographers must grapple with the very real challenge
All nine men perished in the ice-cold water (Wenzel & of bias or subjectivity—their own and that of members in
McCartney, 1996). the community being studied. Researchers are expected
Swedish anthropologist Anna Hedlund faced danger to constantly check their own personal or cultural biases
of a different sort in recent years while researching rebel and assumptions as they work—and to present these self-
groups in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in examinations along with their observations. This practice
Africa. Living among rebels and investigating how they of critical self-reflection is known as reflexivity.
Because perceptions of reality may vary, an anthropologist run the risk of misinterpretation due to personal feelings
must be careful in describing a culture. To do so accurately, the and biases shaped by their own culture, as well as gender
researcher needs to seek out and consider three kinds of data: and age. It is important to recognize this challenge and
make every effort to overcome it, for otherwise one may
●● The people’s own understanding of their culture and
seriously misconstrue what one sees.
the general rules they share: their ideal sense of the
A case in point is the story of how male bias in the
way their own society ought to be.
Polish culture in which Malinowski was raised caused
●● The extent to which people believe they are observing
him to ignore or miss significant factors in his pioneer-
those rules: how they think they really behave.
ing study of the Trobrianders. Unlike today, when an-
●● The behavior that can be directly observed: what the
thropologists receive special training before going into
anthropologist actually sees happening.
the field, Malinowski set out to do fieldwork in 1914
Clearly, the way people think they should behave, the way with little formal preparation. This chapter’s Original
in which they think they do behave, and the way in which Study, written by U.S. anthropologist Annette Weiner,
they actually behave may be different. By carefully exam- who ventured to the same islands almost sixty years
ining and comparing these elements, anthropologists can later, illustrates how gender can impact one’s research
draw up a set of rules that may explain the acceptable findings—both in terms of the bias that may affect a
range of behavior within a culture. researcher’s outlook and in terms of what native con-
Beyond the possibility of drawing false conclusions sultants may feel comfortable sharing with a particular
based on a group’s ideal sense of itself, anthropologists researcher.
NAL
ORIGI
S T U DY The Importance of Trobriand Women By Annette B. Weiner
Walking into a village at productive work. In my original research plans, women

the beginning of fieldwork is en- were not the central focus of study, but on the first day
TROBRIAND
tering a world without cultural ISLANDS I took up residence in a village I was taken by them to
guideposts. The task of watch a distribution of their own wealth—bundles of
learning values that others Pacific Ocean banana leaves and banana fiber skirts—which they ex-
live by is never easy. The changed with other women in commemoration of some-
rigors of fieldwork involve WESTERN one who had recently died. Watching that event forced
INDONESIA NEW PAPUA
listening and watching, GUINEA NEW me to take women’s economic roles more seriously than I
© Cengage Learning
GUINEA
learning a new language would have from reading Malinowski’s studies.
of speech and actions, Coral
Although Malinowski noted the high status of Trobri-
and most of all, letting go AUSTRALIA
Sea TROBRIAND
and women, he attributed their importance to the fact
ISLANDS
of one’s own cultural as- that Trobrianders reckon descent through women. . . . Yet
sumptions in order to un- he never considered that this significance was underwrit-
derstand the meanings others give to work, power, death, ten by women’s own wealth because he did not system-
family, and friends. During my fieldwork in the Trobriand atically investigate the women’s productive activities. . . .
Islands of Papua New Guinea, I wrestled doggedly with My taking seriously the importance of women’s wealth
each of these problems—and with the added challenge not only brought women as the neglected half of society
that I was working in the footsteps of a celebrated anthro- clearly into the ethnographic picture but also forced me to
pological ancestor, Bronislaw Kasper Malinowski. . . . revise many of Malinowski’s assumptions about Trobriand
In 1971, before my first trip to the Trobriands, I men. . . . For Malinowski, the basic relationships within a
thought I understood many things about Trobriand cus- Trobriand family were guided by the matrilineal principle
toms and beliefs from having read Malinowski’s exhaus- of “mother-right” and “father-love.” A father was called
tive writings. Once there, however, I found that I had “stranger” and had little authority over his own children.
much more to discover. Finding significant differences in A woman’s brother was the commanding figure and exer-
areas of importance, I gradually came to understand how cised control over his sister’s sons. . . .
he reached certain conclusions. . . . In my study of Trobriand women and men, a different
My most significant point of departure from Mali- configuration of reckoning descent through the maternal
nowski’s analyses was the attention I gave to women’s line emerged. A Trobriand father is not a “stranger” in
Completing an Ethnography 65
At the same time, this giving creates

obligations on the part of a man’s chil-
dren toward him that last even beyond
his death. Thus, the roles that men and
their children play in each other’s lives
are worked out through extensive cycles
of exchanges, which define the strength
of their relationships to each other and
eventually benefit the other members of
both their matrilineages. Central to these
exchanges are women and their wealth.
Estate of Annette B. Weiner

. . . Only recently have anthropolo-
gists begun to understand the impor-
tance of taking women’s work seriously.
The “women’s point of view” was
largely ignored in the study of gender
roles because anthropologists generally
In the Trobriand Islands, women’s wealth consists of banana leaves and banana-fiber perceived women as living in the shad-
skirts, large quantities of which must be given away upon the death of a relative. ows of men—occupying the private
rather than the public sectors of society,
Malinowski’s definition, nor is he a powerless figure. The rearing children rather than engaging in economic or
father is one of the most important persons in his child’s political pursuits.
life, and remains so even after his child grows up and mar-
ries. He gives his child many opportunities to gain things Adapted from Weiner, A. B. (1988). The Trobrianders of Papua
from his matrilineage, thereby adding to the available New Guinea (pp. 4 –7). New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
resources that he or she can draw upon. Reprinted by permission of Cengage Learning.
As the Original Study makes clear, determining the

accuracy of anthropological descriptions and conclusions
Completing
can be difficult. In the natural sciences, scientists can
replicate observations and experiments to try to establish
an Ethnography
the reliability of other researchers’ conclusions. Thus, After collecting ethnographic information, the next chal-
scientists can see for themselves whether their colleagues lenge is to piece together all that has been gathered
have gotten it right. But validating ethnographic research into a coherent narrative that accurately describes the
is uniquely challenging because access to sites may be lim- culture. Traditionally, ethnographies are detailed writ-
ited or barred altogether, due to a number of factors: insuf- ten descriptions composed of chapters on topics such
ficient funding, logistical difficulties in reaching the site, as the circumstances and place of fieldwork itself; his-
problems in obtaining permits, and changing cultural and torical background; the community or group today; its
environmental conditions. These factors mean that what natural environment; settlement patterns; subsistence
could be observed in a certain context at a certain time practices; networks of kinship relations and other forms
cannot be observed at others. As a result, one researcher of social organization; marriage and sexuality; economic
cannot easily confirm the reliability or completeness of exchanges; political institutions; myths, sacred beliefs,
another’s account. and ceremonies; and current developments. These may be
For this reason, anthropologists bear a heavy responsi- illustrated with photographs and accompanied by maps,
bility for factual reporting, including disclosing key issues kinship diagrams, and figures showing social and political
related to their research: Why was a particular location organizational structures, settlement layout, floor plans of
selected as a research site and for which research objec- dwellings, seasonal cycles, and so on.
tives? What were the local conditions during fieldwork? Sometimes ethnographic research is documented not
Who provided the key information and major insights? only in writing but also with sound recordings and on
How were data collected and recorded? Without such film. Visual records may be used for documentation and
background information, it is difficult to judge the valid- illustration as well as for analysis or as a means of gath-
ity of the account and the soundness of the researcher’s ering additional information in interviews. Moreover,
conclusions. footage shot for the sake of documentation and research
Figure 3.11 Anthropologist-Filmmaker

Hu Tai-Li
An award-winning pioneer of ethnographic
films in Taiwan, Tai-Li is a professor at
National Chin-Hua University. She has
directed and produced a half-dozen
documentaries on a range of topics—
including traditional rituals and music,
development issues, and national and
ethnic identity. Here she is filming the
Maleveq (“Five-Year Worship”) rituals
in the village of Kulalao, southern
Taiwan. During this ceremony, lasting
several days, indigenous Paiwan people
celebrate their alliance with tribal
ancestors and deities. Traditional belief
holds that ancestral spirits attend
this gathering; villagers beseech their
blessings, welcoming them with special
songs, dances, and food.
Institute of Ethnology
may be edited into a documentary film. Not unlike a writ- differences or similarities occur between groups. As noted
ten ethnography, such a film is a structured whole com- in Chapter 1, the end product of quality anthropological
posed of numerous selected sequences, visual montage, research is a coherent statement about culture or human
juxtaposition of sound and visual image, and narrative nature that provides an explanatory framework or theory
sequencing, all coherently edited into an accurate visual for understanding the ideas and actions of the people be-
representation of the ethnographic subject (El Guindi, ing studied. As discussed in Chapter 1, theory is distinct
2004) (Figure 3.11). from doctrine and dogma, which are assertions of opin-
In recent years anthropologists have experimented ions or beliefs formally handed down by an authority as
with various digital media (Ginsburg, Abu-Lughod, & indisputably true and accepted as a matter of faith.
Larkin, 2009). The emergence of digital technologies has Anthropologists do not claim that any one theory
vastly enhanced the potential for anthropological re- about culture is the absolute truth. Rather they judge or
search, interpretation, and presentation. Digital recording measure a theory’s validity and soundness by varying
devices provide ethnographers with a wealth of material degrees of probability; what is considered to be true is
to analyze and utilize in building hypotheses. They also what is most probable. But although anthropologists are
open the door to sharing findings in varied and interac- reluctant to make absolute statements about complex is-
tive ways, including DVDs, online photo essays, podcasts, sues such as exactly how cultures function or change, they
and video blogs. can and do provide fact-based evidence about whether
assumptions have support or are unfounded. Therefore, a
theory, contrary to widespread misuse of the term, is much
Building Ethnological Theories more than mere speculation; it is a critically examined
Largely descriptive in nature, ethnography provides the explanation of observed reality.
basic data needed for ethnology—the branch of cultural Always open to future challenges born of new evi-
anthropology that makes cross-cultural comparisons and dence or insights, scientific theory depends on demon-
develops theories that explain why certain important strable, empirical evidence and repeated testing. So it is
that, as our cross-cultural knowledge expands, the odds
favor some anthropological theories over others. Old
theory A coherent statement that provides an explanatory framework for
understanding; an explanation or interpretation supported by a reliable explanations or interpretations must sometimes be dis-
body of data. carded as new theories based on better or more complete
A Brief Overview of Anthropology’s Theoretical Perspectives 67
evidence are shown to be more effective or probable.

Last but not least, theories also guide anthropologists
A Brief Overview
in formulating new research questions and help them
decide what data to collect and how to give meaning to
of Anthropology’s
their data. Theoretical Perspectives
In the previous chapter, we presented the barrel model of
culture as a dynamic system of adaptation in which social
Ethnology and the structure, infrastructure, and superstructure intricately
Comparative Method interact. Helping us to imagine culture as an integrated
whole, this model allows us to think about something
Theories in anthropology may be generated from world-
very complex by reducing it to a simplified scheme or
wide cross-cultural or historical comparisons or even
basic design. Although most anthropologists generally
comparisons with other species. For instance, anthropol-
conceptualize culture as holistic and integrative, they
ogists may examine a global sample of societies in order
may have very different takes on the relative significance
to discover whether a hypothesis proposed to explain
of different elements that make up the whole and exactly
certain phenomena is supported by fact-based evidence.
how they relate to one another.
Of necessity, cross-cultural researchers depend upon ev-
Entire books have been written about each of anthro-
idence gathered by other scholars as well as their own
pology’s numerous theoretical perspectives. Here we offer
findings.
a general overview to convey the scope of anthropologi-
A key resource that makes this possible is the Human
cal theories and their role in explaining and interpreting
Relations Area Files (HRAF), which is a vast collection
cultures.
of cross-indexed ethnographic, biocultural, and archae-
ological data catalogued by cultural characteristics and
geographic location. This ever-growing data bank classi-
fies more than 700 cultural characteristics and includes
Mentalist Perspective
nearly 400 societies, past and present, from all around When analyzing a culture, some argue that humans act
the world. Archived in about 300 libraries (on micro- primarily on the basis of their ideas, concepts, or sym-
fiche and/or online) and approaching a million pages of bolic representations. In their research and analysis, these
information, the HRAF facilitates comparative research anthropologists usually emphasize that to understand or
on almost any cultural feature imaginable—warfare, sub- explain why humans behave as they do, one must first get
sistence practices, settlement patterns, marriage, rituals, into other people’s heads and try to understand how they
and so on. imagine, think, feel, and speak about the world in which
Among other things, anthropologists interested in they live. Because of the primacy of the superstructure
finding explanations for certain social or cultural beliefs (ideas, values), this is known as an idealist or mentalist
and practices can use the HRAF to test their hypotheses. perspective.
For example, Peggy Reeves Sanday examined a sample Examples of mentalist perspectives include psycholog-
of 156 societies drawn from the HRAF in an attempt to ical and cognitive anthropology (culture and personality),
answer her comparative research questions concerning ethnoscience, structuralism, and postmodernism, as well
dominance and gender in different societies. Her study, as symbolic and interpretive anthropology. For example,
published in 1981 (Female Power and Male Dominance), in structuralism, as formulated by French anthropologist
disproves the common misperception that women are Claude Lévi-Strauss, culture is analyzed as a product of the
universally subordinate to men, sheds light on the way human brain’s mental structure that makes us conceptu-
men and women relate to each other, and ranks as a major alize our world and social reality in terms of binary oppo-
landmark in the study of gender. sites (such as life/death, day/night, hot/cold, male/female,
Cultural comparisons are not restricted to contem- friend/enemy, raw/cooked) and their mediations (through
porary ethnographic data. Indeed, anthropologists fre- myth, kinship, law, and so forth).
quently turn to archaeological or historical data to test Another mentalist perspective, interpretive anthropol-
hypotheses about cultural change. Cultural characteristics ogy, most famously associated with U.S. anthropologist
thought to be caused by certain specified conditions can Clifford Geertz, views humans primarily as “symbolizing,
be tested archaeologically by investigating similar situa- conceptualizing, and meaning-seeking” creatures (Geertz,
tions where such conditions actually occurred. Also useful 1973, p. 5). Geertz developed an artful ethnographic re-
are data provided in ethnohistories, which are studies of search strategy in which a culturally significant event or
cultures of the recent past through oral histories; accounts
of explorers, missionaries, and traders; and analysis of
mentalist perspective A theoretical approach stressing the primacy
records such as land titles, birth and death records, and of superstructure in cultural research and analysis; also known as the
other archival materials. idealist perspective.
social drama (for instance, a Balinese cockfight) is chosen various perspectives in this group, theoretical explanations
for observation and analysis as a form of “deep play” that worked out by pioneering French social thinkers influ-
may provide essential cultural insights. Peeling back layer enced the development of several structural-functionalist
upon layer of socially constructed meanings, the anthro- theories that focus on the underlying patterns or structures
pologist offers what Geertz calls a “thick description” of of social relationships, attributing functions to cultural in-
the event in a detailed ethnographic narrative. stitutions in terms of the contributions they make toward
maintaining a group’s social order.
Beyond these three general groups, there are various
Materialist Perspective other anthropological approaches. Some stress the impor-
tance of identifying general patterns or even discovering
Many other anthropologists hold a theoretical perspective
laws. Early anthropologists believed that they could dis-
in which they stress explaining culture by first analyzing
cover such laws by means of the theory of unilinear cultural
the material conditions that they see as determining
evolution of universal human progress, beginning with what
people’s lives. They may begin their research with an
was then called “savagery,” followed by “barbarism,” and
inventory of available natural resources for food and
gradually making progress toward a condition of human
shelter, the number of mouths to feed and bodies to
perfection known as “high civilization” (Carneiro, 2003).
keep warm, the tools used in making a living, and so on.
Although anthropologists have long abandoned such
Anthropologists who highlight such environmental or
sweeping generalizations as unscientific and ethnocen-
economic factors in shaping cultures share a materialist
tric, some continued to search for universal laws in the
perspective.
general development of human cultures by focusing on
Examples of materialist theoretical approaches include
technological development as measured in the growing
Marxism, neo-evolutionism, cultural ecology, sociobi-
capacity for energy capture per capita of the population.
ology, and cultural materialism. In cultural ecology, for
This theoretical perspective is sometimes called neo-
instance, anthropologists focus primarily on the subsis-
evolutionism. Others seek to explain recurring patterns in
tence mechanisms in a culture that enable a group to
human social behavior in terms of laws of natural selec-
successfully adapt to its natural environment. Building on
tion by focusing on possible relationships with human
cultural ecology, some anthropologists include consider-
genetics, a theoretical perspective identified with socio-
ations of political economy such as industrial production,
biology. Yet others stress that broad generalizations are
capitalist markets, wage labor, and finance capital. A poli-
impossible because each culture is distinct and can only
tical economy perspective is closely associated with Marxist
be understood as resulting from unique historical pro-
theory, which essentially explains major societal changes
cesses and circumstances. Some even go a step further
as the result of growing conflicts between opposing social
and focus on in-depth description and analysis of per-
classes, namely those who possess property and those
sonal life histories of individual members in a group in
who do not.
order to reveal the work of a culture.
One result of widening the scope—combining cultural
Beyond these cultural historical approaches, there are
ecology and political economy to take into account the
other theoretical perspectives that do not aim for laws
emerging world systems of international production and
or generalizations to explain culture. Theoretical per-
trade relations—is known as political ecology. Closely
spectives that reject measuring and evaluating different
related is cultural materialism, a theoretical research
cultures by means of some sort of universal standard, and
strategy identified with Marvin Harris (1979). Placing
that stress that cultures can only be explained or inter-
primary emphasis on the role of environment, demogra-
preted in their own unique terms, are associated with the
phy, technology, and economy in determining a culture’s
important anthropological principle known as cultural
mental and social conditions, Harris argues that anthro-
relativism, discussed in the previous chapter.
pologists can best explain ideas, values, and beliefs as
adaptations to economic and environmental conditions
(see the Biocultural Connection).
Ethical Responsibilities in
Other Theoretical Perspectives Anthropological Research
Not all anthropological perspectives fall neatly into
As explained in this chapter, anthropologists obtain infor-
mentalist or materialist camps. For example, some give
mation about different peoples and their cultures through
priority to social structure, focusing on this middle layer
long-term, full-immersion fieldwork based on personal
in our barrel model. Although it is difficult to pigeonhole
observation of and participation in the everyday activities
of the community. They are usually befriended and some-
materialist perspective A theoretical approach stressing the primacy of times even adopted, gradually becoming familiar with the
infrastructure (material conditions) in cultural research and analysis. local social structures and cultural features and even with
Ethical Responsibilities in Anthropological Research 69
Pig Lovers and Pig Haters By Marvin Harris
In the Old Testament of the Bible, the pig farming threatened the integrity of the that the religious uncleanliness of the pig
Israelite’s God (Yahweh) denounced the basic cultural and natural ecosystems of rests upon actual physical dirtiness.
pig as an unclean beast that pollutes the Middle East. Until their conquest of Among the ancient mixed farming and
if tasted or touched. Later, Allah con- the Jordan Valley in Palestine over 3,000 pastoralist communities of the Middle
veyed the same basic message to his years ago, the Israelites were nomadic East, domestic animals were valued pri-
prophet Muhammad. Among millions of herders, living almost entirely from sheep, marily as sources of milk, cheese, hides,
Jews and Muslims today, the pig remains goats, and cattle. Like all pastoralists, dung, fiber, and traction for plowing. Goats,
an abomination, even though it can con- they maintained close relationships with sheep, and cattle provided all of this, plus
vert grains and tubers into high-grade sedentary farmers who held the oases and an occasional supplement of lean meat.
fats and protein more efficiently than any the great rivers. With this mixed farming From the beginning, therefore, pork must
other animal. and pastoral complex, the pork prohibition have been a luxury food, esteemed for its
What prompted condemnation of an an- constituted a sound ecological strategy. succulent, tender, and fatty qualities.
imal whose meat is relished by the greater The pastoralists could not raise pigs in Between 4,000 and 9,000 years ago,
part of humanity? For centuries, the most their arid habitats, and among the semi- the human population in the Middle East
popular explanation was that the pig wal- sedentary farming populations pigs were increased sixty-fold. Extensive deforesta-
lows in its own urine and eats excrement. more of a threat than an asset. tion accompanied this rise, largely due to
But linking this to religious abhorrence The basic reason for this is that the damage caused by sheep and goat herds.
leads to inconsistencies. Cows kept in a world zones of pastoral nomadism corre- Shade and water, the natural conditions
confined space also splash about in their spond to unforested plains and hills that appropriate for raising pigs, became ever
own urine and feces. are too arid for rainfall agriculture and that more scarce, and pork became even more
These inconsistencies were recognized cannot easily be irrigated. The domestic of a luxury.
in the 12th century by Maimonides, a animals best adapted to these zones are The Middle East is the wrong place to
widely respected Jewish philosopher and ruminants (including cattle, sheep, and raise pigs, but pork remains a luscious
physician in Egypt, who said God con- goats), which can digest grass, leaves, and treat. People find it difficult to resist such
demned swine as a public health measure other cellulose foods more effectively than temptations on their own. Hence Yahweh
because pork had “a bad and damaging other mammals. and Allah were heard to say that swine
effect upon the body.” The mid-1800s The pig, however, is primarily a creature were unclean—unfit to eat or touch. In
discovery that eating undercooked pork of forests and shaded riverbanks. Although short, it was ecologically maladaptive to
caused trichinosis appeared to verify Mai- it is omnivorous, its best weight gain is try to raise pigs in substantial numbers,
monides’s reasoning. Reform-minded Jews from foods low in cellulose (nuts, fruits, and small-scale production would only
then renounced the taboo, convinced that tubers, and especially grains), making it a increase the temptation. Better then, to
if well-cooked pork did not endanger public direct competitor of man. It cannot subsist prohibit the consumption of pork entirely.
health, eating it would not offend God. on grass alone and is ill-adapted to the
Scholars have suggested this taboo hot, dry climate of the grasslands, moun- Biocultural Question
stemmed from the idea that the animal tains, and deserts in the Middle East. To Consider a taboo you follow and come up
was once considered divine—but this ex- compensate for its lack of protective hair with an explanation for it other than the
planation falls short since sheep, goats, and an inability to sweat, the pig must conventional one that most people accept.
and cows were also once worshiped in the dampen its skin with external moisture.
Middle East, and their meat is enjoyed by It prefers to do this by wallowing in fresh Adapted from Harris, M. (1989). Cows,
all religious groups in the region. clean mud, but will cover its skin with its pigs, wars, and witches: The riddles of
I think the real explanation for this re- own urine and feces if nothing else if avail- culture (pp. 35–60). New York: Vintage
ligious condemnation lies in the fact that able. So there is some truth to the theory Books/Random House.
highly personal or politically sensitive details known only to make the community vulnerable to exploitation and
to trusted insiders. manipulation. In this context, it is good to be reminded of
Because the community is usually part of a larger and the ancient Latin saying scientia potentia est (“knowledge is
more powerful complex society, anthropological knowl- power”). In other words, anthropological knowledge may
edge about how the locals live, what they own, what moti- have far-reaching, and possibly negative, consequences
vates them, and how they are organized has the potential for the peoples being studied.
Are there any rules that may guide anthropologists in challenging—including working for a global business cor-
their ethical decision making and help them judge right poration, international bank, or government agency, such
from wrong? This important issue is addressed in the code as the foreign service, police, or military (American An-
of ethics of the American Anthropological Association (dis- thropological Association, 2007; González, 2009; McFate,
cussed in Chapter 1). First formalized in 1971 and modi- 2007). This challenge came to the fore again when the
fied in its current form in 1998, this document outlines the U.S. government recruited social scientists, including an-
various ethical responsibilities and moral obligations of thropologists, to assist the military in understanding the
anthropologists, including this central principle: “Anthro- complexities of the “human terrain” in armed conflict
pological researchers must do everything in their power environments such as Afghanistan and Iraq (Figure 3.12).
to ensure that their research does not harm the safety, Because anthropologists generally disapprove of politi-
dignity, or privacy of the people with whom they work, cizing ethnographic information and are committed to the
conduct research, or perform other professional activities.” ideal of “do no harm,” the idea of militarizing anthropology
The first step in this endeavor is to communicate in in arenas of violent conflict has sparked intense debate. It
advance the nature, purpose, and potential impact of the may not be possible to fully anticipate all the cross-cultural
planned study to individuals who provide information— and long-term consequences—uses and abuses—of one’s
and to obtain their informed consent or formal recorded research findings. Navigating this ethical gray area is often
agreement to participate in the research. But protect- difficult, but it is each anthropologist’s responsibility to be
ing the community one studies requires more than aware of moral responsibilities and to take every possible
that; it demands constant vigilance and alertness. precaution to ensure that one’s research does not jeopardize
There are some situations in which this is particularly the well-being of the people being studied.
Marco Di Lauro/Getty Images
Figure 3.12 Militarizing Anthropology

Embedded in U.S. Army units, social scientists, including anthropologists, have conducted sociocultural
assessments as part of the “human terrain system” (HTS). Designed to improve the military’s ability
to understand the complexities of the human terrain (civilian population) as it applied to operations in
Iraq and Afghanistan, HTS was part of a counterinsurgency strategy against regional insurgents from
2006 through 2014. Anthropological involvement in the U.S. government’s struggle for hearts and
minds in war zones has been controversial since the mid-1960s. Here we see U.S. HTS team member
Ted Callahan talking to local residents about a tribal dispute in Paktya Province, Afghanistan.
71
Chapter Check list
What was the worldwide social context in themselves, some anthropologists took up advocacy
anthropology—research that is community based and
which anthropology emerged as a politically involved.
discipline?
✓✓Some anthropologists, such as Laura Nader, have
✓✓Anthropology emerged during the heyday of urged studying up—ethnographic research in the
colonialism (1870s–1930s). Europeans focused on the world’s centers of political and economic power—to
study of traditional peoples in overseas colonies they reveal how elites function in maintaining their
controlled, whereas North Americans focused primarily positions.
on the indigenous communities in their own countries.
✓✓Expecting that indigenous cultures would disappear How do anthropologists conduct their
through the impositions of colonialism, early ethnographic research today?
anthropologists engaged in salvage ethnography
✓✓Multi-sited ethnography investigates and documents
(documenting endangered cultures); this is now known
peoples and cultures embedded in the larger
as urgent anthropology. In the 1930s, anthropologists
structures of a globalizing world. Ethnography,
began studying culture contact—how traditional
a detailed description of a particular culture,
cultures change when coming in contact with
relies upon fieldwork—extended on-location
expanding capitalist societies. In the United States, this
research to gather detailed and in-depth information
has become known as acculturation.
on a society’s customary ideas, values, and
✓✓Applied anthropology—using anthropological practices through participation in its collective
knowledge and methods to solve practical problems in social life.
communities—came to the fore in the 1930s as
✓✓Participant observation is learning about a group’s
dominant societies tried to understand traditional
behaviors and beliefs through social involvement and
indigenous cultures in order to control them more
personal observation with the community, as well as
effectively.
interviews and discussions with individual members of
the group over an extended stay in the community.
How have ethnographic research Key consultants (previously called informants) are
approaches changed and expanded since individuals in the society being studied who provide
the discipline began? information that helps researchers understand what
they observe.
✓✓As a result of World War II and the Cold War era
following, some anthropologists began studies of ✓✓Ethnographers gather two types of data: Quantitative
cultures at a distance, developing national character data consist of population density; qualitative data
studies through investigating film, literature, and describe features such as social networks of kinship
newspapers. relations, customary beliefs and practices, and personal
life histories.
✓✓Anthropologists also began broadening their focus,
including turning their attention to modern state ✓✓Interviewing can be either informal (unstructured,
societies and investigating in their own countries, in open-ended conversations in everyday life) or formal
settings ranging from factories to farming communities (structured question/answer sessions). Ethnographic
to suburban neighborhoods. For example, mapping goes beyond standard mapmaking to show
Powdermaker’s research on racism in the South in the geographic and spatial features that are culturally
1930s and her investigation of the Hollywood film significant to the people living there, such as place
industry, as well as Métraux’s international team names and stories about locations.
studying contemporary race relations in Brazil, typify a
✓✓Most anthropologists use cameras as well as notepads,
new understanding of the role of anthropology.
computers, or sound recording devices to document
their observations. Today’s anthropologists routinely
How have anthropologists attempted to carry digital recording equipment to the field and
address the negative effects of massive invite and train local members of the community to
cultural change imposed on less powerful help with recording.
groups by elite cultures?
What challenges do ethnographers face?
✓✓In the 1950s anthropologists began studying peasants
to understand the impact of complex state societies on ✓✓Culture shock and not being socially accepted by the
traditional indigenous groups. society are common ethnographic difficulties. A major
step toward being accepted and gaining access to
✓✓Recognizing that their knowledge could be used information is being adopted into a network of kinship
to help people in ways defined by the people relations.
✓✓Anthropologists must avoid getting involved in similarities occur between groups. Theories—coherent
political rivalries and unwittingly used by factions statements providing explanations for these differences
within the community. or similarities—are developed through ethnology.
✓✓An ethnographer’s age, ideology, ethnicity, or skin ✓✓Ethnology relies on the comparative method. Theories
color may block access to a community’s individuals or in anthropology may be generated from worldwide
ideas. cross-cultural or historical comparisons or even
comparisons with other species.
✓✓Ethnographers may also be in physical danger through
illness, accident, and occasional hostility. ✓✓The Human Relations Area Files is a vast collection of
cross-indexed ethnographic, biocultural, and
✓✓Ethnographers grapple with the challenge of bias or
archaeological data catalogued by cultural
subjectivity—their own and that of members of the
characteristics and geographic location.
community being challenged.
✓✓Validating ethnographic research is uniquely What are the key theoretical perspectives
challenging because subsequent access to sites may be in anthropology?
limited or barred altogether.
✓✓The two broadest categories of anthropological theory
What is involved in producing an are mentalist and materialist.
ethnographic study? ✓✓The mentalist perspective stresses the primacy of

superstructure in cultural research and analysis.
✓✓Traditionally, ethnographies are written narratives,
illustrated with photographs and accompanied by ✓✓The materialist perspective stresses the primacy of
maps, kinship diagrams, and figures showing social infrastructure (material conditions) in cultural research
and political organizational structures, settlement and analysis.
layout, seasonal cycles, and so on.
✓✓More and more often today, ethnographic research is

What are the ethical responsibilities in
documented not only in writing but also with sound anthropological research?
recordings and on film. ✓✓The ethical code of the American Anthropological
Association outlines the various ethical responsibilities
What is involved in doing ethnology? and moral obligations of anthropologists.
✓✓Ethnography provides the basic data needed for ✓✓The central principle of the AAA ethics code is to
ethnology—the branch of cultural anthropology that ensure that anthropological research does not
makes cross-cultural comparisons and develops theories negatively impact the people being studied.
that explain why certain important differences or
Questions for Reflection
1. Taking on the challenge of describing and interpreting 3. If you were invited to “study up,” on which
human cultures, anthropologists have long relied cultural group would you focus? How would you
on ethnographic fieldwork, including participant go about getting access to that group for participant
observation, as depicted in this chapter’s opening observation, and what serious obstacles might you
photograph. What makes this research method uniquely encounter?
challenging and effective? Of what use might the findings 4. In light of professional ethics, what moral dilemmas
be for meeting the unique challenges of our globalizing might anthropologists face in choosing to advise
world? a government in exploring or implementing a
2. Early anthropologists engaged in salvage ethnography nonviolent solution to a military conflict? How is
(urgent anthropology) to create a reliable record of military anthropology different from other forms of
indigenous cultures once widely expected to vanish. applied anthropology, such as working for the Foreign
Although many indigenous communities did lose Service, the World Bank, the Roman Catholic Church,
customary practices due to acculturation, descendants or an international business corporation such as IBM
of those cultures can now turn to anthropological and Intel?
records to revitalize their ancestral ways of life. Do
you think this is a good thing? Why or why not?
73
Digging into A nthropology
Your Own Multi-Sited Community
The 21st century is marked by rapid world change divide them into three groups: two with whom
driven by digital technological innovations that you share your residence; two with whom you
are transforming the way we experience time and interact at school, work, or for leisure; and two
space, how we communicate, where we work, with whom you exchange texts and pictures but
how we inform and entertain ourselves, where rarely if ever see in person. Next, make note of
we travel, and how we pay for almost all that we your own daily routine (the what, when, where of
do or need. Many of us are in touch with distant meals, work, transportation and movement, and
relatives and friends, some of whom are on the so on). Then, based on that list, use your everyday
move for reasons of labor, leisure, or as refugees technology to dig into the daily routine of the
escaping from danger or poverty. Digging into six people in your network. Record and compare
your own “multi-sited” social network, mark the information you have gathered, and draw
the geographic locations of about three dozen your own conclusion about the similarities and
relatives, friends, and acquaintances on a map. differences in the daily lives of people in your own
Then select six individuals in that network and multi-sited community.
PAUL CHESLEY/National Geographic Creative
CHALLENGE ISSUE
What distinguishes humans from other animals? Why do chimpanzees look so much
like us? Where on earth did our earliest ancestors first emerge? What accounts for the
biological variation we see among humans across the globe? Challenged by such big
questions, anthropologists, aided by a host of other specialists, search for answers,
unearth masses of data, and offer explanations concerning the evolution and distribu-
tion of our species. Beyond ancient fossil bones and stone tools, this quest builds on
genetic data. Anthropologists also investigate the art of early humans, some dating back
tens of thousands of years. Much of their creativity—including storytelling, dance, and
music—is lost in time. But some ancient art—carved or painted on skin, hide, wood,
bone, ivory, or rock—has been preserved. Here we see an Aboriginal elder in front of a
cave painting in North West Australia. The art depicts Wandjinas, ancestral spirit beings
believed to possess mysterious power. Members of the region’s Ngarinjin tribe have
painted such mythological figures for at least 4,000 years. The scars on this elder’s
chest, made with stone knives, show that he was initiated into his clan’s secrets. As
his blood spilled on the earth, turning into the blood of ancestor spirits, he entered
the sacred cosmos. Thus he discovered his origins and the land where he belonged.
Becoming Human—
The Origin and 4
Diversity of Our
Species
Anthropologists gather information from a great variety of sources to piece to- In this chapter you
gether an understanding of evolutionary history and humankind’s place in the will learn to
animal kingdom. Since the mid-1800s, studies of other living primates (our closest ●● Identify the relationship
relatives), ancient fossils of extinct species, and, more recently, genetics have con- between humans and
other primates.
tributed to the complex story of how humans evolved and biologically adapted
to radically different natural environments over many thousands of generations. ●● Discuss the basic
principles of
Anthropologists collaborate with other academic specialists, including prima-
evolutionary theory.
tologists (who study living apes, monkeys, and other primates) and paleontologists
●● Outline the progress in
(who research fossils and other evidence of prehistoric life), to determine the
human genetic research
evolution of organisms and their interactions with one another and the envi- and theory.
ronment. Also, increasingly, they collaborate with molecular biologists, who study ●● Recognize the major
genes and the proteins they produce, and geneticists, who study genes and their prehistoric waves of
effects—in particular, their mechanism of hereditary transmission. humans spreading from
Africa to Eurasia.
We begin with a discussion of humans (Homo sapiens) as primates within
●● Describe the Neandertals
the broader animal kingdom, followed by a historical review of evolutionary
and their cultures.
research and theory. Then we move on to the biology and behavior of other
●● Analyze the
primates. Next come overviews of evolution and the spread of modern humans
interrelationship of
across the globe. Finally, we examine some aspects of human biological variation ultraviolet radiation,
and the cross-cultural meanings attached to the concept of race. vitamins, and skin color.
●● Examine the history of
Humans and Other Primates human classification
and the problematic
Humans are one of 10 million species on earth, 4,000 of which are fellow mam- concept of race.
mals. For our purposes here, a simple definition of species will suffice: the ●● Explain how regimes
smallest working units in biological of dominance are
species The smallest working units in biological
classificatory systems; reproductively classificatory systems; reproductively isolated supported by racist
populations or groups of populations capable of ideas.
isolated populations or groups of interbreeding to produce fertile offspring.
75
76 CHAPTER 4 Becoming Human—The Origin and Diversity of Our Species
VISUAL COUNTERPOINT
sumnersgraphicsinc/iStockphoto.com
© Michael Boardman
Figure 4.1 A Human and His Fellow Primates

Demonstrating human anatomy and agility as former tree-dwelling primates, bungee jumping
has become a worldwide sport since the late 1970s. It has its origins in an indigenous “land-
diving” ritual known as nanggol, traditionally performed by Vanuatu Islanders in the South
Pacific who select tree vines with great elasticity and wrap them around their ankles before
jumping from wooden platforms 20 to 30 meters (almost 100 feet) high.
populations capable of interbreeding to produce fertile faraway tropical forests and savannahs of Southeast Asia
offspring. The human species is one kind of primate, a and sub-Saharan Africa.
subgroup of mammals that also includes apes, monkeys,
tarsiers, lorises, and lemurs (Figure 4.1). Today, over 375
species are recognized as primates, ranging in size from
An African Perspective
the mouse lemur weighing in at 30 grams (1 ounce) to the on Great Apes
lowland gorilla at more than 200 kilograms (441 pounds). The name chimpanzee (ci-mpenzi, “big ape”) has its ori-
Having mapped the human genome (the genetic gins in a Kongo language spoken in coastal Central Africa
design of a species with its complete set of DNA) and (Johnston, 1905). Indigenous peoples historically living
those of our closest primate relatives—the chimpanzee, near these great apes recognized a close relationship but
bonobo, gorilla, and orangutan—molecular biologists often regarded this creature of the wilderness with a
have determined how much DNA (deoxyribonucleic measure of fear, contempt, or ridicule—as similar to but
acid) modern Homo sapiens have in common with these lesser than humans. For instance, the Angolan name for
great apes; our species shares the greatest amount of the chimpanzee is said to translate as “mock man.”
DNA with the chimpanzee (98.3 percent). Despite their Mende tribesmen in the central forests of Sierra Leone
biological closeness, until about 500 years ago, few if also illustrate such ambivalence. Hunting chimps for bush-
any Europeans knew of the existence of the chimpanzee meat, they have long known that these apes sometimes walk
and other great apes because these primates lived in the upright, use their hands, throw sticks, crack nuts, select leaves
for self-medication, and even, so they claim, dance and drum.
These Mende identify chimpanzees as huan nasia ta lo a ngoo
primate A subgroup of mammals that includes humans, apes, monkeys, fele (“the animals that go on two legs”) or as numu gbahamisia
tarsiers, lorises, and lemurs. (“different persons”): those who have a common origin in
genome The genetic design of a species with its complete set of DNA. the forest but failed to develop as humans (Richards, 1995).
Humans and Other Primates 77
Europeans Classify Apes

as Humanlike Animals
Beginning in the late 1400s, European mariners started
exploring and trading along the West African coast and be-
gan crossing the Indian Ocean. Upon reaching distant is-
lands such as Sumatra and Borneo (now part of Indonesia),
they picked up stories about large tailless apes, regionally
known by the Malay name orang-outang, meaning “man
of the forest” or “wild man.” Initially, Europeans did not
distinguish orangutans and chimps, lumping them to-
gether as one species identified as “orangutan.” This Malay
name was translated literally into Latin as Homo sylvestris,
reflecting the high status accorded the great ape as a link
between humans and the animal kingdom. Simultane-
ously, it blurred the distinction Europeans made between
these human-like tropical apes and indigenous peoples
they encountered overseas, many of whom were classified
as savage or even as apelike humans (Figure 4.2).
Around 1640, a great ape (most likely a chimpanzee)
arrived for the first time in Europe. Shipped from Angola
to the Netherlands as a gift to a Dutch prince, she stayed at
the palace, where everyone admired her human-like phy-
sique and behavior; observers even speculated whether
this remarkable creature was an ape–human hybrid. Such
perplexity over great ape classification is obvious in a com-
ment made by an 18th-century French bishop upon seeing
an orangutan in a menagerie (zoo). Uncertain whether the
creature before him was human or beast, he proclaimed:
“Speak and I shall baptize thee!” (Corbey, 1995, p. 1).
British Library/Science Source

Linnaeus Orders
the Natural System
The son of a Lutheran pastor in Sweden, botanist Carolus
Linnaeus (1707–1778) believed humans were created by Figure 4.2 Classifying Great Apes in 1699
God and divinely endowed with a natural capacity for rea- Early scientific struggles to classify great apes, and to
son, moral judgment, and understanding or wisdom (Latin, identify and weigh the significance of the similarities and
sapientia). Linnaeus also believed that one could know the differences between them and humans, are reflected in early
Creator by studying the natural world, and he was confi- European renderings such as this 17th-century engraving of
a chimpanzee portrayed as a biped using a walking stick.
dent that all of life could be organized into one comprehen-
Captured on the West African coast, this chimp died soon
sive system of nature. He spent much of his professional life
after being taken to London on board an English trading
classifying every plant and animal species he knew. Building
vessel. Edward Tyson, a medical doctor specializing in the
on his own research, along with detailed descriptions and
comparative anatomy of animals, dissected his corpse, and
classifications by other naturalists, Linnaeus published The
this image appeared in Tyson’s influential medical textbook,
System of Nature in 1735 (Figure 4.3). For years, he contin-
Orang-Outang, Sive Homo Sylvestris (1699). At the time,
ually expanded and revised this landmark reference book. European scholars still lumped together all the great apes
Linnaeus later systematized the binomial nomenclature, as orangutans, which are indigenous only to Sumatra and
which he presented in the tenth edition of his book in Borneo. In the Malay language of Indonesia, orangutan means
1758. This naming system gave each species a Latin or “man of the forest,” translated as Homo sylvestris in Latin, the
Latinized name of two parts—the first indicating the ge- language of European intellectuals. The Kongo language term
nus and the second its species name. By then, Linnaeus for this ape—chimpanzee—did not enter European languages
recognized not just one human species but two: Homo until the 1730s. It took another century before gorillas were
sapiens (“wise man”) and a lower “species” he called Homo recognized as a distinct species.
A Short History of
Research on Evolution
and Genetics
The following narrative provides a brief overview of the
complex history of evolutionary research and theory—
from the work of early scholars in this field to the recent
contributions of molecular biologists and geneticists. Later
we turn to a review of some of the most important fossil
discoveries in human evolution.
Darwin as Father
of Evolutionary Theory
Building on developing scientific knowledge in natural
history and geology, the English naturalist Charles Darwin
(1809–1882) is credited with formulating the theory
that inherited characteristics of biological populations
change over successive generations by means of natural
selection: the principle or mechanism by which individ-
uals having biological characteristics better suited to a par-
ticular environment survive and reproduce with greater
frequency than individuals without those characteristics.
Darwin came to his groundbreaking theory through
empirical observations experienced during a five-year
(1831–1836) scientific journey around the world aboard
the two-masted British sloop HMS Beagle (Figure 4.4).
Much later, he published his evolutionary theory in his
Museum Boerhaave Leiden
1859 book On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Se-

lection. Within its pages, he presented this famous passage:
It may be said that natural selection is daily and

hourly scrutinising, throughout the world, every
Figure 4.3 Carolus Linnaeus, Swedish Botanist (1707–1778)
Portrait of Charles Robert Darwin (Shrewsbury, 1809–London, 1882), British naturalist,

In 1735, three years after botanical fieldwork in northern
Watercolor by George Richmond (1809–1896), 1840/De Agostini Picture Library/

Scandinavia, Linnaeus obtained a medical degree and published
The System of Nature. This 1737 portrait by Martinus Hoffman
depicts him in his Sámi outfit. The shaman’s drum symbolizes he
is a healer and the twinflower, named Linnaea borealis in his honor,
represents the binomial nomenclature that gained him fame.
troglodytes (“cave-dwelling man”). The Greek term troglo-

dytes was a legendary name for primitive savages living
like animals in caves or underground holes in a distant
wilderness. Even in his own lifetime, Linnaeus was faulted
for his uncritical use of ancient folklore to identify this
confusing species as neither animal nor human (Hoquet,
Bridgeman Images
2007). Indicative of the scientific progress made since

Linnaeus is that where he distinguished just 42 species of
primates, this order now includes over 375 species.
Figure 4.4 Charles Darwin, English Naturalist
Darwin is best known for developing a theory of evolution
natural selection The principle or mechanism by which individuals
having biological characteristics best suited to a particular environment to explain biological change. This 1840 portrait by George
survive and reproduce with greater frequency than individuals without Richmond captures Darwin at age 31, a few years after his five-
those characteristics. year scientific journey around the world on the HMS Beagle.
A Short History of Research on Evolution and Genetics 79
variation, even the slightest; rejecting that which is

bad, preserving and adding up all that is good. . . . DNA in the Human Cell
We see nothing of these slow changes in progress, Trillions of cells
until the hand of time has marked the long lapses of Each cell:
ages, and then so imperfect is our view into long past 23 pairs of chromosomes
2 meters of DNA
geological ages, that we only see that the forms of 3 billion DNA subunits (the bases: A, T, C, G)
life are now different from what they formerly were. About 20,000 genes code for proteins that
(Darwin, 2007, p. 53) perform most life functions Protein
Darwin’s book created a storm of controversy and DNA

stimulated passionate debate. Based on religious doctrine, G
A
C
A A T
many rejected his theory of natural selection. Nevertheless,
T T A T
T
it was soon translated into half a dozen foreign languages G
C
A A C
and made its author famous. Today, it is recognized as “the G C A G
T
C A
most influential academic book of all time” (Flood, 2015). C A G
A
T
T
Mendel as Father of Genetics T
Several years after Darwin’s landmark book, a Roman Gene

Catholic monk named Gregor Mendel (1822–1884) pre- Chromosomes

sented results from the biological experiments he had
quietly carried out from 1856 to 1863 in the vegetable
garden of his monastery in Brno, a city in today’s Czech Cell
Republic. Raised on a small farm and having studied
physics after entering the priesthood, Mendel had a keen
scientific interest in plant variations—so much so that Figure 4.5 DNA and the Human Genome
over a seven-year period he cultivated and tested 29,000 Cells are the fundamental working units of every organism.
pea plants at the monastery. He discovered that “units” or Their activities are directed by instructions contained within the
“factors” (later called genes) determine the inheritance of chemical DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid). The particular sequence
each biological trait that is passed on unchanged to de- of nucleotide bases (identified by the letters A, T, C, and G,
representing adenine, thymine, cytosine, and guanine) along the
scendants. Moreover, he found that an individual inherits
DNA strand, or DNA sequence, spells out the exact instructions
one such unit from each parent for each trait. And, finally,
required to create a particular organism with its own unique
he demonstrated that a trait may not show up in an indi-
traits. The genome is an organism’s complete set of DNA.
vidual but can still be passed on to the next generation.
Genomes vary widely in size, from about 600,000 DNA base
Mendel introduced his findings in an 1865 conference
pairs in a bacterium to 3 billion in mammals, including humans.
paper “Experiments in Plant Hybridization.” Written in
DNA in the human genome is arranged into chromosomes.
German and published the following year, this article was Humans possess 22 autosomal chromosome pairs (in contrast
the first to formulate the fundamental laws of biological to other apes, which possess 23), as well as two sex-determining
inheritance. Decades later, long after Mendel’s death, his chromosomes—one that is a copy passed on from the female
findings came to be recognized as a major theoretical con- parent (X chromosome) and the other either an X or Y chromosome
tribution, and today this scholar monk is honored as the from the male parent, for a total of 46.
father of genetics.
within geographically separated populations after many

A Microscopic Perspective generations of natural selection. A key building block in
on Biological Evolution this theory is the discovery of DNA (deoxyribonucleic
acid)—the store of genetic information used in the devel-
By the early 1900s, powerful new microscopes led to the dis-
opment and functioning of all living organisms, including
covery of chromosomes, the cellular structures containing ge-
our own species. Ever since, researchers have been inves-
netic information. With the recognition of the cellular and
tigating this biochemical blueprint found in every cell of
molecular basis of inheritance, Mendel’s theory of heredity
the human body, analyzing DNA retrieved from minute
was confirmed. Recognizing the genetic principle at work in
fragments of organic matter—hair, skin, bone, or teeth
developing variations within a species by means of selective
(Figure 4.5).
breeding, biologists now also understood the genetic basis
for Darwin’s theory of evolution through natural selection.
These concepts were incorporated into a theoretical DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) The store of genetic information used
model explaining that evolution is gradual, based on in the development and functioning of all living organisms, including our
environmental adaptation and small genetic changes own species.
Molecular Clock as the Eve hypothesis, corroborated a general consensus

among paleoanthropologists that genus Homo originated
Since the mid-1900s, scientists have understood the in Africa. However, it challenged the multiregional
occurrence of random genetic mutation—an abrupt hypothesis—an evolutionary hypothesis that modern
change in the DNA that alters the genetic message carried humans originated through a process of more or less si-
by a cell. When these mutations occur in reproductive multaneous local transition from Homo erectus to Homo
cells, they increase the variation possible in the offspring. sapiens throughout Africa and Eurasia. Later in this chapter
Based on that insight, scientists hypothesized that our we briefly discuss how anthropologists are now reviewing
evolutionary heritage could be detected in our DNA. This, these two competing hypotheses. Their analyses are based
in turn, spawned the idea that the DNA of all living crea- on recent molecular research that detects ancient traces of
tures gradually mutates over time at a regular rate. gene flow—the movement of the gene variants (alleles)
The notion of a regular rate of molecular change gave rise from one population to another—between anatomically
to what is called the molecular clock, which assumes a modern humans and archaic humans such as Neandertals.
rate of genetic change between 2 and 4 percent every million
years. By examining the divergences in the DNA of different
species, or variations within species, molecular biologists de- Genetic Mapping
termine not only the degree of relatedness of different groups During the past few decades, scientists have extracted
but, by means of this clock, estimate how much time elapsed DNA sequences from human cells belonging to multiple
between the emergence of one group and the next. ethnic groups across the globe and have compared them
During the past few decades, the molecular clock has rev- for clues about ancient origins, relations, and migrations.
olutionized our understanding of human origins and biologi- Molecular research produces a wealth of new genetic data
cal evolution. DNA mutation rates make it useful for tracking about human diversity and evolution. Powerful high-
ancestry for thousands of generations. This also makes it speed computers crunch these data and are capable of se-
possible to compare individuals within a species, or subspe- quencing the 3 billion “letters” that constitute the genetic
cies (races), as well as species that are closely related, where design of our species, or the human genome (Figure 4.6).
the number of sequence differences can be easily counted. Finished in 2003, the sequencing of the human genome
In the 1980s biochemists, comparing DNA of nearly provided researchers with a complete genetic map of about
150 individuals from different populations all over the 20,000 protein-coding individual genes. These genes, or
world, estimated a date for the most recent common an- gene clusters, are responsible for inherited features or traits.
cestor of all living humans today—an anatomically mod- Although some traits (such as blood type) are monogenic
ern human being from about 200,000 years ago (the date (involving only a single gene), many traits (such as the
was later adjusted to 120,000 years ago). They claimed color of eyes, skin, or hair) are polygenic, involving multiple
that this ancestral Homo sapiens grandmother lived in genes. In 2005, just two years after completing the entire
Africa and that her descendants migrated out of Africa human genome, scientists using high-throughput sequencing
sometime after 100,000 years ago, replacing all other (HTS) technologies also mapped the genome of the chim-
archaic human populations due to their superior cultural panzee. And over the next six years they completed the
capabilities (Cann, Stoneking, & Wilson, 1987). genetic blueprints of the orangutan, gorilla, and bonobo,
This recent African origins hypothesis, also as well as those of two long-extinct archaic human species
known as the out of Africa hypothesis and popularized (or subspecies), as discussed later in this chapter. Research
results have prompted new questions about human biol-
mutation An abrupt change in the DNA that alters the genetic message ogy, human adaptation, and, importantly, the emergence
carried by that cell. of variations in trait frequency within populations.
molecular clock The hypothesis that dates of divergences among
related species can be calculated through an examination of the genetic
mutations that have accrued since the divergence.
recent African origins hypothesis An evolutionary hypothesis
that modern humans are all derived from one single population of
Evolution Through
archaic Homo sapiens who migrated out of Africa after 100,000 years
ago, replacing all other archaic forms due to their superior cultural Adaptation
capabilities; also known as the Eve hypothesis or the out of Africa
hypothesis. In a general sense, evolution (from the Latin word evolu-
multiregional hypothesis An evolutionary hypothesis that modern tio, literally “rolling forth” or “unfolding”) refers to change
humans originated through a process of simultaneous local transition through time. Evolution takes place through a number of
from Homo erectus to Homo sapiens throughout the inhabited world.
processes, including adaptation—a series of beneficial
gene flow The movement of the genes from one population to another.
adjustments to a particular environment. Adaptation is
evolution Changes in the genetic makeup of a population over
generations. the cornerstone of the theory of evolution by natural
adaptation A series of beneficial adjustments to a particular selection, which holds that individuals having biological
environment. characteristics best suited to a particular environment
Evolution Through Adaptation 81
imageBROKER/Alamy
Figure 4.6 High-Throughput Sequencing (HTS) and Genetic Research
Powerful computers and robotic technology enable scientists to simultaneously compare
thousands of DNA samples. Possessing a DNA “library,” HTS laboratories support microbiological
and genetic researchers from universities, government agencies, and private companies. Here
we see a laboratory assistant with gene chip and reading device for sequencing and gene
expression profiling at the Max Planck Institute in Germany.
survive and reproduce with greater frequency than do vision, and a primate brain. An increase in brain size, par-
individuals without those characteristics. ticularly in the cerebral hemispheres—the areas support-
Biologically, evolution refers to changes in the genetic ing conscious thought—occurred in the course of primate
makeup of a population over generations. In some cases evolution, reaching its fullest expression in humans.
these changes are adaptive, but in others they are not. Adaptive processes also shaped the primate skeleton.
Passed from parents to offspring, genes are the basic In nearly all of the primates, the big toe and thumb are
physical units of heredity that specify the biological traits opposable, making it possible to grasp and manipulate
and characteristics of each organism. Genetic changes in objects such as sticks and stones with their feet as well
a population may be the result of factors such as mutation as their hands. Humans and their direct ancestors are the
and gene flow, as well as genetic drift—chance fluctua- only exceptions, having lost the opposable big toe. It was,
tions of allele (gene variant) frequencies in the gene pool in part, having hands capable of grasping that enabled
of a population. our own early ancestors to manufacture and use tools and
thus alter the course of their evolution.
Primate Anatomical Adaptation

genes The basic physical units of heredity that specify the biological
Ancient and modern primate groups possess a number of traits and characteristics of each organism.
distinct anatomical characteristics. These include, most genetic drift Chance fluctuations of allele (gene variant) frequencies in
notably, specialized teeth, binocular stereoscopic color the gene pool of a population.
Jane Goodall (b. 1934) ● Svante Pääbo (b. 1955)
Born just twenty years apart, these two anthropologists rep- before switching to
resent biological anthropology’s traditional and modern ap- medicine. Pursuing a
proaches to research—and illustrate the importance of both. doctorate in molecular
In July 1960, Jane Goodall arrived with her mother at the genetics, he applied
Gombe Chimpanzee Reserve on the shores of Lake Tanganyika in DNA cloning technolo-
Tanzania. Goodall was the first of three women Kenyan anthropol- gies to ancient human
ogist Louis Leakey sent out to study great apes in the wild (the remains and demon-
© Frank Vinken
others were Dian Fossey and Biruté Galdikas, who were to study strated DNA survival
gorillas and orangutans, respectively); her task was to begin a in a 2,400-year-old
long-term study of chimpanzees. Little did she realize that she Egyptian mummy.
would still be at it some fifty years later. Facing off with a Neandertal cousin: In 1986, after com-
Svante Pääbo holding a Neanderthal skull.
Born in London, Goodall grew up and was schooled in Bourne- pleting his doctorate,
mouth, England. As a child, she dreamed of going to live in Africa, Pääbo joined the ge-
so when an invitation arrived to visit a friend in Kenya, she jumped netics laboratory at the University of California at Berkeley.
at the opportunity. While in Kenya, she met Leakey, who gave her a Headed by Allan Wilson, who had invented the molecular clock,
job as an assistant secretary. Before long, she was on her way to this lab used the newly invented polymerase chain reaction (PCR)
Gombe. Within a year, the outside world began to hear the most ex- technique. Focusing on evolutionary genetics, Pääbo developed
traordinary things about this pioneering woman: tales of toolmak- techniques to solve the problem that DNA from ancient remains
ing apes, cooperative hunts by chimpanzees, and what seemed is often damaged and contaminated.
like exotic chimpanzee rain dances. By the mid-1960s, her work Pääbo accepted an academic position in Germany in 1990 and
had earned her a doctorate from Cambridge University, and Gombe soon achieved scientific successes: sequencing some Neander-
was on its way to becoming one of the most dynamic field stations tal DNA; determining the small percentage of genetic differences
for the study of animal behavior anywhere in the world. between humans and chimpanzees; and linking the FOXP2 gene
Although Goodall is still very involved with her chimpanzees to language. In 1997, he became founding director of the Evolu-
and primate conservation, she spends a good deal of time tionary Genetics Department at the Max Planck Institute for Evo-
these days lecturing, writing, and overseeing the work of others. lutionary Anthropology. Based on high-throughput DNA sequencing
Goodall is also passionately dedicated to halting illegal traffick- technology, his team then sequenced the draft genome of the
ing in chimps and fighting for the humane treatment of captive Neandertal, based on DNA extracted from 40,000-year-old fossils,
chimpanzees. and discovered genetic evidence of interbreeding between archaic
Svante Pääbo, named in 2007 by Time magazine as one of and anatomically modern humans. News of his scientific overview
the hundred most influential people in the world,a has revolution- of the genome (published in 2009 with fifty-three coauthors) cre-
ized our understanding of paleogenetics and human evolution. ated a sensation worldwide.b
Born and raised in Sweden, he is the son of an Estonian refugee In 2012, Pääbo’s team extracted DNA from a small hominin
and a Swedish Nobel Prize winner in biochemistry. As a boy, he fossil excavated in a Siberian cave and determined that it was
was fascinated by Egyptian archaeology, in particular mummies. about 50,000 years old. Mapping its genome, they discovered
As a young man, he first studied Egyptology at Uppsala University that it represented an unknown sister group of Neandertals, now
named Denisovans. Demonstrating interbreeding between modern
Homo sapiens ancestors and Neandertals, as well as Denisovans,
between 30,000 and 100,000 years ago, Pääbo’s pioneering
work challenges contemporary evolutionary theory. It reveals that
© Michael Nichols/National Geographic Image Collection
a small percentage of human DNA in living populations is derived

from these two archaic humans groups, advances our under-
standing of prehistoric population movements, and challenges the
recent African origins hypothesis. Just as important, it shows that
the divisions between human groups are not natural but cultural.
a
Venter, J. C. (2007, May 3). The 2007 Time 100: Scientists
and thinkers: Svante Pääbo. Time.com. http://content.time.com
/time/specials/2007/time100/article/0,28804,1595326
_1595329_1616144,00.html (retrieved January 18, 2016)
Jane Goodall observing wild chimpanzees.

b
Green, R. E., et al. (2010, May 7). A draft sequence of the
Neandertal genome. Science 328 (5979), 710–722.
Primate Behavioral Adaptation believed that male dominance hierarchies, in which some
animals outrank and dominate others, formed the basis
Primates adapt to their environments not only anatomi- of primate social structures. They noted that physical
cally but also through a wide variety of behaviors. During strength and size play a role in determining an animal’s
their lengthy maturation process, they learn the behaviors rank. By this measure males generally outrank females.
of their social group. Research on apes in their natural hab- However, based on close long-term observations in the
itat provides comparative models for paleoanthropologists field by primatologists such as Jane Goodall (see Anthro-
interested in reconstructing the behavior of our earliest pologists of Note), we are now aware of regional and sex-
human ancestors. These studies have revealed remarkable ual differences in primate social behavior.
variation and sophistication in ape behavior. Primatologists Among bonobos, female rank determines the social or-
increasingly interpret these variations as socially learned der of the group far more than male rank. Greater strength
rather than instinctive. As such, nonhuman primates may and size do contribute to an animal’s higher social status,
be said to have developed a rudimentary form of culture, but other factors also come into play. These include how
with a very simple technology. In light of this, we offer a effectively each individual creates social alliances with oth-
brief look at the behavior of two closely related African ers. On the whole, bonobo females form stronger bonds
species of chimpanzee whose ancestors separated almost with one another than do chimpanzee females. Moreover,
1.3 million years ago: the common chimpanzee and the the strength of the bond between mother and son inter-
bonobo (formerly known as the pygmy chimpanzee). feres with bonds among males. Not only do bonobo males
defer to females in feeding, but alpha (high-ranking) fe-
Chimpanzee and Bonobo Behavior males have been observed chasing away alpha males; such
Like nearly all primates, chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and males may even yield to low-ranking females, particularly
bonobos (Pan paniscus) are highly social animals. Among when groups of females form coalitions (de Waal, 1998).
chimps, the largest social organizational unit is a group Widening his scope beyond social ranking and aggression
usually composed of fifty or more individuals who collec- among great apes, Dutch primatologist Frans de Waal’s
tively inhabit a large geographic area. Rarely, however, are research, highlighted in this chapter’s Original Study,
all of these animals together at one time. demonstrates that reconciliation after an attack may be
Relationships among individuals within ape commu- even more important from an evolutionary perspective
nities are fairly harmonious. In the past, primatologists than the actual attack.
ORIGI
NAL Reconciliation and Its Cultural Modification
STU YD
in Primates By Frans B. M. de Waal
Despite the continuing popularity of the struggle- We now possess evidence for reconciliation in more
for-life metaphor, it is now recognized that there are draw- than twenty-five different primate species, not just in apes
backs to open competition, hence that there are sound but also in many monkeys—and in studies conducted
evolutionary reasons for curbing it. The dependency of on human children in the schoolyard. Researchers have
social animals on group life and cooperation makes aggres- even found reconciliation in dolphins, spotted hyenas,
sion a socially costly strategy. The basic dilemma facing and some other nonprimates. Reconciliation seems wide-
many animals, including humans, is that they sometimes spread: a common mechanism found whenever relation-
cannot win a fight without losing a friend. ships need to be maintained despite occasional conflict.a
The following photo shows what may happen after a The definition of reconciliation used in animal research
conflict—in this case between two female bonobos. About is a friendly reunion between former opponents not long
ten minutes after their fight, the two females approach after a conflict. This is somewhat different from definitions
each other, with one clinging to the other and both rub- in the dictionary, primarily because we look for an em-
bing their clitorises and genital swellings together in a pirical definition that is useful in observational studies—
pattern known as genital-genital rubbing, or G–G rubbing. in our case, the stipulation that the reunion happen not
This sexual contact, typical of bonobos, constitutes a so- long after the conflict.
called reconciliation. Chimpanzees, which are closely re- Let me describe two interesting elaborations on the
lated to bonobos (and to us: bonobos and chimpanzees are mechanism of reconciliation. One is mediation. Chimpan-
our closest animal relatives), usually reconcile in a less sex- zees are the only animals known to use mediators in con-
ual fashion, with an embrace and mouth-to-mouth kiss. flict resolution. To be able to mediate conflict, one needs
© Anup Shah/NPL/Minden Pictures

Two adult female bonobos engaging in so-called GG-rubbing, a sexual form of reconciliation typical of the species.
to understand relationships outside of oneself, which may societies, mediation is often done by high-ranking or
be the reason why other animals fail to show this aspect of senior members of the community, sometimes culmi-
conflict resolution. For example, if two male chimpanzees nating in feasts in which the restoration of harmony is
have been involved in a fight, even on a very large island celebrated.b
as where I did my studies, they can easily avoid each The second elaboration on the reconciliation concept
other, but instead they will sit opposite from each other, is that it is not purely instinctive, but a learned social skill
not too far apart, and avoid eye contact. They can sit like subject to what primatologists now increasingly call “cul-
this for a long time. In this situation, a third party, such ture” [protoculture] (meaning that the animal behavior
as an older female, may move in and try to solve the issue. is subject to learning from others as opposed to genetic
The female will approach one of the males and groom him transmission).c To test the learnability of reconciliation, I
for a brief while. She then gets up and walks slowly to the conducted an experiment with young rhesus and stump-
other male, and the first male walks right behind her. tail monkeys. Not nearly as conciliatory as stumptail
We have seen situations in which, if the first male monkeys, rhesus monkeys have the reputation of being
failed to follow, the female turned around to grab his arm rather aggressive and despotic. Stumptails are considered
and make him follow. So the process of getting the two more laidback and tolerant. We housed members of the
males in proximity seems intentional on the part of the two species together for five months. By the end of this
female. She then begins grooming the other male, and the period, they were a fully integrated group: They slept,
first male grooms her. Before long, the female disappears played, and groomed together. After five months, we sep-
from the scene, and the males continue grooming: She has arated them again and measured the effect of their time
in effect brought the two parties together. together on conciliatory behavior.
There exists a limited anthropological literature on the The research controls—rhesus monkeys who had
role of conflict resolution, a process absolutely crucial for lived with one another, without any stumptails—
the maintenance of the human social fabric in the same showed absolutely no change in the tendency to rec-
way that it is crucial for our primate relatives. In human oncile. Stumptails showed a high rate of reconciliation,
which was also expected, because they also do so if and a well-developed potential for behavioral modifica-
living together. The most interesting group was the ex- tion and learning from others.
perimental rhesus monkeys, those who had lived with
stumptails. These monkeys started out at the same low Written expressly for this text, 2005.
level of reconciliation as the rhesus controls, but after
they had lived with the stumptails, and after we had
segregated them again so that they were now housed
a
de Waal, F. B. M. (2000, July 28). Primates—A natural heritage
of conflict resolution. Science 288 (5479), 586–590; Aureli, F., &
only with other rhesus monkeys who had gone through
de Waal, F. B. M. (2000). Natural conflict resolution. Berkeley:
the same experience, these rhesus monkeys reconciled
University of California Press.
as much as stumptails do. This means that we created a b
Reviewed by Frye, D. P. (2000). Conflict management in cross-
“new and improved” rhesus monkey, one that made up
cultural perspective. In F. Aureli & F. B. M. de Waal, Natural con-
with its opponents far more easily than a regular rhesus flict resolution (pp. 334–351). Berkeley: University of California
monkey.d Press.
This was in effect an experiment on monkey culture: c
For a discussion of the animal culture concept, see de Waal,
We changed the culture of a group of rhesus monkeys F. B. M. (2001a). The ape and the sushi master. New York: Basic
and made it more similar to that of stumptail monkeys Books.
by exposing them to the practices of this other species. d
de Waal, F. B. M., & Johanowicz, D. L. (1993, June). Modifica-
This experiment also shows that there exists a great deal tion of reconciliation behavior through social experience: An
of flexibility in primate behavior. We humans come from experiment with two macaque species. Child Development 64 (3),
a long lineage of primates with great social sophistication 897–908.
Chimpanzees supplement their primary diet of fruits to occur, rape has never been observed among bonobos
and other plant foods with insects and also meat— (de Waal, 1998).
hunting and killing small animals, including monkeys, for
food. Their hunting frequently involves teamwork. Once Chimpanzee and Bonobo Development
a potential victim has been isolated from its troop, three Chimpanzee and bonobo dependence on learned social
or more adult male chimps will position themselves so as behavior is related to their extended period of maturation.
to block off escape routes while another pursues the prey. Like young humans, they learn by observation, imitation,
Following the kill, most who are present get a share of the and practice how to strategically interact with others and
meat, either by grabbing a piece as chance affords or by even manipulate them for their own benefit. Anatomical
begging for it. features such as a free upper lip (unlike lemurs or cats,
Meat comprises a small percentage of the chimpanzee for example) allow monkeys and apes varied facial ex-
diet, but hunting serves more than nutritional purposes; it pression, contributing to greater social communication
is also performed for social and sexual advantages. Beyond among individuals.
sharing meat to attract sexual partners, males use their Young chimpanzees and bonobos also learn other
catch to reward friends and allies, gaining status in the functional behaviors from adults, such as how to make
process (Stanford, 2001). and use very simple tools. For example, chimpanzee tool
Among bonobos, hunting is primarily a female activ- repertoire includes using stones as hammers and anvils
ity. Also, female hunters regularly share carcasses with to crack open nuts, twigs as picks to clean teeth and to
other females but less often with males. Even when the extract baby teeth, and leaves as trail markers and as wipes
most dominant male throws a tantrum nearby, he may or as sponges to get drinking water out of a hollow. They
still be denied a share of meat (Ingmanson, 1998). Such commonly strip leafy twigs clean and use the stems to
discriminatory sharing among female bonobos is also evi- “fish” for termites (Figure 4.7). Inserting the stick into the
dent when it comes to other food such as fruit. termite nest, they wait a few minutes, and then pull it out
Among bonobos (as among humans), sexuality goes to eat the insects clinging to it.
far beyond male–female mating for purposes of biological Sticks are also used to pound or dig into beehives
reproduction. Primatologists have observed them engag- and grab the sweet honeycombs (Fay & Carroll, 1994).
ing in a remarkable array of sexual activities. As described And heavier sticks may serve as clubs or as missiles (as
in this chapter’s Original Study, the primary function may stones) in aggressive or defensive displays (McGrew,
of most of this sex, both hetero- and homosexual, is to 2000). A chimpanzee group in the savannahs of Sene-
reduce tension and resolve social conflicts. Notably, al- gal has even been observed sharpening branches into
though forced copulation among chimpanzees is known rudimentary spears with their teeth and then using
There is mounting evidence of the in-
telligence of chimpanzees, bonobos, and
other apes—including a capacity for con-
ceptual thought. Like other primates, they
have a great range of calls that are often
used together with movements of the face
or body to convey a message. Observers
have not yet established the meaning of
all the sounds, but a good number have
been distinguished, such as warning calls,
threat calls, defense calls, and gathering
calls. Experiments with captive apes have
revealed even greater communication
abilities using American Sign Language
and keyboards. Although significant, such
expressions are not on a par with the dis-
tinct biological capacity of humans to pro-
duce a rich array of cultural adaptations—a
complex of ideas, technologies, and activi-
ties that enable people to survive and even
thrive in their environment.
Human Ancestors
Modern humans are members of the su-
perfamily known as hominoid—the
broad-shouldered tailless group of pri-
Martin Harvey/Photolibrary/Getty Images
mates that includes all living and extinct

apes and humans. Humans and their im-
mediate ancestors, together with various
extinct human species, form the subfamily
identified as hominin. Members of this
subfamily or “tribe” are distinct, among
others, for bipedalism—“two-footed” or
walking upright on both hind legs.
Figure 4.7 Fishing for Termites The exact biological links between
Chimps use a variety of tools in the wild. Here a chimp uses a long stick stripped ancient human fossils and related but
of its side branches to fish for termites—the first chimp tool use described by long-extinct hominin species are difficult
Jane Goodall in the 1960s. Chimps will select a stick when still quite far from to establish. However, today’s paleoanthro-
the termite mound and modify its shape on the way to the snacking spot.
pologists have an advantage over their pre-
decessors in this endeavor: They have the
them to hunt galagos—small nocturnal primates, also knowledge, skills, and technological equipment to access
known as bush babies—sleeping and nesting in tree genetic information.
trunks or hollow branches (Pruetz & Bertolani, 2007). As noted earlier, molecular studies have confirmed
In a community of about thirty-two chimps in this that the African apes—chimpanzees, bonobos, and
area, primatologists have recently observed that females gorillas—are our closest living relatives (Figure 4.8). By
also hunt, albeit less so than male chimps in this group comparing the genomes of all the apes, scientists reckon
(Pruetz et al., 2015). that gibbons were the first to diverge from a very ancient
common ancestral line—about 18 to 20 million years ago
(mya). The split between African primates (gorilla, chim-
panzee, and human) and those of Southeast Asia (gibbon
hominoid The broad-shouldered tailless group of primates that includes and orangutan) occurred about 14 million years ago.
all living and extinct apes and humans.
Orangutans, historically native only to the Indonesian
hominin Subfamily or “tribe” consisting of humans and their immediate
ancestors, as well as extinct human species. islands of Borneo and Sumatra, are the only surviving
bipedalism “Two-footed”—walking upright on both hind legs—a species of a large subfamily of Ponginae. Now endangered
characteristic of humans and their ancestors. and facing extinction in the wild due to environmental
Human Ancestors 87
Hominidae (great apes)
Rhesus Bornean Western Eastern

macaque Gibbon Sumatran orangutan gorilla gorilla Bonobo Chimpanzee Human
Macaca Nomascus orangutan Pongo Gorilla Gorilla Pan Pan Homo
mulatta leucogenys Pongo abelii pygmaeus gorilla beringei paniscus troglodytes sapiens
–1 mya –1 mya
6 mya
10 mya
14 mya
Hylobatidae
(small apes)
18–20 mya
Cercopithecidae

(Old World monkeys)
25–33 mya
Figure 4.8 Species Branching in Primate Evolution

The relationship among monkeys, apes, and humans can be established by comparing
anatomical as well as genetic similarities and differences. Although chimpanzees, gorillas,
and orangutans physically resemble one another more than any of them resemble humans,
genetic evidence indicates that humans are most closely related to the African ape species
(chimpanzees and gorillas). Using a molecular clock, scientists date the final split between the
African ape and human ancestral lines to about 6 million years ago.
destruction, they once inhabited a vast area in south- proposed as the latest “missing link” in the evolutionary
ern and eastern Asia, from Pakistan to southern China. chain leading to humans.
Within the African branch of the primate family, gorillas For a hominoid fossil to be definitively classified as
separated from humans and chimpanzees about 10 mil- part of the human evolutionary line, evidence of bipedal-
lion years ago, followed by the split between chimpanzees ism is required. However, all early bipeds are not necessar-
and the human line about 6 million years ago. Much later, ily direct ancestors to humans. Between 4 and 5 million
chimpanzees diverged into two separate species: the com- years ago, the environment of eastern Africa was mostly
mon chimpanzee and the bonobo, the latter found only a mosaic of open country with pockets of woodland. One
south of the Congo River. forested pocket existed in what is now the Afar Desert
Early human evolutionary development followed a of northeastern Ethiopia, where a large number of fossil
complex path that produced, eventually, only one surviv- bone fragments of a very early biped were recently found.
ing species: Homo sapiens. Larger brains and bipedal move- Named Ardipithecus ramidus and dated to 4.4 million years
ment constitute the most striking differences between ago, these ancient hominoids could walk upright and
humans and our closest primate relatives. carry the figs, nuts, and other foodstuffs they gathered
in their very long arms as they explored the woodland
floor on two short legs. They were quite small, as indi-
The First Bipeds cated by one partial skeleton of a female—standing about

120 centimeters (under 4 feet) and weighing 50 kilograms
Millions of years ago, various kinds of hominoids lived (110 pounds) (White et al., 2009).
throughout Africa and Eurasia (Europe and Asia). One Later human ancestors inhabited more open country
of these apes (living in East Africa about 5–8 mya) was a known as savannah—tropical or subtropical grasslands with
direct ancestor to the human line. Several new fossils dis- scattered trees and groves. Opinions vary on just how many
covered in Africa from this critical time period have been hominin species existed in Africa before a million years ago.
Figure 4.9 Reconstruction

of Fossil Specimens
U.S. photographer David
Brill specializes in taking
pictures of fossils and
paleoanthropologists. Here
we see him positioning
the upper jaw and other
fossil skull fragments of an
australopithecine, aligning
them as they would be in a
complete skull.
© T. White 1998
For our purposes it suffices to refer to them collectively as to weigh just 29 kilograms (64 pounds), this find did
Australopithecus—the genus including several species much to increase public awareness of human origins and
of early bipeds from Africa living between about 1 and the vital role of the African continent in our evolutionary
4.2 million years ago, one of whom was directly ancestral history (Figure 4.10).
to humans (from Latin australis, meaning “southern,” and
Greek pithecus, meaning “ape”). The earliest definite austral-
opithecine fossils date back 4.2 million years (Alemseged et
M ed ite
rranean Sea
al., 2006) whereas the most recent ones are about a million
years old.
As bipeds, australopithecines could not only free their
hands for more effective tool use, but their erect posture
exposed a smaller area of the body to the direct heat of
CHAD Hadar
the sun than a quadrupedal position, helping to prevent
overheating on the open savannah. Furthermore, a biped Middle
ETHIOPIA Awash
with its head held high could see further, spotting food as
well as predators from a distance (Figure 4.9). Olduvai
East Turkana KENYA
Gorge
None of the australopithecines were as tall as most
West Turkana
modern humans, but all were much more muscular, and TANZANIA Laetoli
males were significantly larger than females. Australopith- Indian
ecines possessed small brains, quite comparable to those MALAWI Ocean
of modern African apes. Like chimps, they probably used Atlantic

sticks to dig up roots or ward off animals and stones to hurl Ocean
as weapons or to crack open nuts and bones. Perhaps, they Sterkfontein

SOUTH
© Cengage Learning
even used simple carrying devices made of hollow gourds AFRICA

Swartkrans
or knotted plant fibers. These perishable tools, however,
Taung
are not traceable in the long-term archaeological record.
Numerous australopithecine fossils have been found
up and down the length of eastern Africa from Ethiopia to Figure 4.10 Australopithecine Fossil Sites
South Africa and westward into Chad. The most famous is Among recent important finds is the 3.3-million-year-old skull and
one known as “Lucy,” a 3.2-million-year-old partial skele- partial skeleton of a 3-year-old Australopithecus afarensis, unearthed
ton and skull, discovered in Ethiopia in 1974 and named in 2000 by Ethiopian paleoanthropologist Zeresenay Alemseged
after the Beatles’ song “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.” in his home country. Some experts refer to the young hominin
Only about 1.1 meters (3 feet 7 inches) tall and estimated as “Lucy’s baby” after the famous adult female australopithecine
skeleton discovered in 1974—even though the toddler’s fossil is
Australopithecus The genus including several species of early bipeds tens of thousands of years older. This fossil provides rare evidence
from Africa living between about 1 and 4.2 million years ago, one of of what young australopithecines were like. Also, like Lucy, the
whom was directly ancestral to humans. child’s fossil includes fingers, a foot, a complete torso, and a face.
Human Ancestors 89
© Michael Rogers, Southern Connecticut State University
1999 David L. Brill/Atlanta

Figure 4.11 Oldowan Stone Tools
At a remote site known as Gona, located in the Afar region of Ethiopia, Ethiopian paleoanthropologist
Sileshi Semaw discovered some of the earliest stone tools made by humans. Dated to the beginning
of the Lower Paleolithic or Old Stone Age, they are part of the Oldowan tool tradition. The 2.6-million-
year-old Gona flake on the right is a well-struck cutting tool with sharp edges (Semaw, 2000).
Early Homo Biocultural Connection, their food habits and the physical
effort it took to secure food made them healthier than
Since the late 1960s, a number of sites in southern and many millions of people today.
eastern Africa have been discovered with fossil remains Several hominin species and subspecies roamed
of a lightly built biped with a body all but indistinguish- through Africa at about the same time. Which among
able from that of the earlier australopithecines, except these was a direct human ancestor still remains to be
that the teeth are smaller and the brain is significantly determined. With the demonstrated use of simple tools,
larger relative to body size (Conroy, 1997). The earliest these hominins began a course of gradual brain expansion
fossils to exhibit these trends appeared about the same that would continue until some 200,000 years ago. In
time as improved stone tools. Because major brain- the course of that enormous timespan, brain size would
size increase, tooth-size reduction, and toolmaking are nearly triple, even exceeding the lower levels of today’s
important factors in the evolution of the genus Homo, humans—850 to 1,000 cubic centimeters.
paleoanthropologists designated these fossils as a new
species: Homo habilis or “handy human”—the earliest
members of the genus Homo, appearing about 2.5 million Homo erectus and the Spread of the Genus
years ago. Homo from Africa into Eurasia
The earliest identifiable stone tools have been found Shortly after 2 million years ago, at a time when Homo
in Ethiopia, in northern Kenya near Lake Turkana, and in habilis had become more widespread in Africa, several
Tanzania at Olduvai Gorge—often in the same distinctive new human varieties gradually evolved on that continent.
layers of soil, clay, or rock as the earliest Homo fossils. The An umbrella taxon (Greek, “arrangement, order”) with a
appearance of stone flakes and choppers marks the begin- considerable range in variation, this large archaic group
ning of the Lower Paleolithic, the first part of the Old has been labeled Homo erectus or “upright human.”
Stone Age, spanning from about 300,000 to 2.6 million Having first developed in Africa perhaps as early as
years ago. Those found at the Ethiopian sites are among 1.9 million years ago, it was the earliest known member
the oldest, at 2.5 to 2.6 million years (Figure 4.11). These of the genus Homo to move into Eurasia.
early Lower Paleolithic tools are part of the Oldowan
tool tradition—a name first given to those found at
Olduvai Gorge in the 1960s. Flakes were obtained from a
“core” stone by striking it with another stone or against
Homo habilis “Handy human.” The earliest members of the genus
a large rock. The pieces (“flakes”) that broke off from the Homo appearing about 2.5 million years ago, with larger brains and
core had two sharp edges, effective for butchering car- smaller faces than australopithecines.
casses and scraping hides. Lower Paleolithic The first part of the Old Stone Age, spanning from
An increase in the consumption of meat, including about 300,000 to 2.6 million years ago.
Oldowan tool tradition The first stone tool industry, beginning between
fatty bone marrow, was important for human evolution.
2.5 and 2.6 million years ago at the start of the Lower Paleolithic.
Our remote ancestors probably solved their nutritional
Homo erectus “Upright human.” A species within the genus Homo first
needs in much the same way that chimps on the savan- appearing just after 2 million years ago in Africa and ultimately spreading
nah do today. In some ways, as discussed in this chapter’s throughout the Old World.
Paleolithic Prescriptions for Diseases of Today

Throughout most of our evolutionary his- will improve by returning
tory, humans led more physically active to the lifestyle to which
lives and ate a more varied low-fat diet their bodies are adapt-
than we do now. Our ancestors did not ed.b Such Paleolithic pre-
drink alcohol or smoke. They spent their scriptions are an example
days scavenging or hunting for animal proof evolutionary medicine—
tein while gathering vegetable foods, with a branch of medical anthro-
some insects thrown in for good measure. pology that uses evolution-
They stayed fit through traveling great ary principles to contribute
Digital Vision/Thinkstock
distances each day over the savannah to human health.
and beyond. Evolutionary medicine
Though we hail increased life expec- bases its prescriptions on
tancy as one of modern civilization’s great- the idea that the rate of
est accomplishments, this phenomenon, cultural change exceeds
brought about in part by the discovery and the rate of biological change. Our food-for- of our ancient lifeways, we can make the
dissemination of antibiotics during the ager physiology was shaped over millions diseases of civilization a thing of the past.
middle of the 20th century, is quite recent. of years, whereas the cultural changes
Anthropologists suggest that the down- leading to contemporary lifestyles have Biocultural Question
ward trajectory for human health began occurred rapidly. For example, tobacco was Can you imagine what sort of Paleolithic
when we left behind our Paleolithic life- domesticated in the Americas only a few prescriptions our evolutionary history
ways and began farming instead of hunting thousand years ago and was widely used would contribute for modern behaviors,
and gathering and settled into permanent as both a narcotic and an insecticide. such as childrearing practices, sleeping,
villages some 10,000 years ago.a The Alcoholic beverages, which depend on the and work patterns? Are there any ways
chronic diseases that linger—such as di- domestication of a variety of plant species that your culture or personal lifestyle is
abetes, heart disease, substance abuse, such as hops, barley, and corn, also could well aligned with past lifeways?
and high blood pressure—have their roots not have arisen without village life, as
in this shift. the fermentation process requires time a
Cohen, M. N., & Armelagos, G. J. (Eds.).
The prevalence of these diseases of and watertight containers. However, the (1984). Paleopathology at the origins of
civilization has increased rapidly over high-starch diets and sedentary lifestyle agriculture. Orlando: Academic Press.
the past sixty-five years. Claiming that of village life contributes to diabetes and b
Eaton, S. B., Konner, M., & Shostak, M.
our Paleolithic ancestors left us with a heart disease. (1988). Stone-agers in the fast lane:
prescription for a cure, some anthropol- Our evolutionary history offers clues Chronic degenerative diseases in evolution-
ogists have proposed that as “stone- about the diet and lifestyle to which our bod- ary perspective. American Journal of
agers in a fast lane,” people’s health ies evolved. By reclaiming some aspects Medicine 84 (4), 739–749.
Dating to 1.81 million years ago, the oldest hominin influenced the frequency of these genetic variations
fossil skulls outside Africa were discovered in a cave at within populations (Figure 4.12).
Dmanisi in the southwestern Caucasus Mountains. Oth- This milestone in human evolution coincided with
ers migrated as far to the east as Java (Indonesia), when the beginning of the Pleistocene epoch or Ice Age,
sea levels were much lower than today, and that tropical which spanned from about 11,700 to 2,588,000 years
island was not yet separated from the Asian mainland. ago. During this long period of global cooling, Arctic
There, H. erectus fossils have been found dating back to cold conditions and abundant snowfall in the earth’s
about 1.6 million years ago. By about 1.4 million years northern hemisphere created vast ice sheets that were
ago, these early hominins had also reached Europe, as 1,500 to 3,000 meters (nearly 5,000 to 10,000 feet) thick
indicated by fossils recently excavated at Orce in south- and temporarily covered much of northern Eurasia and
eastern Spain (Agustí et al., 2015). There are considerable North America. During much of this time, sea levels
physical differences in these widely dispersed hominin were as much as 130 meters (427 feet) lower than today,
fossils, as natural selection, genetic drift, and gene flow exposing vast surfaces now under water (Fagan, 2000).
Human Ancestors 91
Boxgrove (500,000)
Ceprano Zhoukoudian
Bilzingsleben (350,000)? (500,000)
(450,000)?
Atapuerca Mauer (600,000)?
(430,000) Dmanisi Lantian
Orce (1.8 mya) (800,000)?
(1.4 mya)
Hexian
Ternifine (300,000)
(700,000)?
Jianshi
Salé (300,000)
(400,000)?
Longgupo
Omo (1.8 mya)
(1.4 mya) Yuanmou
Konso
Gardula (600,000)?
(1.3–1.9 mya)
Sidi Abderrahman
(500,000)? Melka Kunturé
(700,000−1.3 mya)?
Nariokotome
(1.6 mya) Koobi Fora
(1.8 mya)
Olduvai Gorge
(1.4 mya)
Sambungmachan
(<500,000)?
Swartkrans
(1.5 mya)? Java
© Cengage Learning
mya = million years ago Sangiran
(1.6 mya) Trinil Mojokerto
(900,000)? (1.6 mya)
Figure 4.12 Homo erectus Fossil Sites

Homo erectus sites are shown here with their dates. The arrows indicate the likely routes by
which Homo spread from Africa to Eurasia. The question marks indicate uncertain dating for
particular sites. Fossil remains of individuals identified as Homo erectus are relatively rare, but
they left a huge quantity of stone tools identified as Acheulean. This Lower Paleolithic tradition
is named after Saint-Acheul, a community in the Somme Valley of northern France. Here, in
the Ice Age deposits of the stream terraces, many large hand-axes as well as rhinoceros and
elephant bones were found in the mid-1800s and soon were recognized by leading scholars as
proof of great human antiquity. Since then, “several hundred thousand” similar axes have been
found at numerous sites in Africa and Eurasia. Succeeding the Oldowan tradition, the oldest of
these Acheulean axes were made almost 1.8 million years ago, whereas the most recent date
to minimally 300,000 years (Corbey et al., 2016).
These glacial periods often lasted tens of thousands of Typically, early H. erectus had a cranial capacity of about
years, separated by intervening warmer periods. During 850 cubic centimeters (cm3), but over the next 1.5 million
interglacial periods, the world warmed up to the point years, this expanded to 1,100 cubic centimeters and ul-
that the ice sheets melted and sea levels rose, inundat- timately even overlapped that of Neandertals (discussed
ing huge low-lying areas now inhabited by humans and later) and modern humans today.
other land animals. As one might expect, given its larger brain, Homo erec-
Available fossil evidence indicates that Homo erectus tus outstripped its predecessors in cultural development.
had a body size and proportions similar to modern hu- In Africa and Eurasia, the hand-axe, probably an all-
mans, though with heavier musculature (Figure 4.13). purpose implement for food procurement and processing,
The average stature of H. erectus in Africa was about as well as for defense, replaced the simple stone chopper.
179 centimeters (5 feet 10 inches) but was smaller in H. erectus also developed cleavers (like hand-axes but
Southeast Asia. The dentition was similar to modern without points) and various scrapers to process animal
humans, although relatively large by modern standards. hides for bedding and clothing. In addition, they refined
early as 1 million years ago (Berna et al., 2012), but more

conclusive evidence of controlling fire dates to a more
recent period (discussed later in this chapter).
Numerous Homo erectus fossils and stone tools have
been found at several places in Africa and Eurasia,
where distinctive morphologically identifiable regional
lineages of this species have been distinguished (Antón,
2003). Among the most notable in Europe are those
discovered in the mountains of Atapuerca in northern
Spain. In a cave called Gran Dolina, human fossil re-
mains of at least six individuals were excavated, dating
to 800,000 years ago. Further evolving in conditions of
geographic and genetic isolation, this variety features a
craniofacial architecture more similar to that of Homo
sapiens, along with a significant increase in cranial
capacity. It remains unclear whether this variety be-
came extinct or continued to evolve, with descendants
400,000 years later interbreeding with new waves of
African migrants trekking into Europe (Bermúdez de
Castro et al., 2004).
By far the most famous Homo erectus discovery in
China is known as “Peking Man” (Sinanthropus pekinensis).
Fossil remnants of this hominin were excavated in caves
at Dragon Bone Hill in Zhoukoudian, about 50 kilometers
(31 miles) southwest from Beijing. Here, beginning in the
1920s, researchers have excavated the fossil remains of
forty H. erectus individuals, dating to between 200,000 and
500,000 years ago.
Transition from Homo erectus to Neandertals

From about 600,000 years ago, a gradual transition from
Homo erectus to new hominin varieties took place in Africa,
with one branch migrating into Eurasia about 100,000
years later. In the course of many generations—through
mutation, natural selection, and genetic drift—differences
between the regional populations evolved. For instance, in-
dividuals in a group living in southern Africa from 300,000
to 500,000 years ago became very tall, with males routinely
growing over 213 centimeters (7 feet), considerably taller
Image no. 5269, AMNH Library
than those living in Europe. Compared with H. erectus, they

also developed a much larger cranial volume, ranging be-
tween 1,100 and 1,400 cubic centimeters—about the same
as most modern humans living today.
Among the best-known examples of evolving hom-
inins in Europe is a group discovered in Spain. In the
Figure 4.13 Homo erectus
Atapuerca Mountains mentioned earlier, fossil remains
One of the oldest—at 1.6 million years—and most complete
were found at the bottom of a deep chimney in one of the
fossils of Homo erectus is the “strapping youth” from Lake
large cave systems (Figure 4.14). In this now famous ar-
Turkana in northern Kenya: a tall and muscular boy who was
already 160 centimeters (5 feet 3 inches) tall when he died at chaeological site, known as Sima de los Huesos (“Pit of the
about the age of 13. Bones”), researchers discovered more than 5,000 human
bones, including the fossil remains of thirty individuals
of both sexes and all ages, up to about 40 years old. Dated
stone flakes by “retouching” into points and borers for to about 400,000 years ago, these are now thought to be
drilling or punching holes in hides and other materials. In early ancestors of Neandertals (Parés et al., 2000).
addition, there is some prehistoric data suggesting that H. Not far south of the Atapuerca Mountains, researchers
erectus groups in southern Africa may have utilized fire as found additional evidence of early human populations. At
Human Ancestors 93
© Javier Trueba/Science Photo Library

Figure 4.14 Sima de los Huesos
In a cave beneath the hillside in Atapuerca, Spain, lies one of the most remarkable sites
in all of paleoanthropology: Sima de los Huesos (“Pit of the Bones”). The bottom of the pit
is crammed with animal bones, including cave bears, lions, foxes, and wolves. Even more
remarkable, paleoanthropologists have found thousands of early human fossils dating back
400,000 years. The well-preserved remains come from about thirty individuals and comprise
the greatest single cache of ancient Homo fossils in the world.
prehistoric sites in the Ambrona River valley, about 150 ki- within 15 meters (50 feet) (Churchill & Rhodes, 2009).
lometers (93 miles) northeast of Madrid, bands of hunters In addition to procuring animal hides, horn, bone, and
drove a variety of large animals (including elephants) into sinew, these early hunters probably roasted or preserved
a swamp some 400,000 years ago (Freeman, 1992). And the meat by smoking or wind drying (Thieme, 2007).
in northern Germany, archaeologists found more traces
when they excavated a prehistoric hunting camp dating Making Fire
to about the same time in an ancient peat bog on the edge Although there is considerable variation in physiological
of what was once a lake. In addition to stone tools and re- conditioning among different human groups and among
mains of three huts, that site included bones of butchered individuals within each group, studies of modern humans
wild horses, as well as wood bison (wisent), red deer, wild indicate that most people can remain reasonably comfort-
donkey, and other animals. These animals were probably able down to 10 degrees Celsius (50 degrees Fahrenheit)
killed with wooden spears, eight of which were found. with minimal clothing as long as they keep active. With-
Varying in length between 182 and 250 centimeters out controlled use of fire, it is less likely that early humans
(5 feet 10 inches and 8 feet 2 inches), these were proba- would have migrated into regions where winter tempera-
bly thrusting spears, but may have been thrown as well. tures regularly dropped much below that point—as they
The throwing range of these spears was probably about do in the northern latitudes of Eurasia.
70 meters (76 yards), but the effective distance for seri- The human capacity to make fire played a crucial role
ously wounding or even killing large game was more likely in cultural evolution. H. erectus may have used fire where
available, but there is insuffi-

cient evidence to convincingly
demonstrate that they had the Cresswell
knowhow to spark a fire by strik- Bontnewydd Dartford
ing two stones, rubbing sticks, Zeeland
Molodova Okladnikov
or otherwise (Berna et al., 2012; Feldhofer
(Neandertal) Denisova
Roebroeks & Villa, 2011). How- Mezmaiskaya
ever they obtained or made it, La Ferrassie
fire gave our human ancestors Engis Schöningen
El Sidrón Vindija Aman-Kutan
more control over their envi-
ronment. Besides giving them a
means to frighten away predators El Castillo Teshik-Tash
Monte
from their sleeping camps, it pro-
© Cengage Learning
Zafarraya Lessini Shanidar
vided warmth and light in the
Gibraltar Le Moustier
dark caves or huts, especially dur-
Kebara
ing the long, cold winter nights.
And although they probably
drank the blood of the larger an- Figure 4.15 Neandertal Range
imals they killed, and consumed Based on the fossils of 400 individuals found at numerous sites, we know that for almost
raw meat and bone marrow, 300,000 years, Neandertals ranged from the British Isles and Spain on the Atlantic seaboard
these early humans probably also eastward as far as the Altai Mountains in Central Asia, now the borderlands between
Kazakhstan, Russia, Mongolia, and China. Some of their DNA, however, has spread to almost
thawed, smoked, and roasted
every corner of the globe as a result of interbreeding with anatomically modern humans
some of their food—wild seeds
who migrated out of Africa between 28,000 and 100,000 years ago, when the last of these
as well as meat (Henry, Brooks, &
archaic humans surviving in northern Spain became extinct. This gene flow from Neandertals
Piperno, 2011).
into anatomically modern humans moving into Europe and Asia probably occurred between
30,000 and 100,000 years ago (Sankararaman et al., 2012).
Archaic Humans Neandertals

The story of when, where, and how hominins evolved in Easily the most fascinating archaic human in the long
the course of many thousands of generations is complex. evolutionary process is the Neandertal, a species once
There are huge gaps in our knowledge, but new pieces inhabiting western Eurasia from the Atlantic seaboard to
of the great prehistoric puzzle are continually being the Altai Mountains in Central Asia between 30,000 and
found—and existing fossils are newly interpreted or re- 300,000 years ago (Hardy et al., 2012; Hawks, 2012; Krause
veal new information thanks to ever-improving scientific et al., 2007). This long-extinct species is named after the
methodology. Neander Valley (German, tal), where fossil remains of an
As we proceed along the human evolutionary trajec- ancient human were found in a limestone cave in 1856.
tory, the fossil record provides us with many more homi- Destroyed by extensive 19th-century quarrying, this cave
nin specimens compared to earlier periods. The record is overlooked the Düssel River, a tributary of the Rhine.
particularly rich when it comes to archaic humans such as Perhaps trekking along the same ancient trails walked
the Neandertal, ranging long ago through western Eurasia. by foraging bands of Homo erectus hundreds of thousands
And it is all the more intriguing due to the recent discov- of years earlier, ancestors of Neandertal had migrated from
ery of a still-mysterious sister group named Denisovans Africa toward the Mediterranean seashore, where they
once inhabiting southern and eastern Eurasia. In light of probably split into several bands, with some slowly mov-
recently discovered evidence of gene flow between these ing north and westward into continental Europe, others
archaic Eurasians and anatomically modern humans be- eastward into continental Asia. At the peak of their popu-
tween 30,000 and 100,000 years ago, along with various lation about 60,000 years ago, Neandertals appear to have
other factors, anthropologists have pondered whether numbered some 70,000 individuals. They were divided
they should be classified as a distinctive hominin or as an in several loosely organized populations ranging between
archaic subspecies of H. sapiens. the Atlantic seaboard and the Altai Mountains in Central
Asia (Hawks, 2012) (Figure 4.15).
Neandertal Appearance
Neandertal An archaic human population that ranged through western Expanding their geographic range, each ancestral Ne-
Eurasia from about 30,000 to 300,000 years ago. andertal group adapted to distinctive environmental
Archaic Humans 95
by means of body language and most probably also by

speech; they possessed the “language gene” (FOXP2), and
there is no scientific basis for denying they were capable
of articulating a wide range of sounds (vowels and conso-
nants) like modern humans (Wolpoff et al., 2004).
Philippe Plailly & Atelier Daynes/Science Source

Neandertal Technology
In their quest for survival, Neandertals developed a technol-
ogy that included sharp flint scrapers, drills, and stone axes.
The toolmaking tradition of all but the latest Neandertals
is called the Mousterian tool tradition after a site (Le
Moustier) in the Dordogne region of southwestern France.
(See Figure 4.18 for a comparative look at Mousterian and
Upper Paleolithic toolmaking techniques and tools.)
As indicated by traces of wear on stone tools, Neander-
Figure 4.16 Neandertal Skull and Face
tals carved wood for shafts, handles, containers, and scrap-
Some of the Neandertals were fair- or red-haired and light-
ers (Schrenk & Müller, 2009; see also Shea, 2013). They
skinned, as shown here. French anthropological sculptor
also tipped their spears with stone or bone points hafted
Élisabeth Daynès made this artistic reconstruction using the
cast of a male Neandertal skull excavated in a cave at La
with sinew and pitch (Rots, 2013). Thus equipped with
Ferrassie. You may picture this archaic human as a reindeer sharp knives, clubs, axes, and thrusting (or perhaps throw-
hunter ranging the Dordogne Valley and surrounding hills in ing) spears, they hunted a large variety of game animals.
southwestern France about 50,000 years ago. Clear evidence of controlled use of fire begins with the
Neandertals about 300,000 years ago but perhaps earlier
(Roebroeks & Villa, 2011). The ability to modify food cul-
challenges, including much colder temperatures and lower turally through cooking may have contributed to the re-
levels of ultraviolet radiation. Because dark skin does not duction in the size of teeth and jaws of later fossil groups
confer advantages in the more northern territories, there because cooked food requires less chewing. However,
natural selection favored individuals with lighter skin cooking does more than tenderize food: It also detoxifies
color, allowing greater absorption of ultraviolet radiation a number of otherwise poisonous plants. In addition, it
needed for sufficient vitamin D production (Laluela-Fox alters substances in plants, allowing important vitamins,
et al., 2007). Recent genetic information reveals that some minerals, and proteins to be absorbed by the gut rather
Neandertals were dark-haired, while others were fair- or than passing unused through the intestines. And, finally,
red-haired and light-skinned (Figure 4.16). cooking makes high-energy complex carbohydrates, such
On average, the adult Neandertal male measured as starch, digestible. When these early humans learned to
166 centimeters (5 feet 5 inches), about 12 centimeters employ fire to warm and protect themselves and to cook
(4½ inches) taller than females. Biologically adapting to an their food, they dramatically increased their geographic
increasingly cold climate, Neandertals developed into ro- range and nutritional options.
bust-bodied archaic humans, with relatively short arms and
legs; however, they were more muscular than most people Neandertal Adaptation and Climate Change
today (Weaver, 2009). Like us, over 90 percent of Neander- As hunters and gatherers, Neandertals appear to have
tals appear to have been right-handed (Volpato et al., 2012). enjoyed a migratory way of life that was physiologically
Though often described as short, Neandertal males not more stressful than that experienced by 20th-century
matched the average height of young adult males born in Inuit hunters, for example (Guatelli-Steinberg, Larsen, &
western Europe in the mid-1800s (Hatton & Bray, 2010). Hutchinson, 2004). Probably, given their foraging, several
A bit taller than Inuit of today, their stature also matches Neandertal families formed a small band of about fifty
that of Athabascan Indian caribou hunters in northwest people living as a community much of the year. These
Canada—a sub-Arctic environment not unlike much of bands established and maintained relations with a num-
northern Eurasia during the Ice Age (Andersen et al., 2004; ber of related groups ranging in adjacent territories.
Helmuth, 1983). Due to major climatic changes, Neandertals experi-
Neandertals generally had a sloping forehead and a enced global warming as well as cooling. In the course
prominent brow ridge above their eyes. A distinctive bony of some 12,000 generations, they had to adapt to radical
mass on the back of their skull provided a large attachment
area for powerful neck muscles. With a brain somewhat
larger than modern humans today, their intellectual capac- Mousterian tool tradition The tool industry found among Neandertals
in Eurasia, and their human contemporaries in northern Africa, during
ity for cultural adaptation was noticeably superior to that the Middle Paleolithic, generally dating from about 40,000 to 300,000
of earlier members of the genus Homo. They communicated years ago.
transformations in their natural environment. Tempera- among Homo sapiens in numerous historic and contempo-
tures peaked about 125,000 years ago during a long inter- rary societies (Defleur et al., 1999; Lindenbaum, 2004).
glacial period (115,000–130,000 years ago) when massive
inundations of water reached to 6 meters (20 feet) above Neandertal Dress and Dwellings
current sea levels. As a consequence of global warming For survival in cold weather, Neandertals dressed in an-
and more rainfall, boreal forests (primarily pine, fir, and imal skins—especially reindeer—effective for protection
spruce) even stretched beyond the Arctic Circle. Dur- against blistering winds. After butchering several of these
ing this 15,000-year-period, Neandertals ambushed and animals, they scraped the hides clean with sharpened
speared hippos, water buffaloes, rhinoceros, and straight- wood, bone, or stone, perhaps greasing them with animal
tusked elephants, fossil remains of which are found as far brains for softening and curing. Next, having pierced
north as the Rhine and Thames rivers. holes with a sharp stone perforator or an awl made of
When temperatures gradually dropped, Neandertals bone or antler, they stitched several skins together into a
continued to depend primarily on meat and fat, chasing garment, probably using sinew as thread.
herd animals that grazed in open pastures, including rein- As briefly indicated earlier, Neandertals not only
deer, wild horse, steppe bison, auroch (wild ox), woolly rhi- lived in large caves or in underground holes, but also
noceros, and mammoth. Moreover, they ambushed giant constructed conical huts, not unlike wigwams or tipis
moose, red deer, fallow deer, and roe deer in or on edges of historically used by indigenous bison and caribou hunters
forests, as well as wood bison, wild boar, and brown bear. and reindeer herders in the tundra, steppe, and forest of
Selective hunters, they also killed antelope and mountain North America and Eurasia. In all likelihood, they covered
goat (ibex) where possible, as well as seals, beaver (excellent a frame made of tree branches or bones and antlers with
source of fat), tortoises, rabbits, and other smaller animals. large animal hides that they had sewn together. In addi-
Further, Neandertals gathered eggs and plants, consuming tion, they may have used tall grasses, leaves, and shrubs,
edible fruit, leaves, roots, or bulbs, as well as seeds and nuts, or even tree bark if available. They slept on piles of grass
which were sometimes cooked or roasted. Some groups also and no doubt on animal hides as well.
included fish and shellfish (mollusks) in their diet. In the eastern Ukraine, researchers recently found a large
Neandertals had knowledge of medicinal herbs such as circular dwelling, more than 7 meters (23 feet) in diameter,
yarrow, a perennial plant with a strong smell and bitter taste, built by Neandertals about 44,000 years ago. Without trees
used to stop the bleeding from a wound. Another medicinal or natural caves in what was then tundra, these Ice Age
herb they appear to have used is chamomile, probably as an hunting families used 116 large woolly mammoth bones
anti-inflammatory (Hardy et al., 2012). Finally, there is also and 14 ivory tusks to construct this 40-square-meter dwelling
some archaeological evidence of Neandertal cannibalism, a (about 430 square feet) (Figure 4.17). Inside, archaeologists
human-flesh eating practice that has also been identified have excavated many stone artifacts, ochre on mammoth
Figure 4.17 Neandertal

Hunters
Based on anthropological
research, this painting
reconstructs the scene of
fur-clad Neandertals armed
with stone- or bone-tipped
wooden spears in pursuit
of mammoths grazing the
tundras of England in the
Ice Age. During this period
of climatic cooling, sea
levels periodically dropped
as much as 130 meters
(427 feet) lower than today,
thus connecting England to
Peter Lorimer/Copyright Oxford Archaeology
the European mainland.
Global Expansion of Homo sapiens 97
bones, remains of 15 hearths, and waste of animal butchery Svante Pääbo (see Anthropologists of Note) was able to
and cooking, suggesting this place was periodically inhabited extract sufficient DNA from the small bone fragment to
over a long period (Demay, Péan, & Matou-Mathis, 2012). sequence the entire Denisovan genome. Subsequent anal-
ysis has revealed that the finger belonged to a girl who
Neandertal Art? had dark hair, brown skin, and brown eye color. The two
There is evidence that Neandertals crushed charcoal as fossil molars belonged to two different adult Denisovans
well as ochre, pyrite, hematite, lepidocrocite, and other (Meyer et al., 2012; Reich et al., 2010). Not closely related,
colorful minerals. Mixing the powders with water gave these three individuals lived in different periods, with one
the Neandertals a range of pigments from black to brown, of the males dying at least 110,000 years ago and the girl
yellow, and red, which they likely used as paint—on their about 60,000 years later (Sawyer et al., 2015).
bodies and faces, as well as on tools, hides, and even dwell-
ings (Wong, 2010). It is probable that they also created
Global Expansion
colors using the sap of berries, roots, leaves, and flowers.
Due to the perishability of these materials and the
great passage of time, evidence that Neandertals actually
painted designs is scant, but there are indicators that of Homo sapiens
they produced and enjoyed art, beautifying themselves Establishing the relationship between anatomical change
and their surroundings. In addition to ground pigments, and cultural change through human evolutionary history
archaeologists have excavated perforated shell beads, pig- is complex. Over the course of hundreds of thousands of
ment-stained seashell pendants, and geometric designs years, continuous change gradually transformed archaic
on bones at Neandertal sites (Zilhão et al., 2010). And humans into anatomically modern humans in Africa, the
recently, several painted dots and crimson hand stencils ancestral homeland of Homo sapiens.
were found in a cave called El Castillo near the Atlantic Paleoanthropological evidence suggests that these
coast in northwestern Spain. Dating to more than 40,800 direct ancestors of our species today resided in Ethiopia
years ago, these simple cave paintings are attributed to where climatic conditions were quite different from now.
Neandertals (Pike et al., 2012; Than, 2012). Fossil remains of two adults and a child, as well as a few
It appears that Neandertals had an additional use for hundred stone tools, dated about 160,000 years old, were
pigments: Archaeological evidence shows that they cared discovered at the Middle Awash River near the village of
for wounded friends or relatives and that they buried their Herto in 1997. At the time, that river formed a lake with
dead, ritually marking gravesites with red ochre and per- hippos, crocodiles, and catfish, as well as buffalo grazing
haps even flowers (Solecki, 1977). nearby (White et al., 2003).
Since sea levels during the Pleistocene were peri-
Denisovans as Long-Lost odically dramatically lower than today (by as much as
130 meters/427 feet), animals and humans could walk
Archaic Cousins across what is now submerged terrain (Delagnes, 2012).
In contrast to what we now understand about Neandertals, Journeying north, perhaps along the same trails as Nean-
we know very little about their distant “cousins” who ranged dertal and Denisovan ancestors before them, some of the
through eastern Eurasia about the same time: the Den- earliest Homo sapiens groups probably trekked out of Africa
isovans. This recently discovered archaic human species between 65,000 and 80,000 years ago.
probably separated from Neandertals about 300,000 years After migrating out of Africa, the pioneering bands
ago. About 100,000 years earlier, their common ancestors of anatomically modern humans encountered Neandertal
are now thought to have split off from a hominin group “cousins” hunting and gathering in Southwest Asia, and
remaining in eastern Africa where it evolved separately into some interbreeding took place. Their offspring, carrying
H. sapiens. Denisovans are named after a Siberian cave situ- Neandertal DNA in their genome, then slowly migrated
ated high above the Anuy River, an upper tributary of the into southeastern Eurasia, encountering Denisovan fam-
Ob River running from the Altai Mountains into the Arctic ilies along the way. Once again, there was sexual inter-
Ocean. In this cave, named after Dionisij (“Saint Denis”), a course and some interbreeding took place.
late 18th-century Russian Orthodox hermit priest who had Some of these H. sapiens adventurers ultimately
lived there, a Russian archaeological team recently excavated reached Sundaland (a tropical lowland region in what is
many remains of Paleolithic peoples dating back to 300,000 now the northern part of the Indonesian archipelago),
years ago. In addition to Neandertal bones and tools, their long before rising seawaters submerged much of its low-
finds, so far, include three now-famous Denisovan fossil lands. Stopping on the coast of what are now the islands
remains—a molar, a wisdom tooth, and a finger bone frag- of Java and Borneo, they faced a deep-sea strait separating
ment (Gibbons, 2011; Mednikova 2011; Prüfer et al., 2014).
Based on the most advanced technology, a research Denisovan A recently discovered archaic human sister group of Neandertal
team in Germany headed by Swedish paleogeneticist in eastern Eurasia, dating to about 30,000 to 300,000 years ago.
Sundaland from the northernmost reaches of Sahul, a vast and possibly other genetically distinct groups of archaic
unexplored continent comprising what are now Australia, humans became extinct, by about 30,000 years ago.
New Guinea, and Tasmania, as well as numerous smaller Gene flow between anatomically modern Africans and
islands. archaic Eurasians was not one-sided. Such introgression—
About 50,000 years ago, the first band of these adven- gene flow from one species or subspecies into the gene
turers with small traces of Neandertal and Denisovan DNA pool of another, contributing to the complex composi-
in their genome crossed the Sundaland–Sahul strait, prob- tion of the genome—also occurred in H. sapiens popula-
ably by means of a thick bamboo raft, reaching a landmass tions dispersing within sub-Saharan Africa. There, about
never before inhabited by any primates (Gillespie, 2002). 35,000 years ago, members of an archaic subspecies that
Gradually, they adapted and expanded their range. Their had branched off about 700,000 years ago engaged in some
descendants are the Australian Aborigines, Papuas of New interbreeding with modern Africans (Hammer et al., 2011).
Guinea, and other Melanesians, as well as Tasmanians (ex- New molecular research detecting ancient traces of
tinct since the mid-1800s) (Garrigan et al., 2005). After the gene flow between species and subspecies allows anthro-
last Ice Age, seawaters rose, inundating the lowland plains pologists to move beyond the longstanding opposition
and valleys and dividing Sahul into separate islands. In between the two sharply contrasting evolutionary theo-
subsequent millennia, more migrants found their way ries, mentioned earlier in this chapter: the multiregional
from Asia to Australia, including a party about 4,000 or hypothesis and the recent African origins hypothesis. Both
5,000 years ago; they brought along their hunting dogs— models are being modified due to these new discoveries.
ancestors of today’s dingoes. And a synthesis in human evolutionary theory is now
Meanwhile, another major wave of anatomically mod- emerging with the archaic admixture model, which
ern humans had moved out of Africa. Before dispersing posits that H. sapiens derive from limited interbreeding be-
into western Eurasia about 50,000 years ago, they also tween anatomically modern humans as evolved in Africa
encountered and interbred with Neandertals, probably in and archaic human populations (Abi-Rached et al., 2011).
the coastal plains and hills of the eastern Mediterranean Notably, all three hypotheses still generally place early hu-
in Southwest Asia. Some additional sexual encounters man origins firmly in Africa. But many compelling details
with Neandertals in Europe and western Asia may have of human evolution are far from solved, as new scientific
taken place in the next few thousand years. As a conse- data and theoretical insights lead to revisions and feed
quence, most Europeans, Asians, and American Indians into scholarly debates over hominid lineages, fossil taxon-
today still carry some Neandertal genes. omy, and prehistoric population migrations.
The cultural transition between Neandertal and an-
atomically modern human bands of foragers during the
late Middle to early Upper Paleolithic period, between
28,000 and 40,000 years ago, was not as radical as schol- Anatomically Modern
ars once believed. That is because the lifeways and tool
use of both populations were already quite similar when Peoples in the Upper
H. sapiens from Africa migrated into Neandertal and
Denisovan-occupied territories. Paleolithic
Yet another significant wave of African migrants ap-
Now we focus on Homo sapiens as the only surviving
pears to have taken off between 30,000 and 35,000 years
hominin species. A veritable explosion of tool types, art,
ago, gradually dispersing through eastern Asia toward
and other forms of cultural expression beginning about
China. These individuals also carried some Neandertal
40,000 years ago constitutes what is known as the Upper
DNA as a result of limited interbreeding along the way.
Paleolithic transition. Lasting until about 10,000 years
Perhaps there was also some interbreeding with other
ago, this period is best known for its numerous distinctive
members of an as-yet-unknown species of archaic human
tool industries and beautiful art.
once ranging in eastern Eurasia. Gradually, however, these
In Upper Paleolithic times, cultural adaptation became
African newcomers replaced all more ancient or archaic
more highly specific and regional, thus enhancing our
human populations in Eurasia. After more than a quarter
species’ ability to survive under a wide variety of environ-
million years walking the earth, Neandertals, Denisovans,
mental conditions. This degree of specialization required
improved manufacturing techniques.
Several important innovations came into common use
archaic admixture model Theoretical model of human evolution
that modern Homo sapiens derive from limited interbreeding between in the Upper Paleolithic. For example, net hunting ap-
anatomically modern humans, as evolved in Africa, and members of peared between 22,000 and 29,000 years ago. Long knotted
archaic human populations. Based on genetic evidence of introgression, nets, constructed with cords made from fibers of wild plants
it is a synthesis of the recent African origins hypothesis and the
such as hemp or nettle, were stretched across an open space
multiregional hypothesis.
into which band members (including women and children)
Upper Paleolithic The last part (10,000 to 40,000 years ago) of the
Old Stone Age, featuring tool industries characterized by long, slim drove small mammals. Bands that encamped near tidal
blades and an explosion of creative symbolic forms. creeks, river mouths, lakes, or seashores constructed fishing
Anatomically Modern Peoples in the Upper Paleolithic 99
Mousterian Tools Upper Paleolithic Tools
Burin Direction
Borer Hand-axe of force
Striking
platform
Endscraper Backed knife
Bifaces
Blade Core
Double scraper
Harpoons
Transverse
scraper Needles
© Cengage Learning
© Cengage Learning
Figure 4.18 Mousterian versus Upper Paleolithic Toolmaking Techniques and Tools
Compared to the Mousterian toolkit used by Neandertals, Upper Paleolithic tools are more
varied and use raw materials more efficiently. Upper Paleolithic techniques allowed for the
production of blade tools. Also, pressure-flaking techniques let toolmakers work with bone and
antler, as well as stone, resulting in very refined shapes.
weirs—stone walls or wattle fences—in shallow water to The bow and arrow is another important projectile
trap fish and other edible water animals so men, women, weapon that came into widespread use during the Upper
and children could more easily spear or catch them. Paleolithic. In all likelihood, this new technology was
Pressure-flaking techniques were another innovation dur- invented in Africa before gaining popularity in Eurasia
ing this era, as was using the burin (a sharp flint tool al- between 12,000 and 18,000 years ago. Several factors play
ready made by Neandertals) to chisel bone and antler into a role in determining the archer’s shooting range, includ-
tools such as fishhooks, harpoons, and a new projectile ing the bow’s length, strength, and design, the weight
weapon: the spear-thrower (Figure 4.18). of the arrow, and the size of the prey. With an effective
Starting about 20,000 years ago—perhaps earlier— range of 25 to 35 meters (about 80 to115 feet) for bringing
hunters in Eurasia began using the spear-thrower, also down larger animals, the bow became a favored weapon
known as an atlatl (a Nahuatl word used by Aztec Indians in many hunting groups, making its way to Northwest
in Mexico) or woomera (an Aboriginal Australian word). America by the end of the Upper Paleolithic (Churchill &
Carved of wood, antler, ivory, or bone, this device is typi- Rhodes, 2009; Maschner & Mason, 2013).
cally about 30 to 60 centimeters (about 1 to 2 feet) long; it Art was also an important aspect of Upper Paleolithic
usually has a hook or spur on the end for hurling a dart or cultures. In some regions, spear-throwers and other tools
javelin, which could be as long as 185 centimeters (about were engraved with beautiful animal figures; pendants
6 feet). By effectively elongating the arm, this weapon gives were made of bone and ivory, as were female figurines;
hunters increased force behind the throw (Figure 4.19). and small sculptures were carved out of stone or modeled
Capable of hitting a target with high-velocity impact at 30 out of clay. Spectacular paintings and engravings depicting
to 40 meters (about 100 to 130 feet) with deadly precision, humans and animals of this period have been preserved on
the spear-thrower extends hunters’ kill range considerably the walls of caves and rock shelters in Spain, France, Aus-
(Whittaker, 2010). This new device increased the success tralia, and Africa. Paintings of hands in northern Spain’s
rate for killing thick-skinned big game from greater dis- El Castillo cave were recently dated to 40,800 years ago,
tances. Also effective in combat, spear-throwers continued and truly spectacular art in the Chauvet Cave in southern
to be used by hunting peoples in many parts of the world France has been dated to about 30,000 to 32,000 years ago
until the early 20th century (Prins, 2010). (Cuzange et al., 2007; Pike et al., 2012) (Figure 4.20).
SPEAR
Wooden shaft Bone or

Launching stone point
hook
Stone weight
ATLATL
Handle
© Cengage Learning
Figure 4.19 Spear-Thrower
Invented by early humans in the late Ice Age about 20,000 years ago—before the bow and
arrow—the spear-thrower, or atlatl, continued to be used by hunting peoples in many parts of the
world until quite recently. Enabling hunters to hurl light spears, or javelins, at high velocity and
for a considerable distance, it enhanced their success. Made of wood, bone, ivory, or reindeer
antler, the shaft featured a handle on one end and a hook on the other that fitted into the blunt
end, or butt, of the javelin. The distal end with the hook was sometimes beautifully carved.
Figure 4.20 Chauvet Cave

Paintings
These 30,000- to
32,000-year-old images,
painted on a wall in the
multichambered Chauvet
Cave in the Ardèche region
of southern France, provide
spectacular evidence of early
artistic creativity among our
Animals and Birds, Chauvet-Pont-d’Arc Cave, Ardeche (cave painting), Paleolithic/The Bridgeman Art Library
ancestors. In addition to the
Ice Age animals depicted
here—horses, wild ox, rhino,
and bison—the chambers of
Chauvet feature renderings
of ten other species: bear,
lion, mammoth, mountain
goat (ibex), giant deer,
owl, panther, red deer, and
reindeer, as well as human
handprints.
Human Biological Variation and the Problem of Race 101
Human Migrations In the course of many generations, humans expanded

in number and developed the need and capacity to in-
from Siberia to America crease control over their food supply and other natural
resources. Among their first targets was the gray wolf in
Adaptability also permitted humans to spread out by Central Asia, some of which were tamed as early as 15,000
crossing open water and Arctic regions to places never years ago. These hunting animals are believed to be the
previously inhabited by humans, most notably the Amer- ancestors of all domesticated dogs in the world (Shannon
icas (about 15,000 to 18,000 years ago). At the time, a et al., 2015).
thick icecap and huge glaciers still covered much of the Beginning in parts of Asia about 11,000 years ago, mi-
northern hemisphere. However, with slowly rising tem- gratory hunters and gatherers began to select, tame, and
peratures, the icecap gradually melted and receded. Some domesticate certain game animals such as wild goat and
hunting bands inhabiting southern Siberia journeyed sheep, followed by pigs and cattle, for example; they also
east toward Beringia (the land bridge between Siberia and began to cultivate selected wild cereals such as rye, bar-
Alaska). Crossing into North America, a continent never ley, and wheat, and other plants in food gardens (Zeder,
inhabited by hominins, these Siberian nomads also car- 2008). Shifting from a way of life based on foraging, they
ried some Neandertal DNA in their genomes (Prüfer et al., became food producers. This transition, known as the
2014; Wall et al., 2013). From Alaska, these early ancestors Neolithic revolution, triggered a series of cultural changes
of American Indians moved south. discussed later in this book. Surely, among the most im-
While some bands hunted caribou, mammoth, muskox, portant was the emergence of permanent settlements that
and other animals on the northern tundra, others adapted later grew into large cities.
to the Pacific coastal environment and developed a culture
based on hunting sea mammals, fishing, and collecting
shellfish and plant-food resources. Perhaps traveling by
skin boats made from animal hide, a few groups moved
south along the Pacific shoreline, reaching southern Chile
Human Biological Variation
about 14,000 years ago (Dillehay et al., 2008). and the Problem of Race
As we reviewed the human fossil record, we made in-
ferences about the cultural capabilities of our ancestors
New Human Era partially based on biological features. Anthropology has a
long history of studying cultural and biological variation
with the Domestication within the human species and how it relates to the highly
of Animals and Plants problematic concept of race.

The biological concept of race, defined as a subspecies
or discrete biological division within species, is inappli-
Due to climatic warming, sea levels slowly rose, gradually
cable to humanity existing today. All present-day human
submerging vast areas of low-lying coastal lands on every
populations are genetically “open” (meaning that genes
continent, including Beringia, Sundaland, and the Sahul.
flow between them). For instance, the frequency of a trait
In addition, the lowlands between England, Denmark,
like type O blood may be high in one population and low
and the Netherlands inundated and became the North
in another, but it is present in both (Figure 4.21).
Sea. All across Eurasia and North America, the melting ice
Although today’s anthropologists mostly concur that
gave way to immense tundra areas, which, after thousands
the biological concept of race does not pertain to existing
of years, became thick woodlands.
varieties of H. sapiens, race has long been a significant
These ecological changes, in turn, forced herds of
cultural category and social concept. Historically, this
grazing animals—such as caribou, reindeer, and muskox—
term was used more broadly to refer to any sort or variety
to move north, whereas deer, moose, elk, and other brows-
of plant or animal. When applied to humans, it could
ers moved in. In pursuit of game, some migratory human
differentiate groups on the basis of a mix of distinguish-
bands followed the animal herds they had depended on
ing features: physical, cultural, as well as linguistic. For
for food, clothing, and shelter over thousands of years.
example, European scholars historically described the
Soon, the mammoth and several other big Ice Age an-
Sámi of northern Scandinavia as a race, using this term
imals died out, but the caribou, reindeer, and muskox
interchangeably with people and nation. They also used
survived on the tundra—as they do to this day. Other
bands gradually adapted to a woodland habitat. Because
animal species in these forests are more solitary, the large
race In biology, the taxonomic category of a subspecies that is not
cooperative hunts were given up. Moreover, diets shifted
applicable to humans because the division of humans into discrete types
to abundant plant foods as well as to fish and other foods does not represent the true nature of human biological variation. In
in and around lakes, bays, and rivers. some societies, race is an important social category.
AP Images/MARCUS MARTER
Figure 4.21 Thomas Jefferson’s Family
Many people have become accustomed to viewing so-called racial groups as natural and
separate divisions within our species based on visible physical differences. For hundreds of
thousands of years, individuals belonging to different human social groups have been in sexual
contact. Exchanging their genes, they maintained the human species in all its colorful variety
and prevented the development of distinctive subspecies (biologically defined races). Continued
gene flow is illustrated by this photo of distant relatives, all of whom are descendants of Sally
Hemings, an African American slave, and Thomas Jefferson, the Euramerican gentleman-farmer
who had 150 slaves working for him at his Virginia plantation and served as the third U.S.
president (1801–1809). One of his successors in the White House, the forty-fourth president,
was himself born on a Pacific Ocean island to a Euramerican mother from Kansas and a Luo
father from Kenya, personally embodying the complex story of race and human evolution.
race when categorizing peoples according to language or 2009). Several key factors impact variation in skin color,
groups of related languages, such as Celtic and Germanic, but most significant is the amount of melanin (from
or for peoples whose ancestors shared a hypothetical par- melas, a Greek word meaning “black”), a dark pigment
ent language, such as Aryan. And last but not least, the in the skin’s outer layer. People with dark skin have more
terms race and species could be used interchangeably and melanin-producing cells than those with light skin, but
thus contributed to theoretical confusion and error. everyone (except those with albinism) has a measure of
Take, for instance, the title of Darwin’s famous 1859 melanin. Exposure to sunlight increases melanin produc-
book On the Origin of Species, mentioned earlier in the tion, causing skin color to darken.
chapter. The subtitle of the book, often omitted, is The Ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun is of vital
Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life. Obvi- significance to human health, as UV exposure induces
ously, the term race refers here to species. The confusion the production of vitamin D. This vitamin enables the
deepened when, with a growing interest in natural history body to absorb calcium and phosphorus from food pass-
and heredity from the mid-1800s onward, the concept of ing through the intestines. Essential for bone growth
race became “biologized” and thus played a defining role and maintenance of bone density, it also regulates blood
in what has been termed scientific racism. pressure and balances the nervous system. A shortage of
vitamin D results in a softening and bending of bones, a
skeletal disease known as rickets. On the other hand, too
much UV radiation may cause DNA damage, from sun-
Skin Color burn to skin cancer.
Popular notions of race are commonly linked to skin Through a process of natural selection, the human
color, a visible feature varying among peoples with differ- body has adapted to UV variations. As noted earlier in this
ent geographic origins. Prominent in many classification chapter, in northern latitudes light skin has the beneficial
systems, human pigmentation is a polygenic trait (Sturm, effect of allowing individuals to obtain sufficient sunlight
to penetrate the skin and stimulate the formation of vita-

min D; and in tropical regions or at high altitudes where
UV radiation is most intense, darker skin has the adaptive
effect of blocking overexposure to UV radiation (Jablonski
& Chaplin, 2012).
Since the human species originated in sub-Saharan
eastern Africa, a tropical region with intensive UV ra-
diation, we may speculate about the skin color of our
hominin ancestors. Before they became bipedal, they
were primarily forest-dwellers and thus likely to have
been quite light-skinned and hairy (Jablonski & Chap-
lin, 2002). Later, when they moved from the forest into
hot savannahs, early hominins became more exposed to
direct sunlight and UV radiation, and thus they would
have come under selective pressure to regulate body
heat—cooling off by evaporation of sweat. Because thick
body hair impedes cooling by sweating, natural selection
favored less hairy individuals. However, without hair, the
light-skinned “naked ape” was directly exposed to inten-
sive UV radiation. This triggered a positive selection of a
sun-resistant gene cluster identified as melanocortin 1 re-
ceptor (MC1R), responsible for a protein producing a dark
sun-resistant skin that provides more effective protection
against UV damage.
In turn, the northward spread of Homo erectus into
© Joel Gordon/Photo Shelter

Eurasia required adaptation to an environment with less
exposure to UV light. Responding to the need to synthe-
size vitamin D, these migrants were subject to a process
of natural selection favoring lighter pigmentation in
skin and hair (Jablonski & Chaplin 2012; Rogers, Iltis,
& Wooding, 2004). In their quest for survival in the far
north, darker-skinned people like the Inuit are supported Figure 4.22 Social Construction of Racial Hierarchy
by vitamin D-rich traditional foods such as the liver oils This bronze statue, standing at the entryway of New York City’s
of fatty fishes (Frost, 2012). American Museum of Natural History since 1940, features
Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919)—a wealthy adventurer-naturalist
who became the 26th U.S. president. Mounted and armed, he is
flanked by an American Indian and a naked African. It expresses a
Race as a Social Construct historic racist ideology most visitors now find objectionable.
Earlier in this chapter, we discussed how European schol-
ars struggled to make sense of the massive amounts of new
his book, published in 1758, Linnaeus changed the Asiatic
information generated since the age of exploration, begin-
skin color to pale yellow (luridus) and American Indian to
ning about 500 years ago. Reviewing their writings, we are
brownish-red (rufus).
now critically aware of how culture-bound perspectives,
The ethnocentric bias in this mid-18th-century Euro-
including religious biases, informed social constructions
pean taxonomy is obvious, because Linnaeus also assigned
of racial hierarchy and provided a pseudo-scientific basis
a distinctive temperament (personality trait and behavior)
and justification for discrimination (Figure 4.22).
to each category. Conforming to an ancient European
medical tradition, he held that different temperaments
Skin Color, Bodily Fluids, correspond to an excess or deficiency in four humors (bod-
and Physical Structure ily fluids): Blood relates to sanguine (cheerful Europeans),
In the first edition of Linnaeus’s landmark book System of yellow bile to choleric (bad-tempered American Indians),
Nature, published in Latin in 1735, this Swedish botanist black bile to melancholic (gloomy Asiatics), and phlegm
divided the human species into four major “varieties” (throat mucus) to phlegmatic (slow Africans). Finally,
according to continent, each with a distinctive skin color: Linnaeus defined each variety of the human species
Europæus, albus (European, white), Americanus, rubescens according to physical traits: Europeans being muscular
(American, red), Asiaticus, fuscus (Asian, grayish-brown), (torosus), American Indians straight (rectus), Asians stiff
and Africanus, niger (African, black). In the tenth edition of (rigidus), and Africans loose (laxus) (Linnaeus, 1758).
Caucasians as a “Superior Race” Versions of polygenist theory gained ground in a pe-

The Linnaean classification system became popular and riod of European industrialization, capitalist expansion,
influenced many scholars, including Johann Blumenbach and colonial domination across the globe. In 1850, for
(1752–1840), a highly influential German medical doctor and example, the Scottish anatomist Robert Knox published
naturalist recognized as the father of biological anthropology. The Races of Men. Citing leading scholars of his time, he
Like Linnaeus, he used the term variety rather than race. Based not only asserted that species are “unchangeable,” but
on his large human skull collection, he introduced some also “that the races of men constitute distinct species”
significant changes—changes that reflect a biased perspective (1862, pp. 484, 497). With great certainty, he proclaimed:
on human differences we now recognize as racist. Men are of various Races; call them Species, if you
In the 1795 revision of his book On the Natural Variety of will; call them permanent Varieties; it matters not.
Mankind, Dr. Blumenbach judged as most perfect the skull The fact, the simple fact, remains just as it was: men
of a woman from the Caucasus Mountains between Russia are of different races. (Knox, 1862, p. 2)
and Turkey. It was more symmetrical than the others, and
he thought it reflected nature’s ideal form: the circle. Mindful While polygenism gradually lost scientific credibility, evo-
of the opening chapter in the Bible, “So God created man in lutionist theories did not prevent racist theorizing about
his own image, in the image of God created he him; male human origins and diversity.
and female created he them” (Genesis 1:27), he speculated
that southeastern Europeans inhabiting the Caucasus looked White Superiority Complex
most like the first humans. This “stock,” Blumenbach argued, Cultural constructs of race-based hierarchies have long
been employed to justify discrimination—and far worse
displays . . . the most beautiful form of the skull,
injustices. This is painfully illustrated in the tragic story
from which, as from a mean and primeval type the
of Ota Benga, a Mbuti Pygmy man who was captured in
others diverge. . . . Besides, it is white in colour,
Africa and brought to the United States where he was
which we may fairly assume to have been the
exhibited with other “savages” at the 1904 World’s Fair in
primitive colour of mankind, since [it] is very easy for
St. Louis, Missouri. Later, he was caged with an orangutan
that to degenerate into brown, but very much more
at the Bronx Zoo in New York (Bradford & Blume, 1992)
difficult for dark to become white . . . (Blumenbach,
(Figure 4.23). These racist displays a century ago were by
quoted in Bendyshe, 1865, p. 269, italics added)
no means unique. Just a tip of the ethnocentric iceberg,
Blumenbach decided that all light-skinned peoples in they expressed a powerful ideology in which a dominant
Europe and adjacent parts of western Asia and northern group condemns fellow human beings to an inferior posi-
Africa belonged to the same “variety.” On this basis, he re- tion solely on the basis of heredity.
named them “Caucasian.” He also classified dark-skinned In the United States, a scheme of racist discrimination
sub-Saharan Africans as “Ethiopian” and split those against African Americans and their offspring resulted in
Asians not considered “Caucasian” into two separate the “one drop rule.” Reflecting a white-dominated system
races: “Mongolian” (referring to most inhabitants of Asia, of racial segregation, this rule was adopted by the U.S. Cen-
including China and Japan) and “Malay” (indigenous sus Bureau in 1923. Replacing the category of “mulatto,”
Australians, Pacific Islanders, and others). this federal agency determined that “a person of mixed
Believing that Caucasians were closest to the original white . . . and Negro . . . is classified as . . . a Negro . . .
ideal humans, created “in the image of God,” Blumenbach regardless of the amount of white blood” (Lemelle, 2007).
ranked them as superior. The other varieties, he argued, The “one drop rule” formed part of a race-based ideol-
were the result of “degeneration.” As he saw it, by moving ogy that was gaining influence due to works such as The
away from their place of origin and adapting to differ- Passing of the Great Race; or, The Racial Basis of European
ent environments, they had deteriorated physically and History. Written by Madison Grant, a prominent American
morally into what many Europeans came to think of as lawyer and environmentalist, this 1916 publication openly
“inferior.” However, despite his ideas about ranking, Blu- promoted the racist idea of “Nordic superiority.” Warning
menbach underscored that all five varieties belong to “one his readers, Grant proclaimed that “lower races” were rap-
and the same species” (quoted in Bendyshe, 1865, p. 276). idly expanding in number, and “the laws against misce-
While Blumenbach accepted the Bible-based creation- genation [interracial marriage] must be greatly extended if
ist doctrine that all humans share a common ancestry, the higher races are to be maintained” (Grant, 1916, p. 60).
several prominent European intellectuals challenged this Grant’s book was translated into German in 1925,
idea of monogenism. Impressed by major biological dif- providing ideological fodder to the racialized worldview of
ferences across the globe, they rejected the idea “that all Nazis, in particular the Austrian German nationalist leader
mankind are of one species” (Knox 1862, p. 484). Instead, Adolf Hitler who referred to it as his bible (Spiro, 2009,
arguing that human varieties are in fact races or even spe- pp. xi–xii). Gaining power in 1933, Hitler’s rightwing ex-
cies of different origins, they posited a theory of polygen- tremist party imposed racist legislation and policies, cod-
ism (not to be confused with 20th-century term polygenic). ifying the superiority of the Nordic or Aryan race and the
An East Asian Perspective on Race

Europeans and Americans were not alone
in their ethnocentric theorizing about racial
differences. Racist ideologies come in many
guises and exist in many parts of the world.
In early 20th-century China, for exam-
ple, the idea was promoted that the Han
(the dominant majority) form a distinctive
“yellow race” (huangzhong). Their collec-
tive ancestor (shizu) is the legendary Yellow
Emperor (Huangdi) who ruled the Middle
Kingdom, the center of humanity on earth,
from 2697 to 2597 bce. The idea that the
Chinese nation originated in the ancestral
homeland appealed to many nationalists.
Confronted with European and North Amer-
ican colonialism and global expansionism,
and fearing “racial extinction” (miezhong),
Chinese ideologues imagined the world as a
racial battlefield, with “yellows” competing
against “whites” over degenerated “brown,”
“black,” and “red” races. The first two were
classified as “fine races” (liangzhong), as op-
posed to the other three, labeled as “mean
races” (jianzhong). As stated by the late 19th-
century cultural conservative thinker Tang
Caichang: “Yellow and white are wise, red
and black are stupid; yellow and white are
rulers, red and black are slaves; yellow and
white are united, red and black are scattered”
Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, [LC-B2- 3971-2]
(Caichang, 1968, p. 468; see also Dikötter,

1997). In this context, it is hardly surprising
that the recent African origins hypothesis
never gained much traction in China.
Challenging Racism
Until the mid-1900s, well-established schol-
ars at universities and medical schools on
both sides of the Atlantic taught the dogma
of “the inequality between humans and the
races” (Métraux, 1953). However, numer-
ous anthropologists and other scholars have
taken a principled stand against scientific and
Figure 4.23 A Pygmy Man in the Bronx Zoo popular racism. In 1948, the United Nations
About 25 years old when this photo was taken in 1906, Ota Benga is shown
proclaimed racial discrimination a violation
here holding a young chimpanzee in New York's Bronx Zoo. This Mbuti Pygmy
of universal human rights. Its various agen-
man had been captured in a raid in Congo and exhibited as an exotic “savage”
cies, in particular UNESCO, were instrumen-
at the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis, Missouri. In 1916, upon hearing that he
tal in challenging race theories as obstructive
would never return to his homeland, he committed suicide and was buried in an
to peaceful coexistence. In the early 1950s,
unmarked grave in Lynchburg, Virginia (Bradford & Blume, 1992).
this global organization secured the coopera-
tion of an international group of anthropolo-
inferiority of the Slavic and, particularly, the Gypsy and gists, biologists, geneticists, and other scholars “to lead the
Jewish races. Within the next ten years, many millions campaign against race prejudice and to extirpate this most
of victims, declared racially inferior, were dehumanized, dangerous of doctrines. Race hatred and conflict thrive on
robbed of their freedom, and condemned to slave labor or scientifically false ideas and are nourished by ignorance”
ruthlessly exterminated. (UNESCO, 1952, p. 5; see also Prins & Krebs, 2007).
Chapter Check list
How are living things classified? specific identifiable traits such as blood type. Just about
everything in the human body is made of or by
✓✓The science of taxonomy classifies living organisms proteins. Our DNA provides the instructions for the
into a series of categories on the basis of internal and thousands of proteins that keep us alive and healthy.
external similarities.
✓✓In the 18th century, Carolus Linnaeus published How do the four evolutionary forces
The System of Nature, the first scientific system to contribute to the diversity of life on earth?
classify living things then known on the basis of
similarities in body structure, body function, and ✓✓Mutation provides the ultimate source of genetic
sequence of bodily growth. variation. These changes in DNA may be helpful or
harmful to the individual organism, though most are
✓✓Modern taxonomy still uses the basic Linnaean system neutral. Although mutations are inevitable given the
but now also examines genetic data—new kinds of nature of cellular chemistry, environmental factors—
information that have led to the revision of some such as heat, cold, chemicals, or radiation—can
existing taxonomies. increase the mutation rate.
✓✓Species, the basic rank in a taxonomic hierarchy, ✓✓Genetic drift refers to the effects of random events on
are reproductively isolated populations or groups the gene pool of a small population. Genetic drift may
of populations capable of interbreeding to produce have been an important factor in human evolution
fertile offspring. because until 10,000 years ago, humans lived in small
isolated populations.
Where do humans fit in the classificatory
✓✓Gene flow, the introduction of new variants of genes
system? from nearby populations, distributes new variation to
✓✓Humans are Homo sapiens, one of 10 million species on all populations and serves to prevent speciation.
earth, 4,000 of which are fellow mammals.
✓✓Natural selection, the evolutionary force involved in
✓✓The human species is part of the primate order, a adaptive change, reduces the frequency of alleles (gene
subgroup of 375 mammals that also includes apes, variants) for harmful or maladaptive traits within a
monkeys, tarsiers, lorises, and lemurs. population and increases the frequency of alleles for
adaptive traits.
✓✓Among primates, humans are most closely related to
the great apes—chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas, and ✓✓The notion of a regular rate of molecular change gave
orangutans—sharing the greatest amount of DNA with rise to what is called the molecular clock. By
the chimp (98.3 percent). examining the divergences in the DNA of different
species, or variations within species, molecular
What is evolution, and when was this biologists are able to determine the degree of
relatedness of different groups and estimate how
central biological theory formulated? much time elapsed between the emergence of one
✓✓Charles Darwin formulated a theory of evolution in group and the next.
1859. His concept of evolution was descent with
modification, which occurred as a population (a group What are the various theories to account
of interbreeding individuals) adapted to its
environment through natural selection.
for modern human origins?
✓✓The recent African origins hypothesis proposes that
✓✓Today evolution is understood in terms of the four
modern humans are all derived from one single
evolutionary forces—mutation, natural selection,
population of archaic Homo sapiens who migrated out
genetic drift, and gene flow—that affect the genetic
of Africa after 100,000 years ago, replacing all other
structures of populations.
archaic forms due to their superior cultural capabilities;
this is also known as the Eve hypothesis or the out of
What is the molecular basis of evolution? Africa hypothesis.
✓✓Genes, the units of heredity, are segments of molecules
✓✓The multiregional hypothesis proposes that modern
of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid), and the entire
humans originated through a process of simultaneous
sequence of DNA is known as a genome.
local transition from Homo erectus to Homo sapiens
✓✓DNA is a complex molecule resembling two strands of throughout the inhabited world.
rope twisted around each other with ladder-like rungs
✓✓The archaic admixture model proposes that modern
connecting the two strands.
humans derive from limited interbreeding, and thus
✓✓The sequence of bases along the DNA molecule directs gene flow, between anatomically modern humans as
the production of proteins. Proteins, in turn, constitute evolved in Africa and archaic human subspecies.
107
What is the course of the evolution of the ✓✓Neandertals are an archaic human population that
ranged through western Eurasia from approximately
genus Homo?
30,000 to 300,000 years ago.
✓✓Between 5 and 8 million years ago, humans,
✓✓Paleoanthropologists have long debated whether
chimpanzees, and gorillas began to follow separate
Neandertals should be classified as a distinctive human
evolutionary courses.
species or as a subspecies of Homo sapiens.
✓✓Bipedalism appeared at the beginning of the ancestral
✓✓Denisovans are a recently discovered archaic human
line leading to humans and played a pivotal role in
sister group of Neandertals in eastern Eurasia, dating to
setting us apart from the apes.
about 30,000 to 300,000 years ago.
✓✓The forest-dwelling Ardipithecus ramidus currently
thought to be the earliest definite biped.
What is the Upper Paleolithic, and how
✓✓Australopithecines came next, well equipped for does this link to the modern human
generalized foraging in a relatively open savannah
environment.
origins debate?
✓✓The Upper Paleolithic, 10,000 to 40,000 years ago, was
✓✓With the first members of genus Homo—Homo habilis—
a period of creative explosion consisting of new
about 2.5 million years ago, stone tools began to
toolmaking techniques and materials, richly varied tool
appear in the archaeological record. Possible earlier
industries with fine-blade tools predominating, and
tools made of perishable materials are not preserved.
expressive art.
What are some physical and behavioral ✓✓The stone tool industries and artwork of Upper Paleolithic
cultures surpassed any previously undertaken by humans,
characteristics of early Homo?
particularly evidenced in cave paintings and rock art
✓✓Slightly larger brain size and the reduction of the face found in Spain and France, as well as Australia and
characterized early Homo. Africa.
✓✓Throughout the course of the evolution of the genus ✓✓Humans came to inhabit the entire globe during this
Homo, the critical importance of culture as the human period, developing watercraft and other technologies
mechanism for adaptation imposed selective pressures suitable for adaptation to a variety of environments.
favoring a larger brain, which in turn made possible
✓✓Paleoanthropologists link changes in cultural capacity
improved cultural adaptation.
to changes in brain size and skull shape over most of
✓✓Homo erectus, appearing about 2 million years ago, had the course of human evolutionary history.
a brain close in size to that of modern humans and
sophisticated behaviors including controlled use of fire
for warmth, cooking, and protection.
Why does human skin color vary across
the globe?
✓✓Homo erectus remains are found throughout Africa,
Asia, and Europe, reaching the colder northern areas ✓✓Skin color is a function of several factors, including the
more than 500,000 years ago. amount of melanin in the skin.
✓✓The technological efficiency of Homo erectus is ✓✓Exposure to sunlight increases the amount of melanin,
evidenced in improved toolmaking—first the hand-axe darkening the skin.
and later specialized tools for hunting, butchering, ✓✓Natural selection has favored heavily pigmented skin
food processing, hide scraping, and defense. as protection against high ultraviolet radiation in
✓✓An ancient human variety evolved from Homo erectus in tropical areas or at high altitudes.
Africa, with one branch remaining there and another ✓✓In areas distant from the equator, natural selection favors
migrating into Eurasia probably about 500,000 years ago. lighter skin as this facilitates vitamin D production where
Before 300,000 years ago, some of these populations had ultraviolet radiation levels are low.
begun the evolutionary transition that would end up
with Neandertals and other archaic humans.
What is the biological concept of race,
When did Homo sapiens appear, and how and does it apply to human variation?
do we define ourselves in the fossil record? ✓✓Race is a subspecies or a discrete biological division
✓✓Between 200,000 and 400,000 years ago, evolving within a species.
humans achieved the brain capacity of contemporary
✓✓Humans are a single, highly variable species inhabiting
Homo sapiens.
the entire globe. Though biological processes are
✓✓Several species within the genus Homo existed during responsible for human variation, the biological concept
much of the Paleolithic period, all with comparable of race or subspecies is inapplicable to humanity
technological capabilities. existing today.
✓✓Individual traits appear in continuous gradations from ✓✓Despite scientific evidence demonstrating no biological
one human population to another without sharp races among modern humans, folk beliefs about it
breaks. Traits are inherited independently, and persist. With that, the social construction of race
populations are genetically open, meaning that genes continues.
flow between them.
1. Challenged by big questions about the origins and that powerful microscopes revealing realities never
evolution of our species, anthropologists not only previously imagined or seen by humans challenge
study stone tools, fossil bones, and genes, but also traditional religious beliefs? Explain.
prehistoric art, including paintings preserved on cave 3. How well do you think a Neandertal or Denisovan
walls for thousands of years, as shown in the chapter child, adopted as a baby and raised like other young
opening photo. Reflecting on the distant future, ten humans in your environment, would be able to grow
thousand years from now, do you think anything of up in your town or neighborhood? Do you think she
significance about you will be left for future study? If or he could learn to read and write, play sports and
so, what would that be? computer games? What differences, if any, do you
2. Since the early 20th century, microscopes and think there would be between this individual and
computers have revolutionized our understanding of others in your community?
the function of genes. Molecular biological research 4. Having read about human evolution, adaptation,
is not only important in medical studies or in the and racial classifications, why do you think people
crime lab, but also in the study of human evolution, continue to be discriminated against on the basis of
prehistoric migrations, and so on. Do you think their skin color?
Does Racing Get You Anywhere?
Considering the historical context of racial ask them why they classify themselves that way
discrimination and what you have learned about and what the classification means to them. Then
race as a social construction, survey a dozen people, tally and review the results of your survey and write
asking them how they answer when filling out a short commentary about those results, critically
forms that have a race and/or ethnicity box. Next, applying what you have learned from this chapter.
Pietro Scozzari/Age fotostock/Alamy
CHALLENGE ISSUE
As social creatures dependent upon one another for survival, we humans face the challenge
of processing and sharing large amounts of information about countless things connected to
our well-being in a multiplicity of situations. We do this with a variety of distinctive gestures,
sounds, touches, and body postures. Our most sophisticated means of communication is
through language—a foundation stone of every human culture. As shown in this photo of a
busy street in Chinatown, an ethnic enclave in Thailand’s capital city of Bangkok, success
in international trade and tourism often depends on multilingual communication. To attract
buyers, local merchants advertise their goods and services in three languages, each with
a distinctive script: Thai, English, and Chinese. For more than 400 years, traders venturing
overseas from China’s coastal cities have formed bustling commercial centers in densely
populated urban ghettos known as Chinatowns. Such sites can be found in major cities on
every continent, from Amsterdam, Jakarta, and Johannesburg, to Lima, Melbourne, Mumbai,
Nagasaki, San Francisco, and Toronto. These are just a few important cities in China’s
expanding global trading empire.
Language and
Communication 5
The human ability to communicate through language rests firmly on our biological In this chapter you
makeup. We are “programmed” for language, be it through sounds or gestures. (Sign will learn to
languages, such as American Sign Language or ASL, are fully developed languages ●● Define language and
in their own right.) Beyond the cries of babies, which are not learned but which do distinguish between
communicate, humans must learn their language. So it is that children from any- sign and symbol.
where in the world readily acquire the language of their culture. ●● Specify the three
Language is a system of communication using symbolic sounds, gestures, branches of linguistic
anthropology.
or marks that are put together according to certain rules, resulting in meanings
that are intelligible to all who share that language. As discussed in a previous
●● Observe cross-
cultural differences in
chapter, these sounds, gestures, and marks are symbols—signs that are arbitrarily
nonverbal means of
linked to something else and represent it in a meaningful way. For example, the communication.
word crying is a symbol, a combination of sounds to which we assign the mean-
●● Trace the emergence of
ing of a particular action and which we can use to communicate that meaning, language, speech, and
whether or not anyone around us is actually crying. writing.
A signal, unlike a culturally learned symbol, or meaningful sign, is an in- ●● Assess the close
stinctive sound or gesture that has a natural or self-evident meaning. A scream, relationship between
a sigh, and a cough, for example, are sound signals that convey some kind of
culture and language.
emotional or physical state. Throughout the animal kingdom, species commu- ●● Discuss the significance
nicate essential information by means of signals.
of literacy and
telecommunication in
Over the past few decades, researchers aiming to understand the biological
today’s world.
basis, social use, and evolutionary development of language have investigated
a fascinating array of animal communication systems, including dolphin whis-
tles, whale songs, elephant rumbles, bee dances, and orangutan gestures. Some
have studied language acquisition aptitude among apes by teaching them to
communicate using ASL or lexigrams (symbols) on keyboard devices. As noted
in Chapter 4, their research makes it

language A system of communication using
clear that although great ape species symbolic sounds, gestures, or marks that
are put together according to certain rules,
cannot literally speak, they can de-
resulting in meanings that are intelligible to all
velop language skills to the level of a who share that language.
signal An instinctive sound or gesture that
2- to 3-year-old human child. has a natural or self-evident meaning.
111
112 CHAPTER 5 Language and Communication
A remarkable example of the many scientific efforts under the Original Study, his story illustrates the creative process
way in this area is the work being done with Chantek, an of language development and the capacity of a nonhu-
orangutan who has learned some 150 gestures, many of man primate to recognize symbols (see also Cartmill &
which he puts together in innovative ways. Featured in Byrne, 2010).
NAL
ORIGI
S T U DY Can Chantek Talk in Codes? By H. Lyn White Miles
My foster son is a confused

adolescent gang member who some-
times finds himself in trouble. On one
occasion, he was locked up and tried to
escape—not to do any real harm but to
have some fun. When I arrived to see
what had happened, Chantek told me
he was thirsty and angrily mentioned
the “key man” who could set him free.
In a few hesitant words, he recounted
how he got “out” and how he “broke”
some things. While fixing his gaze on
the door, he asked, “Where are the
© Adam K. Thompson, Zoo Atlanta

keys?” When I explained that I didn’t
have them, he leaned on one arm,
looked warily around, gestured toward
the door, and whispered, “You—secret
open?” He was asking me to assist in
his second “escape” for the day.
My unusual foster son is an orangu- Chantek (left) is now an adult male orangutan, as evidenced by his size and large cheek
tan, Chantek, who belongs to the Pongo pads. Here we see him with Dumadi, an infant in his group at Zoo Atlanta.
pygmaeus and not the Homo sapiens
“gang.” He is an “enculturated orangutan” who for some He created more complex meanings by combining his
time has played a key role in my primatology research on signs in new sequences such as asking me to secretly open
great ape language and cognition. During our time together the door—an association of words I had never used with
at the University of Tennessee, Chattanooga, Chantek lived him. He nuanced his communications with subtle modu-
freely with me—not only learning sign language but also lations of meaning and could dissect the elements of his
taking trips to the mall, parks, and a nearby lake. When signs. In almost metaphorical ways, he signed “dog” for
in recent years he had to be moved to a nearby zoo, he pictures of dogs, barking noises on the radio, and even
encountered restrictions that he did not understand, and strange orangutans on TV whom he called “orange dogs.”
he quickly named the zookeeper “key man.” Thus, his brief He signed “break” before he broke and shared crackers and
escape to forage for “cheese-meat-breads” (cheeseburgers). after he dismantled his toilet. He signed “bad” to himself
Chantek acquired many symbolic processes of human before he grabbed a cat, when he bit into a radish, and
language during his time at the university where he was when he sadly inspected a dead bird.
surrounded by anthropology students using Orangutan Chantek could play imitative games and also illustrated
Sign Language (OSL), a pidgin gestural communication some of the functions of language such as displaced ref-
based on American Sign Language.a His vocabulary included erence by talking about keys that were not present. He
names for people, places, foods, actions, objects, animals, showed code switching by utilizing a different dialect,
colors, pronouns, locations, attributes (“good,” “hurt”), and style, or register through whispering “secret” and making
emphasis (“more,” “time-to-do”). His language ability was his signs very small in a tiny space hidden by his hairy
similar to the use of language by 2- to 3-year-old human long arms. We also used code switching when Chantek
children.b Building on his 150-sign vocabulary, Chantek also shifted from his intimate informal language with me to
invented terms, such as “Dave-missing-finger” for an injured more formal communication when the keeper arrived,
worker, “tomato-toothpaste” for ketchup, and “eye-drink” and Chantek signed he was “sorry,” but with less than
for contact lens solution. He even nicknamed himself “Tek” convincing articulation.
by touching his hand to his opposite shoulder, rather than Chantek is a code switcher in another sense as well
the more cumbersome cheek-pad touch for “Chantek.” because he is a member of a small group of intelligent
Language and Communication 113
nonhumans who are “cultural hybrids” or “dual-cul- interrupted him less and allowed his inventive use of
tured,” meaning that he is a member of one species raised language more.
by another. His life journey has involved finding his way Chantek may live into his 50s or 60s, so there is still
between two different worlds—his own orangutan ges- much more he can show us about the mind, culture, and
tural communication, leaf and stick tools, and navigation language ability of orangutans. Given my own North
in his environment versus the world of human culture, American indigenous roots, I see his dual-cultured existence
technology, and language, as he learns to shade his mean- in terms of the Coast Salish tribal concept of “where differ-
ings to fit the situation, play tic-tac-toe and computer ent waters meet and are transformed.” Chantek said this
games, and create stone tools and found art assemblage best by calling himself “orangutan person”—neither human
and jewelry.c nor natural ape but benefiting from the cultures of both. In
Significantly, Chantek engaged in deception by at- fact, the Great Ape Project has proposed that apes might be
tempting his escape in the first place and by subtly lying legal persons who should have limited human rights.
about what had really happened. This phenomenon has However, in his zoo environment, administrators have
been called the benchmark of language because it requires had difficulty in doing code switching of their own.
symbolically creating or assuming an alternate reality and Among other things, they have discouraged Chantek’s
“theory of mind.” I learned that Chantek told at least three use of sign language, perhaps out of misguided efforts
lies a week including signing “dirty” to go to the bathroom to restore him to a natural orangutan or fear that he will
only to play with the knobs on the washing machine, or complain about the food or publicly sign “Chantek want
distracting my attention with words about dangerous “big go home.” My vision is the creation of a Communication
cats” while he deceptively reached into my pocket for treats. and Culture Center where intelligent and sentient animals
Chantek even stole and pretended to swallow a pencil eraser like Chantek will have greater agency and learning oppor-
and then lied by opening his mouth, signing “eat.” tunities than are currently provided and can explore their
Early language research with apes focused on vocab- dual-cultured natures. Imagine enculturated apes making
ulary lists and acquisition rates just to “prove” that apes tools, communicating with us on the Internet, engaging
could acquire some human symbols. The contest seemed in meaningful work, and inventing their own culture
to be whether human language was unique—and the based on symbols. If we were to really listen to Chantek,
answer always had to preserve our Homo-centric superior- what would he tell us?
ity. My anthropological work with Chantek has had the
opportunity to focus on the development, functional use, Written expressly for this text, 2012.
and evolutionary significance of both natural ape and
human communication, culture, and cognition. The issue a
Miles, H. L. W. (1990). The cognitive foundations for reference
is now more about how both apes and humans use com- in a signing orangutan. In S. T. Parker & K. R. Gibson (Eds.),
munication and cultural traditions to meet our needs, to “Language” and intelligence in monkeys and apes: Comparative
varying degrees. My anthropological approach looked at developmental perspectives (pp. 511–539). Cambridge, UK:
the development of communication in cultural context Cambridge University Press.
and explored how Chantek and I created a communi- b
Miles, H. L. (1999). Symbolic communication with and by
cation code together in what Andrew Lock called “the great apes. In S. T. Parker, R. Mitchell, & H. Miles (Eds.), The
guided re-invention of language.”d Analyzing my findings mentality of gorillas and orangutans: Comparative perspectives (pp.
with those of earlier developmental studies of the cogni- 197–210). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
c
tive and linguistic skills of nonhuman primates, I discov- Ibid.
ered that Chantek was far less imitative and more original d
Lock, A. (1980). The guided reinvention of language. New York:
in his communication because his human companions Academic Press.
We need to acquire more knowledge about the remains that human culture is ultimately dependent
various systems of animal communication before we on an elaborate system of communication far more
will know their implications for our understanding complex than that of any other species—including our
of the nature and evolution of languages. Meanwhile, fellow primates. The reason for this is the sheer amount
even as debate continues over how human and animal of knowledge that must be learned by each person from
communication relate to each other, we cannot dismiss other individuals in order to fully participate in society,
communication among nonhuman species as a set where almost everything is based on socially learned
of simple instinctive reflexes or fixed action patterns behavior. Learning can and does take place in the ab-
(Cartmill & Byrne, 2010; Gentry et al., 2009; McCarthy, sence of language by way of observation and imitation,
Jensvold, & Fouts, 2013). guided by a limited number of meaningful signs or sym-
Although language studies such as the one involving bols. However, all known human cultures are so rich in
Chantek reveal much about primate cognition, the fact content that they require communication systems that
not only can give precise labels to

various classes of phenomena but
also permit people to think and
talk about their own and others’
experiences and expectations—past,
present, and future.
The central and most highly
developed human system of com-
munication is language. Knowledge
of the workings of language, then,
is essential to a full understanding
Courtesy Alessandro Duranti/Image by Elinor Ochs

of what culture is about and how it
operates.
Linguistic
Research
and the Nature
of Language
Figure 5.1 Linguistic Research in Samoa
Author of numerous studies in linguistic anthropology, Alessandro Duranti of the
University of California, Los Angeles, began his research on Samoan language and
Any human language—Chinese, culture about thirty-five years ago in Falefa village on Upolu Island. One of nine islands
English, Swahili, or whatever—is a collectively inhabited by about 250,000 Samoans sharing the same language, Upolu
means of transmitting information was first settled about 3,000 years ago by seafarers who established villages on
and sharing with others both collec- hundreds of tropical islands scattered throughout the Central Pacific and collectively
tive and individual experiences. It is known as Polynesia. Samoan is one of about forty closely related Polynesian languages,
a system that enables us to translate which together form a small branch of the Oceanic language family: 450 languages
our concerns, beliefs, and percep- spoken by 2 million people inhabiting about 25,000 islands widely scattered throughout
tions into symbols that can be un- the Pacific. Duranti, an Italian-born U.S. anthropologist, is shown here as a young
derstood and interpreted by others. linguist working with Salesa Asiata on a translation of a recorded conversation to learn
In spoken language, this is done more about speaking in social interaction and as a cultural practice.
by taking sounds—no language uses
more than about fifty—and devel-
oping rules for putting them together in meaningful ways. Linguists in the past 150 years, including anthropol-
Sign languages do the same, not with sound but by shaping ogists, made significant contributions in comparative
and moving hands and other parts of the body and with research—discovering patterns, relationships, and systems
facial expressions, including mouthing. The vast array in the sounds and structures of different languages and
of languages in the world—some 6,000 or so distinctive formulating laws and principles concerning language.
ones—may well astound us by their complexity and great While still collecting data, researchers have made con-
differences, yet language experts have found that each is siderable progress in discovering the reasoning process
fundamentally organized in similar ways. behind language construction, testing and working from
The roots of linguistics—the systematic study of all new and improved theories (Figure 5.1). Today, the
aspects of language—trace back to the works of ancient lan- discipline of linguistics includes three main branches:
guage specialists in South Asia more than 2,000 years ago. descriptive linguistics, historical linguistics, and a third
The age of European exploration and expansion, from the branch that focuses on language in relation to social and
1400s into the 1900s, set the stage for a great leap forward in cultural settings.
the scientific study of languages. Explorers, traders, mission-
aries, and other travelers accumulated information about a
huge diversity of languages from all around the world. An
estimated 12,000 languages still existed when they began Descriptive Linguistics
their inquiries.
How can an anthropologist, a trader, a missionary, a dip-
lomat, or any other outsider research a foreign language
that has not yet been described and analyzed, or for which
linguistics The systematic study of all aspects of language. there are no readily available written materials? There are
Descriptive Linguistics 115
hundreds of such undocumented languages in the world. languages, which include many sounds foreign to English,
Fortunately, effective methods have been developed to linguists have developed the International Phonetic Al-
help with the task. Descriptive linguistics involves unrav- phabet (IPA): 107 letters, 52 diacritics (marks that change
eling a language by recording, describing, and analyzing the sound value of the letter to which they are added), and
all of its features. It is a painstaking, but ultimately re- 4 prosodic marks (designating rhythm, stress, and intona-
warding process in that it provides deeper understanding tion). Beyond this linguistic standard, speech pathologists
of a language—its structure, its unique linguistic reper- have developed additional letters and notations, enabling
toire (figures of speech, word plays, and so on), and its them to transcribe a range of less common sounds.
relationship to other languages.
The process of unlocking the underlying rules of a
spoken language requires a trained ear and a thorough Morphology, Syntax, and Grammar
understanding of how multiple different speech sounds
While making and studying an inventory of distinctive
are produced. Without such know-how, it is extremely
sounds, linguists also look at morphology, the study
difficult to write out or make intelligent use of any data
of the patterns or rules of word formation in a language
concerning a particular language. To satisfy this prelim-
(including rules concerning verb tense, pluralization, and
inary requirement, most people need special training in
compound words). They do this by marking out specific
phonetics, discussed next.
sounds and sound combinations that seem to have mean-
ing. The smallest unit of sound that carries meaning in a
Phonology language is a morpheme.

A morpheme is distinct from a phoneme, which can
To describe and analyze any language, one needs first change a word but which has no meaning by itself. For
an inventory of all its distinctive sounds. The systematic example, a linguist studying English in a North Ameri-
identification and description of the distinctive sounds in can farming community would soon learn that cow is a
a language is known as phonetics. Rooted in the Greek morpheme—a meaningful combination of the phonemes
word phone (meaning “sound”), phonetics is basic to c, o, and w. Pointing to two of these animals, the linguist
phonology, the study of language sounds. would elicit the word cows from local speakers. This would
Some of the sounds used in other languages may seem reveal yet another morpheme—the s—which can be
very much like those of the researcher’s own speech pat- added to the original morpheme to indicate plural.
tern, but others may be unfamiliar. For example, the th The next step in unraveling a language is to identify
sound common in English does not exist in the German its syntax—the patterns or rules by which morphemes
language and is difficult for most German speakers to pro- are arranged into phrases and sentences. The grammar
nounce, just as the r sound used in numerous languages of the language will ultimately consist of all observations
is tough for Chinese speakers. And the unique “click” about its morphemes and syntax.
sounds used in Bushman languages in southern Africa are One of the strengths of modern descriptive linguistics
difficult for speakers of just about every other language. is the objectivity of its methods. For example, English-
While collecting speech sounds or utterances, the speaking anthropologists who specialize in this will not
linguist works to isolate the phoneme—the smallest unit approach a language with the idea that it must have nouns,
of sound that makes a difference in meaning but has no verbs, prepositions, or any other of the form classes identi-
meaning by itself. Linguists carry out this analysis through fiable in English. This allows for unanticipated discoveries.
a process called the minimal-pair test. They try to find two For instance, unlike many other languages, English does
short words that appear to be exactly alike except for one not distinguish between feminine and masculine nouns.
sound, such as bit and pit in English. If the substitution of
b for p in this minimal pair makes a difference in meaning,
as it does in English, then those two sounds have been phonetics The systematic identification and description of distinctive
identified as distinct phonemes of the language and will speech sounds in a language.
require two different symbols to record. phonology The study of language sounds.
phoneme The smallest unit of sound that makes a difference in
If, however, linguists find two different pronuncia-
meaning in a language but has no meaning by itself.
tions (as when “butter” is pronounced “budder”) and then
morphology The study of the patterns or rules of word formation in
find no difference in their meaning for native speakers, a language, including the guidelines for verb tense, pluralization, and
the sounds represented will be considered variants of the compound words.
same phoneme. In such cases, for economy of representa- morpheme The smallest unit of sound that carries a meaning in
tion only one of the two symbols will be used to record language. It is distinct from a phoneme, which can alter meaning but has
no meaning by itself.
that sound wherever it is found.
syntax The patterns or rules by which words are arranged into phrases
As this example suggests, linguists distinguish many and sentences.
more phonemes (44) in English speech than the 26 let- grammar The entire formal structure of a language, including
ters used in the English alphabet. To transcribe different morphology and syntax.
English speakers use the definite

article the in front of any noun,
whereas Spanish varies with gen-
der and numbers, requiring four
types of such definite articles: la
(singular feminine), el (singular
masculine), las (plural feminine),
Baltic
and los (plural masculine)—as in
Celtic Slavic
las casas (the houses) and los jar-
dines (the gardens).
Germanic Romance
German speakers go one step
further, utilizing three gendered
articles in singular, but only one in
Sla
plural: die (singular feminine), der vic
(singular masculine), das (singular Albanian
Romance
neuter), and die (plural, regardless
of gender). For cultural histori-
cal reasons, Germans consider the
Hellenic
house neuter, so they say das Haus,
© Cengage Learning
but they concur with Spaniards
that the garden is masculine. Some
nouns, however, reverse gender in
German–Spanish translation: the
feminine sun (die Sonne) switches Figure 5.2 Indo-European Language Subgroups in Europe
genders into a masculine el sol, and Not all languages spoken in Europe are part of the Indo-European family. For example,
the masculine moon (der Mond) Basque—an isolated language also known as Euskara—is still spoken in the French–
turns into a feminine la luna. How- Spanish borderland. Moreover, languages spoken by Hungarians, Estonians, Finns, Komi (in
ever, these language gender issues northeast Russia), and Sámi (in northern Scandinavia) belong to the Uralic language family.
are not relevant everywhere. In the
Andean highlands in South America, Quechua-speaking When focusing on long-term processes of change, his-
Indians are not concerned with whether nouns are gen- torical linguists depend on written records of languages.
dered or neutral, for their language has no definite articles They have achieved considerable success in working out
at all. the relationships among different languages, and these
are reflected in classification schemes. For example, En-
glish is one of approximately 140 languages classified in
Historical Linguistics the larger Indo-European language family (Figure 5.2).

A language family is a group of languages descended
All spoken languages change in the course of generations, from a single ancestral language. This family is subdivided
and many are now defunct. In addition to deciphering into some eleven subgroups (Germanic, Romance, and so
“dead” languages that are no longer spoken, historical on), indicating that there has been a long period (6,000
linguists investigate relationships between earlier and later years or so) of linguistic divergence from an ancient
forms of the same language, study older languages to track unified language (reconstructed as Proto-Indo-European)
the processes of change into modern ones, and examine into separate “daughter” languages. English is one of
interrelationships among older languages. For example, several languages in the Germanic subgroup (Figure 5.3),
they attempt to sort out the development of Latin (spoken all of which are more closely related to one another than
almost 1,500 years ago in southern Europe) into the Ro- they are to the languages of any other subgroup of the
mance languages of Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Indo-European family.
and Romanian by identifying natural shifts in the original Despite the differences between them, the languages
language and tracking modifications brought on by cen- of one subgroup share certain features when compared to
turies of direct contact with Germanic-speaking invaders those of another. As an illustration, the word for father in
from northern Europe. the Germanic languages always starts with an f or closely
related v sound: Dutch vader, German Vater, Gothic Fadar.
Among the Romance languages, by contrast, the compa-
language family A group of languages descended from a single
ancestral language. rable word always starts with a p: French père, Spanish and
linguistic divergence The development of different languages from a Italian padre—all derived from the Latin pater. The original
single ancestral language. Indo-European word for father was p’teˉr, so in this case,
Historical Linguistics 117
and mobile phones has created entirely new vocabular-

Icelandic English South
ies. Internet use has widened the meaning of a host of
German
Danish Dutch already existing English words—from hacking and surfing
dialects
Norwegian Flemish
North to spam and troll. Entirely new words such as phishing
Swedish
German and vlogging have been coined, leading to the cre-
dialects ation of Internet dictionaries such as netlingo.com and
webopedia.com.
There is also a tendency for any group within a larger
society to create its own unique vocabulary, whether it is
a street gang, sorority, religious group, or military platoon.
Old Old Old By changing the meaning of existing words or inventing
English Saxon High
German new ones, members of the in-group can communicate
Old Icelandic
with fellow members while effectively excluding outsiders
who may be within hearing range. Increasing professional
specialization also contributes to coining new words and
greatly expanding vocabularies.
Gothic
(extinct)
Proto-Germanic
Proto-Italic
Language Loss and Revival
Perhaps the most powerful force for linguistic change
is the domination of one society over another. Such
© Cengage Learning
Proto-Celtic controls persist today in many parts of the world,

such as Taiwan’s indigenous peoples being governed
Proto-Indo-European by Mandarin-speaking Chinese or Tarascan Indians
by Spanish-speaking Mexicans. In many cases, foreign
Figure 5.3 The English Language Family Tree political control has resulted in linguistic erosion or even
English is one of a group of languages in the Germanic complete disappearance, sometimes leaving only a faint
subgroup of the Indo-European family. This diagram shows its trace in old, indigenous names for geographic features
relationship to languages in the same subgroup. The root is such as hills and rivers.
an ancestral language originally spoken by early farmers and Over the last 500 years, about half of the world’s
herders who spread north and west over Europe, bringing with 12,000 or so languages have become extinct as a direct
them both their customs and their language. result of warfare, epidemics, and forced assimilation
brought on by colonial powers and other aggressive
outsiders. As we discussed in Chapter 1, other than the
the Romance languages have retained the earlier pronun- dominant languages today, very few people speak the re-
ciation, whereas the Germanic languages have diverged. maining 6,000 languages, and these languages are losing
Historical linguists are not limited to the faraway past, speakers rapidly due to globalization. Half have fewer
for even modern languages are constantly transforming— than 10,000 speakers each, and about half of those are
adding new words, dropping others, or changing mean- spoken by less than 1,000 each. Put another way, half of
ing. Studying them in their specific cultural context can the world’s languages are spoken by less than 2 percent
help us understand the processes of change that may have of the world’s population (Lewis et al, 2015; see also
led to linguistic divergence in the past. Crystal, 2002).
In North America, only 150 of the original 300 indig-
enous languages still exist, and many of these surviving
Processes of Linguistic tongues are moving toward extinction at an alarming
rate. Thousands of indigenous languages elsewhere in
Divergence the world are also threatened. For example, fewer than
One force for change is selective borrowing between ten people still speak N|uu, a “click” language tradition-
languages. This is evident in the many French words ally spoken in South Africa’s Kalahari Desert. N|uu is the
present in the English language—and in the growing only surviving language of the !Ui branch of the Tuu
number of English words cropping up in languages all language family (previously called Southern Khoisan)
around the world due to globalization. Technological (Figure 5.4).
breakthroughs resulting in new equipment and products Anthropologists predict that the number of lan-
also prompt linguistic shifts. For instance, the electronic guages spoken in the world today will be cut in half
revolution that brought us radio, television, computers, by the year 2100, in large part because children born
© Bonny Sands
Figure 5.4 Modern Technology in Linguistic Analysis
Several linguistic anthropologists are collaborating on field research with speakers of
endangered Khoisan “click” languages such as N|uu in southern Africa. Using a portable
ultrasound-imaging machine, they can capture the tongue movements of the click consonants.
Here, U.S. linguist Johanna Brugman holds an ultrasound probe under the chin of one of the
ten remaining N|uu speakers, Ouma Katrina Esau, who is helping to document how click sounds
are made. Clicks are produced by creating suction within a cavity formed between the front
and back parts of the tongue—except in the case of bilabial clicks in which the cavity is made
between the lips and the back of the tongue. N|uu is one of only three languages remaining in
the world that use bilabial clicks as consonants. The vertical bar in the word N|uu indicates a
click sound.
into ethnic minority groups no longer use the ancestral Although a shared language allows people from differ-
language when they go to school, migrate to cities, join ent ethnic backgrounds to communicate, there is the risk
the larger workforce, and are exposed to printed and that a global spread of one language may contribute to the
electronic media. The printing press, radio, satellite tele- disappearance of others. And with the extinction of each
vision, Internet, and text messaging are driving the need language, we lose “hundreds of generations of traditional
for a shared language, and increasingly that is English. knowledge encoded in these ancestral tongues”—a vast
In the past 500 years, this language—originally spoken repository of knowledge about the natural world, plants,
by about 2.5 million people living only in part of the animals, ecosystems, and cultural traditions (Living
British Isles in northwestern Europe—has spread around Tongues, 2015).
the world. Today, some 400 million people (5.5 percent Sometimes, in reaction to a real or perceived threat of
of the global population) claim English as their native cultural dominance by powerful foreign societies, ethnic
tongue. About 1.5 billion others (nearly 20 percent groups and even entire countries may seek to maintain or
of humanity) speak it as a second or foreign language reclaim their unique identity by purging their vocabular-
(Crystal, 2012). ies of “foreign” terms. Emerging as a significant force for
linguistic change, such linguistic nationalism is par-
ticularly characteristic of the former colonial countries of
linguistic nationalism The attempt by ethnic groups and even countries Africa and Asia today. It is not limited to those countries,
to proclaim independence by purging their language of foreign terms. however, as one can see by periodic French attempts to
Language in Its Social and Cultural Settings 119
Other 21.2% including the work of anthropologist S. Neyooxet Grey-

English morning, a Southern Arapaho, who has developed ways to
26.0% revive indigenous languages, including his own. He tells
his story in the Anthropology Applied feature.
German 2.6%
French 2.8%
Malay 2.9%
Language in Its Social
Russian 3.2% and Cultural Settings
Japanese 3.5%
Language is not simply a matter of combining sounds
© Cengage Learning
Portuguese 4.0% Chinese according to certain rules to come up with meaningful
21.5% utterances. Individuals communicate with one another
Arabic 4.8%
Spanish 7.5% constantly—in households, in the street, on the job,
and so on. People often vary in the ways they perform
Figure 5.5 Language Use on the Internet
speech based on social context and cultural factors such
Although the world’s digital divide is narrowing, with new languages
as gender, age, class, and ethnicity. Moreover, what people
being added to Internet operating systems at an accelerated rate,
choose to speak about, whisper, or keep silent about re-
the divide is still dramatic. As illustrated here, over 80 percent of
flects what is socially important or culturally meaningful
today’s 2.8 billion Internet users are native speakers of just 10 of
the world’s 6,000 languages. Among the fastest-growing Internet
in their community. For that reason, linguistic anthropol-
language groups today are Arabic, Malay, and Portuguese (also ogists also focus on the actual use of language in relation
spoken in Brazil). (Figures shown in the pie chart are rounded.) to its various distinctive social and cultural settings. This
Based on Internet World Stats: Usage and Population Statistics. (2015, third branch of linguistic study falls into two categories:
June 30). Internet world users by language. http://www.internetworldstats sociolinguistics and ethnolinguistics.
.com/stats7.htm
Sociolinguistics
purge their language of Americanisms (such as le ham-
burger) and government approval for other terms (such as Sociolinguistics, the study of the relationship between
couriel instead of e-mail). language and society, examines how social categories—
A key issue in language preservation efforts today is such as age, gender, ethnicity, religion, occupation, and
the impact of electronic media, such as the Internet, where class—influence the use and significance of distinctive
content still exists in relatively few languages, and more styles of speech. We examine two of the major influences
than 80 percent of Internet users are native speakers of on language next: gender and social dialect.
just 10 of the world’s 6,000 languages (Figure 5.5). Some
Internet giants (Mozilla and Google) are translating their Language and Gender
operating systems, in some cases using volunteer native As a major factor in personal and social identity, gender
speakers to come up with culture-specific words for English is often reflected in language use, so it is not surprising
terms such as cookie, mouse, crash, and windows. For Fulah that numerous thought-provoking sociolinguistic topics
speakers in West Africa, crash became hookii (a cow falling fall under the category of gender. These include research
over but not dying). For Mexico’s Zapotec speakers, most on gendered speech—distinct male and female speech
of whom live in windowless houses, computer windows patterns, which vary across social and cultural settings.
became eyes (“Cookies, caches and cows,” 2014). One of the first in-depth studies in this genre explored
A prime means by which powerful groups assert their the relationship of gender and power to explain why
dominance over ethnic minorities living within their North American women exhibit less decisive speech styles
borders is to suppress their languages. Challenging this, than men. A subsequent wave of related scholarly work
minorities are actively involved in language revitaliza- has produced new insights about language as a social
tion. For many, efforts to counter the threat of linguistic speech “performance” in both private and public settings
extinction or to resurrect already extinct languages are (Lakoff, 2004).
part of a larger struggle to maintain their sense of cultural
identity and dignity. Among numerous examples of this
is Manx, a Celtic language historically spoken on the Isle sociolinguistics The study of the relationship between language
and society through examining how social categories—such as age,
of Man in southwestern England. Although its last native
gender, ethnicity, religion, occupation, and class—influence the use and
speaker died in 1974, Manx is now the subject of a suc- significance of distinctive styles of speech.
cessful language revival endeavor. Similar efforts are under gendered speech Distinct male and female speech patterns that vary
way in a number of North American Indian communities, across social and cultural settings.
When Bambi Spoke Arapaho: Preserving Indigenous Languages

By S. Neyooxet Greymorning
In life, there are experiences later rec- sense of themselves and the world they colors, and numbers—nothing near fluency
ognized as defining moments. For me, a live in and the values that culturally and and the goal of keeping Arapaho alive.
moment like that happened in my second psychologically bind a people together Recognizing the need for a different
year of college when some mysterious in- shaping their identity. I decided to spend approach, I began laying the groundwork to
dividual stood over me and asked, “What the summer on the Wind River Reservation
are you doing to help your people?” I in central Wyoming putting together an
remember getting up, going to the library, Arapaho dictionary. Then I learned that Dr.
and walking along the stacks. Trailing my Zdenĕk Salzmann, a Czech anthropologist
fingers over books, I pulled one out. It who did linguistic work with the Arapaho,
was about the overall status of American had the same idea. I called him, and he
Indian languages in the United States. I suggested we work together.
opened it, looked up Arapaho, and read As a graduate student I dedicated
that it was among the healthiest native myself to gaining the knowledge, skills,
languages. Comforted by this, it didn’t oc- and experience that could contribute to
cur to me that a rapidly dwindling number revitalizing languages. Upon completing my
Courtesy of S. Neyooxet Greymorning

of young Arapaho speakers was signaling doctorate in 1992, I was invited to direct a
the demise of my ancestral tongue. Years language and culture program on the Wind
later when I told tribal elder Francis Brown River Reservation where Arapaho language
about this, he said, “The elders called instruction had been introduced within the
your name.” public school system in the late 1970s. By
When I went on to graduate school and 1993, although Arapaho was taught from
studied anthropology, I felt driven to take kindergarten to high school, my assess-
almost every linguistic class available. ment revealed students were able to say Greymorning speaking about language
Soon, I understood that to lose a language only a few basic phrases and vocabulary revitalization.
is to lose aspects of how a people make words having to do with food, animals,
Gendered speech research also includes the study languages—there is nothing partial or sublinguistic about
of distinct male and female syntax exhibited in various them—and the point at which two different dialects be-
languages around the world, such as the Lakota lan- come distinctly different languages is roughly the point at
guage, still spoken at the Pine Ridge and Rosebud Indian which speakers of one are almost totally unable to com-
reservations in South Dakota. When a Lakota woman municate with speakers of the other.
asks someone, “How are you?” she says, “Tonikthkahe?” However, the distinction between language and dialect
But when her brother poses the same question, he says, is not always objective and can be a political issue. Such is
“Toniktukahwo?” (Figure 5.6). As explained by Michael the case in China, the world’s most populous country with
Two Horses, “Our language is gender-specific in the area just over 1.4 billion inhabitants, almost all of whom speak
of commands, queries, and a couple of other things” (per- Chinese. In fact, there are many Chinese languages, each
sonal communication, April 2003). consisting of many regional dialects. For instance, people
in Shanghai actually use a dialect of Wu Chinese spoken in
the eastern region, whereas natives of Guangdong (Canton)
Social Dialects
speak a dialect of Yuehai, the major language of southwest-
Sociolinguists are also interested in dialect—the vary-
ern China. Migrants from the northern parts of the country,
ing form of a language that reflects a particular region,
where numerous dialects of Mandarin Chinese are tradition-
occupation, or social class and that is similar enough
ally spoken, understand almost nothing of Wu or Yuehai
to be mutually intelligible. Technically, all dialects are
because these Chinese languages are foreign to them. For
this reason, almost all Chinese nationals today learn Stan-
dard Chinese, the country’s official language, historically
dialect The varying form of a language that reflects a particular region,
occupation, or social class and that is similar enough to be mutually developed as a lingua franca based on a Mandarin dialect
intelligible. traditionally spoken in the country’s capital city, Beijing.
Language in Its Social and Cultural Settings 121
establish one of the first full-day language ASLA into a workable methodology that it in the pond and tell me what you see.”
immersion preschools on a reservation: helps retune the brain so people learn to Releasing the stone, I watched it make
Hinono’eitiino’oowu’—the Arapaho Lan- visualize the language rather than continu- ever-widening circles on the water. “I want
guage Lodge. The aim was for language ally translate back and forth in their minds you to always remember,” said my uncle,
“providers” to speak only Arapaho and use between the language they know and the “that nothing is so small that it can’t put
a multifaceted approach that included not one they’re learning. something larger than itself into motion.”
only word and phrase acquisition, but also To encourage language teachers on
response exercises, visual association, the reservation to adopt this approach, I Written expressly for this text, 2010.
and interaction with videos and audio cas- modeled teaching Arapaho through ASLA
settes of songs. at the University of Montana with re- a
See Greymorning, S. N. (2001). Reflections
I contacted Disney Studios and markable results. Beyond efforts to help
on the Arapaho Language Project or, when
convinced them to allow us to translate preserve Arapaho, I’m regularly asked Bambi spoke Arapaho and other tales of
Bambi into Arapaho as a learning aid.a to give ASLA workshops for others who Arapaho language revitalization efforts.
Bambi seemed like a good choice because are committed to indigenous language In K. Hale & L. Hinton, The green book
it echoed traditional stories in which ani- revitalization. To date, I have had con- of language revitalization in practice
mals speak, it was a story that most chil- tact with over 1,200 individual language (pp. 287–297). New York: Academic.
dren on the reservation knew, and as the instructors from more than 60 different b
“Accelerated Second Language Acquisition
story unfolds Bambi uses simple childlike communities in the United States, Can- training held.” (2015, August 21). Red Lake
language as he learns to talk. ada, and Australia, representing over Nation News. http://www.redlakenationnews.
However, even a multifaceted approach 40 different languages.b com/story/2015/08/21/news/accelerated-
that included Bambi speaking Arapaho was The challenge of preserving languages second-language-acquisition-training-
not turning the tide of language demise, is daunting. But something my uncle told held/38464.html (retrieved November 18,
so I began to think through the challenges me during a boyhood visit with him encour- 2015); for video examples of students
with increased focus. From 1996 to 2002, ages me to be counted among those who of ASLA speaking Arapaho, plus written
I gradually developed a new approach, keep trying. He woke me at dawn and took comments from language instructors and
Accelerated Second Language Acquisition me to a pond. There was no wind, and the students about ASLA, go to Strengthening
(ASLA©™). During 2003, using my children water was like glass. After instructing me to Indigenous Languages and Cultures (SILC):
as language learners, I tested and honed pick up a small stone, he said, “Now drop www.nsilc.org.
Figure 5.6 Gendered Speech

Makers of the feature film
Dances With Wolves aimed for
cultural authenticity by casting
Native American actors and
hiring a female language coach
to teach Lakota to those who
did not know how to speak it.
However, the lessons did not
include the gendered speech
aspect of Lakota—the fact that
females and males follow different
rules of syntax. So, when Lakota
© Orion Pictures Corporation/Everett Collection
speakers saw the film, and heard

actors portraying Lakota warriors
speaking like women, they
snickered and then howled with
laughter.
© Kazuyoshi Namachi/Corbis
Figure 5.7 Linguistic Relativity
Aymara Indians living in the highlands of Bolivia and Peru in South America depend on the
potato as their major source of food. Their language has over 200 words for this vegetable,
reflecting the many varieties they traditionally grow and the many different ways they preserve
and prepare it. This is an example of linguistic relativity.
Linguistic boundaries are not only geographic or

territorial; they may also indicate or reflect social class,
Ethnolinguistics
economic status, political rank, or ethnic identity. In The study of the relationships between language and cul-
many societies where different dialects are spoken, indi- ture, and how they mutually influence and inform each
viduals often become skilled at switching back and forth other, is the domain of ethnolinguistics. In this type of
between them, depending on the situation in which they research, anthropologists may investigate how a language
are speaking. Without being conscious of it, we all do reflects the culturally significant aspects of a people’s tra-
the same thing when we switch from formality to infor- ditional natural environment. For example, Aymara Indi-
mality in our speech, depending upon where we are and ans living in the Bolivian highlands depend on the potato
to whom we are talking. The process of changing from as their major source of food, and their language has over
one language mode to another as the situation demands, 200 words for this vegetable, reflecting the many varieties
whether from one language to another or from one dialect they traditionally grow and the many different ways that
of a language to another, is known as code switching. they preserve and prepare it (Figure 5.7). Similarly, many
people in the United States today possess a rich vocabu-
lary allowing them to precisely distinguish between many
code switching The practice of changing from one mode of speech to different types of cars, categorized by model, year, and
another as the situation demands, whether from one language to another
manufacturer.
or from one dialect of a language to another.
Another example concerns cultural categories of color:
ethnolinguistics A branch of linguistics that studies the relationships
between language and culture and how they mutually influence and Languages have different ways of dividing and naming
inform each other. the range of light in the electromagnetic spectrum visible
Language Versatility 123
to the naked human eye. In modern English we speak of ready and carrying out what needs to be done right now.
black, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet, and Based on his research on the Hopi language and culture,
white, as well as “invisible” colors such as ultraviolet and Whorf developed his important theoretical insight “that
infrared. Other languages mark out different groupings on the structure of the language one habitually uses influ-
this continuum of hues. For instance, Indians in Mexico’s ences the manner in which one understands his environ-
northwestern mountains speaking Tarahumara have just ment. The picture of the universe shifts from tongue to
one word for both green and blue—siyoname. tongue” (Carroll, 1956, p. vi).
The idea that the words and grammar of a language In the 1990s linguistic anthropologists devised new
are directly linked to culture and affect how speakers research strategies to actually test Sapir and Whorf’s
of the language perceive and think about the world is original hypothesis. One study found that speakers of
termed linguistic relativity. This theoretical concept Swedish and Finnish (neighboring peoples who speak
is associated with the pioneering ethnolinguistic research radically different languages) working at similar jobs in
carried out by anthropologist Edward Sapir and his stu- similar regions under similar laws and regulations showed
dent Benjamin Whorf during the 1930s. Focusing on significantly different rates of on-the-job accidents (Lucy,
the interplay of language, thought, and culture, their re- 1997). The rates were substantially lower among the
search resulted in what is now known as the Sapir-Whorf Swedish speakers. What emerges from comparison of the
hypothesis: the idea that each language provides particular two languages is that Swedish (one of the Indo-European
grooves of linguistic expression that predispose speakers languages) emphasizes information about movement in
of that language to perceive the world in a certain way. three-dimensional space. Finnish (a Ural-Altaic language
Whorf gained many of these insights while translating unrelated to Indo-European languages) emphasizes more
English into Hopi, a North American Indian language still static relations among coherent temporal entities. As a
spoken in Arizona. Doing this work, he discovered that consequence, it seems that Finns organized the workplace
Hopi differs from English not only in vocabulary but also in in a way that favored the individual person over the tem-
terms of its grammatical categories such as nouns and verbs. poral organization in the overall production process. This
For instance, Hopi use numbers for counting and measuring in turn led to frequent production disruptions, haste, and
things that have physical existence, but they do not apply (ultimately) accidents. If language does mirror cultural re-
numbers in the same way to abstractions like time. They ality, it would follow that changes in a culture will sooner
would have no problem translating an English sentence or later be reflected in changes in the language (Wolff &
such as, “I see fifteen sheep grazing on three acres of grass- Holmes, 2011). We see this, for example, with respect to
land,” but an equally simple sentence such as “Three weeks public recognition of alternative sexual orientations or
ago, I enjoyed my fifteen minutes of fame” would require a gender expressions in English-speaking North America
much more complex translation into Hopi. where the term LGBTI (initials standing for lesbian, gay,
It is also of note that Hopi verbs express tenses dif- bisexual, transgender, and intersex) has become common.
ferently than English verbs. Rather than marking past,
present, and future, with -ed, -ing, or will, Hopi requires
Language Versatility
additional words to indicate if an event is completed, is
still ongoing, or is expected to take place. So instead of
saying, “Three strangers stayed for fifteen days in our
In most societies throughout the world, it is not unusual
village,” a Hopi would say something like, “We remember
for individuals to be fluent in two, three, or more lan-
three strangers stay in our village until the sixteenth day.”
guages. They succeed in this in large part because they
In addition, Hopi verbs do not express tense by their
experience training in multiple languages as children.
forms. Unlike English verbs that change form to indicate
In some regions where groups speaking different lan-
past, present, and future, Hopi verbs distinguish between a
guages coexist and interact, people often understand one an-
statement of fact (if the speaker actually witnesses a certain
other but may choose not to speak the other’s language. Such
event), a statement of expectation, and a statement that
is the case in the borderlands of northern Bolivia and south-
expresses regularity. For instance, when you ask an English-
ern Peru where Quechua-speaking and Aymara-speaking
speaking athlete “Do you run?” he may answer yes, when
Indians are neighbors. When an Aymara farmer speaks to
in fact he may at that moment be sitting in an armchair
a Quechua herder in Aymara, the Quechua will reply in
watching TV. A Hopi athlete asked the same question in
Quechua, and vice versa, each knowing that the other under-
his own language might respond no, because in Hopi the
stands both languages even if speaking just one. The ability
statement of fact “he runs” translates as wari (“running
to comprehend two languages but express oneself in only
occurs”), whereas the statement that expresses regularity—
one is known as receptive or passive bilingualism.
“he runs,” such as on the track team—translates as wari-
kngwe (“running occurs characteristically”).
This shows that the Hopi language structures thinking linguistic relativity The idea that language to some extent shapes the
and behavior with a focus on the present—on getting way in which people perceive and think about the world.
In our globalized
world, being bilingual or
multilingual may open
doors of communication
not only for trade but for
work, diplomacy, art, and
friendship. Ironically, re-
luctance to learn another
language prevails in the
United States despite the
fact that the majority lan-
guage in the Americas is
not English but Spanish;
AFP Photo/Tauseef Mustafa/Getty Images

Spanish is not only the
majority language of the
hemisphere, but also, in
the United States today
it is spoken by nearly
40 million people in
their homes. Notably, the
number and percentage
of U.S. residents speak- Figure 5.8 Nonverbal Communication
ing a language other than Humans convey far more information through nonverbal means, such as voice tone and body
English at home in- language, than through speaking. In this photo, the sorrow of Kashmiri women in Panjran mourning
creased from 11 percent the violent death of a fellow villager is obvious. Killed in a gun battle, he was a journalism student
(23 million) in 1980 to who had recently joined a Muslim rebel group fighting against Indian troops controlling Kashmir, a
21 percent (63 million) in Muslim majority state in the Himalayas. These women show their grief during the funeral procession.
2014 (Geller, 2015).
than through verbal means in their interactions and com-

Beyond Words: munications with each other (Poyatos, 2002).
The Gesture–Call System

As efficient as they are at naming and talking about ideas,
Nonverbal Communication
actions, and things, all languages are to some degree in- The gesture component of the gesture–call system con-
adequate at communicating certain kinds of information sists of facial expressions and body postures and motions
that people need to know in order to fully understand that convey intended as well as subconscious messages.
what is being said. For this reason, human speech is The study of such nonverbal signals is known as kinesics.
always embedded within a gesture–call system, similar to Humanity’s repertoire of body language is enormous. This
the type we see exhibited by nonhuman primates. is evident if you consider just one aspect of it: the fact that a
The various sounds and gestures of this system serve human being has about fifty facial muscles and is thereby ca-
to “key” speech, providing listeners with the appropriate pable of making more than 7,000 facial expressions! Thus, it
frame for interpreting what a speaker is saying. Messages should not be surprising to hear that at least 60 percent of our
about human emotions and intentions are effectively total communication takes place nonverbally (Figure 5.8).
communicated by this gesture–call system: Is the speaker Often, gestural messages complement spoken messages—
happy, sad, mad, enthusiastic, tired, or in some other for instance, nodding the head while affirming something
emotional state? Is he or she requesting information, de- verbally, raising eyebrows when asking a question, or using
nying something, reporting factually, or lying? Very little hands and fingers to illustrate or emphasize what is being
of this information is conveyed by spoken language alone. talked about. However, nonverbal signals are sometimes at
Research shows that humans convey far more information odds with verbal ones, and they have the power to override
through nonverbal means (tone of voice, body language) or undercut them. For example, a person may say the words
“I love you” a thousand times to another, but if it is not true,
the nonverbal signals will likely communicate that falseness.
gesture A facial expression and body posture and motion that convey an
intended as well as a subconscious message.
Cross-cultural studies in this field show that there are
kinesics The study of nonverbal signals in body language including facial many similarities around the world in such basic facial
expressions and bodily postures and motions. expressions as smiling, laughing, crying, and displaying
Beyond Words: The Gesture–Call System 125
V ISUAL
V I S UA L COUNTE
COU N T E R RP
POIOINT
NT
Dechen Choekhor Mahvihara
AP Images/Gil Yohanan
Figure 5.9 Social Space Across Cultures
Cultures around the world have noticeably different attitudes concerning social space—how
far or close individuals stand or sit from each other, and also how low or high they may be
positioned to indicate rank difference. The photo on the left shows His Eminence the 9th
Kyabje Drukpa Choegon Rinpoche (the spiritual head of the Dechen Choekhor lineage in the
Red Hat sect) reaching down to bestow “empowerment” on a young priest in a ceremony
attended by fellow Buddhist monks at the Tsechu Monastery in Tibet, China. In the photo on
the right, we see Turkey’s ambassador in the office of Israel’s deputy foreign minister, who
symbolically humiliated this Muslim dignitary by seating him on a low couch. This ignited a
diplomatic crisis reported around the world. In contrast, the elevated seating position of the
Buddhist leader is not only culturally prescribed, but accepted and expected by his followers.
shock or anger. The smirks, frowns, and gasps that we space, came to the fore through the work of anthropologist
have inherited from our primate ancestry require little Edward Hall, who coined the term (Hall, 1963, 1990). Hall’s
learning and are harder to fake than conventional or so- research on nonverbal communication showed that people
cially obtained gestures that members of a group share, from different cultures have different frameworks for defin-
albeit not always consciously so. ing and organizing social space—the personal space they
Routine greetings are also similar around the world. establish around their bodies, as well as the macrolevel sen-
Balinese, Italians, and Bushmen, for example, all smile sibilities that shape cultural expectations about how streets,
and nod, and if the individuals are especially friendly, neighborhoods, and cities should be arranged.
they will raise their eyebrows for a fraction of a second. By Among other things, Hall’s investigation of personal
doing so, they signal a readiness for contact. The Japanese, space revealed that every culture has distinctive standards
however, suppress the eyebrow flash, regarding it as infor distance in social interaction. For example, when two
decent. This example illustrates that there are important colleagues enculturated in the same society stand and talk
cross-cultural differences as well as similarities. together in an office, both will probably move in accordance
Another example can be found in gestural expressions to the same cultural standard of “appropriate” distance.
for yes and no. In North America, one nods the head down Not surprisingly, the potential for nonverbal miscommu-
then up for yes or shakes it left and right for no. The people nication is substantial when people from different cultural
of Sri Lanka also nod to answer yes to a factual question, backgrounds meet. Further, social space can also involve dif-
but if asked to do something, a slow sideways movement of ferent levels of relative height. In stratified societies, where
the head means yes. In Greece, the nodded head means yes, people are hierarchically divided, high-ranked individuals
but no is indicated by jerking the head back so as to lift the may place themselves on an elevated platform, symbolically
face, usually with the eyes closed and the eyebrows raised. expressing their superior status (Figure 5.9).
Another aspect of body language has to do with social
space: how people position themselves physically in rela- proxemics The cross-cultural study of people’s perception and use of
tion to others. Proxemics, the cross-cultural study of social social space.
Hall identified the range of cultural variation in four

categories of proxemically relevant social spaces: intimate
Tonal Languages
(0 to .45 meter or 18 inches), personal-casual (.45 to 1.2 There is enormous diversity in the ways languages are
meters or 1.5 to 4 feet), social-consultive (1.2 to 3.6 me- spoken. In addition to hundreds of vowels and conso-
ters or 4 to 12 feet), and public distance (3.6 meters or nants, sounds can be divided into tones—rises and falls
12 feet, and beyond). Hall warned that different cultural in pitch that play a key role in distinguishing one word
definitions of socially accepted use of space within these from another. About 70 percent of the world’s languages
categories can lead to serious miscommunication and are a tonal language in which the various distinctive
misunderstanding in cross-cultural settings (Hall, 1990). sound pitches of spoken words are not only an essential
His research has been fundamental for the present-day part of their pronunciation but are also key to their
training of international businesspeople, diplomats, and meaning.
others involved in intercultural work. Worldwide, at least one-third of the population speaks
a tonal language, including many in Africa, Central
America, and East Asia. For example, Mandarin Chinese
Paralanguage has four contrasting tones: flat, rising, falling, and falling
The second component of the gesture–call system is then rising. These tones are used to distinguish among
paralanguage—specific voice effects that accompany normally stressed syllables that are otherwise identical. So,
speech and contribute to communication. These include depending on intonation, ba can mean “to uproot,” “to
vocalizations such as giggling, groaning, or sighing, as hold,” “eight,” or “a harrow” (farm tool) (Catford, 1988).
well as voice qualities such as volume, intensity, pitch, Yuehai, the Chinese language spoken in Guangdong (Can-
and tempo. ton) and Hong Kong, uses six contrasting tones, and some
The importance of paralanguage is suggested by the Chinese languages have as many as nine.
comment, “It’s not so much what was said as how it was In nontonal languages such as English, tone can be
said.” Whispering or shouting can make a big difference used to convey an attitude or to change a statement into
in meaning, even though the uttered words would be the a question. But tone alone does not change the meaning
same when written down. Minor differences in pitch, of individual words as it does in Mandarin, where careless
tempo, and phrasing may seem less obvious, but they still use of tones with the syllable ma could cause one to call
impact how words are perceived. Studies show, for exam- someone’s mother a horse!
ple, that even subliminal messages communicated below
the threshold of conscious perception by seemingly minor
differences in phrasing, tempo, length of answers, and
the like are far more important in courtroom proceedings
than even the most perceptive trial lawyer may have real-
Talking Drums
ized. Among other things, how a witness gives testimony
alters the reception it gets from jurors and influences the
and Whistled Speech
witness’s credibility (O’Barr & Conley, 1993). Even a very loud human voice has its natural limits be-
Communication has changed radically with the rise yond which our ears cannot pick up the sound. Of course,
of e-mail, text messaging, and Twitter. These technologies sounds carry farther in some environments than in oth-
resemble the spontaneity and speed of face-to-face com- ers. For example, shouts across a lake or canyon are more
munication but lack the body signals and voice qualifiers easily heard than those passing through a thick forest.
that nuance what is being said (and hint at how it is being Until the telecommunication inventions of the 19th
received). Studies show that the intended tone of e-mail century, acoustic space was limited by natural factors.
messages is perceived correctly only 56 percent of the time. Yet, long ago people found ways to expand their acoustic
Misunderstood messages can quickly create problems and range, sounding information far beyond their loudest
hostility. Because the risk of miscommunication with these vocal reach. One example is the talking drum. Widespread
technologies abounds, despite use of emoticons and emojis among tonal-speaking peoples in West Africa, these large
that represent the writer’s mood or attitude, certain sensitive drums can transmit coded information that can be heard
exchanges are better made in person (Kruger et al., 2005). from as far away as 12 kilometers (7½ miles).
Another traditional telecommunication system used
to expand acoustic space is whistled speech, or whis-
paralanguage The voice effects that accompany language and convey tled language—an exchange of whistled words using a
meaning, including vocalizations such as giggling, groaning, or sighing, as phonetic emulation of the sounds produced in spoken
well as voice qualities such as pitch and tempo.
voice (Meyer, 2008; Meyer & Gautheron, 2006; Meyer,
tonal language A language in which the sound pitch of a spoken word
is an essential part of its pronunciation and meaning. Meunier, & Dentel, 2007). Whistling sounds are gener-
whistled speech An exchange of whistled words using a phonetic ated by blowing, producing air vibrations at the mouth’s
emulation of the sounds produced in spoken voice. aperture; the faster the air stream, the higher the noise.
The Origins of Language 127
Whistled speech can be more effective across greater

distances than shouted talk because it occurs at a higher
The Origins of Language
pitch or frequency range. Although whistled speech tends Cultures all around the world have sacred stories or
to be an abridged form of everyday spoken language, its myths addressing the age-old question of the origins
vocabulary can be considerable. For instance, the whistled of human language. Anthropologists collecting these
form of Spanish known as Silbo, traditionally used on the stories have often found that cultural groups tend to
island of La Gomera off the northwest coast of Africa, in- locate the place of origin in their own ancestral home-
cludes some 2,000 whistled words. lands and believe that the first humans also spoke their
Although its precise origins are not known, whistled language.
speech still occurs in more than thirty languages around For example, ancient Israelites believed that it was
the world. It is found most often in communities that Yahweh, the divine creator, who had given them Hebrew,
speak tonal languages, such as the Yupik-speaking Eskimos the original tongue spoken in paradise. Later, when hu-
of St. Lawrence Island, who may have developed whistled mans began building the Tower of Babel to signify their
speech to aid them when kayaking through dense fog or own power and to link earth and heaven, Yahweh inter-
hunting in snowfields (Figure 5.10). Like the talking vened. He created a confusion of tongues so that people
drum, it is an endangered tradition—disappearing in part could no longer understand one another, and he scattered
because the communities where the practice once thrived them all across the face of the earth, leaving the massive
are no longer isolated or because the ancestral lifeways are tower unfinished (Figure 5.11).
vanishing or already gone. Moreover, the ever-expanding Early scientific efforts to explain the origin of lan-
reach of mobile phones and other electronic telecom- guage suffered from a lack of solid data. Today, there is
munication technologies have contributed to its demise more scientific evidence, including genetic information,
(Meyer & Gautheron, 2006). to work with—better knowledge of primate brains, new
studies of primate communication, more information on
the development of linguistic competence in children,
more human fossils that can be used to tentatively recon-
struct what ancient brains and vocal tracts were like, and
a better understanding of the lifeways of early human
ancestors. We still cannot conclusively prove how, when,
and where human language first developed, but we can
now theorize reasonably on the basis of more and better
information.
The archaeological fossil and genetic records sug-
gest that the archaic humans known as Neandertals
(an extinct species living during the Ice Age in western
Eurasia) had the neurological and anatomical features
necessary for speech (D’Anastasio et al., 2013). No skulls
of the recently discovered Denisovan hominins have
been found, but genetic analysis of a small finger-bone
fragment and two molars suggests that these archaic hu-
mans ranging in Asia were close enough to their western
“cousins” at the time—that they, too, shared that capac-
ity (Dediu & Levinson, 2013).
Because human language is embedded within a ges-
ture–call system of a type that we share with nonhuman
© Rolex/Jacques Belat
primates (especially great apes), anthropologists have

gained considerable insight into human language by
observing the communication systems of fellow primates
(Roberts, Roberts, & Vick, 2014), including Chantek pro-
filed earlier in this chapter. Like humans, apes are capa-
Figure 5.10 Whistled Speech
ble of referring to events removed in time and space, a
Occurring in about thirty languages around the world, whistled
phenomenon known as displacement and one of the
speech allows community members to exchange essential
information in an abridged form of everyday spoken language.
Here we see Elaine Kingeekuk, a Siberian Yupik speaker from
St. Lawrence Island, Alaska, demonstrating whistled speech.
A retired schoolteacher, she assists French linguist Julien Meyer displacement A term referring to things and events removed in time
in documenting her whistled language. and space.
spoken language took place,

all would agree that spoken
languages are at least as old
Iraq/Mesopotamia: Tower of Babel by Bruegel the Younger, 17th century/Pictures from History/Bridgeman Images
as the species Homo sapiens.
From Speech
to Writing
When anthropology devel-
oped as an academic disci-
pline well over a century
ago, it concentrated on small
traditional communities that
relied primarily on personal
interaction and oral commu-
nication for survival. Cul-
tures that depend on talking
and listening often have rich
traditions of storytelling and
speechmaking, which play
a central role in education,
Figure 5.11 The Tower of Babel
Described in the first book of the Bible, the Tower of Babel symbolizes an ancient myth about
conflict resolution, political
the origins of language diversity. According to this story, a united people speaking one language decision making, spiritual or
set out to build a tower to signify their power and link earth to heaven. Angered by their pride, supernatural practices, and
their god Yahweh stopped the effort by confusing their languages and scattering them across many other aspects of life.
the globe. Traditional orators (from
the Latin orare, “to speak”)
distinctive features of human language (Fouts & Waters, are usually trained from the time they are young. They
2001; Lyn et al., 2014). often enhance their extraordinary memorization skills
Because there is continuity between gestural and through rhyme, rhythm, and melody. Orators may
spoken language, the latter could have emerged from also employ special objects to help them remember—
the former through increasing emphasis on finely notched sticks, knotted strings, bands embroidered with
controlled movements of the mouth and throat. The shells, and so forth. Traditional Iroquois Indian orators
soft tissues of the vocal tract related to speech are not often performed their formal speeches with wampum
preserved in the fossil record. But as outlined in this belts made of hemp string with white and bluish-purple
chapter’s Biocultural Connection, a comparison of the shell beads woven into distinctive patterns symbolizing
vocal anatomy of chimps and humans allows paleo- important messages or agreements, including treaties
anthropologists to identify the anatomical differences with other nations.
responsible for human speech that appeared over the Thousands of languages, past and present, have ex-
course of human evolution. isted only in spoken form, but many others have been
There are obvious advantages to spoken over ges- documented in visual graphic symbols of some sort.
tural language for a species increasingly dependent on Over time, simplified pictures of things (pictographs)
tool use for survival. To talk with your hands, you must and ideas (ideographs) evolved into more stylized sym-
stop whatever else you are doing with them; speech bolic forms.
does not interfere with that. Other benefits include Although different peoples invented a variety of
being able to talk in the dark, past solid objects, or graphic styles, anthropologists distinguish an actual
among speakers whose attention is diverted. Although writing system as a set of visible or tactile signs
we do not know precisely when the changeover to used to represent units of language in a system-
atic way. Symbols carved into 8,600-year-old tortoise
shells recently found in western China may represent
writing system A set of visible or tactile signs used to represent units the world’s earliest evidence of elementary writing
of language in a systematic way. (Li et al., 2003).
From Speech to Writing 129
The Biology of Human Speech

Although other primates have shown shift to a downward position. The human few in the world that have no bilabial stops
some capacity for language (a socially tongue bends at the back of the throat (b and p sounds). They also lack the labio-
agreed-upon code of communication), ac- and is attached to the pharynx, the re- dental spirants (f and v sounds), leaving
tual speech is unique to humans; this gion of the throat where the food tract the bilabial nasal m sound as the only
ability is linked to humans’ distinct ana- and airway share a common path. Sound consonant requiring lip articulation.
tomical development of the vocal organs. occurs as air exhaled from the lungs It takes many years of practice for peo-
Of key importance are the positions passes over the vocal cords and causes ple to master the muscular movements
of the human larynx (voice box) and the them to vibrate. needed to produce the precise sounds
epiglottis. The larynx, situated in the respi- Through continuous interactive move- of any particular language. But no human
ratory tract between the pharynx (throat) ments of the tongue, pharynx, lips, and can produce the finely controlled speech
and trachea (windpipe), contains the vocal teeth, as well as nasal passages, the sounds without a lowered position of the
cords. The epiglottis is the structure that sounds are alternately modified to produce larynx and epiglottis.
separates the esophagus, or food pipe, speech—the uniquely patterned sounds of
from the windpipe as food passes from the a particular language. Based on longstand- Biocultural Question
mouth to the stomach. (See the figure for ing socially learned patterns of speech, dif- The human capacity for speech allows
comparative diagrams of the anatomy of ferent languages stress certain distinctive us to say and understand many thou-
this region in apes and humans.) types of sounds as significant and ignore sands of words. Because macaws and
As humans mature and develop the others. For instance, languages belonging other parrots also learn many words, do
neurological and muscular coordination to the Iroquoian family—such as Mohawk, they have speech? And if so, do they
for speech, the larynx and epiglottis Seneca, and Cherokee—are among the actually think?
Nasal
cavity
Palate
Tongue
Epiglottis
© Cengage Learning
Larynx
Pharynx
Trachea
A comparison of human and ape vocal organs.
stands out among other early forms in that it led to the

first phonetic writing system—that is, an alphabet or
series of symbols representing the sounds of a language—
ultimately spawning a wide array of alphabetic writing. A
written character (grapheme) or letter is the smallest unit
of a writing system, comparable to a phoneme in spoken
language. About two millennia after the Mesopotamian
and Egyptian writing systems were established, others
began to appear, developing independently in distant
locations around the world.
Most of the letters used in modern alphabets (includ-
ing the English alphabet) derive from a writing system
invented by Semitic-speaking peoples in the eastern
Mediterranean who selectively adopted a number of
Egyptian hieroglyphs. About 2,800 years ago, suiting
distinctive sounds in their tongue, this system was mod-
ified by their Greek neighbors. The word alphabet comes
from the first two letters in the Greek writing system,
alpha and beta. When Latin-speaking Romans expanded
their empire throughout much of Europe, northern
Africa, and western Asia, they used a modified Greek
alphabet. From the 15th century onward, as European
nations grew their trade networks and built colonial
empires, the Latin alphabet spread far and wide, making
it possible to mechanically reproduce writings in any
human language. Although other writing systems—such
as Arabic, Chinese, Cyrillic, and Devanaˉgari—are used
by perhaps half of literate humanity, digital media con-
tinue to expand the use of the Latin alphabet as a global
writing system.
Fine Art Premium/Corbis
Literacy and Modern

Figure 5.12 The Rosetta Stone
This polished granite-like stele, inscribed with a royal decree
Telecommunication
in three scripts, was placed in an Egyptian temple over 2,200 Thousands of years have passed since literacy first emerged,
years ago. The upper text is in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, yet today one in five adults—775 million people—cannot
the middle portion is in Late Egyptian cursive script, and the
read and write. Two-thirds of them are women, with rural
lowest is in ancient Greek. Rediscovered in 1799 by a French
women topping the list. (For example, about a third of
soldier in a military expedition to Egypt, and captured by the
India’s more than 1.2 billion inhabitants cannot read and
British two years later, this text provided the key to deciphering
write.) Worldwide, 75 million children remain out of
Egyptian hieroglyphs. It has been on display in the British
school, and millions more young people leave school
Museum in London since 1802.
without a level of literacy adequate for productive
participation in their societies (UNESCO Institute for
A fully developed early writing system is Egyptian Statistics, 2014).
hieroglyphics, developed some 5,000 years ago and in Although many people in the world still rely on others
use for about 3,500 years (Figure 5.12). Another very old to write and read for them, the global telecommunication
system is cuneiform, an arrangement of wedge-shaped revolution has reached the most remote villagers on earth.
imprints developed primarily in Mesopotamia (southern The demand for mobile phones is high, even among the
Iraq), which lasted nearly as long. Cuneiform writing poor in rural backlands and urban slums—and they make
long-distance communication possible without literacy
(Figure 5.13).
alphabet A series of symbols representing the sounds of a language In today’s fast-changing globalizing world where
arranged in a traditional order. 90 percent of all humans live within mobile coverage,
letter A written character or grapheme. mobile phones are more than a means of communication.
Literacy and Modern Telecommunication 131
Daniel Irungu/Epa/Corbis
Figure 5.13 Telecommunications and Mobile Banking
The telecommunication revolution is reaching even the most remote places on earth thanks to satellite phones and cell phone towers
powered by fossil fuel, the sun, or the wind. Among the conveniences it offers is mobile banking, which has revolutionized how people in
Kenya send and receive cash. They do it through M-Pesa (M stands for “mobile,” and Pesa means “money” in Swahili). Although a majority of
Kenyans do not have a bank account, eight in ten have access to a cell phone. About 85,000 M-Pesa kiosks, like the one pictured here, are
scattered across the country, similar to a grid of ATMs. Users can deposit cash at a kiosk and then text it to someone who can pick it up at
another kiosk. This has improved commerce and brought basic necessities to poorer areas.
They have become survival tools, with nearly 3.8 billion give information, to send and receive money, to express
mobile cellular users worldwide at the start of 2016—more their individuality, and to stay in touch—tweeting instead
than half the human population. On the move and sur- of whistling to avoid feeling lost in the global jungle
rounded by strangers, people use their mobiles to get and (GSMA Intelligence, 2016).
Chapter Check list
What is language, and does the term ✓✓Researchers aiming to understand the biological
basis, social use, and evolutionary development of
apply only to humans? language have investigated the communication
✓✓Language is a system of communication using sounds, systems of an array of animal species. Some have
gestures, or marks put together according to a set of studied language acquisition aptitude among great
rules. Through language, people are able to share apes by teaching them to communicate using ASL or
experiences, concerns, and beliefs. lexigrams on keyboard devices. Findings show that
although great apes cannot literally speak, they can than the dominant languages in the world today, very
develop language skills to the level of a 2- to 3-year- few people speak the remaining languages, and many of
old human child. them are losing speakers rapidly due to globalization.
✓✓A social dialect is the language of a group of people

What are the areas of linguistic within a larger one, all of whom may speak more or
anthropology? less the same language.
✓✓The three branches of language study in anthropology
are descriptive linguistics, historical linguistics, and
Is language more than words?
language in relation to social and cultural settings. ✓✓Human language is embedded in a gesture–call
system inherited from our primate ancestors that
✓✓Descriptive linguists mark out and explain the features of
serves to “key” speech, providing the appropriate
a language at a particular time in its history. Their work
frame for interpreting linguistic form. The gesture
includes phonology (the study of language sound
component consists of facial expressions and body
patterns) and the investigation of grammar—all rules
postures and motions that convey intended as well
concerning morphemes (the smallest units of meaningful
as subconscious messages. Kinesics is the study of
combinations of sounds) and syntax (the principles
such body language. Proxemics is the study of how
according to which phrases and sentences are built).
people perceive and use space. The call component
✓✓Historical linguists investigate relationships between of the gesture–call system is represented by
earlier and later forms of the same language—including paralanguage, consisting of various voice qualities
identifying the forces behind the changes that have taken such as pitch and tempo and vocalizations such as
place in languages in the course of linguistic divergence. giggling or sighing.
Their work provides a means of roughly dating certain
✓✓About 70 percent of the world’s languages are tonal, in
migrations, invasions, and cross-cultural interactions.
which the musical pitch of spoken words is an essential
✓✓Sociolinguists and ethnolinguists study languages in part of their pronunciation and meaning.
relation to social and cultural settings. Sociolinguists
✓✓Long before modern telecommunication systems,
study the relationship between language and society,
people found ways to expand their acoustic range—
examining how social categories (such as age, gender,
including using talking drums and whistled speech.
ethnicity, religion, occupation, and class) influence the
use and significance of distinctive styles of speech.
Ethnolinguists study the dynamic relationship between What are the origins of spoken and
language and culture and how they mutually influence written language, and how do modern
and inform each other. telecommunication systems impact
How have languages evolved through literacy around the world?
time, and why have so many disappeared? ✓✓Worldwide, cultures have sacred stories or myths about
the origin of human languages. Language experts agree
✓✓All languages change—borrowing terms from other that spoken languages are at least as old as the species
languages or inventing new words for new Homo sapiens.
technologies or social realities. A major cause of
language change is the domination of one society over ✓✓The first writing systems—Egyptian hieroglyphics and
another, which over the last 500 years has led to the cuneiform—developed about 5,000 years ago. Symbols
disappearance of about half the world’s 12,000 carved into 8,600-year-old tortoise shells found in
languages. Linguistic nationalism and language western China may represent the world’s earliest
revitalization have emerged in reaction to language evidence of elementary writing.
loss and to the domination of the English language. ✓✓The global telecom industry reaches into the most
✓✓Many languages have become extinct as a direct result of remote corners of the world, not only transforming
warfare, epidemics, and forced assimilation brought on how people communicate, but also with whom and
by colonial powers and other aggressive outsiders. Other about what.
1. Taking a second look at this chapter’s opening photo, In what ways do you feel prepared or unprepared to
imagine yourself in a foreign city that has signs in meet the challenge of communicating effectively in
three different languages—none of them your own. our increasingly globalized world?
133
2. Over the last 500 years, half of the world’s 12,000 4. Because much of our communication is nonverbal,
languages vanished. It is now estimated that about how effective do you think text message codes like
30 languages per year will become extinct during the OJ (only joking), XD (excited), VSF (very sad face),
current century. What might the consequences of this or G (grin) are in digital communication when
be over time? e-mailing or texting? Have your digital messages ever
3. Applying the principle of linguistic relativity to your own been misunderstood? If so, what do you think was at
language, consider how your language may have shaped the root of the miscommunication, and how was it
your perceptions of objective reality. How might your resolved?
sense of time be different if you grew up speaking Hopi?
Body Talk
Millions of people around the world communicate and culture, observing six randomly selected
cross-culturally on a regular basis, both verbally individuals from at least two different cultural
and nonverbally. When making personal contact, backgrounds or ethnicities. Make note of their
we send and receive information with our clothes, facial expressions, hand gestures, and leg
bodies, facial expressions, hand gestures, and positions and determine the boundaries of
even leg positions. Likewise, we create “invisible their intimate, personal, and public distances.
bubbles” within our social space, marking You could try an anthropological experiment in
personal boundaries. We are rarely aware kinesics and proxemics: Engaging with several
of the fact that most of our body language unsuspecting friends or relatives, alter your own
and use of social space are culturally encoded. body language, reset your bubble boundaries,
For that reason, there is ample opportunity for and note their confusion or misinterpretation.
miscommunication in cross-cultural encounters. Write up an analysis and description of your social
Dig into the relationship between language communication experiment.
Dean Conger/Encyclopedia/Corbis
CHALLENGE ISSUE
Every society faces the challenge of humanizing its children, teaching them the values, social
codes, and skills that enable them to become contributing members in the community. Most
traditional communities raise children in ways that condition them for their future social
status as adult men and women—making sure they have the appropriate clothes and other
culturally significant features and skills indicative of their group and gender. This photo,
taken at the winter camp of a Khanty reindeer herding family in northwestern Siberia, shows
mothers and their fur-clad children on a reindeer sled in front of a portable rawhide home.
Underneath their warm outerwear, everyone likely is dressed in brightly colored clothing
embroidered by Khanty women with designs passed down through generations. In Khanty
culture, infants are believed to be reincarnated ancestors who, like all children still without
teeth, can talk with shamans. In a special naming ceremony, a child magically reveals his
or her identity to a clairvoyant female elder who divines which ancestor the infant embod-
ies to determine the child’s name (Balzer, 1981). Today, there are nearly 30,000 Khanty,
organized in male-dominated clans. Some groups primarily depend on fishing, hunting, and
fur trapping, while others are nomadic reindeer breeders, as pictured here. They speak a
language related to Hungarian, but most also know Russian because their subarctic home-
land was annexed centuries ago. Remote but not isolated, local families continue their
traditions despite being connected to the wider world with electricity, radios, and televisions.
Social Identity,
Personality,
and Gender
6
In this chapter you
In 1690 English philosopher John Locke presented the tabula rasa (“blank slate”)
will learn to
theory in his book An Essay Concerning Human Understanding. This notion holds
●● Assess the cultural
that humans are born with minds that are as empty of information as a blank
forces that shape
slate, and what they become in life is written on “the slate” by their life expe- personality and social
riences. The implication is that at birth all individuals are basically the same in identity.
their potential for character development and that their adult personalities are ●● Explain how cultures are
exclusively the products of their postnatal experiences, which differ from culture learned and passed on
to culture. to new generations.
Locke’s idea offered high hopes for the all-embracing impact of intellectual ●● Discuss gender
and moral instruction on a child’s character formation. However, we now know from a cross-cultural
perspective.
that it missed the mark, for it did not take into consideration any potential
genetic contributions to human behavior. Based on human genetic research,

●● Illustrate the cultural
relativity of normality
anthropologists now recognize that an identifiable portion of our behavior is
and abnormality.
genetically influenced (Harpending & Cochran, 2002). This means that humans
●● Identify culturally
are born with a particular set of inherited tendencies that help mark out their
specific mental
adult personality. Although this genetic inheritance sets certain broad potentials disorders.
and limitations, an individual’s cultural environment, gender, social status, and
unique life experiences, particularly in the early childhood years, also play a
significant role in personality formation.
Because different cultures structure the birthing, raising, and education of
children in different ways, these practices and their effects on adult personalities
are important subjects of anthropological inquiry. Such cross-cultural studies
gave rise to the specialization of psychological anthropology and are the subjects
of this chapter.
135
136 CHAPTER 6 Social Identity, Personality, and Gender
Enculturation: The Self Self-Awareness

and Social Identity Enculturation begins with the development of self-
awareness—the ability to identify oneself as an individ-
From the moment of birth, a person faces multiple sur- ual creature, to reflect on oneself, and to evaluate oneself
vival challenges. Obviously, newborns cannot take care (Figure 6.1). Humans do not have this cognitive ability
of their own biological needs. Only in myths and roat birth, even though it is essential for their successful
mantic fantasies do we encounter stories about children social functioning. It is self-awareness that permits one
successfully coming of age alone in the wilderness or to take social responsibility for one’s conduct, to learn
accomplishing this feat having been raised by animals in how to react to others, and to assume a variety of roles
the wild. Millions of children around the world have been in society. An important aspect of self-awareness is the
fascinated by stories about Tarzan and the apes or the attachment of positive value to one’s self. This helps
jungle boy Mowgli and the wolves. Moreover, young and motivate young individuals to conform to their culture’s
old alike have been captivated by newspaper hoaxes about expectations, generally to their advantage.
“wild” children, such as reports of a 10-year-old boy found Self-awareness does not come all at once. Developmen-
running among gazelles in the Syrian Desert in 1946. tal psychologists have found that self and non-self are not
Fanciful imaginings aside, human children are biolog- clearly distinguished until a child is about 2 or 3 years of
ically ill equipped to survive without culture. This point age (Rochat, 2001; 2010). Self-awareness develops in con-
has been driven home by several documented cases about cert with neuromotor development, which is known to
feral children (feral comes from fera, which is Latin for proceed at a slower rate in infants from industrial societies
“wild animal”) who grew up deprived of human contact.
None of them had a happy ending. For instance, there
was nothing romantic about the girl Kamala, supposedly
rescued from a wolf den in India in 1920: According to the
rector of the local orphanage who took her in, she moved
about on all fours, howled instead of spoke, and bit people
who tried to feed her.
Because culture is socially constructed and learned
rather than biologically inherited, all societies must some-
how ensure that culture is adequately transmitted from one
generation to the next—a process we have already defined
as enculturation. Because each group lives by a particular set
of cultural rules, children must learn the behavioral rules of
their society in order to survive. Much of that learning takes
place in the first few years when children learn how to feel,
think, speak, and ultimately act like adults who successfully
embody being Kikuyu, Lakota, Russian, Tibetan, or what-
ever ethnic or national group into which they are born.
The primary agents of early enculturation in all so-
cieties are members of the infant’s household, especially
the child’s mother. (Various cultural factors influence the
child even before birth through what a pregnant mother
eats, drinks, and inhales, as well as the sounds, rhythms,
and activity patterns of her everyday life.) Who the other
members are depends on how households are organized
in each particular society.
VIEW STOCK RF/AGE Fotostock
As a young person grows up, others outside the house-

hold increasingly participate in the enculturation process.
These usually include neighbors, other relatives, and cer-
tainly the individual’s peers. In some complex societies
with a greater division of labor, professionals are brought
into the process to provide formal instruction. In many
societies children are allowed to learn through observa- Figure 6.1 Self-Awareness
tion and participation, at their own speed. Recognizing herself in the mirror, this child has taken a major step
in developing the self-awareness necessary to understand that
self-awareness The ability to identify oneself as an individual, to reflect she is a distinct individual. Mirror recognition typically happens
on oneself, and to evaluate oneself. around the age of 20 months, but that varies across cultures.
Enculturation: The Self and Social Identity 137
than in infants in many, perhaps even most, small-scale father’s personal given name as their last name. The suffix
farming or foraging communities. The reasons for this sen is added to a boy’s name and dottir to a girl’s name.
slower rate are not yet clear, although the amount of hu- Thus, a brother and sister whose father is named Sven
man contact and stimulation that infants receive seems to Olafsen would have the last names Svensen and Svens-
play an important role. dottir, respectively.
In the majority of the world’s societies, infants routinely Although such patronyms are common in Iceland,
sleep with their parents, or at least their mothers. Also, they sometimes the mother’s first name is chosen for her child’s
are carried or held most other times, usually in an upright surname. Such matronyms (surnames based on mother’s
position, often in the company of other people and amid names) may be preferred for a boy or girl whose mother
various activities. Always in close proximity, the mother remains unmarried, is divorced, or simply prefers her own
typically responds to a cry or “fuss” within seconds, usually name identifying family status. Thus, a sister and a brother
offering the infant her breast. whose mother is named Eva would have the last names
This steady stream of stimuli is significant, for studies Evasdottir and Evason. Matronymic traditions occur in
show that stimulation plays a key role in the hardwiring of several other parts of the world, including the Indonesian
the brain; it is necessary for development of the neural cir- island of Sumatra, homeland of the Minangkabau. In this
cuitry. Notably, the longer children are breast-fed, the better ethnic group of several million people, children are mem-
their overall health, the higher they will score on cognitive bers of their mother’s clan, inheriting her family name.
tests, and the lower the risk of obesity, allergies, and atten- Among the Netsilik Inuit in Arctic Canada, a mother
tion deficit hyperactivity disorder (Dettwyler, 1997; World experiencing a difficult delivery would call out the names
Health Organization, 2015a). Because our biological heri- of deceased people of admirable character. The name being
tage as primates has programmed us to develop in response called at the moment of birth is thought to enter the in-
to social stimuli, it is not surprising that self-awareness and fant’s body and help the delivery, and the child would bear
a variety of other beneficial qualities develop more rapidly that name thereafter. Inuit parents may also name their
in response to close contact with other humans. children for deceased relatives in the belief that the spiritual
identification will help shape their character (Balikci, 1970).
It is common in numerous cultures for a person to re-
Social Identity ceive a name soon after birth and then acquire new names
Through Personal Naming during subsequent life phases. Navajo Indians from the
southwestern United States name a child at birth, but tra-
Personal names are important devices for self-definition ditionalists often give the baby an additional ancestral clan
in all cultures. It is through naming that a social group name soon after the child laughs for the first time. Among
acknowledges a child’s birthright and establishes its social the Navajo, laughter is seen as the earliest expression of
identity. Among the many cultural rules that exist in each human language, a positive and joyful signal that life as a
society, those having to do with naming are unique because social being has started. Thus, it is an occasion for celebra-
they individualize a person and at the same time identify tion, and the person who prompted that very first laugh
one as a group member. Names often express and rep- invites family and close friends to a First Laugh Ceremony.
resent multiple aspects of group identity—ethnic, gender, At the gathering, the party sponsor places rock salt in the
religious, political, or even rank, class, or caste. Without a baby’s hand and helps slide the salt all over the little one’s
name, an individual is anonymous, has no social identity. body. Representing tears—of both laughter and sadness—
For this reason, many cultures consider name selection to the salt is said to provide strength and protection, leading
be an important issue and mark the naming of a child with to a long, happy life. Then the ancestral name is given.
a special event or ritual known as a naming ceremony. In many cultures, a firstborn child’s naming ceremony
also marks a change in the parents’ social status. This is
Naming Practices Across Cultures reflected in what is known as teknonymy (from teknon,
Worldwide, there are countless approaches to naming. For the Greek word for “child”), in which someone assumes
example, Aymara Indians in the Bolivian highland village an honorific name, usually derived from the oldest son,
of Laymi do not consider an infant truly human until they in place of (or alongside) his or her own given name. In
have given the child a name—and naming does not hap- Arab societies, such an honorific is known as kunya. For
pen until the child begins to speak the Aymara language, example, a young man who names his firstborn son Ishaq
typically around the age of 2. Once the child shows the becomes known as Abu Ishaq (“Father of Isaac”), whereas
ability to speak like a human, he or she is considered fit his wife may assume the name Umm Ishaq (“Mother of
to be recognized as such with a proper name. The naming Isaac”). Teknonymy occurs in societies in which only close
ceremony marks the toddler’s social transition from a state relatives are permitted to address someone by their other
of nature to culture and consequently to full acceptance personal name. If outsiders or inferiors do so, it may be
into the Laymi community.
Unlike the Aymara, Icelanders name babies at birth. naming ceremony A special event or ritual to mark the naming of a
Following ancient custom, Icelandic infants receive their child.
regarded as inappropriate or disrespectful. Such a taboo Name-change stories are also common among immi-
exists among the Tuareg of the Sahara Desert in northern grants hoping to avoid racial discrimination or ethnic
Africa, for example, where the honorific name is preferred stigmatization. For instance, it was not uncommon for
over the personal name (Figure 6.2). Jewish immigrants and their U.S.-born children trying
to succeed in the entertainment industry to Americanize
Naming and Identity Politics their names: Comedian Joan Molinsky became Joan Rivers
Because names symbolically express and represent an and fashion designer Ralph Lifshitz became Ralph Lauren.
individual’s cultural self, they may gain particular sig- In identity politics, naming can also be a resistance
nificance in personal and collective identity politics. For strategy by a minority group asserting its cultural pride or
instance, when an ethnic group or nation falls under the even rights of self-determination against a dominant soci-
control of a more powerful and expanding neighboring ety. For instance, in the United States, African Americans
group, its members may be forced to assimilate and give with inherited Christian names that were imposed upon
up their cultural identity. One early indicator may be that their enslaved ancestors have, in growing numbers, re-
families belonging to the subjugated or overwhelmed jected those names. Many have also abandoned the faith
group decide to abandon their own ancestral naming tradition represented by those names to become members
traditions. Such was the case when Russia expanded its of the Nation of Islam (Black Muslims). An enduring
empire into Siberia and colonized the Turkic-speaking example of this is champion boxer Cassius Clay, who con-
Xakas. Within a few generations, most Xakas had Russian verted to Islam in the mid-1960s. Like others, he rejected
names (Harrison, 2002). his “slave name” and adopted the name Muhammad Ali.
Brent Stirton/ Getty Images
Figure 6.2 Tuareg Naming Ceremony

Tuareg women gather around bowls of noodles for a newborn’s naming ceremony inside a
tented home typical of those long used by these Sahara Desert nomads in northern Niger. For
this special occasion, the women have smeared their hands and faces with indigo. Traditionally,
Tuareg children are named on the eighth day after birth, and relatives come from near and far
to participate and celebrate the arrival of a new member in their clan. The father and other
male relatives gather outside for a Muslim religious ceremony, led by a marabout. This holy
man offers a prayer and then ritually cuts the throat of a ram slaughtered for the feast. At that
moment, the father publicly reveals his child’s name, usually one taken from the Quran.
Culture and Personality 139
Self and the Behavioral revolutions in the 20th century have led to the invention
of a newly created media environment, where we learn to
Environment orient ourselves in cyberspace. Without our spatial orien-
The development of self-awareness requires basic orienta- tations, whether in natural or virtual reality, navigating
tions that structure the psychological fields in which the through daily life would be impossible (Figure 6.3).
self acts. These include object orientation, spatial orien- Temporal orientation, which gives people a sense of
tation, temporal orientation, and normative orientation. their place in time, is also part of the behavioral environ-
Every individual must learn about a world of objects ment. Connecting past actions with those of the present
other than the self. Through this object orientation, each and future provides a sense of self-continuity. This is the
culture singles out for attention certain environmental function of a calendar. Derived from the Latin word kalen-
features, while ignoring others or lumping them together dae, which originally referred to a public announcement
into broad categories. A culture also explains the perceived at the first day of a new month, or moon, such a chart
environment. This is important, for a cultural explanation gives people a framework for organizing their days, weeks,
of one’s surroundings imposes order and provides the indi- months, and even years.
vidual with a sense of direction needed to act meaningfully A final aspect of the behavioral environment is the
and effectively. Behind this lies a powerful psychological normative orientation. Moral values, ideals, and principles,
drive to reduce uncertainty. When confronted with ambi- which are cultural in origin, are as much a part of the in-
guity, people invariably strive to clarify and give structure dividual’s behavioral environment as are trees, rivers, and
to the situation; they do this in ways that their particular mountains. Without them people would have nothing by
culture deems appropriate. Thus, our observations and which to gauge their own actions or those of others. Nor-
explanations of the universe are largely culturally con- mative orientation includes, but is not limited to, stan-
structed and mediated symbolically through language. In dards that indicate what ranges of behavior are acceptable
short, we perceive reality through a cultural lens. for males, females, and whichever additional gender roles
The behavioral environment in which the self acts also exist in a particular society.
involves spatial orientation, or the ability to get from one
object or place to another. Names and significant features
of places are important references for spatial orientation.
Directing someone to the nearest bus stop, maneuvering
through airports, or traveling through deep underground
Culture and Personality
networks in subway tunnels are examples of highly complex In the process of enculturation, each individual is intro-
cognitive tasks based on spatial orientation and memory. So duced to a society’s natural and human-made environ-
is a Yupik Eskimo hunter’s ability to kayak or sled long dis- ment along with a collective body of ideas about the self
tances across vast Arctic water, ice, or snow—determining and others. The result is a kind of internalized cultural
the route by means of a mental map, gauging his location master plan of the cosmos by means of which the indi-
by the position of the sun in daytime, the stars at night, vidual learns to feel, think, and act as a social being. It
and even by the winds and smell of the air. Technological is each person’s particular guide on how to run the maze
Figure 6.3 Spatial Orientation

Traditionally, each culture provides its
members with a comprehensive design
for living. This includes spatial orientation
needed to act and move safely within
their environment. Born and raised in
the Arctic, Inuit and other Eskimos find
many meaningful reference points in a
region that appears endlessly empty and
monotonous to outsiders. Without spatial
orientation, one would soon be lost and
likely perish.
Alinari Archives/Getty Images
of life. When we speak of someone’s personality—the consequently alternative gender arrangements can be cre-
distinctive way a person thinks, feels, and behaves—we ated. (The Anthropologist of Note feature in this chapter
are generalizing about that person’s internalized cultural profiles Mead’s mentor, colleague, and close friend Ruth
master plan over time. Thus, personalities are products of Benedict, who did pathbreaking research on personality
enculturation, as experienced by individuals, each with as a cultural construct.) Although biological influence in
his or her distinctive genetic makeup. male–female behavior cannot be ruled out, it has none-
Derived from the Latin word persona, meaning “mask,” theless become clear that each culture provides different
the term personality relates to the idea of learning to play opportunities and has different expectations for ideal or
one’s role on the stage of daily life based on the cultural acceptable behavior (Errington & Gewertz, 2001).
master plan that has historically organized and directed
the community in which an individual is raised. Gradu-
ally, the mask begins to shape that person until there is lit-
Case Study: Childrearing and
tle sense of the mask as something superimposed. Instead, Gender among the Ju/’hoansi
it feels natural, as if one were born with it. The individual
To understand the importance of childrearing practices
has successfully internalized the culture.
for the development of gender-related personality charac-
teristics, consider the Ju/’hoansi Bushmen, native to the
A Cross-Cultural Perspective Kalahari Desert in southern Africa. Traditionally subsisting
on Gender and Personality as nomadic hunter-gatherers (foragers), in the latter 20th
century many Ju/’hoansi were forced to settle down—
Although what one learns is important to personality devel- tending small herds of goats, planting gardens for their
opment, most anthropologists assume that how one learns livelihood, and engaging in occasional wage labor on
is no less important. Along with psychological theorists, white-owned farms (Wyckoff-Baird, 1996).
anthropologists view childhood experiences as strongly Ju/’hoansi who traditionally for-
influencing adult personality, and they are most interested age for a living emphasize equal-
in analyses that seek to shed light on the particular cultural ity and disapprove of dominance
differences in shaping personality. and aggressiveness in either gen-
U.S. anthropologist Margaret Mead pioneered the der. Ideally, males are as
cross-cultural study of sex and gender in relationship to mild-mannered as females, DEMOCRATIC
REPUBLIC
personality. (As discussed in an earlier chapter, sex is bio- and females are as ener- OF CONGO TANZANIA
logically determined, while gender is socially constructed.) getic and self-reliant as ANGOLA
M
In the early 1930s she studied three ethnic groups in Papua males. By contrast, among ZAMBIA
AL
AW
E
KALAHARI I IQU
New Guinea—the Arapesh, the Mundugamor, and the the Ju/’hoansi who have MB
DESERT ZIMBABWE MOZA
Tchambuli. Her comparative research suggested that what- recently settled in perma- Ju/’hoansi
NA
BOTSWANA
ever biological differences exist between men and women,
MI
Indian
nent villages, males and
BIA
© Cengage Learning
Ocean
they are extremely malleable. In short, she concluded, females exhibit personality SWAZILAND
biology is not destiny. She found that among the Arapesh, characteristics resembling Atlantic
SOUTH
AFRICA
Ocean LESOTHO
relations between men and women were expected to be those historically thought
equal, with both genders exhibiting what most Westerners of as masculine and femi-
traditionally consider feminine traits (cooperative, nur- nine in many agrarian, pas-
turing, and gentle). Mead also discovered gender equality toral, or industrial societies.
among the Mundugamor (now generally called Biwat); Among the food foragers, a child receives extensive per-
however, in that community both genders displayed sup- sonal care from his or her mother during the first few years
posedly masculine traits (individualistic, assertive, volatile, of life, because the space between births is typically four to
aggressive). Among the Tchambuli (now called Chambri), five years. When women go to collect wild plant foods in
however, she found that women dominated men (Mead, the bush, however, they may leave the children in the care
1963). of their fathers or other community adults, one-third to
More recent anthropological research suggests that one-half of whom are in camp on any given day. Because
some of Mead’s interpretations of gender roles were these caretakers include men as well as women, children
incorrect—for instance, Chambri women neither dom- are as habituated to the male presence as to the female one
inate Chambri men nor vice versa. Yet, overall her re- (Figure 6.4). Among these foragers, no one grows up to
search generated new insights into the human condition, respect or fear male authority any more than female au-
showing that male dominance is not genetically fixed in thority. In fact, instead of being punished by either parent,
our human “nature.” Instead, it is socially constructed a child who misbehaves will simply be carried away and
in the context of particular cultural adaptations, and introduced to some other more agreeable activity.
Children of both sexes spend much of their time in
personality The distinctive way a person thinks, feels, and behaves. playgroups that include boys and girls of widely different
When comparing childrearing traditions in different

cultures, we find that a group’s economic organization
and the social relations in its subsistence practices im-
pact the way a child is brought up, and this, in turn, af-
fects the adult personality. Cross-cultural comparisons also
show that there are alternative practices for raising chil-
dren, which means that changing the societal conditions
in which one’s children grow up can alter significantly the
way men and women act and interact. With this in mind, we
turn to a brief discussion of different childrearing practices.
Three Childrearing Patterns
© Anthony Bannister/Gallo Images/Corbis

Just before Margaret Mead’s pioneering comparative re-
search on gender, psychological anthropologists carried
out a significant and wide-ranging series of cross-cultural
studies on the effects of childrearing on personality.
Among other things, their work showed that it is possible
to identify three general patterns of childrearing. These
patterns stem from practices that, regardless of the reason
for their existence, have the effect of emphasizing depen-
Figure 6.4 Ju/’hoansi Parenting dence on the one hand and independence on the other.
In traditional Ju/’hoansi society, fathers as well as mothers For convenience, we will call these dependence training,
show great indulgence to children. Children are as habituated independence training, and interdependence training (Whiting
to male caretakers as to female ones, and they do not fear or & Child, 1953).
respect male authority any more than female authority.
Dependence Training
ages. Older children, boys as well as girls, keep an eye out Dependence training socializes children to think
for the younger ones. In short, Ju/’hoansi children in tra- of themselves in terms of the larger whole. Its effect is
ditional foraging groups have few experiences that set one to create community members whose idea of selfhood
gender apart from the other. transcends individualism, promoting compliance in the
The situation is very different for Ju/’hoansi who have performance of assigned tasks and keeping individuals
been forced to abandon their traditional foraging life within the group. This pattern is typically associated with
and who now reside in permanent settlements. Women extended families, which consist of several husband, wife,
spend much of their time at home preparing food, doing children units within the same household. Dependence
other domestic chores, and tending the children. Men, training is most likely to be found in societies with an
meanwhile, spend many hours outside the household economy based on subsistence farming but also in forag-
growing crops, raising animals, or doing wage labor. As a ing societies where several family groups may live together
result, children are less habituated to their presence. This for at least part of the year.
remoteness of the men, coupled with their more extensive Big extended families are important because they
knowledge of the outside world and their access to money, provide the labor force necessary to till the soil, tend
tends to strengthen male influence in the household. whatever flocks are kept, and carry out other part-time
Within these village households, gender typecasting economic pursuits considered necessary for existence. But
begins early. As soon as girls are old enough, they are built into these large families are potentially disruptive
expected to attend to many of the needs of their younger tensions. For example, important family decisions must
siblings, thereby allowing their mothers more time to be collectively accepted and followed. In addition, the
deal with other domestic tasks. This shapes and limits the in-marrying spouses—husbands and wives who come
behavior of girls, who cannot range as widely or explore from other groups—must conform themselves to the
as freely as they could without little brothers and sisters group’s will, something that may not be easy for them.
in tow. Boys, by contrast, have little to do with babies and Dependence training helps to keep these potential
toddlers, and when they are assigned work, it generally problems under control and involves both supportive
takes them away from the household. Thus, the space and corrective aspects. On the supportive side, parents
that village girls occupy becomes restricted, and they
are trained in behaviors that promote passivity and nur-
dependence training Childrearing practices that foster compliance in
turance, whereas village boys begin to learn the distant, the performance of assigned tasks and dependence on the domestic
controlling roles they will later play as adult men. group, rather than reliance on oneself.
Ruth Fulton Benedict (1887–1947)
Ruth Fulton Benedict came late to anthropology. After her personality and the norms of the culture to which the person be-
graduation from Vassar College, she taught high school English, longs. Still in print today, Patterns has sold close to 2 million cop-
published poetry, and tried her hand at social work. At age 31, ies in a dozen languages. It had great influence on Mead during
she began studying anthropology, first at the New School for So- her cross-cultural gender
cial Research in New York City and then at Columbia University. studies among the Papuas
Having earned her doctorate under Franz Boas, she joined his in New Guinea.
department. One of her first students was Margaret Mead. Although Patterns of
As Benedict herself once said, the main purpose of anthropol- Culture still enjoys pop-
ogy is “to make the world safe for human differences.” In anthro- ularity in some circles,
pology, she developed the idea that culture is a collective projection anthropologists have long
of the personality of those who create it. In her most famous book, since abandoned its ap-
Patterns of Culture (1934), she compared the cultures of three proach as impressionistic.
peoples—the Kwakiutl Indians of the coastal Pacific in Canada, To compound the problem,
The Granger Collection, New York

the Zuni Indians of the Arizona desert in the United States, and the Benedict’s characteriza-
Melanesians of Dobu Island off the southern shore of Papua New tions of cultures are mis-
Guinea. She held that each was comparable to a great work of art, leading. For example, the
with an internal coherence and consistency of its own. supposedly Apollonian
Seeing the Kwakiutl as egocentric, individualistic, and ecstatic Zunis indulge in such seem-
in their rituals, she labeled their cultural configuration “Dionysian” ingly Dionysian practices
(named after the Greek god of wine and noisy feasting). The as sword swallowing and
Zuni—whom she saw as living by the golden mean, wanting no Ruth Benedict is known for her walking over hot coals,
part of excess or disruptive psychological states and distrusting pioneering work on personality as and the use of value-laden
of individualism—she characterized as “Apollonian” (named after a cultural construct. terms such as paranoid
the Greek god of poetry who exemplified beauty). The Dobuans, prejudices others against
whom she saw as fearful and hate-filled, with a culture of super- the culture so labeled. Nonetheless, Benedict’s book did have an
natural powers, she characterized as “paranoid.” enormous and valuable influence on the field because it focused
Another theme in Benedict’s work Patterns of Culture is that de- attention on the relationship between culture and personality and
viance should be understood as a conflict between an individual’s popularized the reality of cultural variation.
are easygoing, and mothers yield to the desires of their very definition of self in such cultures comes from the
young, particularly in the form of breast-feeding, which is individual being a part of a larger social whole rather than
provided on demand, continues for several years, and re- from his or her individual existence.
inforces the idea that the family is the main agent in pro-
viding for children’s needs. Also on the supportive side, at Independence Training
a relatively young age children are assigned a number of Independence training fosters individual self-reliance
child-care and domestic tasks, all of which make signifi- and personal achievement. It is typically associated with so-
cant and obvious contributions to the family’s welfare. cieties in which a basic social unit consisting of parent(s) and
Thus, children learn early on that it is normal for family offspring primarily must fend for itself. Independence train-
members to share and actively help one another. ing is particularly characteristic of trading, industrial, and
On the corrective side, adults actively discourage postindustrial societies where self-sufficiency and individual
selfish or aggressive behavior. Moreover, they tend to be personal achievement are important traits for success, if not
insistent on overall obedience, which commonly inclines survival—especially for men and increasingly for women.
the individual toward being subordinate to the group. This This childrearing pattern also involves both encour-
combination of encouragement and discouragement in the agement and discouragement. On the negative side, a
socialization process teaches individuals to put the group’s schedule, more than demand, dictates infant feeding.
needs above their own—to be obedient, supportive, non- In North America, as noted previously, babies are rarely
competitive, and generally responsible, to stay within the nursed for more than a year. Many parents resort to an
fold and not do anything potentially disruptive. A person’s artificial nipple (pacifier) to satisfy the baby’s sucking in-
stincts—typically doing so to calm the child rather than
independence training Childrearing practices that foster independence, to provide the infant with a way to strengthen and train
self-reliance, and personal achievement. coordination in the muscles used for feeding and speech.
White middle-class parents in North America, for exam- Believing in reincarna-

ple, are comparatively quick to start feeding infants baby tion, the Beng look upon
food and even try to get them to feed themselves. Many infants not as new crea-
are delighted if they can prop their infants up in the crib tures but as reincarnated
or playpen so that they can hold their own bottles. More- spirit ancestors gradually
over, as soon after birth as possible, children are commonly emerging from wrugbe
given their own private space, away from their parents. back into everyday life. BURKINA
M AL
ALII
MALI FASO
Collective responsibility is not pushed upon children; they For this reason, Beng
GUINEA
are not usually given significant domestic tasks until later babies are embraced as
CÔTE
in childhood; and these are often carried out for personal profoundly spiritual be- D’IVOIRE Beng
benefit (such as to earn an allowance to spend as they wish) ings who at first are only GHANA
© Cengage Learning
LIBERIA Yamoussoukro
rather than as contributions to the family’s welfare. tentatively attached
Displays of individual will, assertiveness, and even ag- to life on earth. Their Abidjan
gression are tolerated to a greater degree than in cultures cries are interpreted as Atlantic Ocean
where dependence training is the rule. In schools, and even a longing for something
in the family, competition and winning are emphasized. from wrugbe, and good
Schools in the United States, for example, devote consider- parents do everything within their power to make earthly
able resources to competitive sports. Competition is fostered life so comfortable and appealing that the babies will
within the classroom as well—overtly through practices not be tempted to return there. This includes extensive
such as spelling bees and awards and covertly through grooming of the little ones to help attract additional care
customs such as grading on a curve. In addition, there are and love from relatives and neighbors (Figure 6.5).
various popularity contests, such as crowning a prom queen Held much of the day by an array of caregivers and
and king or holding an election to choose the classmate breast-fed by other women in addition to the biological
who is “best looking” or “most likely to succeed.” Thus, no mother, Beng babies develop a broad variety of social ties
matter how many certificates or trophies are handed out for and emotional attachments and appear generally free of
simply participating in sports and other competitive events, stranger anxiety. Also, because they are thought to be
by the time individuals have grown up in U.S. society, they living partly in the spirit world, these tiny “old souls”
have received a clear message: Life is about winning or los- are allowed to determine their own sleeping and nursing
ing, and losing is equal to failure (Turnbull, 1983a). schedules. The Beng cultural concept of an infant as rein-
In sum, independence training is culturally adaptive in carnated ancestor or some other deceased relative influ-
societies that emphasize individual achievement and expect ences how he or she is cared for by parents and others in
members to look out for their own
interests. Its socialization patterns and
cultural values and expectations are
increasingly prevalent throughout the
world as a result of globalism, re-
sulting in a splintering of traditional
communities.
Interdependence Training
An intermediary type in patterns
of childrearing, representing features
of both dependence and indepen-
dence training, also exists. Known
as interdependence training, this has
been observed among the Beng, a
group of about 20,000 Mande-speak-
ing farmers living in villages in the
© Alma Gottlieb
tropical woodlands of Côte d’Ivoire,

West Africa. Each family forms a
large household, which includes the
spirits of deceased ancestors. These Figure 6.5 Beng Baby in Côte d’Ivoire, West Africa
spirits, known as wru, spend nights Beng people see babies as reincarnated ancestors with strong ties to the spirit world.
with their living relatives but depart To make sure these tiny “old souls” are not tempted to return to their wrugbe, or spirit
at dawn for their invisible spirit vil- village, they do everything possible to make earthly life appealing to them. This includes
lage called wrugbe. beautifying the child, as shown here, to help attract care from relatives and neighbors.
the community. Because a newborn

embodies someone who may already
have lived a long life, the infant is
accorded a high level of agency, and
this influences the child’s particular
personality formation.
Having studied childrearing prac-
tices among these West African farm-
ers, U.S. anthropologist Alma Gottlieb
concludes that in Beng communities
the social goal is to promote interde-
pendence rather than independence,
in contrast to what is the normal
practice in most North American
families today. In sum, Beng babies
© N. Chagnon/Anthro-Photo
are made to feel constantly cher-

ished by as many people as possible,
learning early on that individual se-
curity comes through the intertwin-
ing of lives, collectively sharing joys
and burdens (Gottlieb, 1998, 2004a, Figure 6.6 Waiteri: Heroic Male Identity
2004b, 2006). Y˛anomami Indians living in the Amazon rainforest of Venezuela show off as waiteri in a
public performance befitting the traditional warrior ideal in their culture.
Group Personality concept rather than the personality of an average person

Clearly, there is a complex relationship between culture and in a particular society. As such, modal personalities of dif-
personality, with customary practices and other aspects of ferent groups can be identified and compared.
culture systemically influencing personality development. Take, for example, Y˛anomami Indians who subsist
Anthropologists have considered whether whole societies on hunting, gathering, and cultivating food gardens in
might be analyzed in terms of particular personality types the tropical forests of Venezuela in South America. Com-
and whether it would be possible to conduct such a study monly, Y˛anomami males strive to conform to a masculine
on group personality without falling into the trap of stereo- ideal in their culture that they call waiteri: being coura-
typing. The answer is a qualified yes, especially with respect geous, ferocious, humorous, and generous, all wrapped up
to traditional communities. The larger and more complex into heroic male identity (Chagnon, 1990; Ramos, 1987).
a society becomes, the greater its range in different person- Yet, there are men in their villages who are quiet and who
alities. In an abstract way, we may speak of a generalized have less combative personalities. It is all too easy for an
cultural personality for a society, so long as we do not expect outsider to overlook these individuals when other, more
to find a uniformity of personalities within that society. “typical” Y˛anomami are in the front row, pushing and
demanding attention (Figure 6.6).
Modal Personality
Any productive approach to the problem of group per-
National Character
sonality must recognize that each individual is unique to Not that long ago, Italy’s tourism minister publicly
a degree in both genetic inheritance and life experiences, commented on “typical characteristics” of Germans, re-
and it must leave room for a range of different personality ferring to them as “hyper-nationalistic blonds” and “beer-
types in any society. In addition, personality traits that may drinking slobs” holding “noisy burping contests” on
be regarded as appropriate in men may not be so regarded Italy’s beaches (“Italy–Germany verbal war hots up,”
in women, and vice versa. Given these qualifiers, we may 2003). Outraged (and proud of his country’s excellent
focus our attention on the modal personality, defined beer), Germany’s chancellor canceled his planned vaca-
as those character traits that occur with the highest fre- tion to Italy and demanded an official apology. While
quency in a social group and are therefore the most rep- many Germans may actually think of Italians as dark-
resentative of its culture. Modal personality is a statistical eyed, hot-blooded spaghetti eaters, saying so in public
might cause an uproar.
Unflattering stereotypes about groups of foreigners are
deeply rooted in cultural traditions everywhere. For in-
modal personality Character traits that occur with the highest
frequency in a social group and are therefore the most representative of stance, many Japanese generally regard Koreans as stingy,
its culture. crude, and aggressive, whereas many Koreans believe that
Nora Stribrna/Reuters/Corbis
Figure 6.7 Core Values
The collectively shared core values of North Korean culture promote the integration of the
individual into a larger group, as we see in this view of the Arirang Mass Games in Pyongyang
with over 150,000 gymnasts and performers taking part in 2013. Graphics in the background
are made by kids holding colored pieces of cardboard.
Japanese are cold and arrogant. Similarly, you may have in anthropologist Francis Hsu (1983). His core value ap-
mind some image, perhaps not well defined, of the “typical” proach focused on the values especially promoted in a
Scott, Turk, or Mexican. And U.S. citizens traveling abroad particular culture and their related personality traits.
may be insulted that others think of Americans as loud, Hsu suggested that the Chinese traditionally value kin
brash, and arrogant Yankees. Although these are simply ties and cooperation above all else. To them, mutual de-
stereotypes, we might ask if these beliefs have any basis in pendence is the very essence of personal relationships and
fact. In reality, does such a thing as national character exist? has been for thousands of years. Compliance and subor-
Early in the discipline’s history, some anthropologists dination of one’s will to that of family and kin transcend
thought that the answer might be yes. However, it was all else, whereas self-reliance is neither promoted nor a
quickly determined that national character studies were source of pride. In totalitarian states such as North Korea,
flawed, mainly because they made generalizations based however, subordination is not to one’s family but to the
on limited data, relatively small samples of informants, nation ruled by an authoritarian leader demanding com-
and questionable assumptions about developmental psy- plete submission of the all-powerful state’s subjects. In
chology. Furthermore, nations organized as states are far such societies, core values include obedience, conformity,
more variegated and complex than traditional small-scale and repression of individuality, publicly expressed by col-
societies, and as such defy such simple generalizations. lective participation in state-sponsored public spectacles
such as parades and mass rallies (Figure 6.7).
Core Values
An alternative approach to national character—one that
allows for the fact that not all personalities in a group will
conform to cultural ideals—is that of Chinese American core value A value especially promoted by a particular culture.
To the degree that it motivates individuals

Unmarried couples to work hard and to go where the jobs are, this
cohabiting continues to rise individualism fits well with the demands of a
global market economy. Whereas individuals in
many traditional societies are firmly bound into
1960 439,000 a larger group to which they have lifelong obliga-
tions, most urban North Americans and western
Europeans live isolated from relatives other than
1970 523,000 their young children and spouse—and even the
commitment to marriage and childrearing has
lessened (Figure 6.8). Growing numbers of peo-
1980 1.6 million ple in western Europe, North America, and other
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2015. © Cengage Learning

industrial or postindustrial societies choose sin-
glehood or cohabitation over marriage. Among
1990 3.2 million
those who do wed, many do so later in life, often
prompted by the birth of a child. This individual-
2000 5.5 million ism is also indicated by high divorce rates—more
than 40 percent in the United States (Morello,
2011; Natadecha-Sponsal, 1993; Noack, 2001).
2015 8.3 million
Figure 6.8 Cohabitation Rate in the United States

Alternative Gender
The number of unmarried opposite-sex couples cohabiting in the United
States continues to rise. These couples now make up 12 percent of all
Models
opposite-sex U.S. couples, married and unmarried. As touched on earlier, the gender roles assigned to
each sex vary from culture to culture and have an
Perhaps the core value held in highest esteem by impact on personality formation. But what if the sex of an
most North Americans of European descent is rugged individual is not self-evident, as revealed in this chapter’s
individualism—traditionally for men but for women as Original Study? Written when its U.S. author was an un-
well today. Each individual is supposed to be able to dergraduate student of philosophy, this narrative offers a
achieve anything he or she likes, given a willingness to compelling personal account of the emotional difficulties
work hard enough. associated with intersexuality and gender ambiguity.
NAL
ORIGI
STU YD The Blessed Curse By R. K. Williamson
One morning not so long ago, a child was was exposed to the Native American view of people who
born. This birth, however, was no occasion for the cus- were born intersexed, and those who exhibited transgen-
tomary celebration. Something was wrong: something dered characteristics. This view sees such individuals in a
very grave, very serious, very sinister. This child was born very positive and affirming light. Yet my immediate fam-
between sexes, an “intersexed” child. From the day of its ily (mother, father, and brothers) were firmly fixed in a
birth, this child would be caught in a series of struggles negative Christian Euramerican point of view. As a result,
involving virtually every aspect of its life. Things that I was presented with two different and conflicting views
required little thought under “ordinary” circumstances of myself. This resulted in a lot of confusion within me
were, in this instance, extraordinarily difficult. Simple about what I was, how I came to be born the way I was,
questions now had an air of complexity: “What is it, a girl and what my intersexuality meant in terms of my spiritu-
or a boy?” “What do we name it?” “How shall we raise it?” ality as well as my place in society.
“Who (or what) is to blame for this?” I remember, even as a small child, getting mixed
messages about my worth as a human being. My grand-
A Foot in Both Worlds mother, in keeping with Native American ways, would
The child referred to in the introductory paragraph is my- tell me stories about my birth. She would tell me how she
self. As the great-granddaughter of a Cherokee woman, I knew when I was born that I had a special place in life,
Alternative Gender Models 147
given to me by God, the Great Spirit, and that I had been cruelly and pleaded with them to let me live with her, but
given “a great strength that girls never have, yet a gentle they would not let me stay at her home permanently. Nev-
tenderness that boys never know” and that I was “too ertheless, they did let me spend a significant portion of
pretty and beautiful to be a boy only and too strong to be my childhood with her. Had it not been for that, I might
a girl only.” She rejoiced at this “special gift” and taught not have been able to survive the tremendous trials that
me that it meant that the Great Spirit had “something awaited me in my walk through life.
important for me to do in this life.” I remember how
good I felt inside when she told me these things and how A Personal Resolution
I soberly contemplated, even at the young age of 5, that For me, the resolution to the dual message I was receiving
I must be diligent and try to learn and carry out the pur- was slow in coming, largely due to the fear and self-hatred
pose designed just for me by the Great Spirit. instilled in me by Christianity. Eventually, though, the
My parents, however, were so repulsed by my inter- spirit wins out. I came to adopt my grandmother’s teach-
sexuality that they would never speak of it directly. They ing about my intersexuality. Through therapy, and a new,
would just refer to it as “the work of Satan.” To them, loving home environment, I was able to shed the constant
I was not at all blessed with a “special gift” from some fear of eternal punishment I felt for something I had no
“Great Spirit,” but was “cursed and given over to the control over. After all, I did not create myself.
Devil” by God. My father treated me with contempt, Because of my own experience, and drawing on the
and my mother wavered between contempt and distant teaching of my grandmother, I am now able to see myself
indifference. I was taken from one charismatic church to as a wondrous creation of the Great Spirit—but not only
another in order to have the “demon of mixed sex” cast me. All creation is wondrous. There is a purpose for every-
out of me. At some of these “deliverance” services I was one in the gender spectrum. Each person’s spirit is unique
even given a napkin to cough out the demon into! in her or his or her-his own way. It is only by living true to
In the end, no demon ever popped out of me. Still the nature that was bestowed upon us by the Great Spirit,
I grew up believing that there was something inherent in my view, that we are able to be at peace with ourselves
within me that caused God to hate me, that my intersex- and be in harmony with our neighbor. This, to me, is the
uality was a punishment for this something, a mark of Great Meaning and the Great Purpose.
condemnation.
Whenever I stayed at my grandmother’s house, my Adapted from Williamson, R. K. (1995). The blessed curse:
fears would be allayed, for she would once again remind Spirituality and sexual difference as viewed by Euramerican
me that I was fortunate to have been given this special and Native American cultures. The College News 18 (4). Re-
gift. She was distraught that my parents were treating me printed with permission of the author.
Intersexuality complete AIS appears fully female with a normal clitoris, la-
bia, and breasts. Internally, these individuals possess testes
The biological facts of human nature are not always as clear- (up in the abdomen, rather than in their usual descended
cut as most people assume. At the level of chromosomes, position in the scrotal sack), but they are otherwise born
biological sex is determined according to whether a person’s without a complete set of either male or female internal
23rd chromosomal set is XX (female) or XY (male). Some of genital organs. They generally possess a short, blind-ended
the genes on these chromosomes control sexual develop- vagina.
ment. This standard biological package does not apply to all Intersexed individuals have both testicular and ovar-
humans; some are intersexual—a person who is born with ian tissue. They may have separate ovaries and testes, but
reproductive organs, genitalia, and/or sex chromosomes more commonly they have ovotestes—gonads containing
that are not exclusively male or female. These individuals both types of tissue. About 60 percent of intersexed people
do not fit neatly into a binary gender standard (see Chase, possess XX (female) sex chromosomes, and the remainder
1998; Dreger, 1998; Fausto-Sterling, 1993). may have XY or a mosaic (a mixture). Their external gen-
For example, some people are born with only one X italia may be ambiguous or female, and they may have a
chromosome instead of the usual two. A person with this uterus or (more commonly) a hemi-uterus (half-uterus)
chromosomal complex, known as Turner syndrome, devel- (Fausto-Sterling, 2012).
ops female external genitalia but has nonfunctional ovaries U.S. biologist Anne Fausto-Sterling, a specialist in biol-
and is therefore infertile. Other individuals are born with ogy and gender, notes that the concept of intersexuality is
the XY sex chromosomes of a male but have an abnormal- rooted in an idealized biological world in which our species
ity on the X chromosome that affects the body’s sensitivity
to androgens (male hormones). This is known as andro- intersexual A person born with reproductive organs, genitalia, and/or
gen insensitivity syndrome (AIS). An adult XY person with sex chromosomes that are not exclusively male or female.
is perfectly divided into two kinds. She explains that our The Lakota of the northern Plains had a third-
culture glosses over the fact that some women have facial gender category of culturally accepted transgendered
hair while some men do not, and some women have deep males who dressed as women and were thought to possess
voices while some men have high-pitched squeaky ones. both male and female spirits. They called (and still call)
Further, if we investigate closer, there is little sexual dimor- these third-gender individuals winkte, applying the term
phism at the biological level: The chromosomes, hormones, to a male “who wants to be a woman.” Thought to have
internal sex structures, gonads, and genitalia are much more special curing powers, winktes traditionally enjoyed con-
varied than commonly believed (Fausto-Sterling, 2012). siderable prestige in their communities. Among the neigh-
Intersexuality may be unusual but it is not uncommon. boring Cheyenne, such a person was called hemanah,
About 1 percent of all humans are intersexed in some (not literally meaning “half-man, half-woman” (Medicine,
necessarily visible) way—almost 75 million people world- 1994). The preferred term among most North American
wide (Blackless et al., 2000). In other words, there are three Indians today is two-spirits (Jacobs, 1994).
times more intersexuals than Australians. Until recently, it Such third-gender individuals are well known in Sa-
was rarely discussed publicly in many societies. Since the moa, where males who take on the identity of females
mid-1900s, individuals with financial means in technologi- are referred to as fa’afafines (“the female way”). Becoming
cally advanced parts of the world have had the option of re- a fa’afafine is an accepted option for boys who prefer to
constructive surgery and hormonal treatments to alter such dance, cook, clean house, and care for children and the
conditions. Many parents who can afford this option have elderly. In large families, it is not unusual to find two or
chosen it when faced with raising a visibly intersexed child three boys being raised as girls to take on domestic roles
in a culture intolerant of such minorities. However, there is in their households (Holmes, 2000).
a growing movement to put off such irreversible procedures Transgenders cannot be simply lumped together as ho-
until the child becomes old enough to make the choice. mosexuals. For example, the Tagalog-speaking people in
Obviously, a society’s attitude toward these individuals the Philippines use the word bakla to refer to a man who
can impact their personality—their fundamental sense of self views himself “as a male with a female heart.” These indi-
and how they express it. Today, a growing number of people viduals cross-dress on a daily basis, often becoming more
consider themselves gender neutral and wish to live that way. “feminine” than Philippine women in their use of heavy
Evidence of this includes gender-neutral housing and unisex makeup, in the clothing they wear, and in the way they
bathrooms offered on many university campuses to accom- walk. Like the Samoan fa’afafines, they are generally not
modate students who do not fall neatly into male or female sexually attracted to other bakla but are drawn to hetero-
categories (Fausto-Sterling, 2012; Kantrowitz, 2010). sexual men instead. In contrast, 1976 U.S. Olympic gold
Moreover, for languages that use gender-specific pro- medalist Bruce Jenner, who transitioned to Caitlyn Jenner
nouns, gender-neutral terms are now popularly and offi- in 2015 after fathering six children in three marriages, is
cially used. For example, in 2015 the official dictionary still attracted to women—and does not identify as lesbian
of the Swedish language introduced the gender-neutral (Corriston, 2015) (Figure 6.9).
pronoun hen, adding it to the options of han (“he”) and Another example is found among the Bugis, a Muslim
hon (“she”) (“Sweden adds gender-neutral pronoun to dic- ethnic group inhabiting Sulawesi Island in Indonesia and
tionary,” 2015). And across the United States, a growing numbering more than 6 million. The Bugis acknowledge
number of colleges and universities give students the op- five genders: oroané (masculine male), makunrai (feminine
tion of specifying a preferred gender pronoun (PGP), such female), calabai (feminine male), calalai (masculine fe-
as ze to replace she or he (Leff, 2014; Scelfo, 2015). male), and bissu (neither male nor female) (Davies, 2007).
Representing and embodying all genders, bissu are tradi-
Transgender tionally high-ranking celibate intersexuals. Their name

derives from the Bugis term for “clean” (bessi), and as such
When mapping the sexual landscape, anthropologists report they serve as shamans, mediating between the human
that “gender bending” exists in many cultures all around world and the spirit world, inhabited by dewata (gender-
the world, playing a significant role in shaping behaviors less spirits or gods). As one high-ranking Bugis, Angkong
and personalities. For example, dozens of indigenous com- Petta Rala, explained in an interview, “Bissu do not bleed,
munities in the Great Plains and the southwestern United do not have breasts, and do not menstruate, therefore
States traditionally created social space for alternatively they are clean or holy” (Umar, 2008, pp. 7–8).
gendered individuals in their communities. Such a person In addition, worldwide there are people who are
today is commonly identified as transgender—someone gender variants: permanent or incidental transvestites
who identifies with or expresses a gender identity that (cross-dressers) without being homosexuals. Clearly, the
differs from the one that matches the person’s sex at birth. cross-cultural sex and gender scheme is complex; the
late 19th-century “homosexuality” and “heterosexuality”
transgender A person who identifies with or expresses a gender identity labels are inadequate to cover the full range of sex and
that differs from the one that matches the person’s sex at birth. gender diversity (Schilt & Westbrook, 2009).
Alternative Gender Models 149
Alo Ceballos/GC Images/Getty Images

AP Images
Figure 6.9 Celebrated as an all-American hero, Bruce Jenner was one of the world’s greatest
athletes. After being crowned champion in the 1975 Pan American Games, he competed in the
1976 Olympic Games, winning the gold medal in the decathlon (comprised of ten track and
field events, including running, pole vaulting, javelin throwing, and long jumping, as shown here).
Forty years later, he announced on television that he was “transitioning” from male to female
and taking the new name Caitlyn. Typically, transitioning involves reassignment surgery and sex
reassignment therapy, which may include hormone replacement therapy.
castrating war captives may have begun several thousand

Castration years ago. Boys captured during war or slave-raiding expe-
In addition to people who are intersexed or alternatively gen- ditions were often castrated before being sold and shipped
dered, throughout history many boys and adult men have off to serve in foreign households, including royal courts.
been subjected to neutering—crushing, cutting, or otherwise Some castrated men were selected to manage a ruler’s
damaging their testicles. Commonly known as castration, this harem, the women’s quarters in a wealthy lord’s house-
is an ancient and widespread cultural practice to transform hold. In Europe, they became known as eunuchs (Greek for
someone’s sexual status and thereby one’s social identity. “guardian of the bed”). Eunuchs could rise to high status as
Males sentenced as sex offenders in the United States priests and administrators, and some were even appointed
and a growing number of European countries may request to serve as military commanders as happened in the great
or be forced to undergo chemical castration, limiting or de- Persian, Byzantine, and Chinese empires.
stroying their sex drive, not only as punishment but also as In parts of Europe, from the 1500s until late 1800s,
corrective treatment. Historically, archaeological evidence a cultural institution of musical eunuchs existed.
from ancient Egypt, Iraq, Iran, and China suggests that Historically known as castrati, they participated in operas
what seems normal and acceptable

(if not always popular) in one society
might be considered abnormal and
unacceptable—ridiculous, shameful,
and sometimes even criminal—in
another. For instance, according to a
recent global report, state-sponsored
homophobia (the irrational fear of
humans with same-sex preferences)
thrives in many countries, fueling
aggressive intolerance. Worldwide,
78 out of 193 countries have laws
criminalizing same-sex sexual acts
between consenting adults. Most
of these countries punish individ-
uals found guilty with imprison-
ment, although five countries (Iran,
Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, Sudan,
Yemen—plus parts of Nigeria and
Somalia) punish them with the death
penalty (Itaborahy & Zhu, 2014). Yet,
as discussed earlier in this text, most
countries do not have such laws, and
Reuters
a growing number have passed legis-
Figure 6.10 Hijra Performers lation legalizing same-sex marriage.
These elegantly dressed street performers are eunuchs, part of a broad alternative The complexity, variability, and
gender category in India known as hijras, which includes intersexuals, transgenders, acceptability or unacceptability of sex
and castrated males. The exact number of castrated males in India is unknown, but and gender schemes across cultures
estimates range from 500,000 to 1 million. On the occasion pictured here, thousands is an important piece of the human
of hijras from across the country gathered in the remote northern town of Rath— puzzle—one that prods us to rethink
300 kilometers (185 miles) south of Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh state—for social codes and the range of forces
a convention to chart their collective agenda, including a more active role in politics. that shape personality as well as each
society’s definition of normal overall.
and in Roman Catholic Church choirs, singing the female
parts. Castrated before they reached puberty so as to retain
their high voices, these selected boys were often orphans
or came from poor families. Without functioning testes to Normal and Abnormal
produce male sex hormones, physical development into
manhood is aborted, so deeper voices—as well as body Personality in Social Context
hair, semen production, and other usual male attributes—
The boundaries that distinguish the normal from the ab-
were not part of a castrati’s biology.
normal vary across cultures and time, as do the standards
One of the few places where there are still a substantial
of what is socially acceptable. In many cultures, individu-
number of eunuchs—at least 500,000—is India. There,
als may stand out as “different” without being considered
along with intersexuals and transgenders, they are known
“abnormal” in the strictest sense of the word—and without
as hijras. Traditionally, hijras performed at important occa-
suffering social rejection, ridicule, censure, condemnation,
sions such as births and marriages, but today many make
imprisonment, or some other penalty. Moreover, some
a living, at least in part, as street performers (Figure 6.10).
cultures not only tolerate or accept a much wider range of
Collectively, these alternatively gendered individuals who
diversity than others, but they may actually accord special
are “neither man nor woman” are thought to number
status to the deviant or eccentric as unique, extraordinary,
about 6 million in India alone (Nanda, 1999).
even sacred, as illustrated by the following example.
The Social Context of Sexual Sadhus: Holy Men in Hindu Culture

and Gender Identity In India and Nepal, ascetic Hindu monks known as sadhus
The cultural standards that define normal behavior for provide an ethnographic example of a culture in which ab-
any society are determined by that society itself. Thus, normal individuals are socially accepted and even honored.
Normal and Abnormal Personality in Social Context 151
Also, these individuals illustrate the degree to which one’s wealth (artha), he makes a radical break with his family
social identity and sense of personal self are cultural con- and friends and abandons the moral principles and rules
structs. Surrendering all social, material, and sexual attach- of conduct prescribed for his caste (dharma). Symbolically
ments to normal human pleasures and delights, sadhus expressing his death as a typical Hindu, he participates in
dedicate themselves to achieving spiritual union with the his own funeral ceremony, followed by a ritual rebirth. As
divine or universal soul. Practicing intense meditation and a born-again, he acquires a new identity as a sadhu and is
yoga, they strive for liberation from initiated into a sect of religious mystics.
the physical limits of the individual The life of the sadhu demands extraordinary concentra-
mortal self, including the cycle of tion and near superhuman effort, as can be seen when they
life and death. assume the most extreme yoga postures. It is a life of suffer-
When a young AN
ing that may even include self-torture as a form of extreme
ST
NI
Hindu man in India AF
G HA
TIBET, penance. On a regular basis they apply ashes to their body,
or Nepal decides to be- PAKISTAN CHINA face, and long, matted hair. Some pierce their tongue or
BHUTAN
NE
come a sadhu, he must PAL cheeks with a long iron rod, stab a knife through their arm
transform his personal or leg, or stick their head into a small hole in the ground
MYANMAR
identity, change his INDIA for hours on end. Naked or near naked (“sky-clad”), they
sense of self, and leave spend most of their time around cremation grounds. One
BANGLADESH
his place in the social subsect, known as Aghori, drink and eat from bowls made
© Cengage Learning
order. Detaching him- In dia n from human skulls as a daily reminder of human mortality
Ocea n
self from the pursuit (Figure 6.11).
of earthly pleasures SRI Most Hindus revere and sometimes even fear sadhus.
LANKA
(kama) and power and Sightings are not rare because an estimated 5 million
© Thomas L. Kelly
Figure 6.11 Sadhu Holy Man

This Shaivite sadhu of the Aghori subsect drinks from a bowl made out of a human skull,
symbolizing human mortality. He is a strict follower of the Hindu god Shiva, whose image can
be seen behind him.
A Cross-Cultural Perspective on Psychosomatic Symptoms

and Mental Health
Biomedicine, the dominant medical system defined by biomedicine as psychosomatic Caribbean peoples, for example, a widely
of European and North American cultures, disorders all the more difficult. held belief is that spiritual forces are active
sometimes identifies physical ailments ex- Indicative of our biocultural complexity, in the world and that they influence human
perienced by individuals as psychosomatic— psychological factors such as emotional identity and behavior. For someone with
a term derived from psyche (“mind”) and stress, worry, and anxiety may stem from what a biomedical physician would label
soma (“body”). These ailments (also known cultural contexts and result in increased a psychosomatic problem, it is normal to
as conversion disorders) can be serious and physiological agitation like irregular heart seek help from a local curandero or curan-
painful, but because a precise physiological pounding or palpitations, heightened blood dera (“folk healer”), a santiguadora (“herb-
cause cannot be identified through scientific pressure, headaches, stomach and intesti- alist”), or even a santero (a Santería priest)
methods, the illness is viewed as something nal problems, muscle pains and tensions, rather than a medical doctor or psychiatrist.
rooted in mental or emotional causes—and rashes, appetite loss, insomnia, fatigue, Not only does the client not understand
thus on some level not quite real. and a range of other troubles. Indeed, when the symbols of Western psychiatry, but a
Each culture possesses its own histori- individuals are unable to deal successfully psychiatric visit is often too expensive and
cally developed ideas about health, illness, with stressful situations in daily life and may imply that the person is loco.
and associated healing practices. Although do not get the opportunity for adequate More and more, however, anthropolo-
biomedicine is based in modern Western mental rest and relaxation, their natural gists have become increasingly involved in
traditions of science, it is also steeped in immune systems may weaken, increasing cross-cultural medical mediation, challeng-
the cultural beliefs and practices of the their chances of getting a cold or some ing negative biases and correcting misin-
societies within which it operates. Funda- other illness. For people forced to adapt to formation about non-Western indigenous
mentally informed by a dualistic mind–body a quickly changing way of life in their own perceptions of mind–body connections.
model, biomedicine represents the human country or immigrants adjusting to a foreign The inclusion of culturally appropriate heal-
body as a complex machine with parts culture, these pressures may result in a ing approaches has gained acceptance
that can be manipulated by experts. This range of disorders that are difficult to ex- among the Western medical and psycholog-
approach has resulted in spectacular treat- plain from the perspective of biomedicine. ical establishment in Europe, North Amer-
ments, such as antibiotics that have eradi- Medical and psychological approaches ica, and many other parts of the world.
cated certain infectious diseases. developed in European and North American
Today, the remarkable breakthroughs societies are often unsuccessful in dealing Biocultural Question
of biomedicine are spreading rapidly with these problems, for a number of rea- Given the cross-cultural differences in
throughout the world, and people from sons. For one, the various immigrant ethnic concepts of reality, mind and matter, and
cultures with different healing systems are groups have different concepts of mind spirit and body, should authorities in a
moving into countries where biomedicine and body than do medical practitioners pluralistic society apply uniform standards
dominates. This makes treating illnesses trained in Western medicine. Among many to faith healers as to medical doctors?
sadhus live in India and Nepal (Heitzman & Wordem, define normal behavior may shift over time. For example,
2006; Kelly, 2006). Of course, if one of these bearded, long- the American Psychiatric Association declassified homo-
haired, and nearly naked Hindu monks decided to practice sexuality as a mental disorder in 1973. Other major men-
his extreme yoga exercises and other sacred devotions in tal health organizations followed, including the World
China, Europe, or North America, most onlookers would Health Organization in 1990 (Herek, 2015).
consider such a person to be severely mentally disturbed. Just as social attitudes concerning a wide range of
both psychological and physical differences change over
time within a society, they also vary across cultures—as
Mental Disorders Across Time described in this chapter’s Biocultural Connection.
and Cultures Cultural Relativity and Abnormality

As the Hindu mystic monks in South Asia illustrate, no As the example of the sadhus in India and Nepal illustrates,
matter how extreme or bizarre certain behaviors might what people interpret as abnormal is behavior that deviates
seem in a particular place and time, the abnormal is not from a culturally determined standard of what is normal.
always socially rejected. Moreover, the standards that The behavior of sadhus is deviant but still acceptable in this
Personal Identity and Mental Health in Globalizing Society 153
culture because they occupy a unique position in society was particularly associated with young urban women in
that is publicly recognized as spiritual extremists leading an well-to-do social circles. In fact, the term invented for this
extraordinary way of life. Generally, however, abnormal or “nervous disease” is derived from the Greek word meaning
deviant behavior is unacceptable, as indicated by the labels “uterus.” Not only has the diagnosis of this disorder declined
identifying such individuals: “crazy,” “deranged” or “in- in the course of the 20th century, but the term itself was
sane.” The stigma of these labels also indicates intolerance banished from the medical nomenclature (Gordon, 2000).
for mental illness, whether true or not. Beyond cultural In recent decades, we have seen the rise of two re-
variation and unequal standards, abnormality may be the lated culture-bound syndromes associated with consumer
result of an individual experiencing delusions. capitalism: bulimia nervosa and anorexia nervosa. Both are
Does this suggest that normalcy is a meaningless con- characterized by a distorted body image and an obsessive
cept when applied to personality? Within the context of desire to be thin. Bulimia involves frequent binge eating
a particular culture, the concept of normal personality is followed by various means of purging, including vomiting.
quite significant. Irving Hallowell, a major figure in the Anorexia is evidenced in self-starvation that may result in
development of psychological anthropology, ironically death. Bulimia and anorexia are primarily diagnosed in
observed that it is normal to share the delusions tradi- female adolescents who reside in a culture that exalts thin-
tionally accepted by one’s society. A person’s state of mind ness, even as fast food and leisure snacking are more preva-
may be so delusional that in medical or psychological lent. With the globalization of consumer society’s fat–thin
terms that individual may be diagnosed as psychotic. contradiction, its associated psychological eating disorders
Interestingly, certain types of psychoses are more prev- are also crossing borders. In the past decade, Brazil, China,
alent in some cultures than others and may not occur in India, and Japan have come close to being on a par with
some societies at all. This does not mean that genetic or the United States in deaths related to psychological eating
biochemical factors are irrelevant, but it does suggest that disorders (Dutta, 2015; Littlewood, 2004).
cultural factors play a role. If severe enough, culturally in-
duced conflicts can produce psychosis and also determine
its particular form.
Ethnic Psychoses or Culture-Bound Syndromes

Personal Identity
An ethnic psychosis, or culture-bound syndrome, is a men- and Mental Health
tal disorder specific to a particular cultural group (Simons
& Hughes, 1985). A historical example is windigo psychosis, in Globalizing Society
limited to northern Algonquian-speaking groups such as the
Anthropologists view childrearing, gender issues, social
Cree and Ojibwa. In their traditional belief systems, these
identity, and emotional and mental health issues in their
Indians recognized the existence of cannibalistic monsters
cultural context; this perspective recognizes that each indi-
called windigos. Individuals afflicted by the psychosis de-
vidual’s unique personality, feelings of happiness or unhap-
veloped the delusion that, falling under the control of these
piness, and overall sense of health are shaped or influenced
monsters, they were themselves transformed into windigos,
by the particular culture within which the person is born
with a craving for human flesh. As this happened, the psy-
and raised to function as a valued member of the commu-
chotic individuals perceived people around them turning
nity. With the spread of modern consumer culture and its
into edible animals—fat beavers, for instance. Although there
associated psychological disorders, people all around the
are no known instances where sufferers of windigo psychosis
world face sometimes bewildering challenges hurled at
actually devoured humans, they were acutely afraid of doing
them by the forces of globalization. These forces impact
so, and people around them feared that they might.
how people raise their children, how their personalities are
Windigo psychosis may seem different from clinical
influenced, and how they maintain their individual and
cases of paranoid schizophrenia found in European and
collective social, psychological, and mental health.
North American cultures, but a closer look suggests other-
Over the last several decades, medical and psycholog-
wise. Psychotic individuals draw upon whatever imagery
ical anthropologists have made valuable contributions to
and symbolism their culture has to offer. For instance, the
improving healthcare, not only in so-called developing
delusions of Irish schizophrenics may draw upon the im-
countries far away, but also in their own societies. How-
ages and symbols of Irish Catholicism and feature Virgin
ever, far too often mental health practices prevailing in
and Savior motifs. In short, the underlying biomedical
Europe and North America remain ethnocentric when
structure of the mental disorder may be the same in all
theorizing and treating psychological disorders—a prob-
cases, but its expression is culturally specific.
lem reinforced by a reductionist biomedical mindset that
A Western example of a culture-bound syndrome is
hysteria, expressed by fainting spells, choking fits, and even
seizures and blindness. Identified in industrializing societies culture-bound syndrome A mental disorder specific to a particular
of 19th-century Europe and North America, this disorder cultural group; also known as ethnic psychosis.
largely ignores the role of cultural factors in the cause, anthropological perspectives on identity, mental health,
expression, course, and outcome of mental disorders. and psychiatric disorders are especially useful in pluralistic
Furthermore, commercial pressures on the healthcare es- societies where people from different ethnic groups, each
tablishment favor bioscience and pharmacotherapy, with with a distinctive culture, coexist and interact. Intensified
drug companies providing quick and often inexpensive by globalization, this multi-ethnic convergence drives
fixes for the problem (Luhrmann, 2001). home the need for a medical pluralism providing multiple
Informed by cultural relativist views on what healing modalities suited for the cultural dynamics of the
is considered normal and what is considered deviant, 21st century.
What is enculturation, and how does it performance of assigned tasks and dependence on the
domestic group, rather than reliance on oneself.
shape a person’s personality and identity? Independence training—typical of societies
✓✓Enculturation, the process by which individuals characterized by small, independent families—prizes
become members of their society, begins soon after self-reliance, independent behavior, and personal
birth. Its first agents are the members of an individual’s achievement. Interdependence training, practiced
household, and then it involves other members of among the Beng of West Africa, teaches children that
society. An individual must have self-awareness before individual security comes through the intertwining of
enculturation can proceed. lives. Some anthropologists contend that childrearing
practices derive from a society’s need to produce
✓✓A child’s birthright and social identity are established particular kinds of adult personalities.
through personal naming, a universal practice with
numerous cross-cultural variations. A name is an
important device for self-definition—without one, an
What are alternative gender models, and
individual has no identity, no self. Many cultures mark how are they viewed cross-culturally?
the naming of a child with a special ceremony. ✓✓Intersexuals—individuals born with reproductive
✓✓For self-awareness to emerge and function, four basic organs, genitalia, and/or sex chromosomes that are not
orientations are necessary to structure the behavioral exclusively male or female—do not fit neatly into
environment in which the self acts: object orientation either a male or female biological standard or into a
(learning about a world of objects other than the self), binary gender standard.
spatial orientation, temporal orientation, and ✓✓Numerous cultures have created social space for
normative orientation (an understanding of the values, intersexual as well as transgender individuals—
ideals, and standards that constitute the behavioral physically male or female people who cross over or
environment). occupy an alternative social position in the binary
male–female gender construction.
How do childrearing practices and
concepts of sex and gender influence What determines cultural norms, and is
a person’s behavior, personality, and there such a thing as group personality
identity? or national character?
✓✓Each culture presents different opportunities and ✓✓Early on, anthropologists tried to determine whether it
expectations concerning gender and ideal or acceptable was possible to delineate a group personality without
male–female behavior. In some cultures, male–female stereotyping. Each culture chooses, from the vast array
relations are based on equal status, with both genders of possibilities, those traits that it sees as normative or
expected to behave similarly. In others, male–female ideal. Individuals who conform to these traits are
relations are based on inequality and are marked by rewarded; the rest are not.
different standards of expected behavior.
✓✓National character studies looked for basic personality
✓✓Through cross-cultural studies psychological traits shared by the majority of people of modern
anthropologists have established the interrelation of countries. Researchers have attempted to determine the
personality, childrearing practices, and other aspects of childrearing practices and education that shape such a
culture. group personality. However, many anthropologists
believe national character theories are based on
✓✓Dependence training, usually associated with
unscientific and overly generalized data; others focus
traditional farming societies, stresses compliance in the
on the core values promoted in particular societies.
155
✓✓What is defined as normal behavior in any culture is disturbance. Similarly, mental disorders that have a
determined by the culture itself; what may be biological cause, like schizophrenia, will be expressed
acceptable or even admirable in one may not be so by symptoms specific to the culture of the afflicted
regarded in another. Abnormality involves developing individual. Culture-bound syndromes, or ethnic
personality traits not accepted by a culture. psychoses, are mental disorders specific to a particular
ethnic group.
Does culture play a role in a person’s ✓✓Multi-ethnic convergence, intensified by globalization,
mental health? drives home the need for a medical pluralism
✓✓Culturally induced conflicts can produce psychological providing multiple healing modalities suited for the
disturbance and can determine the form of the cultural dynamics of the 21st century.
1. Considering the cultural significance of naming have access to reconstructive sexual surgery. What do
ceremonies in so many societies, including among the you think of societies that have created cultural space
Khanty profiled in the Challenge Issue, what do you for alternative gender options beyond the strictly male
think motivated your parents when they named you? or female categories?
Does that have any influence on your sense of self? 4. Do you know someone in your family, neighborhood,
2. Do you think that the type of childhood training you or school who is “abnormal”? What is the basis for
received shaped your personality? If so, would you that judgment, and do you think everyone shares that
continue that approach with your own children? opinion? Can you imagine that personal habits you
3. About 70 million people in today’s world are consider normal would be viewed as deviant in the
intersexed, and only a very small fraction of them past or in another country?
Gender Across Generations
Our sex is biologically determined, but gender is three generations, find out how males and females
a cultural construct so its associated behaviors in your own circle of friends, relatives, and
are culturally variable and historically malleable. neighbors define femininity (characteristics of the
Most cultures distinguish minimally between two ideal woman) and masculinity (characteristics of
genders, but many recognize a third—and some a the ideal man). Beforehand, formulate questions
fourth or even a fifth gender. Explore the range of that will open the door to responses that may
culturally prescribed and socially acceptable male– indicate a gender differentiation more complex
female behaviors in your own social environment. than the stereotypical male–female contrast.
By observing and interviewing individuals from
Buena Vista Images/The Image Bank/Getty Images
CHALLENGE ISSUE
Facing the challenge of getting food, fuel, shelter, and other necessities, humans must hunt,
gather, produce, or otherwise obtain the means to satisfy such needs. During the span of
human existence, this has been accomplished in a range of highly contrasting natural environ-
ments by means of various biological and cultural adaptations. Inventing or borrowing technol-
ogies, humans have developed distinctive subsistence arrangements to feed their families.
Thus, we find foragers in Australia’s desert, fishers on Alaska’s seacoast, manioc planters in
Brazil’s rainforest, goat herders in Iran’s mountains, steel-mill laborers in South Korea, com-
puter techs in India’s cities, and poultry farmers in rural Alabama. All human activities impact
their environments, some radically transforming the landscape. Here we see Chinese farmers
practicing wet-rice cultivation on the mountainous slopes in Guangxi Province. They have
carved out terraces to capture rainwater, prevent soil erosion, and increase food production.
Patterns of
Subsistence 7
All living beings must satisfy certain basic needs to stay alive—including food, In this chapter you
water, and shelter. Moreover, because these needs must be met on an ongoing will learn to
basis, no creature could long survive if its relations with the environment were ●● Recognize the
random and chaotic. People have a huge advantage over other animals in this relationship between
regard. We have developed advanced levels of culture. cultural adaptation
and long-term cultural
Thanks to culture, if the rains do not come and the hot sun turns grassland
change.
into desert, we know how to pump water from deep wells to irrigate pastures
●● Distinguish between the
and feed our grazing animals. Conversely, if too much rain turns our pastures
different food-collecting
into marshlands, we have ways to drain flooded fields. To guard against famine, and food-producing
we have devised methods to preserve food and place it in safe storage. And if systems developed
our stomachs are incapable of digesting a particular food, we have learned that
around the world over
the course of about
cooking can make it edible.
200,000 years.
Despite such cultural knowhow, we are still subject to the basic pressures
●● Analyze the
that face all living creatures, and it is important to understand human survival
interrelationship of
from this point of view. The crucial concept that underlies such a perspective is natural environment,
adaptation. technology, and
social organization in
cultures as systems of
Adaptation adaptation.
●● Assess the significance
As discussed earlier in this book, adaptation is the process organisms undergo
of the Neolithic
to achieve a beneficial adjustment to a particular environment. What makes revolution in the context
human adaptation unique among all other species is our capacity to produce and of cultural evolution.
reproduce culture, enabling us to creatively adapt to an extraordinary range of ●● Explain the process
radically different environments. The biological underpinnings of this capacity of parallel evolution in
contrast to convergent
include complex brains and a long period of growth and development.
evolution.
How humans adjust to the burdens and opportunities presented in daily life
●● Critically discuss mass
is the basic concern of all cultures. As defined in a previous chapter, a people’s
food production in the
cultural adaptation consists of a complex of ideas, activities, and technologies age of globalization.
that enable them to survive and even thrive; in turn, that adaptation impacts
their environment.
157
158 CHAPTER 7 Patterns of Subsistence
Through their distinctive cultures, different human Hostilities are periodically fueled
groups have managed to adapt to a hugely diverse range by ecological pressures in which pigs
of natural environments—from Arctic snowfields to play a significant role. Valued for
Polynesian coral islands, from the Arabian Desert to the sanitizing the village and
Amazon rainforest. Notably, adaptation occurs not only protected as prestige an- P a c i fi c O c e a n
when humans make changes in their natural environ- imals, pig populations
ment but also when they are biologically changed by that multiply quickly, and WESTERN
NEW
environment, as illustrated in this chapter’s Biocultural in time great numbers GUINEA PAPUA
(INDONESIA) NEW
Connection. of them raid the food GUINEA
© Cengage Learning
gardens. Threatening
the food supplies of the
Coral
Adaptation, Environment, Tsembaga, they become

a serious problem.
AUST RALI A Sea
and Ecosystem The need to expand food cultivation in order to feed

the prestigious but pesky pigs puts a strain on the land
Human beings, like other organisms, survive as members of
best suited for farming. Male-owned pigs rooting for the
a population within a natural environment—a defined space
sweet potatoes greatly irritate the women working in the
with limited resources that presents certain possibilities and
food gardens. The growing tension in the ecosystem re-
limitations. People might just as easily farm as fish, but we
sults in periodic fighting between the Tsembaga and rival
do not expect to find farmers in Siberia’s frozen tundra or
neighbors.
fishermen in the middle of North Africa’s Sahara Desert.
Armed hostilities usually end after several weeks, fol-
Anthropologists have adopted the ecologists’ concept of
lowed by a pig feast ritual. For this event, the Tsembaga
ecosystem, defined as a system, or functioning whole,
butcher and roast almost all of their pigs and feast heartily
composed of both the natural environment and all the
on them with invited allies. By means of this feast, the
organisms living within it. Involving both organisms and
male Tsembaga hosts gain prestige and eliminate a major
their environment, the process of adaptation establishes an
source of irritation and complaint in their families and
ever-shifting balance between the needs of a population
between neighbors. Moreover, feasting on animal protein
and the potential of its environment. Populations must
leaves everyone well fed and physically strengthened.
have the flexibility to cope with variability and change
Even without hostilities over scarce land, such large pig
within their ecosystem in order to sustain themselves over
feasts have been held whenever the pig population has
the long run.
become unmanageable—every five to ten years, depend-
ing on the groups’ success in growing crops and raising
animals. Thus, the cycle of fighting and feasting keeps
Case Study: The Tsembaga the ecosystemic balance among humans, animals, crops,
The Tsembaga people of Papua New Guinea are one and land.
of countless examples of populations adapting to fluc-
tuations in their ecosystems by means of culture. The
Tsembaga are one of about twenty local groups of Maring Adaptation and Culture Areas
speakers who support themselves chiefly through sweet From early on, anthropologists recognized that ethnic
potatoes grown by women in food gardens cultivated with groups living within the same broad habitat often share
digging sticks or hoes (Rappaport, 1969). These Papuas certain cultural traits. These similarities reflect the funda-
also raise pigs, which fulfill important functions in the mental relationship between their comparable natural en-
community. Devouring almost anything edible, pigs keep vironments, available resources, and subsistence practices,
the village free of garbage and even human excrement; as well as the contact and exchange with neighboring
moreover, they serve as status symbols for their male populations.
owners. Rarely slaughtered, pigs are reserved primarily for Classifying groups according to their cultural traits,
large feasts when allies are needed to help fight in periodic anthropologists have mapped out geographic regions in
warfare against rival groups competing for scarce land. which a number of societies have similar ways of life.
At such times they are sacrificed to ancestral spirits, and Such a region, or culture area, often corresponds to
their meat is ritually consumed by everyone at the great an ecological expanse. In sub-Arctic North America, for
pig feast. example, migratory caribou herds graze across the vast
tundra. For dozens of different groups that have made this
area their home, these animals provide a major source of
ecosystem A system, or a functioning whole, composed of both the
natural environment and all the organisms living within it. food as well as material for shelter and clothing. Adapt-
culture area A geographic region in which a number of societies follow ing to more or less the same ecological resources in this
similar patterns of life. sub-Arctic landscape, these groups have developed similar
Adaptation 159
Surviving in the Andes: Aymara Adaptation to High Altitude

However adaptable we are as a species
through our diverse cultures, some nat-
ural environments pose such extreme
climatic challenges that the human
body must make physical adaptations
to successfully survive. The central
Andean highlands of Bolivia offer an
interesting example of complex biocul-
tural interaction, where a biologically
adapted human body type has emerged
due to natural selection.
Known as the altiplano, this high pla-
teau has an average elevation of 4,000
Joel Satore/National Geographic Stock

meters (13,000 feet). Many thousands
of years ago, small groups of human
foragers in the warm lowlands climbed
up the mountain slopes in search of
game and other food. The higher they
moved, the harder it became to breathe
due to decreasing molecular concentra-
tion, or partial pressure, of oxygen in Aymara Indians, who survive as farmers and herders, move across the altiplano (high plateau)
the inspired air. However, upon reach- in Bolivia with their llamas.
ing the cold and treeless highlands,
they found herds of llamas and hardy
food plants, including potatoes—reasons Experiencing a marked hypoxia (in- their expanded heart and lungs possess
to stay. Eventually (about 4,000 years sufficient oxygenation of the blood), a about 30 percent greater pulmonary diffus-
ago) their descendants domesticated both person’s normal physiological response to ing capacity to oxygenate blood.
the llamas and the potatoes and devel- being active at such heights is quick and In short, the distinctly broad chests of
oped a new way of life as high-altitude heavy breathing. Most outsiders visiting the Aymara Indians are biological evidence
agropastoralists. the altiplano typically need several days of their adaptation to the low-oxygen atmo-
The llamas provided meat and hides, as to acclimatize to these conditions. Going sphere of a natural habitat in which they
well as milk and wool. And the potatoes, too high too quickly can cause soroche survive as high-altitude agropastoralists.
a rich source of carbohydrates, became (“mountain sickness”), with physiological
their staple food. Over the course of many problems such as pulmonary hyperten- Biocultural Question
centuries, the Aymara selectively cultivated sion, increased heart rates, shortness
If a group of Aymara Indians abandons
more than 200 varieties of these tubers of breath, headaches, fever, lethargy, and
their high-altitude homeland in the Boliv-
on small family-owned tracts of land. They nausea. These symptoms usually disap-
ian altiplano and settles for a new life in
boiled them fresh for immediate consump- pear when one becomes fully acclimated,
the coastal lowlands, will their descen-
tion and also freeze-dried and preserved but most people will still be quickly
dants still living in this low-altitude envi-
them as chuño, which is the Aymara’s ma- exhausted by otherwise normal physical
ronment a dozen generations later have
jor source of nutrition to this day. exercise.
smaller chests?
Still surviving as highland subsistence For the Aymara Indians whose ances-
farmers and herders, these Aymara Indi- tors have inhabited the altiplano for many
ans have adapted culturally and biologi- thousands of years, the situation is differ- a
For more information, see Baker, P. (Ed.).
cally to the cold and harsh conditions of ent. Through generations of natural selec- (1978). The biology of high altitude peoples.
Bolivia’s altiplano. They live and go about tion, their bodies have become biologically London: Cambridge University Press; Rupert,
their work at extremely high altitudes (up adapted to the low oxygen levels.a Short- J. L., & Hochachka, P. W. (2001). The
to 4,800 meters or 15,600 feet), in which legged and barrel-chested, their small bod- evidence for hereditary factors contributing
partial pressure of oxygen in the air is far ies have an unusually large thoracic volume to high altitude adaptation in Andean
lower than that to which most humans are compared to their tropical lowland neigh- natives: A review. High Altitude Medicine &
biologically accustomed. bors and most other humans. Remarkably, Biology 2 (2), 235–256.
Food-Foraging Societies
Before the domestication of food plants and animals, all
people sustained themselves through food foraging,
a mode of subsistence involving some combination of
Arctic hunting, fishing, and gathering wild plant foods (roots,
bulbs, leaves, seeds, nuts, fruits, honey, and so forth).
Sub-Arctic When food foragers had the earth to themselves, they
Northwest had their pick of the best environments. But gradually,
Coast areas with rich soils and ample supplies of water were
appropriated by farming societies and more recently by
Plateau industrial and postindustrial societies in which machines
Northeast largely replaced human labor, hand tools, and animal
Great
Basin power. One after the other, small foraging communities
California Plains were edged out of their traditional habitats by expanding
food-producing societies.
Today, only about 200,000 people (less than 0.003
Southeast
percent of the world population of well over 7 billion) still
Southwest subsist mainly as traditional foragers—hunting, fishing,
and gathering. They are found only in the world’s most
marginal areas (frozen Arctic tundra, deserts, and inac-

cessible forests) and typically lead a migratory existence
Mesoamerica that makes it impractical to accumulate many material
possessions. Because foraging cultures have nearly disap-
peared in areas having a natural abundance of food and
fuel resources, anthropologists are necessarily cautious
Figure 7.1 Culture Areas
about generalizing about the ancient human past based
This map shows the major indigenous culture areas in North and
on in-depth studies of still-existing foraging groups that
Central America, highlighting a key traditional food source for
have adapted to more marginal habitats.
each. Native cultures within each area were similar.
Present-day people who subsist by hunting, fishing,
and wild plant collection are seldom or never completely
isolated. In fact, many groups historically participate
subsistence technologies and practices over the course in trade networks involving non-foragers, meeting the
of generations. Although they speak very different lan- demand for commodities such as furs, hides, feathers,
guages, they share a similar way of life, and thus all these ivory, pearls, fish, nuts, and honey within larger trading
different caribou-hunting groups, each with their own networks. Like everyone else, most food foragers are now
particular cultural identity, form part of the same culture part of a larger system with social, economic, and political
area (Figure 7.1). relations extending far beyond regional, national, or even
continental boundaries (Figure 7.2).
Modes of Subsistence
Human societies all around the world have developed cul-
Characteristics of Food-Foraging
tural infrastructures compatible with the natural resources Societies
they have available to them and within the limitations of Among the few remaining food-foraging societies, there
their various habitats. Each mode of subsistence involves are some common features: mobility, small group size,
resources and the technology required to effectively cap- flexible division of labor by gender, food sharing, egalitar-
ture and utilize them, as well as the kinds of work arrange- ianism, communal property, and rarity of warfare.
ments that are developed to best suit a society’s needs. In
the next few pages, we will discuss the major types of cul- Mobility
tural infrastructure, beginning with the oldest and most
Food foragers move as needed within a circumscribed
universal mode of subsistence: food foraging.
region that is their home range to tap into naturally avail-
able food sources. Some groups, such as the Ju/’hoansi
in the Kalahari Desert of southern Africa who depend on
food foraging A mode of subsistence involving some combination of the reliable and highly drought-resistant mongongo nut,
hunting, fishing, and gathering of wild plant foods. may keep to fairly fixed annual routes and cover only a
Food-Foraging Societies 161
Figure 7.2 Remote but Not Isolated

Peoples of the Kalahari Desert
Human groups (including food foragers)
do not exist in isolation except
occasionally—and even then not for
long. The bicycle this Bushman of
southern Africa is riding is indicative of
his links with the wider world, just as
the wild tsama melons (watermelons),
bow, and quiver of arrows speak of
his traditional hunter-gatherer life. For
2,000 years, Bushmen have been
interacting regularly with neighboring
© Anthony Bannister; Gallo Images Corbis

farmers and pastoralists. Moreover,
food foragers have supplied much of
the commodities desired by the rest of
the world, such as the elephant ivory
used for keyboards on pianos so widely
sought in 19th-century North America.
restricted territory. Others, such as the traditional Sho- How food-foraging peoples regulate population size
shone in the western highlands of North America, had relates to two things: how much body fat they accumulate
to cover a wider territory, their course determined by the and how they care for their children. Ovulation requires
local availability of the erratically productive pine nut. a certain minimum of body fat. The menarche (a girl’s first
A crucial factor in this mobility is availability of water. menstruation) in hunting and gathering societies surviv-
The distance between the food supply and the water must ing in areas with relatively few natural resources, such
not be so great that more energy is required to fetch water as the Kalahari Desert in southwestern Africa, generally
than can be obtained from the food. begins about 5 years later than in most agricultural or
industrial societies. For example, the mean age for menar-
Small Group Size che among !Kung Bushmen is 16.6 years, and the mean
Another characteristic of the food-foraging adaptation is age of !Kung mothers bearing their first child is 21.4 years
the small size of local groups, typically fewer than a hun- (Howell, 2010). Once a child is born, the mother nurses
dred people. No completely satisfactory explanation for the child several times each hour, even at night, and this
this has been offered, but both ecological and social factors continues over a period of four or five years. The constant
are involved. Among the ecological factors is the carrying stimulation of the mother’s nipples suppresses the level
capacity of the land—the number of people that the avail- of hormones that promote ovulation, making conception
able resources can support at a given level of food-getting less likely (Konner & Worthman, 1980; Small, 1997).
techniques. This requires adjusting to seasonal and long- Continuing to nurse for several years, women give birth
term changes in resource availability. Carrying capacity only at widely spaced intervals. Thus, the total number
involves not only the immediate presence of food and water of offspring remains low, effectively maintaining a stable
but also the tools and work necessary to secure them, as well and sustainable population size (Figure 7.3).
as short- and long-term fluctuations in their availability.
In addition to seasonal or local adjustments, food Flexible Division of Labor by Gender
foragers must make long-term adjustments to resources. Division of labor, present in all human societies, is probably
Food-foraging populations usually stabilize at numbers as old as human culture. Among food foragers, the hunting
well below the carrying capacity of their land. In fact, the and butchering of large game as well as the processing of
home ranges of most food foragers can support from three hard or tough raw materials are almost universally male
to five times as many people as they typically do. In the occupations. By contrast, women’s work in foraging soci-
long run, it may be more adaptive for a group to keep its eties usually focuses on collecting and processing a variety
numbers low rather than to expand indefinitely and risk of plant foods, as well as other domestic chores that can
disaster by a sudden and unexpected natural reduction in
food resources. The population density of foraging groups
surviving in marginal environments today rarely exceeds carrying capacity The number of people that the available resources
one person per square mile—a very low density. can support at a given level of food-getting techniques.
determined. In fact, the division of labor by gender is often

far less rigid among food foragers than it is in most other
types of society. Thus, Ju/’hoansi males, when the occasion
demands, willingly and without embarrassment gather wild
plant foods, build huts, and collect water, even though all
are regarded as women’s work. Likewise, in coastal Algon-
quian societies, women traditionally took an active part in
harvesting fish and shellfish such as clams and oysters.
Although women in foraging societies commonly spend
some time each day gathering wild foods, men rarely
hunt on a daily basis (Figure 7.4). The amount of energy
expended in hunting, especially in hot climates, is often
greater than the energy return from the kill. Too much time
spent searching out game might actually be counterproduc-
tive. Energy itself is derived primarily from plant carbohy-
drates, and it is usually the female gatherers who bring in
the bulk of the calories. A certain amount of meat in the
diet, though, guarantees high-quality protein that is less
easily obtained from plant sources because meat contains
exactly the right balance of all the amino acids (the building
blocks of protein) the human body requires. No one plant
food does this, and in order to get by without meat people
must hit on exactly the right combination of plants to pro-
©Anthony Bannister; Gallo Images/Corbis
vide the essential amino acids in the correct proportions.
Food Sharing
Another key feature of human social organization associ-
ated with food foraging is the sharing of food. Among the
Ju/’hoansi, women have control over the food they collect
and can share it with whomever they choose. Men, by
contrast, are constrained by rules that specify how much
Figure 7.3 Natural Birth Control
meat is to be distributed and to whom. For the individual
Frequent nursing of children over four or five years acts to suppress
hunter, meat sharing is really a way of storing it for the
ovulation among food foragers such as the Ju/’hoansi. As a
future: His generosity, obligatory though it might be, gives
consequence, women give birth to relatively few offspring at
him a claim on the future kills of other hunters. As a cul-
widely spaced intervals.
tural trait, food sharing has the obvious survival value of
distributing resources needed for subsistence.
be fit to the demands of breast-feeding and that are more
compatible with pregnancy and childbirth. Egalitarian Social Relations
Among food foragers today, the work of women is no A key characteristic of the food-foraging society is its
less arduous than that of men. For example, Ju/’hoansi egalitarianism. Because foragers are usually highly mobile
women may walk 12 miles a day to gather food, two and lack animal or mechanical transportation, they must
or three times a week. They are carrying not only their be able to travel without many encumbrances, especially
children but also, on the return home, between 15 and on food-getting expeditions. By necessity, the material
33 pounds of food. Still, they do not have to travel quite goods they carry with them are limited to the bare essen-
as far as do men on the hunt, and their work is usually tials, which include implements for hunting, gathering,
less dangerous. Also, their tasks require less rapid mobility, fishing, building, and cooking. (For example, the average
do not need complete and undivided attention, and are weight of an individual’s personal belongings among
readily resumed after interruption. the Ju/’hoansi is just under 25 pounds.) In this context,
All of this is compatible with those biological differences it makes little sense for them to accumulate luxuries or
that remain between the sexes. Certainly, women who are surplus goods, and the fact that no one owns significantly
pregnant or who have infants to nurse cannot travel long more than another helps to limit status differences.
distances in pursuit of game as easily as men can. It is important to realize that discrepancy in social
But, saying that differing gender roles among food for- standing by itself does not constitute inequality, a point
agers is compatible with the biological differences between that is easily misunderstood especially when relations be-
men and women is not saying that these roles are biologically tween men and women are concerned. In most traditional
Food-Foraging Societies 163
Anthony Bannister/Corbis
Kim Walker
Figure 7.4 Gender and Labor

Although food foragers such as the Ju/’hoansi Bushmen in southern Africa have a flexible
division of labor, men usually do the hunting, whereas women prepare food. Both men and
women gather wild foods such as ostrich eggs and edible plants—fruits, nuts, and tubers.
Here, Ju/’hoansi men return from a successful porcupine hunt, and women prepare a 3-pound
ostrich egg omelet (equivalent to about two dozen chicken eggs). Traditionally, once the bird’s
large, hard shell has been emptied, it serves as a very useful water container. If it shatters,
pieces are fashioned into jewelry.
food-foraging societies, women did not and do not defer The food forager’s concept of territory contributes as
to men. To be sure, women may be excluded from some much to social equality as it does to the equal distribution
rituals in which men participate, but the reverse is also of resources. Most groups have home ranges within which
true. Moreover, women control the fruits of their labor, access to resources is open to all members. What is avail-
not the men. Nor do women sacrifice their autonomy able to one is available to all. If a Mbuti Pygmy hunter liv-
even in societies in which male hunting, rather than ing in the forests of Central Africa discovers a honey tree,
female gathering, brings in the bulk of the food. he has first rights; but when he has taken his share, others
have a turn. No individual within the community pri-
Communal Property vately owns the tree; the system is first come, first served.
Food foragers make no attempt to accumulate surplus
foodstuffs, often an important source of status in agrarian Rarity of Warfare
societies. This does not mean that they live constantly on Although much has been written on the theoretical im-
the verge of starvation because their environment is their portance of hunting for shaping the supposedly compet-
natural storehouse. Except in the coldest climates (where itive and aggressive nature of the human species, most
a surplus must be set aside to see people through the long, anthropologists are unconvinced by these arguments.
lean winter season) or in times of acute ecological disas- To be sure, warlike behavior on the part of food-foraging
ter, some food can almost always be found in a group’s peoples is known, but such behavior is a relatively recent
territory. Because food resources are typically shared and phenomenon in response to pressure from expansionist
distributed equally throughout the group, no one achieves states. In the absence of such pressures, food-foraging
the wealth or status that hoarding might produce. In such peoples are remarkably nonaggressive and place more em-
a society, having more than others is a sign of deviance phasis on peacefulness and cooperation than they do on
rather than a desirable characteristic. violent competition.
How Technology Impacts patterns based on plant cultivation, breeding and raising
animals, or a mixture of both.
Cultural Adaptations The transition from food foraging to food production
among Foragers first took place about 10,000 years ago in Southwest Asia
(the Fertile Crescent, including the Jordan River Valley
Like habitat, technology plays an important role in shap- and neighboring regions in the Middle East). This was the
ing the characteristics of the foraging life. Just as the beginning of the Neolithic or New Stone Age (from the
availability of water, game animals, and other seasonal Greek neo meaning “new” and lith meaning “stone”) in
resources influence the movement, population size, and which people possessed stone-based technologies and de-
division of labor by gender among food-foraging groups, pended on domesticated plants, animals, or both. Within
so too do different hunting technologies and techniques the next few thousand years, similar early transitions to
play a part in determining movement, as well as popula- agricultural economies took place independently in other
tion size and division of labor by gender. parts of the world where human groups began to raise
Consider, for example, the Mbuti Pygmies in the Ituri and (later) alter wild cereal plants such as wheat, maize
forest of the Democratic Republic of Congo in Central (corn), and rice; legumes such as beans; gourds such as
Africa. All Mbuti bands hunt elephants with spears. How- squash; and tubers such as potatoes. Doing the same with
ever, for other game some of the bands use bows, and a number of wild animal species ranging in their hunting
others use large nets. Those equipped with nets have a territories, people began to domesticate goats, sheep, pigs,
cooperative division of labor in which men, women, and cattle, and llamas (Figure 7.5).
children collaborate in driving antelope and other game Because these activities radically changed almost every
into the nets for the kill. Usually, this involves very long aspect of cultural systems, anthropologists use the term
hours and movement over great distances as participants Neolithic revolution. As humans became increasingly
surround the animals and beat the woods noisily to dependent on domesticated crops, they mostly gave up
chase the game in one direction toward the great nets. their mobile way of life and settled down to till the soil,
Because this sort of “beat-hunt” requires the cooperation sow, weed, protect, harvest, and safely store their crops.
of up to thirty families, those using this method have No longer on the move, they could build more permanent
relatively large camps. dwellings and began to make pottery for storage of water,
Among Mbuti bow hunters, on the other hand, only food, and so on.
men go after the game. These archers tend to stay closer Just why this change came about is one of the im-
to the village for shorter periods of time and live in portant questions in anthropology. Because food pro-
smaller groups, typically of no more than six families. duction requires more work than food foraging, is more
Although there is no significant difference in overall monotonous, and is often a less secure means of subsis-
population density between net- and bow-hunting areas, tence, it is unlikely that people became food producers
archers generally harvest a greater diversity of animal voluntarily.
species, including monkeys (Bailey & Aunger, 1989; Initially, it appears that food production arose as a
Terashima, 1983). largely unintended byproduct of existing food manage-
ment practices. Among many examples, we may consider
the Paiute Indians, whose desert habitat in the western
Food-Producing Societies highlands of North America includes some oasis-like

marshlands. These foragers discovered how to irrigate
Habitat and technology do not tell the whole story of how wild crops in their otherwise very dry homeland, thus
we humans feed ourselves. After the emergence of tool- increasing the quantity of wild seeds and bulbs to be har-
making, which enabled humans to consume significant vested. Although their ecological intervention was very
amounts of meat as well as plant foods, the next truly mo- limited, it allowed them to settle down for longer peri-
mentous event in human history was the domestication ods in greater numbers than otherwise would have been
of plants and animals. Over time, this achievement trans- possible.
formed cultural systems, with humans developing new Unlike the Paiute, who stopped just short of a Neo-
economic arrangements, social structures, and ideological lithic revolution, other groups elsewhere in the world con-
tinued to transform their landscapes in ways that favored
the appearance of new varieties of particular plants and
Neolithic The New Stone Age; a prehistoric period beginning about animals, which came to take on increasing importance for
10,000 years ago in which peoples possessed stone-based technologies people’s subsistence. Although probably at first accidental,
and depended on domesticated plants and/or animals for subsistence.
food production became a matter of necessity as popula-
Neolithic revolution The domestication of plants and animals by
tion growth outstripped people’s ability to sustain them-
peoples with stone-based technologies beginning about 10,000
years ago and leading to radical transformations in cultural systems; selves through food foraging. For them, food production
sometimes referred to as the Neolithic transition. became a subsistence option of last resort.
Southeast Horse
Europe
Manioc Gourds Alpaca Potato
South Squash Lima bean Llama Sweet potato
America Tobacco Cotton Guinea pig
Peanut
Gourds Peppers Cacao
Squash Maize Beans Sunflower
Manioc
Mesoamerica Turkey
Avocado
Cotton
Cattle Millet Cat Groundnut Coffee
North Cotton Sorghum Watermelon
Africa Yam
Rice Plantain Tea
Southeast Banana
Sugarcane
Asia Taro
Yam
Dog Rice Beans Millet
East Hemp Water buffalo
Asia Pig Fowl
Silkworm
South Cattle Cotton Chicken
Asia
Pig
Goat Flax Grapes Dromedary
Southwest Sheep
Asia Barley
Rye Lentil
Wheat Cattle
© Cengage Learning
Central Dog Camel Donkey
Horse
Asia
YEARS AGO 15,000 10,000 9,000 8,000 7,000 6,000 5,000 4,000 3,000 2,000
Figure 7.5 Appearance of Domesticates in the Archaeological Record
Producing Food in Gardens: One of the most widespread forms of horticulture, es-
pecially in the tropics, is slash-and-burn cultivation, or
Horticulture swidden farming, in which the natural vegetation is cut, the
With the advent of plant domestication, some societies slash is subsequently burned, and crops are then planted
took up horticulture (from the Latin hortus, meaning among the ashes. This is an ecologically sophisticated and
“garden”) in which small communities of gardeners cul- sustainable way of raising food, especially in the tropics,
tivate crops with simple hand tools, using neither irriga- when carried out under the right conditions: low popula-
tion nor plow. Typically, horticulturists cultivate several tion densities and adequate amounts of land. It mimics the
varieties of food plants together in small, hand-cleared diversity of the natural ecosystem, growing several different
food gardens. Because they do not usually fertilize the crops in the same field. Mixed together, the crops are less
soil, they use a given garden plot for only a few years vulnerable to pests and plant diseases than a single crop.
before abandoning it in favor of a new one. Often, hor- Not only is the system ecologically sound, but it is
ticulturists grow enough food for their subsistence, and far more energy efficient than modern farming meth-
occasionally they produce a modest surplus that can be ods used in developed countries like the United States,
used for other purposes such as inter-village feasts and
horticulture The cultivation of crops in food gardens, carried out with
exchange. Although their major food supplies may come
simple hand tools such as digging sticks and hoes.
from their gardens, many horticulturists will also fish,
slash-and-burn cultivation An extensive form of horticulture in which
hunt game, and collect wild plant foods when need and the natural vegetation is cut, the slash is subsequently burned, and crops
opportunity arise. are then planted among the ashes; also known as swidden farming.
where natural resources such as land and fuel are still produces between 10 and 20 units of energy for every
relatively cheap and abundant, and many farms operate unit expended. A good example of how such a tropical
with financial support in the form of government subsi- food-gardening system works is provided by the Mekra-
dies or tax breaks. Although high-tech farming requires noti Kayapo Indians of Brazil’s Amazon forest, profiled in
more energy input than it yields, slash-and-burn farming the Original Study.
NAL
ORIGI
S T U DY Gardens of the Mekranoti Kayapo By Dennis Werner
To plant a garden, Mekranoti men clear the Because decomposers need moisture as well as warmth,
forest and burn the debris. Then, in the ashes, men and the long Mekranoti dry season could alter this whole pic-
women plant sweet potatoes, manioc, bananas, corn, ture of soil ecology. But soil samples from recently burned
pumpkins, papaya, sugar cane, pineapple, cotton, to- Mekranoti fields and the adjacent forest floor showed
bacco, and annatto, whose seeds yield achiote, the red that, as in most of the humid tropics, the high fertility
dye used for painting ornaments and people’s bodies. of the Indians’ garden plots comes from the trees that are
Because the Mekranoti don’t bother with weeding, the burned there, not from the soil, as in temperate climates.
forest gradually invades the garden. After the second year, Getting a good burn is a tricky
only manioc, sweet potatoes, and bananas remain. And operation. Perhaps for this reason
after three years or so there is usually nothing left but ba- the more experienced and knowl-
nanas. Except for a few tree species that require hundreds edgeable members of the commu-
of years to grow, the area will look like the original forest nity oversee its timing. If
twenty-five to thirty years later. done too early, the rains
This gardening technique, known as slash-and-burn, will leach out the min- GUYANA
is one of the most common in the world. At one erals in the ash before VENEZUELA
SURINAME
COLOMBIA
time critics condemned it as wasteful and ecologically planting time. If too late, FRENCH
GUIANA
destructive, but today we know that, especially in the the debris will be too wet Amazon River
humid tropics, it may be one of the best gardening to burn properly. Then,
Xingu
methods possible. insects and weeds that
Continuous high temperatures encourage the growth could plague the plants Mekranoti
PERU
of the microorganisms that cause rot, so organic matter will not die and few min- BOLIVIA BRAZIL
quickly breaks down into simple minerals. The heavy erals will be released into
Pacific Ocean
PA
© Cengage Learning
CHILE
RA
rains dissolve these valuable nutrients and carry them the soil. If the winds are
GU
AY
deep into the soils, out of the reach of plants. The tropi- too weak, the burn will ARGENTINA Atlantic
Ocean
cal forest maintains its richness because the heavy foliage not cover the entire plot.
URUGUAY
shades the earth, cooling it and inhibiting the growth of If they are too strong, the
the decomposers. A good deal of the rain is captured by fire can get out of hand.
leaves before ever reaching the ground. Shortly after burning the plots and clearing some of
When a tree falls in the forest and begins to rot, other the charred debris, people begin the long job of planting,
plants quickly absorb the nutrients that are released. In which takes up all of September and lasts into October. In
contrast, with open-field agriculture, the sun heats the the center of the circular garden plot the women dig holes
earth, the decomposers multiply, and the rains quickly and throw in a few pieces of sweet potatoes. After covering
leach the soils of their nutrients. In a few years a lush the tubers with dirt, they usually ask a male to stomp on
forest, if cleared for open one-crop agriculture, can be the mound and make a ritual noise resembling a Bronx
transformed into a barren wasteland. cheer—magic to ensure a large crop. Forming a large ring
A few months after the Mekranoti plant banana and around the sweet potatoes, the Indians thrust pieces of
papaya, these trees shade the soil, just as the larger forest manioc stems into the ground, one after the other. Once
trees do. The mixing of different kinds of plants in the grown, these stems form a dense barrier around the sweet
same area means that minerals can be absorbed as soon potato patch. Outside of the manioc ring, women plant
as they are released; corn picks up nutrients very fast, yams, cotton, sugar cane, and annatto. An outermost cir-
whereas manioc is slow. Also, the small and temporary cle of banana stalks and papaya trees is sowed by simply
clearings mean that the forest can quickly reinvade its throwing the seeds on the ground, whereas corn, pump-
lost territory. kins, watermelons, and pineapple are planted throughout
the garden; rapid growers, they are harvested long before need to work to survive. The data showed that for every
the manioc matures. hour of gardening one Mekranoti adult produces almost
When I lived with the Mekranoti, Western agrono- 18,000 kilocalories of food. (As a basis for comparison,
mists—accustomed to single-crop fields and a harvest that people in the United States consume approximately 3,000
happens all at once—knew very little about slash-and- kilocalories of food per day.) As insurance against bad
burn crop cultivation. Curious about the productivity of years, and in case they receive visitors from other villages,
Mekranoti horticulture, I began measuring off areas of they grow far more produce than they need. But even so,
gardens to count how many manioc plants, ears of corn, they don’t need to work very hard to survive. A look at the
or pumpkins were found there. The women thought it average amount of time adults spend on different tasks
strange to see me struggling through the tangle of plants every week shows just how easygoing life in horticultural
to measure off areas, 10 meters by 10 meters, placing societies can be:
string along the borders, and then counting what was
8.5 hours Gardening
inside. Sometimes I asked a woman to dig up all of the
6.0 hours Hunting
sweet potatoes within the marked-off area. My requests
1.5 hours Fishing
were bizarre, but they cooperated, holding on to the ends
1.0 hour Gathering wild foods
of the measuring tapes or sending their children to help.
33.5 hours All other jobs
For some plants, like bananas, I simply counted the num-
ber of clumps of stalks in the garden, and the number of Altogether, the Mekranoti need to work less than
banana bunches I could see growing in various clumps. By 51 hours a week, and this includes getting to and from
watching how long it took the bananas to grow, from the work, cooking, repairing broken tools, and all of the other
time I could see them until they were harvested, I could things we normally don’t count as part of our work week.
calculate a garden’s total banana yield per year.
Combining the time allocation data with the garden Adapted from Werner, D. (1990). Amazon journey (pp. 105–112).
productivities, I got an idea of how hard the Mekranoti Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Producing Food on Farms: markets, much of what the farmers do is governed by politi-
cal and economic forces over which they have little control.
Agriculture Early food producers have developed several major crop
In contrast to horticulture, agriculture (from the Latin complexes: two adapted to dry uplands and two to tropical
agri, meaning “field”) is growing food plants like grains, wetlands. In the dry uplands of Southwest Asia, for example,
tubers, fruits, and vegetables in soil prepared and main- farmers time their agricultural activities with the rhythm of
tained for crop production. This more intensive food the changing seasons, cultivating wheat, barley, oat, flax,
production involves using technologies other than hand rye, and millet. In the tropical wetlands of Southeast Asia,
tools, such as plows, fertilizers, and/or irrigation. Histori- rice and tubers such as yams and taro are cultivated. In the
cally, agriculture often relied on humans or draft animals Americas, people have adapted to natural environments sim-
for plowing and transport; it now often depends on ilar to those of Africa and Eurasia but have cultivated their
fuel-powered tractors and trucks to produce food on larger own indigenous plants: Typically, maize, beans, squash, and
plots of land. But the ingenuity of some early agricultur- potatoes are grown in drier areas, whereas manioc is exten-
alists is illustrated in this chapter’s Anthropology Applied sively grown in the tropical wetlands.
feature, highlighting an ecologically sound mountain ter-
racing and irrigation system established 1,000 years ago. Characteristics of Crop-Producing Societies
Among agriculturists, surplus crop cultivation is gen- One of the most significant correlates of crop cultivation
erally substantial—providing food not only for their own is the development of fixed settlements, in which farming
needs but also for those of various full-time specialists families reside together near their cultivated fields. The task
and nonproducing consumers. This surplus may be traded of food production lends itself to a different kind of social
or sold for cash, or it may be coerced out of the farmers organization. Because the hard work of some members
through taxes, rent, or tribute (forced gifts acknowledging of the group can provide food for all, others become free
submission or protection) paid to landowners or other to devote their time to inventing and manufacturing the
dominant groups. The landowners and specialists—such as equipment needed for a new sedentary way of life. Tools
traders, carpenters, blacksmiths, sculptors, basketmakers, for digging and harvesting, pottery for storage and cooking,
and stonecutters—typically reside in substantial towns or
cities, where political power is centralized in the hands of a agriculture Intensive crop cultivation, employing plows, fertilizers, and/
socially elite class. Dominated by more powerful groups and or irrigation.
Agricultural Development and the Anthropologist

Indigenous peoples have often impressed
anthropologists with their traditional prac-
tices, which display both ingenuity and
knowledge. Beyond the profession of an-
thropology, people, especially Westerners,
have adopted the popular notion that
indigenous groups invariably live in some
sort of blissful oneness with the environ-
ment. But this was never the message of
anthropologists, who know that traditional
peoples are only human and, as such, are
capable of making mistakes. Just as we
have much to learn from their successes,
© Ann Kendall/Cusichaca Trust

so too can we learn from their failures.
Archaeologist Ann Kendall is doing just
this in the Patacancha Valley in the Andes
Mountains of southern Peru. Kendall is di-
rector and founder of the Cusichaca Trust,
near Oxford, England, a rural development
organization that revives ancient farming Mountain terracing in Peru has counteracted erosion and provided irrigation for farmland.
practices. In the late 1980s, after working
for ten years on archaeological excavations plots, coupled with minimal terracing of Cusichaca Trust supported the restora-
and rural development projects, she invited the hillsides, had resulted in tremendous tion of the terraces and 5.8 kilometers
botanist Alex Chepstow-Lusty of Cambridge soil loss through erosion. By 1,900 years (3.6 miles) of canal. The effort relied on
University to investigate climatic change ago, soil degradation and a cooling climate local labor working with traditional methods
and paleoecological data. His findings, had led to a dramatic reduction in farming. and materials—clay (with a cactus mix to
along with Kendall’s, provided evidence of Then, about 1,000 years ago, farming keep it moist), stone, and soil. Local fami-
intensive farming in the Patacancha Valley, was revived, this time with soil-sparing lies have replanted 160 hectares of the ren-
beginning about 4,000 years ago. The re- techniques. ovated pre-conquest terraces with maize,
search showed that over time, widespread Kendall’s investigations have doc- potatoes, and wheat, and the plots are up to
clearing to establish and maintain farm umented intensive irrigated-terrace con- ten times more productive than they were.
struction over two periods of occupation, Among other related accomplishments,
including Inca development of the area. twenty-one water systems have been in-
It was a sophisticated system, devised to stalled, which reach more than 800 large
counteract erosion and achieve maximum families, and a traditional concept of home-
agricultural production.a The effort required based gardens has been adapted to intro-
workers to haul load after load of soil duce European-style vegetable gardens to
COLOMBIA
up from the valley floor. In addition, they improve diet and health and to facilitate
planted alder trees to stabilize the soil market gardening. Since 1997, these proj-
ECUADOR
and to provide both firewood and building ects have been under an independent local
materials. rural development organization known as
So successful was this farming system ADESA. The Cusichaca Trust has continued
BRAZIL
by Inca times that the number of people liv- its pioneering work in areas of extreme
ing in the valley quadrupled to some 4,000, poverty in Peru farther to the north, such
PERU about the same as it is now. However, yet as Apurímac and Ayacucho, using tried and
another reversal of fortune occurred when tested traditional technology in the restora-
the Spanish took over Peru, and the ter- tion of ancient canal and terrace systems.b
races and trees here and elsewhere were
BOLIVIA
© Cengage Learning
Patacancha a
For background information, see Krajick, K.
Valley allowed to deteriorate.
Pacific
Armed with these research findings and (1998, July 17). Greenfarming by the Incas?
Ocean
information and insights gathered through Science 281 (5375), 322.
CHILE b
interviews and meetings with locals, the See www.cusichaca.org.
Figure 7.6 Transhumance,

Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France
At spring's end, a farmer living
in the mountain valleys of
southwestern France leads his
cattle to high-altitude summer
pastures. Since herds are often
left to graze in open rangeland,
most farmers put a bell on the
lead cow in order to track the
animals. In many rural French
communities, spring and autumn
moves are marked by a festival
that includes parading herds
through town. The event is all
the greater in the fall when the
Christian Goupi/AGE Fotostock

animals return fattened and with
calves.
clothing made of woven textiles, and housing made of designated pastures, albeit under supervision, branded or
stone, wood, or sun-dried bricks all come out of the new otherwise marked by their owners as private property.
settled living conditions and the altered division of labor. Likewise, many ancient agricultural communities
The transition from foraging to food production also adapted to mountainous environments from the Alps to the
brought important changes in social structure. At first, Himalayas have traditionally herded livestock (cows, sheep,
social relations were egalitarian and hardly different from horses, and so on) in high summer pastures, leaving their
those that prevailed among food foragers. As settlements narrow lowland valleys for alternative use—farming grains,
grew, however, and large numbers of people had to share keeping orchards, and growing vegetables and hay to feed
important resources such as land and water, a greater animals in the winter season. After the crop harvest, before
division of labor developed, and society became more the weather turns cold and snow covers the higher pastures,
complex in organization. those who left the village to tend the herds bring the ani-
mals back to the valley and settle in for the winter season.
Figure 7.6 illustrates a contemporary instance of this
Mixed Farming: Crop Growing “vertical” seasonal movement of herders and their livestock
between high-altitude summer pastures and lowland valleys;
and Animal Breeding this is an example of transhumance (trans means “across”;
As noted previously, indigenous food-producing cul- humus means “earth”) (Cole & Wolf, 1999; see also Jones,
tures in the western hemisphere depended primarily on 2005). In contrast to transhumance, in which a number
growing domesticated indigenous crops such as manioc, of men from the village annually move with their herds to
corn, and beans. With some exceptions—including the seasonal pastures while other community members remain
Aymara and Quechua, who traditionally also keep llamas home in the settlement, there are also cultures in which the
and alpacas in their high-altitude homeland in the Andes entire community migrates with the herds to their alternate
Mountains of South America (see the Biocultural Con- grazing grounds—as described in the next section.
nection)—American Indians obtained sufficient meat, fat,
leather, and wool from wild game.
In contrast, Eurasian and African food-producing
Herding Grazing Animals:
peoples often do not have an opportunity to obtain Pastoralism
enough vitally important animal proteins from wild
One of the more striking examples of human adaptation
game, fish, or fowl. Many have developed a mixed subsis-
to the environment is pastoralism—breeding and man-
tence strategy that combines crop cultivation with raising
aging large herds of domesticated herbivores (grazing and
animals for food, labor, or trade. Depending on cultural
traditions, ecological circumstances, and animal habits,
pastoralism The breeding and managing of migratory herds of
some species are kept in barns or fenced-off fields, whereas domesticated grazing animals, such as goats, sheep, cattle, llamas,
others may range freely in and around the settlement or and camels.
browsing animals), such as goats, sheep, cattle, horses, The return trip north is especially dangerous because
llamas, or camels. Unlike the forms of animal husbandry the mountain snows are melting, and the gorges are full of
discussed previously, pastoralism is a specialized way of turbulent, ice-cold water rushing down from the mountain
life centered on breeding and herding animals. peaks. This long trek is further burdened by the newborn
Dependent on livestock for daily survival, families in spring lambs and goat kids. Where the watercourses are not
pastoral cultures own herds of grazing animals whose need very deep, the nomads ford them. The Bakhtiari cross deep
for food and drink determines their everyday routines. channels, including one river that is a half-mile wide, with
When a dozen or more herding families join together, their the help of inflatable goatskin rafts, on which they place in-
collective herds may number in the thousands and some- fants and elderly or infirm family members, as well as lambs
times even a few hundred thousand. Unlike crop cultivators and kids. Men swim alongside the rafts, pushing them
who need to remain close to their fields, pastoral peoples through the icy water. If they work from dawn to dusk, the
do not usually establish permanent settlements because nomads can get all of the people and animals across the
they must follow or lead their large herds to new pastures river in five days. Dozens of animals drown each day.
on a regular basis. Like their herds, most pastoralists must In the mountain passes, where a biting wind numbs
be mobile and have adjusted their way of life accordingly. the skin and brings tears to the eyes, the Bakhtiari trek a
In environments that are too dry, cold, steep, or rocky rugged slippery trail. Climbing the steep escarpments is
for farming, nomadic pastoralism is an effective way of dangerous, and often the stronger men must carry their
living, far more so than sheep or cattle ranching. One children and the baby goats on their shoulders as they
example of an environment that fits this description is make their way over the ice and snow to the lush moun-
the vast, arid grassland region that stretches eastward tain valley that is their destination.
from North Africa through the Arabian Desert, across the The journey is familiar but not predictable. It can take
plateau of Iran and into Turkestan and Mongolia. Today, weeks because the flocks travel slowly and need constant
in Africa and Asia alone, more than 21 million people
attention. Men and older boys walk the route, driving the
are pastoralists, still migrating with their herds. These
sheep and goats as they go. Women and children usually
nomadic groups regard movement as a natural part of life.
ride atop mules and donkeys, along with the tents and
other equipment (Figure 7.7).
Reaching their destination, the Bakhtiari set up tents—
Case Study: Bakhtiari Herders traditionally cloth shelters woven by the women. The tents
Counted among the world’s pastoral groups are the are a fine example of adaptation to a changing environ-
Bakhtiari, a fiercely independent people with a way of ment. Made of black goat-hair, they retain heat and repel
life uniquely adapted to the seasonal fluctuations of the water during the winter and keep out heat during the sum-
unforgiving Zagros Mountains of western Iran (Barth, mer. These portable homes are easy to erect, take down, and
1962; Coon, 1958; Salzman, 1967). For many thousands transport. Inside, the furnishings are sparse and functional,
of years, Bakhtiari life has revolved around the seasonal but also artful. Heavy felt pads or elaborate wool rugs, also
migrations needed to provide good grazing lands for herds woven by the women, cover the ground, and stacks of
of goats and fat-tailed sheep—hazardous journeys as long blankets, goatskin containers, copper utensils, clay jugs, and
as 300 kilometers (185 miles), over mountains as high bags of grain are pressed against the inside walls of the tent.
as 3,700 meters (about 12,000 feet), and through deep Central to Bakhtiari subsistence, sheep and goats pro-
chasms and churning watercourses. vide milk, cheese, butter, meat, hides, and wool. Women
Each fall, before the harsh winter comes to the and girls spend considerable time spinning wool into
mountains, these nomads load their tents and other yarn—sometimes doing so while riding atop donkeys on
belongings on donkeys and drive their the less difficult parts of their migration. They use the
flocks down to the warm plains yarn to make not only rugs and tents, but also clothing,
that border western Iraq. Here the storage bags, and other essentials. With men owning and
grazing land is excellent and well controlling the animals, which are of primary importance
watered during the win- in Bakhtiari life, women generally have less economic and
AR
ter months. In the spring, M AZERBAIJAN
EN political power than their fathers, brothers, or husbands,
IA
TURKEY
when the low-lying pas- Caspian TURKMENISTAN but they are not without influence.
Sea
tures dry up, they return The Bakhtiari live in the political state of Iran but have
AFGHANISTAN
to the mountain valleys, their own traditional system of justice, including laws and
IRAN
where a new crop of grass
Za
a penal code. Tribal leaders or khans (men who are elected

g ro
IRAQ
sM
is sprouting. For this un or who inherit their office) govern the Bakhtiari. Most
tai
o
KUWAIT ns
© Cengage Learning
trek, they split into five Bakhtiari khans grew wealthy when oil was discovered in
PAKISTAN
Pe
si
groups, each composed their homeland around the start of the 20th century, and
r
an
Gu
of some 5,000 individuals SAUDI ARABIA lf
many of them are well educated, having attended Iranian
and 50,000 animals. or foreign universities.
© S. Eran Images and Stories

Figure 7.7 Bakhtiari Pastoralists
In the Zagros Mountains region of Iran, pastoral nomads follow seasonal pastures. Migrating
vast distances with their pack donkeys and mules, they lead huge herds of goats and sheep
over rugged terrain that includes perilously steep, snowy passes and fast ice-cold rivers.
Despite this, and although some of them own houses in

cities, the khans spend much of their lives among their peo-
ple in the mountains. The predominance of males in both
economic and political affairs is common among pastoral
Indus
nomads; theirs is very much a man’s world. That said, elderly Valley
Bakhtiari women eventually may gain a good deal of power. Nile Yellow
And some women of all ages today are gaining a measure of Valley River Valley
Mesoamerica
economic control by selling their beautiful handmade rugs
© Cengage Learning
Peru
to traders, which brings in cash to their households. Lower
Although pastoral nomads like the Bakhtiari depend Mesopotamia
on their herds to meet their basic daily needs, they also
trade surplus animals, leather, and wool (plus various
crafts such as woven rugs) with farmers or merchants. In Figure 7.8 Locations of Major Early Civilizations
exchange they receive crops and valued commodities such The indigenous civilizations of the western hemisphere developed
as flour, dried fruit, spices, tea, metal knives, pots and wholly independently of those in Africa and Eurasia. Chinese
kettles, cotton or linen textiles, guns, and (more recently) civilizations may have developed independently of those that
lightweight plastic containers, sheets, and so on. In other arose early in Mesopotamia, the Nile Valley, and the Indus Valley.
words, there are many ties that connect them to surround-
ing agricultural and industrial societies.
With urbanization came greater complexity—labor spe-
cialization, the formation of elite groups, public manage-
Intensive Agriculture: ment, taxation, and policing. For food and fuel, urbanized
Urbanization and Peasantry populations depended on what was produced or foraged

in surrounding areas. Thus, the urban ruling class sought
With the intensification of agriculture, some farming to widen its territorial power and political control over
settlements grew into towns and even cities (Figure 7.8). rural populations.
Once a powerful group managed to dominate a com- modern agriculture depends on newly invented laborsav-
munity of farmers, it also imposed its rules, forcing them ing devices such as tractors, combines, milking machines,
to work harder and obliging them to make payments in and so on. With large machines plowing, seeding, weed-
farm produce or labor services as fees for land use and pro- ing, mowing, and harvesting crops, the need for farm-
tection or as acknowledgment of submission. Burdened hands and other rural workers is sharply diminished. This
by taxes to feed those repressing them, these farmers were has also happened with livestock—in particular, hogs,
left with little for their own families and lost their inde- cattle, and poultry.
pendence. Subjected to an ever-more dominant group, We can define industrial food production as
they became a peasant class. These small-scale producers large-scale businesses involved in mass food produc-
of crops or livestock live on land that they own or rent tion, processing, and marketing that primarily rely on
in exchange for labor, crops, or money and are usually laborsaving machines. It has had far-reaching economic,
exploited by more powerful groups in a complex society social, and political consequences, not all of which are
(Wolf, 1966). readily recognized as related and intertwined. Today,
This is the situation in many parts of the world large food-producing corporations own enormous tracts
today. No matter how hard they work, peasants typi- of land on which they mass produce tons of mechanically
cally possess too little land of their own to go beyond harvested crops or raise huge numbers of meat animals.
meeting the most basic needs of their families. Unable Crops and animals alike are harvested, processed, packed,
to produce enough of a surplus to sell for cash, they and shipped with ever-greater efficiency to supermarkets
rarely have capital to buy the laborsaving equipment to feed largely urban masses. Profits are considerable,
that could increase their production. Most peasants especially for corporate owners and shareholders.
remain stuck in poverty, struggling to make ends meet. Although meat, poultry, and other agricultural
Meanwhile, big landowners and wealthy merchants products are relatively cheap and thus affordable, in-
have the means to expand their holdings and to invest dustrial food production by agribusiness has often been
in new machinery that leads to increased productivity a disaster for millions of peasants and small farmers.
and profitability. Even medium-sized farms growing corn, wheat, or po-
tatoes or raising cows, hogs, and chickens can rarely
compete without government subsidies. For that rea-
Industrial Food Production son, the number of family-owned farms in western Eu-
rope and North America has dramatically declined in
Until about 200 years ago, human societies worldwide
the past few decades. This process has led to huge drops
had developed cultural infrastructures based on foraging,
in many rural populations, decimating many farming
horticulture, agriculture, or pastoralism. This changed
communities.
with the invention of the steam engine in England, which
For the family farms that have managed to survive,
brought about an industrial revolution that quickly spread
there is seldom enough income to cover the costs of a large
to other parts of the globe. Replacing animal and human
household, including education, healthcare, farm and
labor, as well as hand tools, new machines (first powered
household insurance, and taxes. This situation forces in-
by steam, then by biofuels—coal, gas, oil) boosted factory
dividuals to seek money-earning opportunities elsewhere,
production and mass transportation. Throughout the
often far away. Ironically, some hire on as cheap wage la-
1800s and 1900s, this resulted in a large-scale industrial
borers in poultry- or meat-packing plants where working
society. Technological inventions utilizing electricity
conditions are distasteful and often dangerous.
and (since the 1940s) nuclear energy brought about more
Maximizing profits, agribusinesses are constantly
dramatic changes in social and economic organization on
streamlining food production and seeking ways to re-
a worldwide scale.
duce labor costs by trimming the number of workers,
Modern industrial technologies have transformed
minimizing employee benefits, and driving down wages.
food production. In contrast to traditional farms and
The largest of these have gone global in a push for
plantations, which historically depended on human
market expansion beyond regional or even national
labor (often forced) and on animal power in many places,
boundaries.
Today, the United States is the world’s largest producer
of chicken meat—some 36 billion pounds annually. On
peasant A small-scale producer of crops or livestock living on land that
is self-owned or rented in exchange for labor, crops, or money; often average, each American consumes 85 pounds of chicken a
exploited by more powerful groups in a complex society. year, but much of the country’s production is exported. The
industrial society A society in which human labor, hand tools, and $55 billion U.S. poultry business exports billions of tons of
animal power are largely replaced by machines, with an economy chicken annually to dozens of countries around the world.
primarily based on big factories.
Over 900,000 tons go to Russia (mostly legs—more than a
industrial food production Large-scale businesses involved in mass
food production, processing, and marketing, which primarily rely on billion of them). Another 400,000 tons go to China, com-
laborsaving machines. prised primarily of some 1.2 billion chicken feet (see the
Adaptation in Cultural Evolution 173
Figure 7.9 Chicken Harvester

Chickens ready for butchering are
usually grabbed by their feet, stuffed
in crates, and trucked off to the
slaughterhouse. But some farmers
use mechanical harvesters. Moving
through a chicken barn, a harvester
can pick up about 200 birds in
30 seconds. Once full, it places the
birds in holding containers. From
there, the chickens are mechanically
transferred to a packing unit, which
automatically counts them and
places them into drawers that are
stacked, loaded onto a truck, and
transported to a processing plant.
There the chickens are mass killed,
cut up, and packaged.
© Anglia Autoflow Ltd.

Globalscape feature). Large-scale chicken farms, with en- Yet not all changes turn out to be positive in the long
closed “chicken houses” big enough to hold about 23,000 run, nor do they improve conditions for every member of
birds, are located primarily in the southern United States a society even in the short run. Notably, people in urban
where there is ready access to corn and soy feed (Figure industrial societies are not more highly developed than
7.9). The country’s biggest processing plant, located in those who depend on farming, herding, or food foraging.
Mississippi, slaughters about 2.5 million chickens per week. A long-term perspective is required to detect cultural
The industrial food production and global marketing evolution because the adaptive changes in the cultural
complex, involving a network of interlinked distribution system occur over the course of generations. When a new
centers, is made possible by an electronic-digital revolu- technology or different natural resource changes a society's
tion that began in the late 20th century. Increasingly, the economic base, its social organization may be adjusted,
economies of countries all around the world are based on and that, in turn, may alter its collective worldview, even
the research and development of knowledge and technol- spiritual ideas and practices. A good example of this is the
ogies, as well as on providing information, services, and Comanche, whose known prehistory begins in the high-
finance capital on a global scale. lands of southern Idaho (Wallace & Hoebel, 1952). Living
in that harsh, arid region, these North American Indians
traditionally subsisted on wild plants, small animals, and
occasionally larger game. Their simple material equipment
Adaptation in Cultural was limited to what they (and their dogs) could carry or
Evolution pull, and their groups were restricted in size. The shaman,
who was a combination of healer and spiritual guide,
wielded whatever social power the group allowed.
Human groups adapt to their environments by means of
At some point in their past, many centuries ago, the
their cultures. These environments are not always stable;
Comanche moved east onto the Great Plains, attracted
they may change and often do, primarily as a consequence
by enormous bison herds. As much larger groups could
of human activity in the ecosystem. Moreover, people
be supported by the new and plentiful food supply, the
may migrate to a very different environment, requiring
an adaptive change. The result is that cultures may slowly
develop into a different type over the course of time; they
evolve. This is called cultural evolution. The process cultural evolution Cultural change over time—not to be confused with
progress.
is sometimes confused with the idea of progress—the
progress In anthropology, a relative concept signifying that a society or
notion that humans are moving forward to a better, more country is moving forward to a better, more advanced stage in its cultural
advanced stage in their development toward perfection. development toward greater perfection.
GLOBALSCAPE
Arctic
Ocean
RUSSIA
Moscow
ASIA
NORTH
EUROPE
AMERICA
New York, KOREA
Texas New York CHINA
Mississippi Shanghai
Pacific
Mexico Atlantic
Ocean
Ocean
JAMAICA AFRICA
Pacific
Ocean
SOUTH
AMERICA Indian
© Cengage Learning
Ocean
AUSTRALIA
AP Images/J. Scott Applewhite
© Bill Ling/Getty Images

Chicken Out: Bush’s Legs or Phoenix Talons? dark-meat legs. And so it was that the U.S. poultry industry entered
Every evening in Moscow, Russians can be found enjoying a the Russian market. Today, Russia imports more U.S. chicken than
traditional dinner that may begin with borscht (beet soup) and it produces on its own farms, especially legs—over a billion!
smetana (sour cream), followed by a main course of kotleta What happens with a typical 6-pound broiler chicken butchered
po-kievski (boneless fried chicken breast). But, if the budget is a by a Mexican immigrant working for minimum wage in a Missis-
bit tight, dinner might be nozhki busha (chicken legs), baked, fried, sippi poultry plant? As we have seen, its legs are served up in
or roasted—served with cabbage and potatoes. Moscow, and its breasts end up on U.S. dining tables or on the
Foreign visitors may recognize the breast entrée as chicken menus of international airlines. And the rest of the bird? One of
Kiev but may be baffled to learn that the specialty nozhki busha its frozen wings goes into a giant container shipped to Korea;
translates as “Bush’s legs.” That is because these big meaty legs the other to West Africa. The offal (neck, heart, liver, and guts)
are imported from the United States and first appeared on Russian is transported to Jamaica, where it is boiled and dished up in
menus when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, during George soup. The excess fat gets converted into biodiesel fuel at an ex-
H. W. Bush’s presidency (1989–1993). At the time, the Russian perimental refinery in Texas. And what about its cute yellow feet?
economy was dismal, and few people could afford beef or pork. They are exported to Shanghai, deep fried, stewed, and served up
Even chicken legs were too expensive for ordinary Russians. To as a delicacy called fèngzhuâ, or Phoenix talons, last seen being
help the transition to a capitalist democracy, the U.S. government nibbled on by a visiting New York banker.
promoted the advantages of free markets and global trade. What
better propaganda than cheap chicken—especially because the Global Twister
American preference for white meat resulted in a surplus of the What happens to the feathers?
174
Adaptation in Cultural Evolution 175
The Buffalo Hunt, c.1832 (coloured engraving), Catlin, George (1794–1872)/Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris, France/
Giraudon/The Bridgeman Art Library
Figure 7.10 The Bison Hunt
This 1832 colored engraving of a Comanche bison hunt is by artist George Catlin (1796–1872).
Plains Indians such as the Comanche, Cheyenne, and Lakota developed similar cultures
because they had to adapt to similar environmental conditions.
Comanche needed a more complex political organization. cultivated corn and gathered wild rice, which fostered
Eventually, they acquired horses and guns from European a distinct set of social, political, and religious practices.
and neighboring Indian traders. This enhanced their Then their better-armed eastern neighbors pushed them
hunting capabilities significantly and led to the emer- west into the Great Plains, where they adapted to a new
gence of powerful hunting chiefs (Figure 7.10). ecosystem within a few generations. They gave up their
To increase the number of horses, the Comanche be- food gardens and became horse-riding bison hunters. By
came raiders, and their hunting chiefs evolved into war adapting to life on the Great Plains, they slowly developed
chiefs. The once materially unburdened and peaceful a culture resembling that of the Comanche, even though
hunter-gatherers of the dry highlands became wealthy, and the cultural historical backgrounds of the two groups
raiding became a way of life. In the late 18th and early 19th differed significantly. This is an example of convergent
centuries, they dominated the southern Plains (now pri- evolution—the development of similar cultural adap-
marily Texas and Oklahoma). In moving from one regional tations to similar environmental conditions by different
environment to another and in adopting a new technol- peoples with different ancestral cultures.
ogy, the Comanche were able to take advantage of existing Another type of cultural evolution is parallel
cultural capabilities to thrive in their new situation. evolution, in which similar cultural adaptations to
Types of Cultural Evolution convergent evolution In cultural evolution, the development of similar
Sometimes societies that slowly develop independently cultural adaptations to similar environmental conditions by different
peoples with different ancestral cultures.
of one another find similar solutions to similar problems.
parallel evolution In cultural evolution, the development of similar
For example, the Cheyenne Indians originally lived in cultural adaptations to similar environmental conditions by peoples
the woodlands of the Great Lakes region where they whose ancestral cultures were already somewhat alike.
similar environmental conditions are achieved by peoples sweet potatoes, the Rapanui also raised domesticated
whose ancestral cultures were already somewhat alike. chickens, hunted wild birds, fished the ocean, and gath-
For example, the development of farming in Mexico and ered nuts, fruits, and seeds. They prospered, producing
Southwest Asia took place independently, as people in surpluses, growing dramatically in number; and they
both regions, whose lifeways were already comparable, formed into a few dozen clans under a paramount chief,
became dependent on a narrow range of plant foods that a sacred king.
required human intervention for their protection and Trees, felled for fuel and to build homes and fishing ca-
reproductive success. Both developed intensive forms of noes, were also used as rollers for transporting huge stone
agriculture, built large cities, and created complex social statues, which became an extraordinary hallmark of Ra-
and political organizations. panui culture (Figure 7.11). However, over time, success
As the following example illustrates, human groups do turned to failure—evidently due to a collapse of the fragile
not always make the necessary adaptive changes. This can ecosystem brought about by a combination of natural and
lead to disastrous results, including the deaths of count- cultural factors (Alfonso-Durruty, 2012).
less people (and other creatures) and the destruction of Rats, which had come to the island with the Polynesian
the natural environment. settlers, contributed to the demise. Feasting on palm seeds
and reproducing rapidly, the rat population soared and
hindered the reseeding of the slow-growing trees. By the
Case Study: The Environmental mid-1600s, the palm forests had disappeared, done in by
rats and human deforestation. As the forests disappeared,
Collapse of Easter Island rich topsoil eroded, other indigenous and endemic plants
Among the many examples of catastrophic environmental became extinct, crop yields diminished, springs dried up,
destruction is Easter Island in the southern Pacific, first and flocks of migrant birds stopped coming to the island
settled about 800 years ago by Polynesian seafarers. Other to roost. Moreover, from about 1600 to 1640, El Niño—a
Polynesians referred to this remote 163-square-kilometer warming of water surface temperatures—decreased biomass
(63-square-mile) island as Rapa Nui, and its inhabitants production, diminishing fish and other marine resources
became known as Rapanui. (Stenseth & Voje, 2009).
When the Rapanui arrived, 75 percent of the island All of this led to periodic famine and chronic warfare
was densely forested, primarily with jubaea palms. between Rapanui rival factions. With their nearest neigh-
Clearing the woods for food gardens of taros, yams, and bors over 2,500 kilometers (1,500 miles) to their west,
© longtaildog/Shutterstock.com
Figure 7.11 Stone Heads, Easter Island

Few places have caused as much speculation as this tiny volcanic island, also known by the
indigenous name of Rapa Nui. Isolated in the middle of the southern Pacific Ocean, it is one
of the most remote and remarkable places on earth. Nearly 900 colossal stone statues,
known as moai, punctuate the landscape. Towering up to 20 meters (65 feet), they were made
by the Rapanui people—Polynesian seafarers who settled there about 800 years ago. After
generations of prosperity and population growth, the Rapanui faced an environmental collapse.
Population Growth and the Limits of Progress 177
they were truly an isolated people who had nowhere to from Africa into Eurasia, Australia, and the Americas, they
go. By the time Dutch seafarers arrived on Rapa Nui in continued to increase in numbers, reaching a worldwide
1722 (the name “Easter Island” was given by the Dutch total of more than 250 million about 2,000 years ago.
explorers who landed there on Easter Sunday), its popu- This incremental population growth accelerated, reaching
lation had dropped from about 15,000 to 3,000. During 1 billion in the mid-1800s. In the mid-1980s, the global
the next two centuries, other foreigners added to the population stood at 5 billion, and today that number is
Rapanui’s problems, bringing diseases and other miseries. nearly 7.5 billion.
These additional stressors nearly eliminated the Rapanui From their earliest days, humans have not only in-
from their treeless island, now covered by grass and volca- vented or adopted new technologies in their quest for
nic rock (Métraux, 1957; Mieth & Bork, 2010). subsistence, but also migrated, ultimately occupying every
Environmental destruction on a much more massive continent on earth. Adjusting as they went, each of these
scale has occurred in many other parts of the world, migrating groups developed their own cultural repertoire
especially in the course of the 20th century, ruining the of ideas and practices to secure food, fuel, and safety for
lives of millions. Considering such collapses of ecosys- themselves and their offspring. Measured in terms of pop-
tems, we must avoid falling into the ethnocentric trap of ulation growth, geographic expansion, and technological
equating change with progress or with seeing all change know-how, Homo sapiens has been enormously successful
as adaptive. in adapting itself to a wide range of different natural en-
vironments and developing the means required to satisfy
its needs. As long as the collective needs of a population
remain within its means, the group can be said to enjoy a
Population Growth degree of relative abundance or affluence. However, when

the needs of a group exceed the available means, the
and the Limits of Progress group will face shortages or scarcity.
Because abundance and shortage are based on the rela-
New subsistence strategies developed over the past few tionship between means and needs, affluence and scarcity
centuries using technological inventions to more effec- are relative concepts. And for that reason, anthropologists
tively harness energy are commonly valued as progress. tend to be cautious about the uncritical use of the term
Yet, as discussed in this chapter, not all innovations turn progress as applied to economic development. Although
out to be positive in the long run, nor do they improve there is no question that millions of people do enjoy a
the quality of life for every member of a society even in life of health and abundance, perhaps more so than their
the short run. own ancestors, a few billion must work harder and lon-
A few thousand generations ago, our anatomically ger hours to put food on the table. And according to the
modern human ancestors emerged in Africa. Reproducing World Bank, more than a billion people worldwide still
successfully, they multiplied a thousand times between live in extreme poverty, and many more experience hun-
100,000 and 10,000 years ago, when there may have ger and die too young. For them, the notion of human
been as many as 5 million Homo sapiens. Having migrated progress does not match their reality.
Chapter Check list
What are adaptation, cultural adaptation, ✓✓Cultural adaptation is the complex of ideas,
activities, and technologies that enable people to
ecosystem, and culture areas? survive in a certain environment and in turn
✓✓Adaptation is the process organisms undergo to achieve impacts the environment.
a beneficial adjustment to a particular environment.
The environment is a defined space with limited ✓✓An ecosystem is a functioning whole composed of
resources that presents certain possibilities and the natural environment and all the organisms living
limitations. in it.
✓✓Adaptation occurs not only when humans make ✓✓Culture areas are geographic regions in which a
changes in their natural environment but also when number of societies have similar ways of life. Such
they are biologically changed by that environment. regions often correspond to ecological regions.
What are the major subsistence complexity expanded to include labor specialization,
elite classes, public management, taxation, and
strategies and the characteristics
policing.
of the societies that practice them?
✓✓Industrial food production features large-scale
✓✓Food foraging, the oldest and most universal mode of businesses involved in mass food production,
subsistence, requires people to relocate according to processing, and marketing, and relying on laborsaving
changing food sources. Its characteristics include machines. It is rooted in the industrial revolution,
mobility, small group size, flexible male/female labor which began in the late 1700s with the invention of
division, food sharing, egalitarianism, communal the steam engine. Machines replaced human labor,
property, and rarity of warfare. animal power, and hand tools, leading to massive
✓✓The shift from food foraging to food production, cultural change in many societies.
known as the Neolithic revolution, began about ✓✓Today’s industrial food production and global marketing
10,000 years ago. It involved the domestication of complex, involving a network of interlinked distribution
plants and animals. centers, are made possible by an electronic-digital
✓✓Horticulture, the cultivation of crops in gardens using revolution that began in the late 20th century.
simple hand tools, includes slash-and-burn cultivation
in which the natural vegetation is cut, the slash is
burned, and crops are planted among the ashes.
What is cultural evolution?
✓✓Cultural evolution, the changing of cultures over time,
✓✓Agriculture, a more complex activity, involves growing
should not be confused with the idea of progress—the
crops on farms with irrigation, fertilizers, and animal-
notion that humans are moving forward to a
powered plows. Food production led to fixed settlements,
better, more advanced stage in their development
new technologies, and altered division of labor.
toward perfection.
✓✓Mixed farming involves crop growing and animal
✓✓Convergent evolution is the development of similar
breeding; it may occur in mountainous environments
cultural adaptations to similar environmental
where farmers practice transhumance, moving their
conditions by different peoples with different ancestral
livestock between high-altitude summer pastures and
cultures. Parallel evolution is the same phenomenon,
lowland valleys.
but it emerges with peoples whose ancestral cultures
✓✓Pastoralism relies on breeding and managing large were already similar.
herds of domesticated herbivores, such as cattle, sheep,
✓✓Human groups do not always make the necessary
and goats. Pastoralists are usually nomadic, moving as
adaptive changes, and this can devastate populations
needed to provide animals with pasture and water.
and the natural environment. Easter Island is a
✓✓Intensive agriculture led to urbanization and peasantry. tragic example of catastrophic environmental
Farm settlements grew into towns and cities, and social destruction.
1. In capturing essential natural resources, humans 3. Consider the ideas of change and “progress” in light
often modify their environments. Have you seen of the agricultural development project described in
any examples of landscapes radically transformed the Anthropology Applied feature. Come up with
for economic reasons, as shown in the terraced your own definition of progress that goes beyond
mountains of China in the Challenge Issue? Who do the standard idea of technological and material
you think benefits or loses the most? advancement.
2. What was so radical about the domestication of plants 4. Technological development in industrial societies
and animals that led to it being referred to as the often results in highly productive machines effectively
Neolithic revolution? Can you think of any equally replacing animal and human workers. Think of a
radical changes in subsistence practices going on in useful mechanical device and consider its benefits and
the world today? costs, not only to you but also to others.
179
Global Dining
When shopping for groceries in a supermarket, try week. Then determine the place or origin of each
to imagine the great chain of human hands involved on a map and trace the likely routes by which these
in getting the food, drinks, herbs, and spices from commodities entered your store and ultimately
all corners of the world to your table. Make a list of ended up inside you. Some food for thought: You
all the things you have bought and consumed in one are an embodiment of globalization.
Arvind Garg/Encyclopedia/Corbis
CHALLENGE ISSUE
All humans face the challenge of securing resources needed for immediate and long-term
survival. Whatever we lack, we may seek to get through aid, gifts, exchange, or trade.
In modern market economies, people can exchange almost anything of value without
actually meeting in person. But the market in traditional agricultural and pastoral soci-
eties is a geographic location where people personally meet to exchange commodities
on designated days. In such economic transactions, humans forge and affirm social net-
works that play a key role in the search for safety and well-being. Here we see an open
market at the plaza in front of the 400-year-old Christian church in Chichicastenango,
an ancient Maya K’iche Indian city in the highlands of Guatemala. On Thursdays and
Sundays, vendors and buyers gather here to peddle and purchase everything from
tools, pots, and woven textiles to chickens, vegetables, spices, and medicinal plants.
Economic Systems
An economic system is an organized arrangement for producing, distributing, In this chapter you
8
and consuming goods. In pursuing a particular means of subsistence, people will learn to
necessarily produce, distribute, and consume things, so our discussion of subsis- ●● Explain why the
tence patterns in the previous chapter obviously involved economic matters. Yet anthropological variable
economic systems encompass much more than we have covered so far. of culture is important
in understanding
noncapitalist
Economic Anthropology economies.
●● Distinguish various
Although anthropologists have adopted theories and concepts from economists, economic arrangements
theoretical principles derived from the study of capitalist market economies for producing,
have limited applicability to economic systems in societies that are not industri-
distributing, and
consuming goods.
alized and where people do not produce and exchange goods for private profit.
This is because, in these non-state societies, the economic sphere of behavior

●● Compare forms of gift
exchange, redistribution,
is not separate from the social, political, and religious spheres and thus is not
and trade.
completely free to follow its own purely economic logic.
●● Analyze how leveling
Economic behavior and institutions can be analyzed in strictly economic
mechanisms actually
terms, but doing so ignores various noneconomic considerations that impact the work in different
way things are in real life. To explain how the wants and demands of a given cultures.
society are balanced against the supply of goods and services available, anthro- ●● Describe the role
pologists take into account an all-encompassing variable: culture. This was well of money in market
economies.
illustrated by U.S. anthropologist Annette Weiner in her study of yam production
among the Trobriand Islanders, who inhabit a group of coral islands that lie in the
●● Summarize the impact
of global markets on
southern Pacific Ocean off the eastern tip of New Guinea (Weiner, 1988).
local communities.
Case Study: The Yam Complex

in Trobriand Culture
Trobriand men spend a great deal of their time and energy raising yams—not for
themselves or their own households, but to give to others, normally their sisters
and married daughters. However, the purpose of cultivating these starchy edible
roots is not to provision the households

economic system An organized arrangement
that receive them, because most of what for producing, distributing, and consuming goods.
181
182 CHAPTER 8 Economic Systems
people eat they grow for themselves in be used to fulfill social obligations. For instance, a man is
gardens where they plant taro, sweet expected to present yams to the relatives of his daughter’s
potatoes, tapioca, greens, beans, husband when she marries and again when a member of
and squash, as well as the husband’s family dies.
breadfruit and banana MICRONESIA A man who aspires to high status and power is ex-
trees. The reason a man pected to show his personal worth by organizing a yam
gives yams to a woman competition, during which he gives away huge quantities
Pacific
is to show his support ADMIR A L T Y
of yams to invited guests. In Weiner’s words: “A yam
Ocean
for her husband and IS LAN DS house, then, is like a bank account; when full, a man is
to enhance his own PAPUA
I N D O N E S I A NEW
wealthy and powerful. Until yams are cooked or they rot,
influence. GUINEA they may circulate as limited currency. That is why, once
Once received by the harvested, the usage of yams for daily food is avoided as
Coral
woman, the gift yams Sea
much as possible” (Weiner, 1988, p. 86).
AUS TR ALIA
are loaded into her hus- By giving yams to his sister or daughter, a man not
band’s yam house, sym- only expresses his confidence in the woman’s husband,
TRO BRI A N D
bolizing his worth as a I SLA N D S but also makes the latter indebted to him. The recipient
man of power and influ- KIRIW IN A
rewards the gardener and his helpers by throwing a feast,
K AILEUNA
ence in his community. at which they are fed cooked yams, taro, and—what every-
KI T A VA
He may use some of © Cengage Learning
one especially looks forward to—ample pieces of pork. But
these yams to purchase Solomon this in no way pays off the debt, which can be repaid only
Sea
a variety of things, in- VA KU T A
in women’s wealth: bundles of banana leaves and skirts
cluding shell armbands, made of the same material dyed red.
necklaces, and earrings, Banana leaf bundles are of no utilitarian value, but
as well as betel nuts, pigs, chickens, and locally produced extensive labor is invested in their production, and large
goods such as wooden bowls, combs, floor mats, lime pots, quantities of them, along with skirts, are regarded as
and even magic spells (Figure 8.1). But some yams will essential for paying off all the members of other family
groups who were close to a recently
deceased relative in life and who
assisted with the funeral. Also, the
wealth and vitality of the dead per-
son’s family group are measured by
the quality and quantity of the bun-
dles and skirts so distributed.
Because a man has received yams
from his wife’s brother, he is obli-
gated to provide his wife with yams
to purchase the necessary bundles
and skirts, beyond those she has
produced, to help with payments
following the death of a member
Travel, Heritage & Culture/HIP/The Image Works
of her family. Deaths can occur at

any time, so a man must have yams
available for his wife when she needs
them. This anticipated need, and the
fact that she may require all of his
yams, act as an effective check on a
man’s wealth.
Trobriand Islanders, like people
everywhere, assign meanings to ob-
Figure 8.1 A Trobriand Yam Storage House jects that make those objects worth
Trobriand Island men devote a great deal of time and energy to raising yams—not for far more than their cost in labor or
themselves but to give to others. Here we see Chief Tokesawaga sitting beside prestige materials. Yams, for example, estab-
yams in his village on Kiriwina—one of the Trobriand Islands in Papua New Guinea. Yams, lish long-term relationships that lead
stored in special yam houses, symbolize wealth, and having a full yam house indicates to other advantages, such as access
the owner’s prosperity and prestige. Another prestige item visible in this photo is the shell to land, protection, assistance, and
armband the chief is wearing, described later in this chapter. other kinds of wealth.
Banana leaf bundles and skirts, for their part, are

symbolic of the political status of families and of their
immortality. In their distribution, which is related to
death rituals, we see how men in Trobriand society are
ultimately dependent on women and their valuables.
Looked at in terms of modern capitalist economics, these
activities appear meaningless, but viewed in terms of tra-
ditional Trobriand values and concerns, they make a great
deal of sense. Thus, yam exchanges are as much social and
political transactions as they are economic ones.
Production and Its

Resources
In every society, traditional customs and social rules de-
termine the kinds of work done, who does the work, atti-
tudes toward the work, how it is accomplished, and who
Anthony Bannister/Gallo Images/Documentary Value/Corbis

controls the resources necessary to produce desired goods,
knowledge, and services. The primary resources in any
culture are raw materials, technology, and labor power.
The rules directing access to these resources are embedded
in a people’s culture and determine the way the economy
operates within any given natural environment.
Land and Water Resources

Human societies regulate allocation of valuable natural
resources—especially land and water. Food foragers must
Figure 8.2 Core Features as Territory Markers
determine who will hunt game and gather plants in their
Food foragers, like the Ju/’hoansi of the Kalahari Desert in
home range and where these activities take place. Groups
southern Africa, define their territories on the basis of core
that rely on fishing or growing crops need to make similar
features such as waterholes. Here women gather water into
decisions concerning who will carry out which task on
empty ostrich eggshells.
which stretch of water or land. Farmers must have some
means of determining title to land and access to water
supplies for irrigation. Pastoralists require a system that but in terms of waterholes that are located within them
determines rights to watering places and grazing land, as (Figure 8.2). The land is said to be owned by those who
well as the right of access to land where they move their have lived the longest in the band, usu-
herds. ally a group of brothers and sisters
In capitalist societies, a system of private ownership or cousins. Their concept of land-
of land and rights to natural resources generally prevails. holding, however, is not something
Although elaborate laws have been enacted to regulate the easily translated into
buying, owning, and selling of land and water resources, if modern Western terms DEMOCRATIC
REPUBLIC
individuals wish to reallocate valuable forests or farmland of private ownership. OF CONGO TANZANIA
to some other purpose, for instance, they generally can. Within Ju/’hoansi tradi- ANGOLA
M
AL
In traditional nonindustrial societies, land is often con- tional worldview, no part ZAMBIA AW
E
K A L A H A R I I IQU
trolled by kinship groups such as the family or band rather of their homeland can be MB
D E S E R T ZIMBABWE MOZA
than by individuals. For example, among the Ju/’hoansi sold for money or traded Ju/’hoansi
NA
of the Kalahari Desert, each band of ten to thirty people away for goods. Outsid- BOTSWANA
MI
Indian
BIA
Ocean
© Cengage Learning
lives on roughly 650 square kilometers (250 square miles) ers must ask permission
of land, which they consider to be their territory—their to enter the territory, SOUTH
SWAZILAND
Atlantic AFRICA LESOTHO
own country. These territories are not defined by bound- but denying the request Ocean
aries (property lines separating neighboring units of land) would be unthinkable.
The practice of defining territories on the basis of core Tools may be given or loaned to others in exchange for
features—waterholes, waterways (as among Indians of the the products resulting from their use. For example, a
northeastern United States), unique sites where ancestral Ju/’hoansi who gives his arrows to another hunter has a
spirits are thought to dwell (as among the Aborigines in right to a share of any animals the hunter kills. Game is
Australia), or something else—is typical of food foragers. considered to belong to the man whose arrow killed it,
Territorial boundaries are not always precisely defined, and even when he is not present on the hunt. In this context,
to avoid friction foragers may designate part of their territory it makes little sense for them to accumulate luxuries or
as a buffer zone between them and their neighbors. The surplus goods, and the fact that no one owns significantly
adaptive value of such a “no man’s land” is obvious: The more than another helps to limit status differences.
size of band territories, as well as the size of the bands, can Among horticulturalists, the axe, digging stick, hoe,
adjust to keep in balance with availability of resources in any and containers are important tools. The person who
given place. Such adjustment would be more difficult under makes a tool has first rights to it, but when he or she is
a system of individual ownership of clearly bounded land. not using it, any family member may ask to use it, and
Among some African and Asian rural societies, a tribu- the request is rarely denied. Refusal would cause people
tary system of land ownership still prevails. Historically, this to treat the tool owner with scorn for this singular lack of
system was common in many parts of the world, including concern for others. If a relative helps raise the crop traded
numerous European countries before the rise of capitalism. for a particular tool, that relative becomes part owner of
All land is said to belong to the king, khan, maharaja, emir, the implement, and it may not be traded or given away
or head chief, who allocates it to various subchiefs, who in without his or her permission.
turn distribute it to family groups. Then the family group In permanently settled agricultural communities, tools
leaders assign individual plots to each farmer. These men and other productive goods are more complex, heavier,
owe allegiance to the subchiefs (or nobles) and to the head and costlier to make. In such settings, individual ownership
chief (or king). The people who work the land must pay tends to be more absolute, as are the conditions under which
tribute (obligatory gift or contribution, like rent or taxes in people may borrow and use such equipment. It is easy to
a cash economy) in the form of products or special services, replace a knife lost by a relative during palm cultivation
such as fighting for the king when necessary. but much more difficult to replace an iron plow or a die-
Using the land does not signify ownership; rather, the sel-fueled harvesting machine. Rights to the ownership of
right to use it is a kind of lease. And as long as the land complex tools are more rigidly applied; generally, the person
is kept in use, rights to such use will pass to the user’s who has manufactured or purchased such equipment is
heirs. When an individual no longer uses the allocated considered the sole owner, and this person decides who may
land, it reverts to the head of the large family group, who use it and under which conditions, including compensation.
reallocates it to some other group member. The important
operative principle here is that the system extends the
individual’s right to use land for an indefinite period, but Labor Resources and Patterns
the land is not “owned” outright. This serves to maintain In addition to raw materials and technology, labor is a key
the integrity of valuable farmland as such, preventing its resource in any economic system. A look around the world
loss through subdivision and conversion to other uses. reveals many different labor patterns, but there is almost
always a basic division of labor by gender and by age.
Technology Resources
Division of Labor by Gender
All societies have some means of creating and allocating
Anthropologists have studied extensively the social divi-
tools that are used to produce goods, as well as traditions
sion of labor by gender across cultures. Whether men or
for passing them on to succeeding generations. A society’s
women do a particular job varies from group to group, but
technology—the number and types of tools employed,
typically work has been and often continues to be divided
combined with knowledge about how to make and use
into the tasks of either one or the other. For example, the
them—is directly related to the lifeways of its members.
practices most widely regarded as women’s work have
Food foragers and pastoral nomads who are frequently on
tended to be those that can be carried out near home and
the move are apt to have fewer and more portable tools
that are easily resumed after interruption. The tasks his-
than more settled peoples such as sedentary farmers.
torically regarded as men’s work have tended to be those
Food foragers make and use a variety of tools, many in-
requiring physical strength, rapid mobilization of high
genious in their effectiveness. Some of these they make for
bursts of energy, frequent travel at some distance from
their individual use, but codes of generosity are such that
home, and assumption of high levels of risk and danger.
a person may not refuse to give or loan what is requested.
However, there are many exceptions to these gener-
alizations, as in societies where women regularly carry
technology Tools and other material equipment, together with the burdensome loads or put in long hours of hard work cul-
knowledge of how to make and use them. tivating crops in the fields (Figure 8.3). In many societies,
of face, as the situation warrants. Where these practices

prevail, boys and girls grow up in much the same way,
learn to value cooperation over competition, and become
equally habituated to adult men and women, who inter-
act with one another on a relatively equal basis.
Societies following a segregated pattern define almost all
work as either masculine or feminine, so men and women
rarely engage in joint efforts of any kind. In such societies,
it is inconceivable that someone would even think of doing
something considered the work of the opposite sex. This
pattern is frequently seen in pastoral nomadic, intensive ag-
ricultural, and industrial societies, where men’s work keeps
them outside the home for much of the time. Typically,
men in such societies are expected to be tough, aggres-
sive, and competitive—and this often involves assertions
of male superiority, and hence authority, over women.
Male dominance is associated with fierce rivalry for scarce
resources. Historically, escalating aggression within and be-
tween societies has often upset egalitarian gender relations.
In the third pattern of labor division by gender, some-
times called the dual sex configuration, men and women
carry out their work separately, as in societies segregated by
gender, but the relationship between them is one of bal-
anced complementarity rather than inequality. Although
each gender manages its own affairs, the interests of both
men and women are represented at all levels. Thus, as in
© Dave Stamboulis/Alamy
integrated societies, neither gender exerts dominance over

the other. The pattern may be seen among certain Ameri-
can Indian peoples with economies based upon subsistence
farming, as well as among several West African kingdoms.
In postindustrial societies, the division of labor by
Figure 8.3 Women’s Work? gender becomes blurred and even irrelevant, resembling
These Hmong women in Vietnam are carrying heavy firewood, the flexible/integrated pattern of traditional foragers just
even though this work may be considered inappropriate for described. Although gender preferences and discrimination
women in some cultures. For villagers living in the rural areas of in the workplace exist in societies making the economic
developing countries all around the world, firewood is used as a transition, cultural ideas that are more fitting for agricul-
source of energy for preparing meals—and women are usually tural or industrial societies predictably change in due time,
the ones who collect and haul it. adjusting to postindustrial challenges and opportunities.
women perform almost three-fourths of all work in the Division of Labor by Age
food gardens, farm fields, and households but lack owner- Division of labor according to age is also typical of human
ship or control over the products of their labor. societies. Among the Ju/’hoansi, for example, children are
Instead of looking for biological factors to explain the not expected to contribute significantly to subsistence
social division of labor, a more useful strategy is to examine until they reach their late teens. Until they possess adult
the kinds of work that men and women do in the context levels of strength and endurance, many “bush” foods
of specific societies to see how they relate to other cultural are tough for them to gather. So youngsters contribute
and historical factors. Researchers find a continuum of pat- primarily by taking care of their littlest siblings while
terns, ranging from flexible integration of men and women grownups deal with subsistence needs.
to rigid segregation by gender (Sanday, 1981). Although elderly Ju/’hoansi will usually do some for-
The flexible/integrated pattern is seen most often among aging for themselves, they are not expected to contribute
food foragers (as well as in communities in which crops much food. By virtue of their advanced age, they have mem-
are traditionally cultivated primarily for family con- ories of customary practices and events that happened far in
sumption). In such societies, men and women perform the past. Thus, they are repositories of accumulated wisdom
up to 35 percent of activities with approximately equal and are able to suggest solutions to problems younger adults
participation, and tasks deemed especially appropriate for have never faced. Considered useful for their knowledge,
one gender may be performed by the other without loss they are far from being unproductive members of society.
In some food-foraging societies, women do continue

to make a significant contribution to provisioning in their
later years. For example, among the Hadza of East Africa,
the input of older women is critical to their daughters
when they have new infants to nurse. The energy costs
of lactation, along with the tasks of holding, carrying,
and nursing an infant, all diminish the mother’s foraging
efficiency. Those most immediately affected by this are a
woman’s weaned children not yet old enough to forage
effectively for themselves—but everyone’s needs are met
thanks to the additional foraging efforts of grandmothers
(Hawkes, O’Connell, & Blurton Jones, 1997).
In many traditional farming societies, children as
well as older people may make a greater contribution to
the economy in terms of work and responsibility than is
common in industrial or postindustrial societies. In most
peasant communities around the world, children not only
look after their younger brothers and sisters but also help
with housework, in the barn, or in the fields. By age 7 or
so, boys begin to help out, weed the fields, bring in crops,
care for small animals, or catch some fish and small game.
By that same age, girls begin helping with housework—
preparing food, fetching wood and water, sweeping, sell-
Bachpan Bachao Andolan

ing goods at local markets, and so forth (Vogt, 1990).
Notably, there is no universal age standard when a
young person is ready to transition out of childhood and
is prepared to assume the rights and obligations of an
adult. In fact, childhood is a historically changing social
Figure 8.4 Child Labor in India
construct that varies across cultures. In some cultures it
Many of the soccer balls that children play with in the United
ends as early as age 12, in others as late as 21. It is also
States and Europe are handstitched by children in India, most
noteworthy that not every culture clearly distinguishes
working in factories under brutal conditions for pennies a day.
work or labor from other activities. After past scandals about soccer ball factories using child labor,
The problem of “child labor” across the globe has been many companies started adding labels stating that the balls
internationally evaluated in terms of violation of human were not made with child labor—but those labels are often sewn
rights. Many wealthy capitalist societies in western Europe on the balls by children as young as 6 years old.
and North America long ago passed laws officially pro-
hibiting institutionalized child labor. However, they still
import vast quantities of goods available at bargain prices child labor, almost all in developing economies where
because they are made by poorly paid children—items their families depend on the extra income they bring
ranging from rugs and carpets to clothing, toys, and soc- home (Figure 8.4). More than half (85 million) are work-
cer balls (Doherty, 2012). In 1990, almost all the member ing in hazardous environments (International Labour
states of the United Nations agreed to define a child as a Organization, 2015).
person under the age of 18, unless the age of majority is
attained earlier under a state’s own domestic legislation Cooperative Labor
(United Nations Human Rights, 2015). Cooperative work groups can be found everywhere—in
Notwithstanding national or international efforts to both foraging and food-producing societies and in in-
define childhood and regulate labor conforming to gov- dustrial societies. Often, if the effort involves the whole
ernment bureaucratic standards, minors under 18 perform community, a festive spirit infuses the work.
wage labor in many industrial societies, where poor and For example, in many rural parts of sub-Saharan Af-
often large families count on every possible contribution rica, work parties begin with the display of a pot of beer
to the household. In these societies, economic necessity to be consumed after the tasks have been finished. Home-
may easily lead to the exploitation of minors as cheap brewed from millet, their major cereal crop, the beer is not
labor on farms, in mines, and in factories. Child labor has really payment for the work; indeed, the labor involved is
become a matter of increasing concern as large capitalist worth far more than the beer consumed. Rather, drinking
corporations rely more and more on the low-cost produc- the low-alcohol but highly nutritious beverage together
tion of food and goods in the world’s poorer countries. is more of a symbolic activity to celebrate the spirit of
Today, 168 million children (ages 5 to 17) are trapped in friendship and mutual support. Recompense comes as
Ziv Koren/Newscom
Figure 8.5 Task Specialization: Mining Salt in Ethiopia
Scorching hot and dry, the Danakil Depression in northeastern Africa lies some 370 feet below
sea level—the remains of what was once part of the Red Sea—with enormous salt flats. Afar
nomads come here periodically to quarry this rock salt. Using camels, they haul the heavy slabs
to the interior highlands for trade.
individuals sooner or later participate in work parties for sulfur fields, smoking fissures, volcanic
others. In areas all around the world, farmers traditionally tremors, and vast salt plains. Since
help one another during harvest and haying seasons, of- ancient times, groups of Afar men
ten sharing major pieces of equipment. have mined the salt, hack-
In most human societies, the basic unit within which ing blocks from the plain’s
work takes place is the household. Traditionally—and still crust. The work is back-
Re
in many parts of the world—it is both a unit of produc- breaking, all the more so
dS
ea
ERITREA YEMEN
tion and consumption, where work as well as meals and with temperatures soaring
SUDAN
domestic comfort are shared. In industrial societies these to 140 degrees Fahrenheit. Danakil Gulf of
Depression DJIBOUTI Aden
two economic spheres are now usually separated. This Along with the phys-
development is the result, in part, of task specialization. ical strength required for
such work under the most ETHIOPIA
Task Specialization trying conditions, suc-
© Cengage Learning
In contemporary industrial and postindustrial societies, there cessful mining demands
is a great diversity of specialized tasks to be performed, and specialized planning and SOMALIA
individuals cannot begin to know all the tasks customarily organization skills for KENYA
seen as fitting for their age and gender. However, although getting to and from the
specialization continues to increase, modern technologies worksite. Pack camels have
make gender-based labor divisions less relevant. By contrast, to be fed in advance because importing sufficient fod-
in small-scale foraging and traditional crop-cultivating soci- der for them interferes with their ability to carry the salt
eties, in which division of labor typically occurs along lines (Figure 8.5). Food and water, packed by Afar women at
of age and gender, each person has knowledge and compe- the desert’s edge, must be carried in for the miners, typi-
tence in all aspects of work appropriate to his or her age and cally numbering thirty to forty per group. Travel is arranged
gender. Yet, even in these nonindustrial societies there is a for nighttime to avoid the scorching sun (Haile, 1966;
measure of specialization. O’Mahoney, 1970).
An example of task specialization can be found among In the past few decades, we have seen the emergence
the Afar people of the Danakil Depression in the bor- of new forms of task specialization in an international
derlands of Eritrea and Ethiopia, one of the lowest and division of labor and in response to global markets of
hottest places on earth. The desolate landscape features supply and demand. Many of these specializations are
Global Ecotourism and Local Indigenous Culture in Bolivia

By Amanda Stronza
We traveled in a small fleet of motorized ca- cultural traditions while also engaging with As a result of their renewed pride in their mix
noes. As the sun dipped behind the trees one the global tourism industry. of Quechua and Tacana histories, the com-
steamy afternoon in April 2002, we turned the Having studied ecotourism in the Amazon munity has begun hosting tourists for cultural
last few bends of the Tuichi River and arrived since 1993, I felt honored to be on board par- tours in San José. “We want to give tourists
at our destination, the Chalalán Ecolodge of ticipating in these discussions. With support presentations about the community and our
northern Bolivia. Our group included eighteen from the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund, customs,” Mamani explained, “including our
indigenous leaders from various parts of the I had the opportunity that year—the Interna- legends, dances, traditional music, the coca
Amazon rainforest, a handful of regional tour tional Year of Ecotourism [2002]—to assem- leaves, the traditional meals. We want to
operators, conservationists, environmental ble leaders from three indigenous ecotourism show our culture through special walks fo-
journalists, and me—an applied anthropol- projects in South America. All three were cusing on medicinal and other useful plants.”
ogist studying the effects of ecotourism partnerships between local communities and Mamani and the other indigenous ecotour-
on local livelihoods, cultural traditions, and private tour companies or nongovernmental ism leaders characterized the success of their
resource use. We had been navigating for organizations. For example, the lodge we were lodges in three ways: economic, social, and
nine hours through lowland rainforest to visit visiting, Chalalán, came about through a part- environmental. Chalalán, for example, counted
one of the first indigenous, community-run nership between the Quechua-Tacana commu- its economic success in terms of employment
ecotourism lodges in the world. nity of San José de Uchupiamonas, Bolivia, and new income. It directly employs eighteen
As we wended our way, combing the and two global organizations: Conservation to twenty-four people at a time, and additional
riverbanks for caimans, capybaras, tapirs, International and the Inter-American Develop- families supply farm produce and native fruits
and jaguars, our conversations meandered ment Bank. Much of the $1,450,000 invested to the lodge. With artisans selling handicrafts
too. Mostly, the indigenous leaders shared in Chalalán went toward preparing community to tourists, the community has gained regional
stories of how ecotourism had affected their members to assume full ownership and fame for its wooden carved masks. The social
own forests and communities. They spoke of management of the lodge within five years. benefits of Chalalán include new resources for
tourists who brought both opportunities and After a successful transfer in 2001, the lodge education, healthcare, and communication.
conflicts, and of their own efforts to balance now belonged to San José’s 600-member With their profits from tourism, the community
conservation and development. They com- Quechua-Tacana community. built a school, a clinic, and a potable water
pared notes on wildlife in their regions, the The indigenous leaders who gathered system. They also purchased an antenna,
kinds of visitors they had attracted, the profits for this trip had keen, firsthand knowledge solar panels, and a satellite dish to connect
they’d earned, the new skills they had gained, about the costs and benefits ecotourism with the world from their remote forests along
and the challenges they were facing as they can bring. They were former hunters, now the Tuichi River.
sought to protect leading tourists as birding and wildlife guides; Beyond these sorts of material improve-
their lands and small farmers and artisans making traditional ments, ecotourism has catalyzed symbolic
handicrafts to sell to visitors; river-savvy changes for the people of San José. “We
fishermen supplementing their incomes by have new solidarity in our cultural tradi-
driving tour boats; and local leaders whose tions,” one woman noted, “and now we
intimate knowledge of their communities want to show who we are to the outside
helped them manage their own tour compa- world.” These experiences of Chalalán and
BRAZIL nies. Among them was Chalalán’s general similar projects suggest that ecotourism
ni
PERU
e
manager Guido Mamani, who recounted the may be more than just a conservation and
Río B
Río BOLIVIA
Tuichi benefits Chalalán had brought to the Tacana development idea—it may also be a source
Chalalán of San José. “Ten years ago,” he recalled, of pride, empowerment, and strengthened
La Paz Ecolodge
© Cengage Learning
“people were leaving San José because there cultural identity among indigenous peoples.
were few ways to make a living. Today, they
Pacific
Ocean
CHILE
PARAGUAY are returning because of pride in the success

ARGENTINA of Chalalán. Now, they see opportunity here.” Written expressly for this text, 2011.
linked to tourism, now one of the world’s largest indus- produced worldwide (World Travel & Tourism Council,
tries. Estimates vary, but in 2015 this ever-growing indus- 2015). Some communities that still hold onto a natural
try employed nearly 280 million people and contributed habitat with a wealth of plant and animal life are able
more than $7.6 trillion to the global economy—nearly to tap into a specialized niche known as ecotourism, as
10 percent of the total value of goods and services detailed in this chapter’s Anthropology Applied feature.
Distribution
and Exchange
In societies without a money econ-
omy, the rewards for labor are usu-
ally direct. The workers in a family
group consume what they harvest,
eat what the hunter or gatherer
brings home, and use the tools they
themselves make. But even where no
formal medium of exchange such as
money exists, some distribution of
goods takes place. Anthropologists
often classify the cultural systems
of distributing material goods into
© Stan Washburn/Anthro-Photo
three modes: reciprocity, redistribu-

tion, and market exchange.
Reciprocity
Reciprocity refers to the exchange
of goods and services, of roughly Figure 8.6 Generalized Reciprocity among the Ju/’hoansi
equal value, between two parties. These Ju/’hoansi men are cutting up meat that will be shared by others in the camp.
This may involve gift giving. Nota- Food distribution practices of such food foragers are an example of generalized reciprocity.
bly, individuals or groups in most
cultures like to think that the main point of the transaction Most generalized reciprocity, however, occurs among
is the gifted object itself, yet what actually matters are the close kin or people who otherwise have very close ties
social ties that are created or reinforced between givers with one another. Within such circles of intimacy, people
and receivers. Because reciprocity is about a relationship give to others when they have the means and can count
between the self and others, gift giving is seldom really on receiving from others in time of need. Typically, par-
selfless. The overriding, if unconscious, motive is to fulfill ticipants will not consider such exchanges in economic
social obligations associated with establishing or reaffirming terms but will couch them explicitly in terms of family
relationships. Moreover, gift giving without expecting or and friendship social relations.
desiring a counter gift may bring prestige, enhancing some- Exchanges that occur within a group of relatives or
one’s social status, as discussed later in this chapter. between friends generally take the form of generalized or
Cultural traditions dictate the specific manner and oc- balanced reciprocity. In balanced reciprocity, the giv-
casion of exchange. For example, when indigenous hunting and receiving, as well as the time involved, are quite
ers in Australia kill a kangaroo, the meat is divided among specific: Someone has a direct obligation to reciprocate
the hunters’ families and other relatives. Each person in promptly in equal value in order for the social relation-
the camp gets a particular share, the size depending on ship to continue. Examples of balanced reciprocity in
the nature of the person’s kinship tie to the hunters. Such contemporary North American society include customary
obligatory sharing of food reinforces community bonds practices such as hosting a baby shower for young friends
and ensures that everyone eats. By giving away part of a expecting their first child, giving presents at birthdays
kill, the hunters get social credit for a similar amount of and various other culturally prescribed special occasions,
food in the future. and buying drinks when it is one’s turn at a gathering of
Reciprocity falls into several categories. The Australian friends and associates.
food distribution example just noted constitutes an ex-
ample of generalized reciprocity—exchange in which
the value of what is given is not calculated, nor is the time
of repayment specified (Figure 8.6). Gift giving, in the reciprocity The exchange of goods and services, of approximately equal
unselfish sense, also falls into this category. So, too, does value, between two parties.
the act of a kindhearted soul who stops to help a stranded generalized reciprocity A mode of exchange in which the value of the
gift is not calculated, nor is the time of repayment specified.
motorist or someone else in distress and refuses payment
balanced reciprocity A mode of exchange in which the giving and the
with the admonition: “Pay it forward” or “Pass it on to the receiving are specific as to the value of the goods or services and the
next person in need.” time of their delivery.
Giving, receiving, and sharing as so far described various commodities in demand to a wider economy
constitute a form of social security or insurance. A family (Turnbull, 1961; Wilkie & Curran, 1993).
contributes to others when they have the means and can Silent trade may occur due to lack of a common
count on receiving from others in time of need. language. A more probable explanation is that it helps
Negative reciprocity is a third form of exchange, in control situations of distrust and potential conflict—
which the aim is to get something for as little as possible. The maintaining peace by preventing direct contact. Another
parties involved have opposing interests and are not usually possibility that does not exclude the others is that it
closely related; they may be strangers or even enemies. They makes exchange possible when problems of status might
are people with whom exchanges are often neither fair nor make verbal communication unthinkable. In any event,
balanced, and they are not expected to be. This type of silent trade provides for the exchange of goods between
reciprocity may involve hard bargaining, manipulation, or groups despite potential barriers.
outright cheating. An extreme form of negative reciprocity is
to take something by force, while realizing that one’s victim Kula Ring: Gift Giving and Trading
may seek compensation or retribution for losses. in the South Pacific
Balanced reciprocity can take more complicated forms,
Trade and Barter whereby mutual gift giving serves to facilitate social
Trade refers to a transaction in which two or more people are interaction, smoothing relations between traders want-
involved in an exchange of something—a quantity of food, ing to do business. One classic ethnographic example of
fuel, clothing, jewelry, animals, or money, for example—for balanced reciprocity between trading partners seeking to
something else of equal value. In such a transaction, the be friends and do business at the same time is the Kula
value of the trade goods can be fixed by previous agree- ring in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. First described
ments or negotiated on the spot by the trading partners. by Polish anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski, the Kula
When there is no money involved and the parties ring involves thousands of seafarers going to great lengths
negotiate a direct exchange of one trade good for another, to establish and maintain good trade relations. This
the transaction is considered a barter. In barter, arguing centuries-old ceremonial exchange system continues to
about the price and terms of the deal may well be in the this day (Malinowski, 1961; Weiner, 1988).
form of negative reciprocity, with each party aiming to get Kula participants are men of influence who travel to
the better end of the deal. Relative value is calculated, and islands within the Trobriand ring to exchange prestige
despite an outward show of indifference, sharp dealing is items—red shell necklaces (soulava), which are circulated
generally the rule, when compared to the more balanced around the ring of islands in a clockwise direction, and
nature of exchanges within a group. white shell armbands (mwali), which are carried in the
One interesting mechanism for facilitating exchange opposite direction (Figure 8.7). Each man in the Kula is
between potentially adversarial groups is silent trade
in which no verbal communication takes place. In fact,
it may involve no actual face-to-face contact at all. Such
cases have often characterized the dealings between food- NECKLACES
Trobriand Is.
foraging peoples and their food-producing neighbors— Marshall
such as the Mbuti Pygmy of Congo’s Ituri forest, who Solomon Sea Bennet Is.
trade bushmeat for plantains and other crops grown by Amphletts Woodlark
Bantu villagers on small farms. It works like this: People Panamon Laughlin
Tokuna Is.
from the forest leave trade goods in a clearing, then retreat
Dobu
and wait. Agriculturalists come to the spot, survey the Yeguma
goods, leave what they think is a fair exchange of their
own wares, and then leave. The forest people return, and PAPUA
NEW Trade routes
if satisfied with the offer, take it with them. If not, they Tubetube Panayati among islands
GUINEA
leave it untouched, signifying that they expect more. In
this way, for 2,000 or so years, foragers have supplied Misima
Coral
Sea Wari
© Cengage Learning
negative reciprocity A mode of exchange in which the aim is to get 0 50 100

ARMBANDS
something for as little as possible. Neither fair nor balanced, it may MILES
involve hard bargaining, manipulation, outright cheating, or theft.

silent trade A mode of exchange of goods between mutually distrusting
ethnic groups so as to avoid direct personal contact.
Figure 8.7 Kula Ring
Kula ring A mode of balanced reciprocity that reinforces trade and
The ceremonial gift exchanges of shell necklaces and armbands
social relations among the seafaring Melanesians who inhabit a large in the Kula ring encourage trade and barter throughout the
ring of islands in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. Melanesian islands.
© Irven DeVore/Anthro-Photo
Figure 8.8 Kula Boat
In Melanesia, men of influence paddle and sail within a large ring of islands in the southwestern
Pacific off the eastern coast of Papua New Guinea to participate in the ceremonial trading of
Kula shells, which eases trade relations and builds personal prestige.
linked to partners on the islands that neighbor his own. foods and other goods essential for survival. Melanesians
To a partner residing on an island in the clockwise direc- participating in the Kula ring have no doubt that their
tion, he offers a soulava and receives in return a mwali. He social position has to do with the company they keep,
makes the reverse exchange of a mwali for a soulava to a the circles in which they move. They derive their social
partner living in the counterclockwise direction. Each of prestige from the reputations of their partners and the
these trade partners eventually passes on the object to a valuables that they circulate. By giving and receiving arm-
Kula partner farther along the chain of islands. bands and necklaces that accumulate the histories of their
Soulava and mwali are ranked according to their size, travels and the names of those who have possessed them,
their color, how finely they are polished, and their partic- men proclaim their individual fame and talent, gaining
ular histories. Some of them are so famous that they create considerable influence for themselves in the process.
a sensation when they appear in a village. Like other forms of currency, soulava and mwali must
Traditionally, men make their Kula journeys in elab- flow from hand to hand; once they stop flowing, they
orately carved dugout canoes, sailing and paddling these may lose their value. A man who takes these valuables
boats, which are 6 to 7.5 meters (20 to 25 feet) long, out of their interisland circuit invites criticism. Not only
across open waters to shores some 100 kilometers (about might he lose prestige or social capital as a man of influ-
60 miles) or more away (Figure 8.8). The adventure is ence, but he might become a target of sorcery for unravel-
often dangerous and may take men away from their homes ing the cultural fabric that holds the islands together as a
for several weeks, sometimes even months. Although men functioning social and economic order.
on Kula voyages may use the opportunity to trade for prac- As this example from the South Pacific illustrates,
tical goods, acquiring such items is not always the reason the potential tension between trading partners may be
for these voyages—nor is Kula exchange a necessary part resolved or lessened by participation in a ritual of bal-
of regular trade expeditions. anced reciprocity. As an elaborate complex of ceremony,
Perhaps the best way to view the Kula is as an political relationships, economic exchange, travel, magic,
indigenous insurance policy in an economy fraught with and social integration, the Kula ring illustrates the insep-
danger and uncertainty. It establishes and reinforces social arability of economic matters from the rest of culture.
partnerships among traders doing business on distant Although perhaps difficult to recognize, this is just as true
shores, ensuring a welcome reception from people who in modern industrial societies as it is in traditional Trobri-
have similar vested interests. This ceremonial exchange and society—as is evident when heads of state engage in
network does more than simply enhance the trade of ceremonial gift exchanges at official visits.
Redistribution welfare payments and government loans or subsidies to

businesses) or in the form of services (such as military
Redistribution is a form of exchange in which goods defense, law enforcement, food and drug inspection,
flow into a central place where they are sorted, counted, education, highway and bridge construction, and the like).
and reallocated. In societies with a sufficient surplus to
support some sort of government, goods in the form of
Spending Wealth to Gain Prestige
gifts, taxes, tribute (obligatory contributions or gifts such
as crops, goods, and services), and the spoils of war are In societies where people devote most of their time to
gathered into storehouses controlled by a chief or some subsistence activities, gradations of wealth are small, kept
other leader. From there they are handed out again. The that way through various cultural mechanisms and sys-
leadership has three motives in redistributing this income: tems of reciprocity that serve to spread quite fairly what
The first is to gain or maintain a position of power little wealth exists.
through a display of wealth and generosity; the second is It is a different situation in ranked societies where
to assure those who support the leadership an adequate substantial surpluses are produced and the gap between
standard of living by providing them with desired goods; the have-nots and the have-lots can be considerable. In
and the third is to establish alliances with leaders of other these societies, the social prestige that comes from showy
groups by hosting them at lavish parties and giving them displays—known as conspicuous consumption—is a
valuable goods. strong motivator for the distribution of wealth. In industrial
The redistribution system of the ancient Inca empire and postindustrial societies, excessive efforts to impress oth-
in the Andean highlands of South America was one of ers with one’s wealth or status play a prominent role. The
the most efficient the world has ever known, both in the display of symbolic prestige items particular to these societ-
collection of tribute and in its methods of administrative ies—designer clothes, expensive jewelry, mansions, luxury
control (Mason, 1957). Administrators kept inventories of cars, private planes—fits neatly into an economy based on
resources and a census of the population, which at its peak consumer wants.
reached 6 million. Each craft specialist had to produce a A form of conspicuous consumption also occurs in
specific quota of goods from materials supplied by over- some crop-cultivating and foraging societies. Various
seers. Required labor was used for some agricultural and American Indian groups living along the Northwest
mining work. Unpaid labor was also used in a program Coast—including the Tlingit, Haida, and Kwakwaka’wakw
of public works that included a remarkable system of (Kwakiutl)—illustrate this through potlatches. A potlatch
roads and bridges throughout the mountainous terrain, is a ceremonial event in which a village chief publicly
aqueducts that guaranteed a supply of water, temples for gives away stockpiled food and other goods that signify
worship, and storehouses that held surplus food for times wealth (Figure 8.9). The term comes from the Chinook
of famine. Indian word patshatl, which means “gift.”
Overseers kept careful account of income and expendi- Traditionally, a chief whose village had built up
tures. A central administration, regulated by the Inca em- enough surplus to host such a feast for other villages in
peror and his relatives, had the responsibility for ensuring the region would give away large piles of sea otter furs,
that production was maintained and that commodities dried salmon, blankets, and other valuables while making
were distributed. Holding power over this command econ- boastful speeches about his generosity, greatness, and
omy, the ruling elite lived in great luxury, but sufficient glorious ancestors. While other chiefs became indebted
goods were redistributed to the common people to make to him, he reaped the glory of successful and generous
sure that no one would be left in dire need or face the leadership and saw his prestige rise. In the future, his own
indignity of pauperism. village might face shortages, and he would find himself
Taxes imposed by the central governments of countries on the receiving end of a potlatch. Should that happen,
all around the world today are one form of redistribution— he would have to listen to the self-serving and pompous
required payments typically based on a percentage of speeches of rival chiefs. Obliged to receive, he would tem-
one’s income and property value. Typically, a portion of porarily lose prestige and status.
the taxes goes toward supporting the government itself In extreme displays of wealth, chiefs even destroyed
whereas the rest is redistributed either in cash (such as some of their precious possessions. This occurred with
some frequency in the second half of the 19th century,
after European contact triggered a process of cultural
change that included new trade wealth. Outsiders might
redistribution A mode of exchange in which goods flow into a central view such grandiose displays as wasteful to the extreme.
place, where they are sorted, counted, and reallocated. However, these extravagant giveaway ceremonies have
conspicuous consumption A showy display of wealth for social played an ecologically adaptive role in a coastal region
prestige.
where villages alternately faced periods of scarcity and
potlatch On the Northwest Coast of North America, an indigenous
ceremonial event in which a village chief publicly gives away stockpiled abundance and relied upon alliances and trade relations
food and other goods that signify wealth. with one another for long-term survival. The potlatch
AP Images/Daily Sitka Sentinel/James Poulson

Figure 8.9 Potlatch Today
Among Native Americans living along the Northwest Coast of North America, one gains prestige
by giving away valuables at the potlatch feast. Here we see Tlingit clan members dressed in
traditional Chilkat and Raven’s Tail robes during a recent potlatch in Sitka, Alaska.
provided a ceremonial opportunity to strategically redis- social standing in the community, but may also keep
tribute surplus food and goods among allied villages in disruptive envy at bay.
response to periodic fluctuations in fortune. Underscoring the value of collective well-being over
A strategy that features this sort of accumulation individual self-interest, leveling mechanisms are important
of surplus goods for the express purpose of displaying for the long-term survival of traditional communities. The
wealth and giving it away to raise one’s status is known potlatch is just one example of many cultural varieties of
as a prestige economy. In contrast to conspicuous leveling mechanism. By pressuring members into sharing
consumption in industrial and postindustrial societies, their wealth in their own community rather than hoarding
the emphasis is not on amassing goods that then become it or privately investing it elsewhere, leveling mechanisms
unavailable to others. Instead, it is on gaining wealth in do more than keep resources in circulation. They also
order to give it away for the sake of prestige and status. reduce social tensions among relatives, neighbors, and
others in the community, promoting a collective sense of
Leveling Mechanisms togetherness. An added practical benefit is that they ensure
The potlatch is an example of a leveling mechanism—a that necessary services within the society are performed.
cultural obligation compelling prosperous members of a
community to give away goods, host public feasts, pro-
vide free service, or otherwise demonstrate generosity so
that no person permanently accumulates significantly prestige economy The creation of a surplus for the express purpose of
displaying wealth and giving it away to raise one’s status.
more wealth than anyone else. With leveling mechanisms
leveling mechanism A cultural obligation compelling prosperous
at work, greater wealth brings greater social pressure to
members of a community to give away goods, host public feasts, provide
spend and give generously. In exchange for such demon- free service, or otherwise demonstrate generosity so that no person
strated altruism, a person not only increases his or her permanently accumulates significantly more wealth than anyone else.
Daniel Bockwoldt/dpa DPA/Landov

Christian Kaiser/laif/Redux
Figure 8.10 Going to Market

Global capitalism and its economy of scale is evident in these photos that convey part of the story of
how tea travels from vast plantations, such as this one in Assam, northeast India, to grocery stores
and specialty shops around the world. Typically, tea is handpicked into baskets or bags. Much of it
ends up on mammoth container ships, including the world’s largest ship, pictured here. Able to carry
19,100 containers, China’s CSCL Globe is 400 meters (437 yards) long and 54 meters (59 yards)
wide—about the dimensions of four football fields. Globally, tea exports surpass 1.8 million tons,
earning close to $6 billion.
Market Exchange wholly removed from the transaction itself. Notably, sales
do not necessarily involve money; instead, goods may be
and the Marketplace directly exchanged through some form of barter.
Typically, until well into the 20th century, market In industrializing and industrial societies, many market
exchange—the buying and selling of goods and services, transactions still take place in a specific identifiable
with prices generally determined by rules of supply and location—including international trade fairs such as the
demand—was carried out in specific localities or market- mammoth fair held twice a year in Guangzhou (Canton),
places. Simply put, in market exchange, the greater the southern China’s oldest trading port city. In the fall of
demand and/or the lower the supply, the higher the price. 2014, more than 24,000 Chinese enterprises participated
This is still the case in much of the nonindustrial world in the 116th Canton Fair along with 1,300 international
and even in numerous centuries-old European and Asian chains (including WalMart, Carrefour, and Home Depot)
towns and cities. In food-producing societies, market- and 551 companies from 45 foreign countries. Combined,
places overseen by a centralized political authority pro- they offered some 150,000 products and generated over
vide the opportunity for food producers and craftspeople $29 billion in sales among more than 186,000 buyers from
in the surrounding rural territories to exchange some of more than 200 countries (PR Newswire, 2014).
their crops, livestock, and products for needed commod- One of the most widely traded global commodities is
ities (trade goods) manufactured in factories or in the tea (Camellia sinensis), dried leaves from a plant cultivated
workshops of craft specialists, who usually live in towns in China for more than 4,500 years. In the 1600s, soon
and cities. Thus, markets require some sort of complex di- after this drink found its way to Europe, tea export surged
vision of labor as well as centralized political organization. as prime cargo in merchant ships sailing across the oceans
The traditional market is local, specific, and con- in search of markets. Today, annual world tea production is
tained—like the one in Guatemala pictured at the begin- about 5 million tons, most of which is still grown on large
ning of this chapter. Prices are typically set on the basis plantations in China (1.9 million tons). Since the late 1700s,
of face-to-face bargaining rather than by unseen forces tea has also been commercially grown in India, where pro-
duction has reached about 1.2 million tons. Globally, tea
exports surpass 1.8 million tons, earning close to $6 billion.
market exchange The buying and selling of goods and services, with Typically, it is handpicked, placed in baskets or bags, and
prices set by rules of supply and demand. shipped overseas in huge cargo vessels (Figure 8.10).
Local Economies and Global Capitalism 195
In the global economy, and especially since the developments followed. As the means of exchange
launching of the World Wide Web some twenty-five was standardized in terms of value, it became easier
years ago, it is increasingly common for people living to accumulate, lend, or borrow money for specified
in technologically wired parts of the world to buy and amounts and periods of time against payment of inter-
sell everything from cattle to cars without ever being est. Gradually, some merchants began to do business
in the same city, let alone the same space. For example, with money itself, and they became bankers.
think of the U.S.-based e-commerce company Amazon As the use of money became widespread, the metal
(154,000 employees and a customer base of more than units were adapted to long-term use, easy storage, and
30 million people) and the Chinese online retail firm long-distance transportation. In many cultures, such
Alibaba (with 35,000 employees and featuring nearly a pieces of iron, copper, or silver were cast as miniature
billion products) where all buying and selling occur in models of especially valuable implements like sword
cyberspace, transcending international boundaries in blades, axes, or spades. But, some 2,600 years ago in
a flash. the ancient kingdom of Lydia (southwestern Turkey),
The faceless market exchanges that take place in the they were molded into small, flat discs conforming to
global capitalist system stand in stark contrast to expe- different sizes and weights (Davies, 2005). Over the
riences in the traditional marketplaces of precapitalist next few centuries, metal coins were also standard-
and nonindustrial societies. Traditional “real space” ized in terms of the metal’s purity and value, such as
markets echo the excitement of a fair. They are colorful 100 units of copper equals 10 units of silver equals
places where interactions happen amid a host of sights, 1 unit of gold.
sounds, and smells that awaken the senses. Typically, By about 2,000 years ago, the commercial use of
vendors and often their family members produced such coins was spreading throughout much of Europe
the goods they are selling, thereby personalizing the and becoming increasingly common in parts of Asia
transactions. Dancers and musicians may perform, and and Africa, especially along trade routes and in urban
feasting and fighting usually mark the end of the day. centers. Thus, money set into motion radical economic
In these markets social relationships and personal inter- changes in many traditional societies and introduced
actions are key elements, and noneconomic activities what has been called merchant capitalism in many parts
may overshadow economic ones. In short, such markets of the world (Wolf, 1982).
are gathering places where people renew friendships,
see relatives, gossip, and keep up with the world, while
procuring needed goods they cannot produce for them-
selves (Plattner, 1989).
Local Economies
Money as a Means
and Global Capitalism
Imposing market production schemes on other societies
of Exchange and ignoring cultural differences can have unintended
Although there are marketplaces without money of any negative economic consequences, especially in this era of
sort, money does facilitate trade. Money may be defined globalization. For example, it has led prosperous countries
as something used to make payments for other goods and to impose inappropriate development schemes in parts
services as well as to measure their value. Its critical attrib- of the world that they regard as economically underde-
utes are durability, transportability, divisibility, recogniz- veloped. Typically, these schemes focus on increasing the
ability, and interchangeability. Items that have been used target country’s gross national product through large-scale
as money in various societies include salt, shells, precious production that all too often boosts the well-being of a
stones, special beads, livestock, and valuable metals, such few but results in poverty, poor health, discontent, and a
as iron, copper, silver, and gold. As described in this chap- host of other ills for many others.
ter’s Biocultural Connection, cacao beans were also used Among many examples of this scenario is the global
as money—and more. production of soy, which has increased greatly in many
About 5,000 years ago, merchants and others in parts of the world. Of particular note is Paraguay,
Mesopotamia (a vast area between the Tigris and where big landowners, in cooperation with large agri-
Euphrates rivers, encompassing much of present-day businesses (most of which are owned by neighboring
Iraq and neighboring border areas) began using pieces
of precious metal such as silver in their transactions.
Once they agreed on the value of these pieces as a money A means of exchange used to make payments for other goods
means of exchange (money), more complex commercial and services as well as to measure their value.
Cacao: The Love Bean in the Money Tree

Several thousand years ago Indians in beans were so highly valued that Aztecs What is it about chocolate that makes it
the tropical lowlands of southern Mexico also used them as money. When Spanish a natural aphrodisiac? Other than carbohy-
discovered how to produce a hot brew from invaders conquered Guatemala and Mexico drates, minerals, and vitamins, it contains
ground, roasted beans. They collected in the 1520s, they adopted the region’s about 300 chemicals, including some with
these beans from melon-shaped fruit pods practice of using cacao beans as currency mood-altering effects. For instance, cacao
growing in trees identified by today’s sci- inside their new colony. They also embraced beans contain several chemical components
entists as Theobroma cacao. By adding the custom of drinking chocolate, which that trigger feelings of pleasure in the human
honey, vanilla, and some flowers for flavor- they introduced to Europe, where it became brain. In addition to tryptophan, which in-
ing, they produced a beverage that made a luxury drink as well as a medicine.a creases serotonin levels, chocolate also con-
them feel good, and they believed that Over the next 500 years, chocolate de- tains phenylethylamine, an amphetamine-like
these beans were gifts from their gods. veloped into a $14 billion global business, substance that stimulates the body’s own
Soon, cacao beans became part of with the United States as the top importer dopamine and has slight antidepressant ef-
long-distance trade networks and appeared of cacao beans or cacao products. Women fects. Chocolate contains anandamide (anan
in the Mexican highlands, where the Aztec buy 75 percent of the chocolate products, means “bliss” in Sanskrit), a messenger
elite adopted this drink brewed from cac- and on Valentine’s Day more than $1 billion molecule that triggers the brain’s pleasure
ahuatl, calling it “chocolatl.” In fact, these worth of chocolate is sold. center. Also naturally produced in the brain,
anandamide’s mood-enhancing effect is
the same as that obtained from marijuana
leaves. Finally, chocolate also contains a mild
stimulant called theobromine (“food of god”),
which stimulates the brain’s production of
natural opiates, reducing pain and increasing
feelings of satisfaction and even euphoria.
These chemicals help explain why the
last Aztec ruler Montezuma drank so much
chocolate. A Spanish eyewitness, who visited
his royal palace in the Aztec capital in 1519,
later reported that Montezuma’s servants
sometimes brought their powerful lord
in cups of pure gold a drink made

from the cocoa-plant, which they said
he took before visiting his wives. . . .
I saw them bring in a good fifty large
jugs of this chocolate, all frothed up,
of which he would drink a little. They
always served it with great reverence.b
Biocultural Question
Viewed as a divine gift by Mexican In-
dians, chocolate stimulates our brain’s
pleasure center. Why would women buy
this natural love drug in much greater
quantities than men?
a
For an excellent cultural history of
chocolate, see Coe, S. D., & Coe, M. D.
(1996). The true history of chocolate. New
Fiorian Kopp/Alamy
York: Thames & Hudston; Grivetti, L. E.

(2005). From aphrodisiac to health food: A
cultural history of chocolate. Karger Gazette
(68). Basel, Switzerland: S. Karger.
On average, each cacao tree produces about 30 pods a year, and each pod contains 30 cacao b
del Castillo, B. D. (1963). The conquest
beans (seeds). It takes about 450 beans to make 1 pound of chocolate. Here we see the of New Spain (pp. 226–227) (translation
harvest of the cacao pods. and introduction by J. M. Cohen). New York:
Penguin.
Local Economies and Global Capitalism 197
Raveendranr/AFP/Getty Images
Figure 8.11 Protesting Genetically Modified Crops
In 2013, U.S. legislators failed to pass a bill making it compulsory to label genetically modified
(GM) food, prompting a flurry of protests against the American multinational agrochemical and
agricultural biotechnology corporation Monsanto in fifty countries that year. Protests within
the United States and around the world continue. Here we see farmers from across India who
have traveled to their country’s capital city New Delhi. Wearing garlands of brinjals (eggplants
or aubergines), they demanded that the government ban GM crops, claiming that they endanger
public health. Protests such as these form part of worldwide actions by rural peoples threatened
by powerful capitalist corporations profiting from agribusinesses that produce genetically
engineered food crops.
Brazilians), produce genetically modified seeds, devel- families—are victimized by such large-scale production.
oped and marketed by foreign companies, especially Traditionally growing much of their own food (plus a bit
the U.S.-based multinational corporation Monsanto. extra for the local market) on small plots, many of them
Although these landowners and agribusinesses possess have been edged out and forced to work for hunger wages
just 1 percent of the total number of Paraguayan farms, or to migrate to cities, or even abroad, in order to survive.
they own almost 80 percent of the country’s agricultural Those who stay in rural areas face malnutrition and other
land. Exporting the soy, they make hefty profits because hardships because they lack enough fertile land to feed
production costs are low, and international demand is their families and do not earn enough to buy basic food-
high for soy-based cattle feed and biofuel. Similar stories stuffs (Fogel & Riquelme, 2005).
can be found in developing countries around the world Because every culture is an integrated system (as
(Figure 8.11). illustrated by the barrel model presented in the chapter
Hundreds of thousands of poor Paraguayans—small on culture), a shift in the infrastructure, or economic
farmers, landless peasants, rural laborers, and their base, impacts interlinked elements of the society’s
Rosita Worl
Alaskan anthropologist Rosita Worl, whose Tlingit names are for the protection of whaling practices and the indigenous subsis-
Yeidiklats’akw and Kaa hani, belongs to the Thunderbird Clan from tence lifestyle. For over three decades now, she has fought to safe-
the ancient village of Klukwan in southeastern Alaska. During her guard traditional rights to natural resources essential for survival,
growing-up years by the Chilkat River, elders taught her to speak for current and future generations, including her own children and
loudly so her words could be heard above the sound of crashing grandchildren.
water. And her mother, a cannery union organizer, took her along A recognized leader in sustainable, culturally informed
to meetings. economic development, Worl has held several major positions
As a university student, Worl led a public protest for the first at the Sealaska Corporation, a large Native-owned business
time—successfully challenging a development scheme in Juneau enterprise with almost 18,000 shareholders primarily of Tlingit
detrimental to local Tlingit. When she decided to pursue her an- and neighboring Haida and Tsimshian descent. Created under
thropology doctorate at Harvard, she did so with a strong sense of the 1971 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, Sealaska is
purpose: “You have to be analytical about your culture,” she says. “At now the largest private landholder in southeastern Alaska. Its
one time, before com- subsidiaries collectively employ over a thousand people and
ing into contact with include timber harvesting, marketing of wood products, land
other societies, we and forest resource management, construction, and informa-
were just able to live tion technology. Putting the holistic perspective and analytical
our culture, but now tools of anthropology into practice, Worl has spearheaded
we have to be able to efforts to incorporate the cultural values of southeast Alaska
keep it intact while in- Natives into Sealaska—including shareholding opportunities
tegrating it into mod- for employees.
ern institutions. We Currently, Worl serves as president of Sealaska Heritage
have to be able to Institute, a Native nonprofit organization that seeks to perpetuate
communicate our cul- and enhance Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian cultures, including
tural values to others language preservation and revitalization. Also on the faculty of
and understand how the University of Alaska, Southeast, she has written extensively
David Sheakley, Sealaska Heritage Institute
those modern insti- about indigenous Alaska for academic and general audiences.
tutions impact those She founded the journal Alaska Native News to educate Native
values.” Alaskans on a range of issues and is deeply involved in the
Worl’s graduate implementation of the 1990 Native American Graves Protection
studies included and Repatriation Act.
fieldwork among the Sought for her knowledge and expertise, Worl has served on
Inupiat of Alaska’s the board of directors of the Smithsonian Institution’s National
North Slope region— Museum of the American Indian, as well as Cultural Survival, Inc.
Tlingit anthropologist Rosita Worl is research that resulted She has earned many honors for her work, including the American
president of the Sealaska Heritage in her becoming a Anthropological Association’s Solon T. Kimball Award for Public
Institute and a board member of the spokesperson at and Applied Anthropology, received in 2008 in recognition of her
Alaska Federation of Natives. state, national, and exemplary career in applying anthropology to public life in Alaska
international levels and beyond.
social structure and superstructure. As the ethnographic Fortunately, there is now a growing awareness on the
examples of the potlatch and the Kula ring show, eco- part of development officials that future projects are un-
nomic activities in traditional cultures are intricately likely to achieve sustainable success without the kind of
intertwined with social and political relations and may expertise that anthropologists can bring to bear. And, in
even involve spiritual elements. Agribusinesses and some parts of the world anthropologists with indigenous
other large-scale economic operations or development roots are leading the way in shaping development agendas
schemes that do not take such structural complexities that build on rather than destroy tradition—as related in
into consideration may have unforeseen harmful con- this chapter’s Anthropologist of Note about Rosita Worl, a
sequences for a society. Tlingit from Juneau, Alaska.
Informal Economy and the Escape from State Bureaucracy 199
Informal Economy fact, more important than the formal economy and
may involve more than half the labor force and up to
and the Escape 40 percent of a country’s gross national product (GNP).
In many places, large numbers of under- and unem-
from State Bureaucracy ployed people, who have only limited access to the for-
mal economic sector, “improvise,” getting by on scant
Powerful business corporations promote their profit- resources. Meanwhile, more affluent members of society
making agendas through slogans such as “free trade,” may dodge various regulations in order to maximize
“free markets,” and “free enterprise.” But the commercial returns or to vent their frustrations at their perceived
success of such enterprises, foreign or domestic, does loss of self-determination in the face of increasing gov-
not come without a price, and all too often that price is ernment regulation.
paid by still-surviving indigenous foragers, small farmers, Many adult men and women from poor regions in
herders, fishermen, local artisans such as weavers and car- the world seek cash-earning opportunities abroad when
penters, and so on. From their viewpoint, such slogans of they cannot find a paying job within their own country.
freedom have the ring of “savage capitalism,” a term now For multiple reasons such as visa requirements, most
commonly used in Latin America to describe a world order laborers who cross international borders legally get
in which the powerless are often condemned to poverty temporary work permits as “guest workers” but are not
and misery. immigrants in that foreign country.
Many of these powerful corporations are success- North Africa and Southwest Asia are cheap foreign
ful, at least in part because they manage to avoid the labor reservoirs for the wealthy industrialized countries
taxes imposed on smaller businesses. The same is often of western Europe, whereas Latin America and the Carib-
true for the wealthy, who have special access to loop- bean provide workers for the United States, which draws
holes and other opportunities to reduce or eliminate more migrant laborers than any other country in the
taxes that others are obliged to pay. Some of those less world. These workers often send remittances (a portion of
privileged, though, have found creative ways to avoid their earnings) to their families back in their home village
paying taxes and to “beat the system.” The system, in or town abroad. In 2015, the World Bank reported that
this case, refers to the managing bureaucracy in a state- $436 billion in remittances flowed to developing coun-
organized society politically controlled by an elected or tries in the previous year. The top recipients of officially
appointed governing elite. recorded remittances that year were India ($70 billion),
State bureaucracies seek to manage and control China ($64 billion), the Philippines ($28 billion), and
economic activities for regulation and taxation pur- Mexico ($25 billion) (World Bank, 2015a).
poses. However, they do not always succeed in these For a very poor country such as Jamaica, the total
efforts for a variety of reasons: insufficient government annual inflow of remittances (nearly $2.3 billion in 2014)
resources; underpaid, unskilled, or unmotivated inspec- comprises about 15 percent of that Caribbean island’s
tors and administrators; and a culture of corruption. In income. Over a quarter of Jamaicans receive remittances
state-organized societies where large numbers of peo- from relatives working abroad, and the average value of
ple habitually avoid bureaucratic regulators seeking to such cash transfers for a typical Jamaican household is
monitor and tax their activities, there is a separate, un- higher than the average per capita gross domestic product
documented economic system known as the informal (GDP) in that island nation. For a specific example, see
economy—a network of producing and circulating this chapter’s Globalscape.
marketable commodities, labor, and services that for Now that globalization is connecting national,
various reasons escapes government control (enumer- regional, and local markets in which natural resources,
ation, regulation, or other types of public monitoring commodities, and human labor are bought and sold,
or auditing). people everywhere in the world face new economic
This informal sector may encompass a range of opportunities and confront new challenges. Not only
activities: house cleaning, child care, gardening, repair or are natural environments more quickly and radically
construction work, making and selling alcoholic bever- transformed by means of new powerful technologies, but
ages, street peddling, money lending, begging, prostitu- long-established subsistence practices, economic arrange-
tion, gambling, drug dealing, pickpocketing, and labor by ments, social organizations, and associated ideas, beliefs,
illegal foreign workers, to mention just a few. and values are also under enormous pressure.
These off-the-books activities, including fraud and
trade in stolen or smuggled goods on the black market,
are certainly not new but generally have been dismissed
informal economy A network of producing and circulating marketable
by economists as of marginal importance. Yet, in many commodities, labor, and services that for various reasons escapes
countries of the world, the informal economy is, in government control.
GLOBALSCAPE
Arctic
Ocean
ASIA
NORTH EUROPE
AMERICA
Maine
Florida
AFRICA Pacific
Kingston, JAMAICA
Pacific Ocean
Ocean
Atlantic
SOUTH Ocean
AMERICA Indian
Ocean
AUSTRALIA
AP Images/Scott Mason
© Cengage Learning
ANTARCTICA
How Much for a Red Delicious? H-2A program “rent-a-slave”). Nonetheless, many Jamaicans
Each fall, several hundred Jamaicans migrate to Maine for the endured the hardships, pursuing harvesting work as an
apple harvest.a While plucking the trees with speed and skill, opportunity to escape from the dismal poverty on their Carib-
they listen to reggae music that reminds them of home. Calling bean island.
each other “brother,” they go by nicknames like “Rasta.” Most Notably, conditions began to improve in the 1990s after the
are poor peasants from mountain villages in the Caribbean U.S. Department of Labor established the Adverse Effect Wage
where they grow yams. But their villages do not produce enough Rate, requiring agricultural employers to pay nonimmigrant agricul-
to feed their families, so they go elsewhere to earn cash. tural workers a wage that would not adversely affect the employ-
Before leaving Jamaica, they must cut their dreadlocks ment opportunities of U.S. workers. This significantly increased
and shave their beards. Screened and contracted by a labor the hourly wages of foreign farmhands. However, like minimum
recruiter in Kingston, they receive a temporary foreign farm wage standards for U.S. citizens, these increases have not kept
worker visa from the U.S. embassy and then fly to Miami. Trav- up with inflation—and do not change the fact that migrant labor-
eling northward by bus, many work on tobacco farms en route ers must exercise extreme frugality and spend long months away
to Maine’s orchards (and in Florida’s sugarcane fields on the from home in order to support their families.b
way home). Earning the minimum hourly wage as regulated by
the federal H-2A program for “temporary agricultural workers,” Global Twister
they work seven days a week, up to ten hours daily. Orchard When you take a big bite from your next apple, think of the
owners value these foreigners because they are twice as pro- Jamaican laborers who might have picked it. What do you think
ductive as local pickers. Moreover, handpicked apples graded is “fair value”?
“extra fancy” earn farmers eight times the price of apples
destined for processing. a
See Rathke, L. (1989). To Maine for apples. Salt Magazine 9 (4),
While in the United States, the Jamaicans remain quite iso- 24–47; see also, Knothe, A. (2014, June 15). Seasonal workers
lated, trying to save as much as they can so they can send more in H2A guest worker program vital to central Mass. orchards.
money home. Just before leaving the country, most of them buy Telegram.com. http://www.telegram.com/article/20140615
goods to take home as gifts or to resell for profit—from shoes /NEWS/306159974 (retrieved December 18, 2015)
and clothing to electronics and refrigerators. b
U.S. Department of Labor. (2015). Wage and hour division
Throughout most of the 1900s, rural labor conditions for (WHD): History of federal minimum wage rates under the Fair Labor
seasonal migrant workers in the United States were likened Standards Act, 1938–2009. U.S. Dept. of Labor. http://www.dol
to indentured service (causing some critics to call the federal .gov/whd/minwage/chart.htm (retrieved December 18, 2015)
200
201
Chapter Checklist
What is an economic system, ✓✓Barter is a form of trade in which no money is

involved, and the parties negotiate a direct exchange
relative to subsistence? of one trade good for another. It may well be in the
✓✓An economic system is an organized arrangement for form of negative reciprocity, as each party aims to get
producing, distributing, and consuming goods. Each the better end of the deal.
society allocates natural resources (especially land,
✓✓Redistribution requires a strong, centralized political
water, and fuel), technology, and labor according to its
organization. A government assesses a tax or tribute on
own priorities.
each citizen to support its activities, leaders, and
✓✓In food-foraging societies, core features of the region religious elite and then redistributes the rest, usually in
may mark a group’s territory. This provides flexibility the form of public services. The system of tax collection
because the size of a group and its territories can be and delivery of government services and subsidies in
adjusted according to the availability of resources in the United States is a form of redistribution.
any particular place.
✓✓Conspicuous consumption, or display for social prestige,
✓✓The technology of a people (the tools they use and is a motivating force in societies that produce a surplus
knowledge about them) is related to their mode of of goods. The prestige comes from publicly giving away
subsistence. All societies have some means of creating one’s valuables, as in the potlatch ceremony, which is
and allocating the tools used to produce goods. also an example of a leveling mechanism.
✓✓Labor is a major productive resource, and the allotment

of work is commonly governed by rules according to
What is market exchange, and where is
gender and age. Cross-culturally, only a few broad the marketplace?
generalizations apply to the kinds of work performed ✓✓In nonindustrial societies, the marketplace is usually a
by men and women. specific site where people exchange produce, livestock,
✓✓A more productive strategy is to examine the types of and material items they have made. It also functions as
work that men and women do in the context of a place to socialize and get news.
specific societies to see how it relates to other cultural ✓✓Although market exchanges may take place through
and historical factors. bartering and other forms of reciprocity, money
✓✓The cooperation of many people working together is a (something used to make payments for goods and
typical feature of both nonindustrial and industrial services as well as to measure their value) makes
societies. Task specialization is important even in market exchange more efficient.
societies with very simple technologies. ✓✓In state-organized societies with market economies, the
informal sector—composed of economic activities set
How are goods distributed? up to avoid official scrutiny and regulation—may be
✓✓The processes of distribution may be distinguished as more important than the formal sector. The informal
reciprocity, redistribution, and market exchange. economy includes remittances (earnings) that migrant
laborers working abroad send to their families back in
✓✓Reciprocity, the exchange of goods and services of roughly their home village or town.
equal value, comes in three forms: generalized (in which
the value is not calculated, nor the time of repayment How does global capitalism impact local
specified); balanced (in which one has an obligation to
reciprocate promptly); and negative (in which the aim is
economies?
to get something for as little as possible). ✓✓When powerful countries impose market production
schemes on other societies, the impact can be
✓✓A classic ethnographic example of balanced reciprocity
negative—as in the global production of soy in
between trading partners seeking to maintain social ties
Paraguay where big landowners in cooperation with
while also doing business is the Kula ring among islanders
large agribusinesses have edged out small farmers and
of the southwestern Pacific Ocean. The Kula ring involves
landless peasants.
both balanced reciprocity and sharp trading.
✓✓Increasingly, development officials are utilizing the
✓✓Trade is a transaction in which two or more people are
expertise that anthropologists provide in planning
involved in an exchange of something for something
their projects.
else of equal value. Such exchanges have elements of
reciprocity but involve a greater calculation of the
relative value of goods exchanged.
1. Imagine a global banking crisis in which the capitalist 3. As the potlatch ceremony shows, prestige may be
economy based on money, interest, and credit has gained by giving away wealth. Does such a prestige-
collapsed. How long do you think it would take for building mechanism exist in your own society? If so,
a market to develop like the one in the highlands how does it work?
of Guatemala, shown in the chapter opening 4. Economic relations in traditional cultures are usually
photograph? Which goods do you think would have wrapped up in social, political, and even spiritual
exchange value in your culture, and what would you issues. Can you think of any examples in your own
do to get those goods in fair trade? society in which the economic sphere is inextricably
2. Consider the differences between the three varieties intertwined with other structures in the cultural
of reciprocity. What role does each play in your own system?
experience as a member of a family, local community,
and wider society?
Luxury Foods and Hunger Wages
When shopping for groceries in a supermarket, are the leaves or beans packed and warehoused
think of this chapter’s Biocultural Connection and prior to being shipped overseas? From which
the Visual Counterpoint and try to imagine the seaport or airport is your selected commodity
great chain of human hands involved in getting shipped? Where is it shipped to, and how is it
something as simple as a package of tea, a box transported to your store? Compare the store
of chocolate, or a pound of coffee to your grocery price per ounce and calculate how much it cost
store. Track down the country of origin for one of to produce, buy, transport, and sell, in order to
those luxury items, along with the location of the determine the percentage of profit made. Finally,
plantation and the name of the company or person after having enjoyed the delicious treat, take time
who owns it. Next, identify the laborers working to imagine where an ambitious entrepreneur
on that plantation—their ethnicity and gender, as might try to squeeze more profits from this
well as their wages and health conditions. How business.
SAM PANTHAKY/AFP/Getty Images
CHALLENGE ISSUE
Worldwide, humans face the challenge of managing sexual relations and forging social
alliances essential to the survival of individuals and their offspring. Adapting to particular
natural environments and distinct economic and political challenges, each group establishes
its own social arrangements in terms of childrearing tasks, gender relations, household and
family structures, and residence patterns. Because marriage and family play a fundamen-
tal role in any society, wedding rituals are especially significant. Whether private or public,
sacred or secular, weddings reveal, confirm, and underscore important cultural values.
Symbolically rich, they usually feature certain speech rituals, plus prescribed apparel, pos-
tures and gestures, food and drink, and songs and dances passed down through generations.
Here we see a Muslim bride in Gujarat, western India, surrounded by female relatives and
friends on the eve before her wedding. Their hands are beautifully decorated with traditional
designs created with dye made from the crushed leaves of the tropical henna tree. Known
as mehndi, this temporary body art is an age-old custom among Muslims and Hindus
in parts of southern Asia, as well as northern Africa. Often the groom’s name is hidden
within elegant designs of flowers and vines that symbolize love, fertility, and protection.
A bride’s mehndi evening, traditionally held at her parents’ home, is a lively female-only
gathering with special food, singing, and lovemaking instructions, along with hand painting.
Sex, Marriage,
and Family 9
Unlike individuals raised in traditional Muslim families, such as the bride fea- In this chapter you
tured in this chapter’s opening photo, young people in the Trobriand Islands of will learn to
the South Pacific traditionally enjoy great sexual freedom. By age 7 or 8, chil- ●● Discuss how different
dren begin playing erotic games and imitating adult seductive attitudes. Within cultures regulate sexual
another four or five years, they start pursuing sexual partners in earnest— relations.
experimenting erotically with a variety of individuals. ●● Distinguish several
Because attracting sexual partners ranks marriage forms and
understand their
high among young Trobrianders, they spend
determinants and
a great deal of time beautifying themselves functions.
MICRONESIA
(Figure 9.1). Their daily conversations are
●● Contrast family and
loaded with sexual hints, and they employ household forms across
Pacific
Ocean
ADM IR ALT Y
IS LAN DS magical spells as well as small gifts to entice cultures.
INDONESIA
P AP UA
NEW
a prospective sex partner to the beach at ●● Explain a range of
GUIN E A
night or to the house in which boys sleep marital residence
Coral
apart from their parents. Because girls also
patterns.
Sea
AUST R ALIA
sleep apart from their parents, young peo- ●● Weigh the impact
TR O B R I A ND
ISLANDS ple have considerable freedom in arranging
of globalization and
reproductive technology
K IR IWIN A
K AILE UN A their erotic explorations. Boys and girls play
K IT AV A
on marriage and family.
© Cengage Learning
this game as equals, with neither having an

Solomon
Sea
V AK UT A advantage over the other (Weiner, 1988).
By the time Trobrianders are in their mid-
teens, meetings between lovers may take up
most of the night, and love affairs are apt to last for several months. Ultimately,
a young islander begins to meet the same partner again and again, rejecting the
advances of others. When the couple is ready, they appear together one morning
outside the young man’s house as a way of announcing their intention to marry.
Until the latter part of the 20th century, the Trobriand attitude toward
adolescent sexuality was in marked contrast to that of most Western cultures in
Europe and North America, where individuals were not supposed to have sexual
205
206 CHAPTER 9 Sex, Marriage, and Family
from unregulated sexual activity—it is not surprising that

all societies have cultural rules that seek to regulate those
relations. However, those rules vary considerably across
cultures.
For instance, in some societies, sexual intercourse
during pregnancy is taboo, whereas in others it is looked
upon positively as something that promotes the growth of
the fetus. And although some cultures sharply condemn
same-sex acts or relations, many others are indifferent and
do not even have a special term to distinguish homosexu-
ality as significant in its own right.
In several cultures same-sex acts are not only accepted
but prescribed. Such is the case in some Papua societies
in New Guinea, for example, where certain male-to-male
sexual acts are part of initiation rituals required of all boys
to become respected adult men (Kirkpatrick, 2000). In
those cultures, people traditionally see the transmission
of semen from sexually mature males to younger boys,
through oral sex, as vital for building up the strength
needed to protect against the supposedly debilitating
effects of adult heterosexual intercourse (Herdt, 1993).
Despite longstanding culture-based opposition to
homosexuality in many areas of the world, this sexual
orientation exists within the wider range of human
© Hideo Haga/Haga/The Image Works
sexual relations, emotional attractions, and social iden-

tities, and it is far from uncommon (Figure 9.2). Across
the globe, the expression of homosexuality ranges from
lifelong loving relationships to casual sexual encounters,
and from being fully open to being utterly private and
secretive.
During the past few decades, public denigration
Figure 9.1 Sex Appeal among the Trobrianders and condemnation of homosexuality have diminished
To attract lovers, young Trobriand women and men must look as dramatically in numerous countries, and same-sex rela-
attractive and seductive as possible. This young woman’s father tionships have become a publicly accepted part of the
has given her face painting and adornments to enhance her beauty. cosmopolitan lifestyle in metropolitan centers from Am-
sterdam to Paris and Rio de Janeiro to San Francisco. As
recently as 2009, India decriminalized homosexuality,
followed by several other countries, including Lebanon in
relations before or outside of marriage. Since then, prac-
2014 and Mozambique in 2015. Clearly, the social rules
tices in much of the modern industrialized world have
and cultural meanings of all sexual behavior are subject
converged toward those of the Trobrianders, even though
to great variability—not only across cultures but also
the traditional ideal of premarital sexual abstinence has not
across time.
been abandoned entirely and is upheld in many traditional
Christian, Muslim, and similarly conservative families.
Marriage
Regulation and the Regulation
of Sexual Relations of Sexual Relations
In the absence of effective birth control, the usual out- In much of the world, the traditional ideal was (and in
come of sexual activity between fertile individuals of the many communities still is) for individuals to establish a
opposite sex is that, sooner or later, the woman becomes family through marriage, by which one also gains an ex-
pregnant. Given the intricate array of social responsi- clusive right of sexual access to another person. The main
bilities involved in rearing the children that are born of purpose of sexual intercourse was not just erotic pleasure
sexual relations—and the potential for conflict resulting but reproduction. Recognizing the potential risks of
Marriage and the Regulation of Sexual Relations 207
Mark Nolan/Getty Images Sport/Getty Images
© Juan Mabromata/AFP/Getty Images

Figure 9.2 Expressions of Same-Sex Affection
Although same-sex relationships have existed for thousands of years and are permitted
in many parts of the world, homosexuals in sexually restrictive societies are shamed and
shunned, and may be beaten, flogged, banished, imprisoned, or even murdered. Even in
societies that have become less restrictive, public displays of same-sex affection (between
men in particular) are often looked upon as distasteful or even disgusting. One widespread
exception is the sports arena where athletes freely hug each other, and may even pat each
other on the behind or leap into each other’s arms without bringing their sexual orientation
into question. Attitudes are shifting all around the globe, however, as evident in this photo
of two just-wed Argentinean men kissing after receiving their official marriage license on
November 16, 2009—the first in Latin America. This Buenos Aires couple sought a license
not only because they love each other, but also because they wanted the shared health
insurance policy, inheritance rights, and other privileges married couples in their country
traditionally enjoy.
unregulated sexual relations, including unplanned preg- offense prohibited by God. Buried waist-deep in holes
nancies by a man other than the lawful husband, these outside the village, the 23-year-old married woman and
societies have often criminalized extramarital affairs as her 28-year-old lover were stoned to death in the sum-
adultery. Reinforcing public awareness of the moral rules, mer of 2010, a brutal spectacle attended by hundreds
authorities past and present have turned sexual transgres- of villagers and filmed on a mobile phone (Amnesty
sions such as adultery into a public spectacle of shame, International, 2010). Turning legal transgressions into
torture, or even death. a public display, authorities reinforce awareness of the
Among European Christian colonists in 17th- and rules of social conduct, even if a sentence is ultimately
18th-century New England, for example, a woman’s par- dropped or changed.
ticipation in adultery was a serious crime. Although it did A side effect of such restrictions on sexual behavior
not lead to stoning, as was custom among ancient Israel- is that they may limit the spread of sexually transmitted
ites, women so accused were shunned by the community diseases (Gray, 2004; UNAIDS, 2014). Yet most cultures
and could be imprisoned. Such restrictions remain (or do not sharply regulate an individual’s sexual practices.
are sometimes reinstated) in those traditional societies in Indeed, a majority of cultures are considered sexually per-
northern Africa and western Asia where age-old Shariah missive or semi-permissive (the former having few or no
law regulates social behavior in strict accordance with restrictions on sexual experimentation before marriage,
Muslim fundamentalist standards of morality. the latter allowing some experimentation but less openly).
For example, in a Taliban-controlled village in north- A minority of known societies—about 15 percent—have
ern Afghanistan, conservative mullahs (priests) found rules requiring that sexual involvement take place only
a young couple guilty of adultery, proclaiming it an within marriage.
Marriage as a Universal sexual and marriage practices,

many of which have changed
Institution since the mid-1900s (Fuller,
1976; Goodenough, 1970;
This brings us to an anthropological definition of Gough, 1959). The first,
marriage—a culturally sanctioned union between two or occurring shortly before AFGHANISTAN CHINA
more people that establishes certain rights and obligations a girl experiences her first
PAKISTAN BHUTAN
between the people, between them and their children, menstruation, involves a NEPA
L
and between them and their in-laws. Such marriage rights ceremony that joins her
and obligations most often include, but are not limited with a “ritual husband.” INDIA
to, sex, labor, property, childrearing, exchange, and status. This union does not nec-
Arabian BANGLADESH
Thus defined, marriage is universal. Notably, our defini- essarily involve sexual Sea
© Cengage Learning
tion of marriage refers to “people” rather than “a man and relations and lasts only Bay of
Bengal
a woman” because in some countries same-sex marriages a few days. Neither in- KERALA
SRI
are socially acceptable and allowed by law, even though dividual has any further LANKA
opposite-sex marriages are far more common. We will obligation, but when the
return to this point later in the chapter. girl becomes a woman, she and her children typically
In many cultures, marriage is considered the central participate in ritual mourning for the man when he dies.
and most important social institution. In such cultures, This temporary union establishes the girl as an adult ready
people will spend considerable time and energy on main- for motherhood and eligible for sexual activity with men
taining marriage as an institution. They may do so in vari- approved by her household.
ous ways, including highlighting the ritual moment when The second transaction takes place when a young
the wedding takes place, festively memorializing the event Nayar woman enters into a continuing sexual liaison with a
at designated times such as anniversaries, and making it man approved by her family. This is a formal relationship
difficult to divorce. that requires the man to present her with gifts three times
In some societies, however, marriage is a relatively each year until the relationship is terminated. In return,
marginal institution and is not considered central to the the man can spend nights with her. Despite ongoing sex-
establishment and maintenance of family life and society. ual privileges, however, this “visiting husband” has no
For instance, marriage has lost much of its traditional economic obligations to her, nor is her home regarded as
significance in wealthy northwestern European nations, his home. In fact, she may have the same arrangement
in part due to changes in the political economy, more with more than one man at the same time. Regardless
balanced gender relations, and shared public benefits of of the number of men with whom she is involved, this
these capitalist welfare states. And historically, marriage second transaction, the Nayar version of marriage, clearly
has been of marginal significance for the Nayar in south- specifies who has sexual rights to whom and includes
western India, profiled in the following passage. rules that deter conflicts between the men.
If a Nayar woman becomes pregnant, one of the men
with whom she has a relationship (who may or may
Sexual and Marriage Practices not be the biological father) must formally acknowledge
among the Nayar paternity by presenting gifts to the woman and the mid-
wife. This establishes the child’s birthrights—as does birth
Situated in the Indian state of Kerala, the Nayar are a registration in Western societies. Once a man has ritually
landowning warrior caste; kinsmen related in the female acknowledged fatherhood by gift giving, he may con-
line make up corporations that traditionally hold their es- tinue to take interest in the child, but he has no further
tates. These blood relatives live together in a large house- obligations. Support and education for the child are the
hold, with the eldest male serving as manager. responsibility of the mother and her brothers, with whom
Like Trobriand Islanders, the Nayar are a sexually she and her offspring live.
permissive culture. A classic anthropological study de- Indeed, unlike most other cultural groups in the world,
scribes three transactions related to traditional Nayar the traditional Nayar household includes only the mother,
her children, and her other biological or blood relatives,
marriage A culturally sanctioned union between two or more people that technically known as consanguineal kin. It does not
establishes certain rights and obligations between the people, between include any of the “husbands” or other people related
them and their children, and between them and their in-laws. Such through marriage—known as affinal kin. In other
marriage rights and obligations most often include, but are not limited to,
sex, labor, property, childrearing, exchange, and status.
words, sisters and their offspring all live together with their
consanguineal kin Biologically related relatives, commonly referred to brothers and their mother and her brothers. Historically,
as blood relatives. this arrangement addressed the need for security in a cul-
affinal kin People related through marriage. tural group in which warfare was common.
Marriage as a Universal Institution 209
Among the Nayar, sexual relations are forbidden be- status. In addition, detailed census records made in Egypt
tween consanguineal relatives and thus are permitted only about 2,000 years ago show that brother–sister marriages
with individuals who live in other households. This brings were not uncommon among ordinary members of the
us to another human universal: the incest taboo. farming class, and we have no evidence for linking this
cultural practice to any biological imperatives (Leavitt,
2013).
Incest Taboo Coming at the question from a nonbiological per-
spective, some anthropologists have put forth the idea
Just as marriage in its various forms is found in all cultures,
that the incest taboo exists as a cultural means to pre-
so is the incest taboo—the prohibition of sexual contact
serve the stability and integrity of the family, which is
between certain close relatives. But what is defined as
essential to maintaining social order. Sexual relations
“close” is not the same in all cultures. Moreover, such
between members other than a husband and wife would
definitions may be subject to change over time. Although
introduce competition within the family, destroying the
the scope and details of the taboo vary across cultures and
harmony of a social unit fundamental to societal order.
time, almost all societies past and present strongly forbid
Others have theorized that the taboo, by prohibiting
sexual relations at least between parents and children
sexual relations and marriage between close relatives,
and nearly always between siblings. In some societies the
promotes establishing family ties and forming alliances
taboo extends to other close relatives, such as cousins, and
with other social groups.
even to some relatives linked through marriage.
Anthropologists have long been fascinated by the
incest taboo and have proposed several explanations for
its cross-cultural existence and variation. The simplest Endogamy and Exogamy
explanation is that our species has an “instinctive” Whatever its cause, the utility of the incest taboo can be
repulsion for incest. Although research shows that seen by examining its effects on social structure. Closely
primates tend to avoid having sex with close relatives, related to prohibitions against incest are cultural rules
particularly when there are alternative mating partners, against endogamy (from Greek endon, “within,” and
this explanation falls short given violations of the gamos, “marriage”), or marriage within a particular group
incest taboo (Wolf & Durham, 2004). In the United of individuals (cousins and in-laws, for example). If the
States, for instance, it is reported that about 9 percent group is defined as one’s immediate family alone, then
of children under 18 years of age have experienced societies generally prohibit or at least discourage endog-
incestuous relations (U.S. Dept. of Health and Human amy, thereby promoting exogamy (from Greek exo,
Services, 2015; Whelehan, 1985). “outside,” and gamos, “marriage”) or marriage outside the
Historically, some scholars argued that the incest group. Yet, a society that practices exogamy at one level
taboo prevents the harmful genetic effects of inbreeding. may practice endogamy at another. Among the Trobriand
Although this is so, it is also true that, as with domestic Islanders, for example, individuals have to marry outside
animals, inbreeding can increase desired characteristics as their own clan and lineage (exogamy). However, because
well as detrimental ones. Furthermore, undesirable effects eligible sex partners are to be found within one’s own
will show up sooner than without inbreeding, so what- community, village endogamy is commonly practiced.
ever genes are responsible for them are quickly eliminated Since the early 20th century, restrictions on marriages
from the population. That said, a preference for a more involving close kin have increased in Europe and other
genetically different mate does tend to maintain a higher parts of the world. Because of this, worldwide migra-
level of genetic diversity within a population, and in evo- tions by peoples from countries in which such marriages
lution this variation works to a species’ advantage. With- remain customary may lead to cross-cultural problems
out genetic diversity a species is less likely to successfully (Figure 9.3). British anthropologist Adam Kuper recently
adapt biologically to environmental change. discussed this issue based on research with Muslim immi-
The inbreeding or biological avoidance theory can grant families from Pakistan. According to Kuper,
be challenged on several fronts. For example, there are
In Pakistan, and in the Pakistani diaspora, a
historical exceptions to the incest taboo, such as a re-
preference is commonly expressed for marriage
quirement that the ruler of the Inca empire in ancient
within the extended family or biraˉdarıˉ. . . . Perhaps
Peru be married to his own (half) sister. Sharing the same
unexpectedly, the rate of cousin marriage among
father, both siblings belonged to the political dynasty
Pakistani immigrants to Britain is higher than the
that derived its sacred right to rule the empire from Inti,
its ancestral Sun God. And by virtue of this royal lineage’s
godly origin, their children could claim the same sacred incest taboo The prohibition of sexual relations between closely related
political status as their human/divine father and mother. individuals.
Ancient emperors in Egypt also practiced such religiously endogamy Marriage within a particular group or category of individuals.
prescribed incest based on a similar claim to divine royal exogamy Marriage outside a particular group or category of individuals.
In the United States, where

twenty-five states ban first-cousin
marriage and six restrict it, there is a
general assumption nationwide that
these laws are rooted in genetics
(Ottenheimer, 1996). (See a discus-
sion of U.S. marriage prohibitions
in the Biocultural Connection.)
Early anthropologists suggested
that many human groups long
ago recognized certain advantages
of exogamy as an effective means
of creating long-lasting bonds of
friendship. French anthropologist
Claude Lévi-Strauss (see the An-
thropologist of Note) elaborated on
© PJR Travel/Alamy Stock Photo

this idea. He explained exogamy as
an alliance system in which distinc-
tive communities participate in an
exchange of marriageable males
and/or females. By extending the
social network, potential enemies
Figure 9.3 Cousin Marriage turn into relatives who may provide
Large numbers of Muslim immigrant families are settling in western Europe. Many support in times of hardship or
hail not only from Pakistan but also from former French and British colonies in Asia violent conflict.
and Africa where cousin marriage is common. Here we see such a traditional family, Building on the theory ad-
conforming to Shariah (Islamic sacred law), relaxing in the heart of London. vanced by Lévi-Strauss, other
anthropologists have proposed that
exogamy is an important means of creating and main-
rate in rural Pakistan. And the rate of cousin marriage taining political alliances and promoting trade between
is particularly high among younger British Pakistanis. groups, thereby ensuring mutual protection and access
Around a third of the marriages of the immigrant to needed goods and resources not otherwise available.
generation were with first cousins, but well over Forging wider kinship networks, exogamy also functions
half the marriages of the British-born generation are to integrate distinct groups and thus potentially reduces
with first cousins. This is a consequence of British violent conflict.
immigration regulations. . . . It is very difficult to
enter Britain unless one is married to a British citizen.
In most cousin marriages, one partner immigrates to
Britain from Pakistan. Alison Shaw found that 90 per
Distinction Between Marriage
cent of the first-cousin marriages in her sample of and Mating
British Pakistanis in Oxford involved one spouse who
In contrast to mating, which occurs when individuals
came directly from Pakistan. . . . (Kuper, 2008, p. 731)
join for purposes of sexual relations, marriage is a socially
Kuper notes that although health risks to offspring binding and culturally recognized relationship. Only
of such close-kin marriages are “rather low” and gen- marriage is backed by social, political, and ideological
erally “within the limits of acceptability,” research by factors that regulate sexual relations as well as reproduc-
geneticists does indicate that “the risk of birth defects or tive rights and obligations. Even among the previously
infant mortality is roughly doubled for the children of discussed Nayar in India, for whom traditional marriage
first cousins.” However, he adds, in western Europe this seems to involve little other than a sexual relationship, a
debate is not just about medical risks, but also about im- woman’s husband is legally obligated to provide her with
migration and cultural friction: “Father’s brother’s daugh- gifts at specified intervals. Additionally, a Nayar woman
ter marriage is taken to be a defining feature of Islamic may not legally have sex with a man to whom she is not
culture, and it is blamed not only for overloading the married.
health service but also for resistance to integration and Thus, although mating occurs in nearly every other
cultural stagnation. It is also associated with patriarchy, animal species, marriage is a cultural institution unique
the suppression of women, and forced marriages” (Kuper, to humans. This is evident when we consider the various
2008, p. 731). forms of marriage around the world.
Marriage Prohibitions in the United States

By Martin Ottenheimer
In the United States, every state has do not have any significantly greater risk Recently, a group of geneticists pub-
laws prohibiting the marriage of some of negative results than offspring of very lished the results of a study of consan-
relatives. Every state forbids parent– distantly related parents. guineous unions, estimating that there
child and sibling marriages, but there Why, then, do some North Americans is “about a 1.7–2.8% increased risk for
is considerable variation in prohibitions maintain this belief? To answer this ques- congenital defects above the population
concerning more distant relatives. For tion, it helps to know that laws against background risk.”a Not only is this a high
example, although twenty-five states ban first-cousin marriage first appeared in the estimate, it is also well within the bounds
marriage between first cousins, nineteen United States right after the mid-1800s of the margin of statistical error. But even
states and the District of Columbia allow when evolutionary models of human be- so, it is a lower risk than that associated
it, and others permit it under certain havior became fashionable. In particular, with offspring from women over the age of
conditions. Notably, the United States a pre-Darwinian model that explained 40—who are not forbidden by the govern-
is the only country in the Western world social evolution as dependent upon bio- ment to marry or bear children.
that has prohibitions against first-cousin logical factors gained popularity. It sup-
marriage. posed that “progress from savagery to
Biocultural Question
Many people in the United States civilization” was possible when humans
What do you think is the underlying cul-
believe that laws forbidding marriage ceased inbreeding. Cousin marriage was
tural logic that makes some societies
between family members exist because thought to be characteristic of savagery,
traditionally forbid first cousins from mar-
parents who are too close biologically the lowest form of human social life, and
rying each other, whereas others, equally
run the risk of producing children with it was believed to inhibit the intellectual
unfamiliar with genetics, accept or even
mental and physical defects. Convinced and social development of humans. It be-
prefer such marriages?
that first cousins fall within this “too came associated with “primitive” behav-
close” category, they believe laws against ior and dreaded as a threat to a civilized
Written expressly for this text, 2005;
first-cousin marriage were established America.
revised and updated, 2011, 2015.
to protect families from the effects of Thus, a powerful myth emerged in
harmful genes. American popular culture, which has since
There are two major problems with become embedded in law. That myth is a
Bennett, R. L., et al. (2002, April).
this belief: First, cousin prohibitions were held and defended to this day, sometimes Genetic counseling and screening of
enacted in the United States long before with great emotion despite being based consanguineous couples and their offspring:
the discovery of the genetic mechanisms on a discredited social evolutionary theory Recommendations of the National Society
of disease. Second, genetic research has and contradicted by the results of modern of Genetic Counselors. Journal of Genetic
shown that offspring of first-cousin couples genetic research. Counseling 11 (2), 97–119.
Forms of Marriage the only legally recognized form of marriage. In these

places, not only are other forms prohibited, but systems
Within societies, and all the more so across cultures, we of inheritance, whereby property and wealth are trans-
see contrasts in the constructs and contracts of marriage. ferred from one generation to the next, are based on the
Indeed, as is evident in the definition of marriage given institution of monogamous marriage. In some parts of
previously, this institution comes in various forms—and the world where divorce rates are high and people who
these forms are distinct in terms of the number and gen- have been divorced remarry (including Europe and North
der of spouses involved. America), an increasingly common form of marriage is
serial monogamy whereby an individual marries a se-
ries of partners in succession.
Monogamy
monogamy A marriage form in which both partners have just one
Monogamy—marriage in which both partners have spouse.
just one spouse—is the most common form of marriage serial monogamy A marriage form in which an individual marries or
worldwide. In North America and most of Europe, it is lives with a series of partners in succession.
Claude Lévi-Strauss (1908–2009)
Claude Lévi-Strauss lived to be 100. When he died, he was the After the war, Lévi-Strauss became French cultural consul in
most celebrated anthropologist in the world. Born in Belgium, the United States, based in New York. Maintaining ties with the
where his father briefly worked as a portrait painter, he grew up academic community, including anthropologist Margaret Mead, he
in Paris. As a boy during World War I, Claude lived with his grand- completed his two-part doctoral thesis: “The Elementary Struc-
father, a rabbi of Versailles. tures of Kinship” and “The Family and Social Life of the Nambik-
He studied law and philosophy at the Sorbonne, married a young wara Indians.” Theoretically influenced by Jakobson’s structural
anthropologist named Dina Dreyfus, and became a philosophy linguistics, his thesis analyzed the logical structures underlying
teacher. In 1935, the couple ventured across the ocean to Brazil’s the social relations of kin-ordered societies.
University of São Paulo, where his wife taught anthropology and he Building on Marcel Mauss’s 1925 study of gift exchange as a
sociology. Influenced by 18th-century romantic philosopher Rousseau means to build or maintain a social relationship, he applied the
and fascinated by historical accounts of Brazilian Indians, he preferred concept of reciprocity to kinship, arguing that marriage is based on
ethnographic research and lectured on tribal social organization. the exchange relationship between kin-groups of “wife-givers” and
In 1937, he and Dina organized an expedition into the Amazon “wife-takers.” Returning to France in late 1947, he became associ-
forest, visiting Bororo and other tribal villages and collecting ate director of the ethnographic museum in Paris and successfully
artifacts for museums. In 1938, they made another journey and defended his thesis at the Sorbonne. His structural analysis was
researched recently contacted Nambikwara Indians. Back in Paris recognized as a pioneering study in kinship and marriage.
together in 1939, their marriage dissolved. That same year, the In 1949, Lévi-Strauss joined an international body of experts
Second World War erupted, and the French army mobilized its invited by UNESCO to discuss and define the “race concept,” a
soldiers, including Lévi-Strauss. disputed term associated with discrimination and genocide. Three
A year after Nazi Germany conquered France in 1940, Lévi- years later, he authored Race and History, a book that became
Strauss escaped to New York City, where he became an anthro- instrumental in UNESCO’s worldwide campaign against racism
pology professor at the New School for Social Research. Teaching and ethnocentrism. By then, he had become an anthropology
courses on South American Indians during the war years, he professor at the École Pratique des Hautes Études in Paris. Con-
befriended other European exiles, including the linguist Roman tinuing his prolific writing, he published Tristes Tropiques (1955).
Jakobson, who pioneered the structural analysis of language. This memoir about his ethnographic adventures among Amazonian
Indians won him international fame. His
1958 book, Structural Anthropology, also
became a classic. It presented his theo-
retical perspective that the human mind
produces logical structures, classifying
reality in terms of binary oppositions
(such as light–dark, good–evil, nature–
culture, and male–female) and that all
humans share a mental demand for order
expressed in a drive toward classification.
In 1959, Lévi-Strauss became the
chair of Social Anthropology at the Collège
de France and founded his own institute
there. Specializing in the comparative
study of religion, he undertook a massive
comparative study and structural analysis
of myths, resulting in a series of instanta-
neously classic books. In 1973, he was
elected to the centuries-old Académie
Apic/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Française, a prestigious institution with

just forty members known as “immortals.”
Countless other honors from around the
world followed.
Now, survived by his wife Monique and
two sons, he lies in a small rural ceme-
tery in Burgundy, near his old mansion,
French anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss in the Amazon rainforest in Brazil, c. 1936. where he liked to reflect on the human
condition.
Polygamy
Monogamy is the most common
marriage form worldwide, but it is
not the preferred form in a majority
of the world’s cultures. That distinc-
tion goes to polygamy (one indi-
vidual having multiple spouses) and
specifically to polygyny, in which
a man is married to more than one
woman (gyne is Greek for “woman”
and “wife”). Favored in about 80 to
85 percent of the world’s cultures,
polygyny is commonly practiced
in parts of Asia and much of sub-
Saharan Africa (Lloyd, 2005).
Although polygyny is the fa-
vored marriage form in these places,
© AP Photo/Ben Curtis
monogamy exceeds it, but for eco-

nomic rather than moral or legal
reasons. In many polygynous soci-
eties, in which a groom is usually
expected to compensate a bride’s
family in cash or kind, a man must Figure 9.4 Polygyny
be fairly wealthy to be able to af- Polygynous marriages are common in many parts of the world, including numerous
ford more than one wife. Multiple African countries. Here we see a Senegalese businessman having dinner with his three
surveys of twenty-five sub-Saharan wives and some of his children. Defying expectations that Western influences and
African countries where polygyny is urbanization would gradually do away with plural marriages, polygyny remains common
common show that it declined by among Muslims in Senegal and other parts of West Africa.
about half between the 1970s and
2001. There are many reasons for this dramatic decline, significantly below that for males. In fact, this marriage
but one is due to families making an economic transition pattern is frequently found in societies in which violence,
from traditional farming and herding to wage labor in including war, is common, and many young males die in
cities. Nonetheless, polygyny remains highly significant battle. Their high combat mortality results in a population
in that part of the world, with an overall average of in which women outnumber men.
25 percent of married women in such unions (Lloyd, By contrast, in societies in which men are more
2005) (Figure 9.4). heavily involved in productive work, generally only a
Polygyny is particularly common in traditional small minority of marriages are polygynous. Under these
food-producing societies that support themselves by circumstances, women are more dependent on men for
herding grazing animals or growing crops and in which support, so they are valued as child bearers more than for
women do the bulk of cultivation. Under these condi- the work they do. This is commonly the case in pastoral
tions, women are valued both as workers and as child nomadic societies in which men are the primary owners
bearers. Where the labor of wives in polygynous house- and tenders of livestock. This makes women especially
holds generates wealth and little support is required from vulnerable if they prove incapable of bearing children,
husbands, the wives have a strong bargaining position which is one reason a man may seek another wife.
within the household. Often, they have considerable Another reason for a man to take on secondary wives
freedom of movement and some economic independence is to demonstrate his high position in society. But where
through the sale of crafts or crops. Wealth-generating men do most of the productive work, they must work
polygyny is found in its fullest elaboration in parts of sub- extremely hard to support more than one wife, and few
Saharan Africa and Southwest Asia, though it is known actually do so. Usually, it is the exceptional hunter or male
elsewhere as well (White, 1988). shaman (“medicine man”) in a food-foraging society or a
In societies practicing wealth-generating polygyny,
most men and women do enter into polygynous mar-
polygamy A marriage form in which one individual has multiple spouses
riages, although some are able to do so earlier in life at the same time.
than others. This is made possible by a female-biased sex polygyny A marriage form in which a man is married to two or more
ratio and/or a mean age at marriage for females that is women at the same time; a form of polygamy.
particularly wealthy man in a horticultural, agricultural, As I see it, if this lifestyle didn’t already exist, it
or pastoral society who is most apt to practice polygyny. would have to be invented to accommodate career
When he does, it is usually of the sororal type, with the co- women. (Johnson, 1991, p. A22)
wives being sisters. Having lived their lives together before
In some polygynous societies, if a man dies, leaving
marriage, the sisters continue to do so with their husband,
behind a wife and children, it is customary that one of
instead of occupying separate dwellings of their own.
his brothers marries the widowed sister-in-law. But this
Polygyny also occurs in a few places in Europe. For ex-
obligation does not preclude the brother having another
ample, English laws concerning marriage changed in 1972
wife then or in the future. This custom, called the levirate
to accommodate immigrants who traditionally practiced
(from the Latin levir, which means “husband’s brother”),
polygyny. Since that time polygamous marriages have
provides security for the widow (and her children). A
been legal in England for some specific religious minori-
related polygynous tradition is the sororate (Latin soror
ties, including Muslims and Sephardic Jews. According to
means “sister”), in which a man has the right to marry a
one family law specialist, the real impetus behind this law
sister (usually younger) of his deceased wife. In some soci-
change was a growing concern that “destitute immigrant
eties, the sororate also applies to a man who has married
wives, abandoned by their husbands, [were] overburden-
a woman who is unable to bear children. This practice
ing the welfare state” (Cretney, 2003, pp. 72–73).
entitles a man to a replacement wife from his in-laws. In
About 100,000 people currently live in polygynous
societies that have the levirate and sororate—customary
households in the United States. Of these, about 20,000
in many traditional foraging, farming, and herding cul-
are Mormons belonging to the Fundamentalist Church
tures—the in-law relationship between the two families is
of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, many of whom reside
maintained even after the spouse’s death and secures an
in the Utah–Arizona border towns of Hildale and Colo-
established alliance between two groups.
rado City. They uphold a 19th-century Mormon doctrine
Although monogamy and polygyny are the most com-
that plural marriage brings exaltation in heaven—even
mon forms of marriage in the world today, other forms
though the practice was officially declared illegal in the
do exist. Polyandry, the marriage of one woman to two
United States in 1862 and was officially renounced in
or more men simultaneously, is practiced in only a few
1890 by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints,
societies. The extreme rarity of polyandry could be due
the mainstream Mormon church headquartered in Salt
to longer life expectancy for women or to slightly lower
Lake City.
female infant mortality, either of which might produce a
The other 80,000 or so people in polygynous house-
society with a surplus of women.
holds in the United States are primarily immigrants
Fewer than a dozen societies are known to have fa-
(mostly Muslim) originating from Asian and African coun-
vored this form of marriage, but they involve people as
tries in which the practice is culturally embedded and le-
widely separated from one another as the Marquesan
gal. Polygynous households are also growing among Black
Islanders of Polynesia and Tibetans in Asia (Figure 9.5).
Muslim orthodox households in several major U.S. cities
In Tibet, where inheritance is in the male line and arable
(McDermott, 2011; Schilling, 2012). Ways in which laws
land is limited, the practice of brothers sharing one wife
prohibiting polygamy are circumvented include marriage
(fraternal polyandry) keeps the land together by preventing
of one spouse under civil law and others in religious cer-
it from being repeatedly subdivided among sons from one
emonies only. Individuals, usually males, may also marry
generation to the next. Unlike monogamy, it also holds
additional spouses in different countries (Hagerty, 2008).
down population growth, thereby avoiding increased
Despite its illegality and concerns that the practice can
pressures on resources. Finally, among Tibetans who prac-
jeopardize the rights and well-being of women, regional
tice a mixed economy of farming, herding, and trading in
law enforcement officials have adopted a “live and let
the Himalayas, fraternal polyandry provides the house-
live” attitude toward religious-based polygyny in their
hold with an adequate pool of male labor for all three
region. Women involved in the practice are sometimes
subsistence activities (Levine & Silk, 1997).
outspoken in defending it. One woman—a lawyer and
one of nine co-wives—expresses her attitude toward po-
lygyny as follows:
I see it as the ideal way for a woman to have a

Other Forms of Marriage
career and children. In our family, the women can Notable among several other marriage forms is group
help each other care for the children. Women in marriage. Also known as co-marriage, this is a rare arrange-
monogamous relationships don’t have that luxury. ment in which several men and women have sexual access
to one another. Until a few decades ago, Inupiat Eskimos
in northern Alaska, for instance, engaged in “spouse ex-
polyandry A marriage form in which a woman is married to two or more
men at the same time; a form of polygamy. change” (nuliaqatigiit) between non-kin, with two conjugal
group marriage A marriage form in which several men and women have husband–wife couples being united by shared sexual ac-
sexual access to one another; also called co-marriage. cess. Highly institutionalized arrangements, these intimate
Choice of Spouse 215
Figure 9.5 Polyandrous Marriage

Polyandry—marriage between one
woman and two or more men—occurs in
fewer than a dozen societies, including
among the Nyinba people living in
northwest Nepal’s Nyinba Valley in
the Humla district near Tibet. Pictured
here, from right: the older husband
Chhonchanab with first daughter
Dralma, the wife Shilangma, the younger
husband KaliBahadur, and the second
daughter Tsering.
© Michele Borzoni/TerraProject
relationships implied ties of mutual aid and support across such spouses are absent in the flesh yet believed to exist in
territorial boundaries and were expected to last throughout spirit form, anthropologists refer to these fictive unions as
the lifetime of the participants (Chance, 1990). The ties ghost marriages (Evans-Pritchard, 1951).
between the couples were so strong that their children
retained a sibling relationship to one another (Spencer,
1984).
There are also arrangements anthropologists cate-
Choice of Spouse
gorize as fictive marriage—marriage by proxy to the The egalitarian ideal that individuals should be free to
symbols of someone not physically present in order to marry whomever they choose is an arrangement that,
establish a social status for a spouse and heirs. One major although common in much of Europe and the western
reason for such a marriage is to control rights to property hemisphere, certainly is not universally embraced. In many
in the next generation. Various types of fictive marriages societies, marriage and the establishment of a family are
exist in different parts of the world. In the United States, considered far too important to be left to the desires of
for example, proxy marriage ceremonies accommodate young people. The individual relationship of two people
physically separated partners, such as seafarers, prisoners, who are expected to spend their lives together and raise
and military personnel deployed abroad. their children together is viewed as incidental to the more
In several traditional African societies—most famously serious matter of allying two families through the marriage
among Nuer cattle herders of South Sudan—a woman may bond. Marriage involves a transfer of rights between fami-
marry a man who has died without heirs. In such situa- lies, including rights to property and rights over children,
tions the deceased man’s brother may become his stand-in, as well as sexual rights. Thus, marriages tend to be arranged
or proxy, and marry a woman on his behalf. As in the case for the economic and political advantage of the family unit.
of the marriage custom of the sororate discussed previ-
ously, the biological offspring will be considered as having
fictive marriage A marriage form in which a proxy is used as a symbol
been fathered by the dead man’s spirit. Recognized as his of someone not physically present to establish the social status of a
legitimate children, they are his rightful heirs. Because spouse and heirs.
Although arranged marriages are rare in North American schools and carefully steering them toward appropriate
society, they do occur. Among ethnic minorities, they may spouses. The Original Study illustrates how marriages may
serve to preserve traditional values that people fear might be arranged in cultures in which such traditional practices
otherwise be lost. Families of wealth and power may orches- remain commonplace.
trate such marriages by segregating their children in private
NAL
ORIGI
S T U DY Arranging Marriage in India By Serena Nanda
TIBET
Six years after my first field trip to India, I re- Originally from North (CHINA)
PAKISTAN BHUTAN
turned to do research among the middle class in Bombay, India, my friend’s family NEP
AL
a modern, sophisticated city. Planning to include a study had lived for forty years in
of arranged marriages in my project, I thought I might Bombay, where her hus- INDIA
even participate in arranging one myself. An opportunity band owned a business. MYANMAR
BANGLADESH
presented itself almost immediately. A friend from my The family had delayed in Mumbai
(Bombay)
previous Indian trip was in the process of arranging for the seeking a match for their
Indian
© Cengage Learning
marriage of her eldest son. Because my friend’s family was eldest son because he had Ocean
eminently respectable and the boy himself personable, been an air force pilot for
SRI
well educated, and nice looking, I was sure that by the several years, stationed in LANKA
end of my year’s fieldwork, we would have found a match. such remote places that
The basic rule seems to be that a family’s reputation is it had seemed fruitless to try to find a girl who would be
most important. It is understood that matches would be willing to accompany him. In their social class, a military
arranged only within the same caste and general social career, despite its economic security, has little prestige and
class, although some crossing of subcastes is permissible if is considered a drawback in finding a suitable bride. . . .
the class positions of the bride’s and groom’s families are The son had recently left the military and joined his
similar. Although dowry is now prohibited by law in India, father’s business. Because he was a college graduate, mod-
extensive gift exchanges took place with every marriage. ern, and well traveled, from such a good family, and, I
Even when the boy’s family does not “make demands,” thought, quite handsome, it seemed to me that he, or
every girl’s family nevertheless feels the obligation to give rather his family, was in a position to pick and choose. I
the traditional gifts—to the girl, to the boy, and to the said as much to my friend. Although she agreed that there
boy’s family. Particularly when the couple would be living were many advantages on their side, she also said, “We
in the joint family—that is, with the boy’s parents and his must keep in mind that my son is both short and dark;
married brothers and their families, as well as with un- these are drawbacks in finding the right match.” . . .
married siblings, which is still very common even among An important source of contacts in trying to arrange
the urban, upper-middle class in India—the girl’s parents her son’s marriage was my friend’s social club in Bombay.
are anxious to establish smooth relations between their Many of the women had daughters of the right age, and
family and that of the boy. Offering the proper gifts, even some had already expressed an interest in my friend’s son.
when not called “dowry,” is often an important factor I was most enthusiastic about the possibilities of one par-
in influencing the relationship between the bride’s and ticular family who had five daughters, all of whom were
groom’s families and perhaps, also, the treatment of the pretty, demure, and well educated. Their mother had told
bride in her new home. my friend, “You can have your pick for your son, which-
In a society where divorce is still a scandal and the di- ever one of my daughters appeals to you most.” I saw a
vorce rate is exceedingly low, an arranged marriage is the match in sight. “Surely,” I said to my friend, “we will find
beginning of a lifetime relationship not just between the one there. Let’s go visit and make our choice.” But my
bride and groom but between their families as well. Thus, friend did not seem to share my enthusiasm.
although a girl’s looks are important, her character is When I kept pressing for an explanation of her reluc-
even more so because she is being judged as a prospective tance, she admitted, “See, Serena, here is the problem. The
daughter-in-law as much as a prospective bride. . . . family has so many daughters, how will they be able to pro-
My friend is a highly esteemed wife, mother, and daugh- vide nicely for any of them? . . . Because this is our eldest son,
ter-in-law. She is religious, soft-spoken, modest, and defer- it’s best if we marry him to a girl who is the only daughter,
ential. She rarely gossips and never quarrels, two qualities then the wedding will truly be a gala affair.” I argued that
highly desirable in a woman. A family that has the reputa- surely the quality of the girls themselves made up for any
tion for gossip and conflict among its womenfolk will not deficiency in the elaborateness of the wedding. My friend
find it easy to get good wives for their sons. . . . admitted this point but still seemed reluctant to proceed.
Choice of Spouse 217
son or daughter, but we have spoiled the repu-

tation of our family as well. And that will make
it much harder for their brothers and sisters to
get married. So we must be very careful.”
What she said was true and I promised my-
self to be more patient. I had really hoped and
expected that the match would be made before
my year in India was up. But it was not to be.
When I left India my friend seemed no further
along in finding a suitable match for her son
Sophie Elbaz/Anzenberger/Redux
than when I had arrived.
Two years later, I returned to India and still
my friend had not found a girl for her son. By
this time, he was close to 30, and I think she was
a little worried. Because she knew I had friends
all over India, and I was going to be there for a
year, she asked me to “help her in this work”
and keep an eye out for someone suitable. . . .
“Is there something else,” I asked her, “some factor I It was almost at the end of my year’s stay in India that
have missed?” “Well,” she finally said, “there is one other I met a family with a marriageable daughter whom I felt
thing. They have one daughter already married and living might be a good possibility for my friend’s son. . . . This new
in Bombay. The mother is always complaining to me that family had a successful business in a medium-sized city in
the girl’s in-laws don’t let her visit her own family often central India and were from the same subcaste as my friend.
enough. So it makes me wonder, will she be that kind of The daughter was pretty and chic; in fact, she had studied
mother who always wants her daughter at her own home? fashion design in college. Her parents would not allow her
This will prevent the girl from adjusting to our house. It to go off by herself to any of the major cities in India where
is not a good thing.” And so, this family of five daughters she could make a career, but they had compromised with
was dropped as a possibility. her wish to work by allowing her to run a small dress-mak-
Somewhat disappointed, I nevertheless respected my ing boutique from their home. In spite of her desire to have
friend’s reasoning and geared up for the next prospect. This a career, the daughter was both modest and home-loving
was also the daughter of a woman in my friend’s social and had had a traditional, sheltered upbringing.
club. There was clear interest in this family and I could see I mentioned the possibility of a match with my friend’s
why. The family’s reputation was excellent; in fact, they son. The girl’s parents were most interested. Although their
came from a subcaste slightly higher than my friend’s own. daughter was not eager to marry just yet, the idea of living
The girl, an only daughter, was pretty and well educated in Bombay—a sophisticated, extremely fashion-conscious
and had a brother studying in the United States. Yet, after city where she could continue her education in clothing
expressing an interest to me in this family, all talk of them design—was a great inducement. I gave the girl’s father my
suddenly died down and the search began elsewhere. friend’s address.
“What happened to that girl as a prospect?” I asked one Returning to Bombay on my way to New York, I told
day. “You never mention her anymore. She is so pretty my friend of this newly discovered possibility. She seemed
and so educated, what did you find wrong?” to feel there was potential but, in spite of my urging,
“She is too educated. We’ve decided against it. My hus- would not make any moves herself. She rather preferred
band’s father saw the girl on the bus the other day and to wait for the girl’s family to call upon them.
thought her forward. A girl who ‘roams about’ the city by A year later I received a letter from my friend. The family
herself is not the girl for our family.” My disappointment had visited, and her daughter and their daughter had become
this time was even greater, as I thought the son would very good friends. During that year, the two girls had fre-
have liked the girl very much. . . . I learned that if the fam- quently visited each other. I thought things looked promising.
ily of the girl has even a slightly higher social status than Last week I received an invitation to a wedding: My
the family of the boy, the bride may think herself too friend’s son and the girl were getting married. Because I had
good for them, and this too will cause problems. . . . found the match, my presence was particularly requested at
After one more candidate, who my friend decided was the wedding. I was thrilled. Success at last! As I prepared to
not attractive enough for her son, almost six months had leave for India, I began thinking, “Now, my friend’s younger
passed, and I had become anxious. My friend laughed at son, who do I know who has a nice girl for him . . . ?”
my impatience: “You Americans want everything done so
quickly. You get married quickly and then just as quickly Adapted from Nanda, S. (1992). Arranging a marriage
get divorced. Here we take marriage more seriously. If a in India. In P. R. De Vita (Ed.), The naked anthropologist
mistake is made we have not only ruined the life of our (pp. 139–143). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
= = = = =
Father’s Father’s Father’s Father’s Father Mother Mother’s Mother’s Mother’s Mother’s
sister’s sister brother’s brother sister sister’s brother brother’s
husband wife husband wife
© Cengage Learning
Cross cousins Parallel cousins Brother EGO Sister Parallel cousins Cross cousins
Figure 9.6 Kinship Relationships

Anthropologists use diagrams of this sort to illustrate kinship relationships. This one shows
the distinction between cross cousins and parallel cousins. In such diagrams, males are
always shown with triangles, females with circles, marital ties with an equal sign (5), sibling
relationships with a horizontal line, and parent–child relationships with a vertical line. Terms are
given from the perspective of the individual labeled EGO, who can be male or female.
Cousin Marriage in the female line, for instance, property and other im-
portant rights usually pass from a man to his sister’s son;
Cousin marriage is prohibited in some societies, but par- under cross-cousin marriage, the sister’s son is also the
ticular types of cousins are the preferred marriage partners man’s daughter’s husband.
in others. Anthropologists distinguish between parallel For this reason, there is no single word for cousin in
and cross cousins. A parallel cousin is the child of a many cultures. In Arabic, for example, there are eight dif-
father’s brother or a mother’s sister (Figure 9.6). In some ferent terms, distinguishing cousins not only by gender
societies, the preferred spouse for a man is his father’s but also by whether the person is related through his or
brother’s daughter (or, from the woman’s point of view, her mother’s sister, mother’s brother, father’s brother, or
her father’s brother’s son). This is known as patrilateral father’s sister:
parallel-cousin marriage.
Although not obligatory, such marriages have been ibn al khaˉla mother’s sister’s son
favored historically among Arabs, the ancient Israelites, ibnat khaˉla mother’s sister’s daughter
and the ancient Greeks. In all of these societies male ibn khaˉl mother’s brother’s son
dominance and descent are emphasized, but sons as well ibnat khaˉl mother’s brother’s daughter
as daughters may inherit property of value. Thus, when a ibn ‘ama father’s sister’s son
man marries his father’s brother’s daughter (or a woman ibnat ‘ama father’s sister’s daughter
marries her father’s brother’s son), property is retained ibn ‘am father’s brother’s son
within the single male line of descent. Generally, in these ibnat ‘am father’s brother’s daughter
societies the greater the property, the more this form of
parallel-cousin marriage is apt to occur.
A cross cousin is the child of a mother’s brother or a Same-Sex Marriage
father’s sister (see Figure 9.6). Some societies favor ma- As noted earlier in this chapter, our cross-cultural definition
trilateral cross-cousin marriage—marriage of a man to his of marriage refers to a union between “people” rather than
mother’s brother’s daughter or a woman to her father’s sis- between “a man and a woman” not only because it includes
ter’s son. This preference exists among food foragers (such polygamy but also because it includes marriages between
as the Aborigines of Australia) and some farming cultures individuals of the same gender. Since the 1990s, “same-sex
(including various peoples of southern India). Among marriages” are culturally acceptable and officially allowed
food foragers, who inherit relatively little in the way of by law in a growing number of societies. This right to mar-
property, such marriages help establish and maintain ties riage affords same-sex spouses the same economic benefits
of solidarity between social groups. In agricultural societ- and rights as other married couples. These may range from
ies, however, the transmission of property is an important family health insurance to Social Security spousal benefits.
determinant. In societies that trace descent exclusively Marriages between individuals of the same gender may
provide a way of dealing with problems for which oppo-
parallel cousin The child of a father’s brother or a mother’s sister. site-sex marriage offers no satisfactory solution. This is the
cross cousin The child of a mother’s brother or a father’s sister. case with woman–woman marriage, a practice documented
Marriage and Economic Exchange 219
in about forty traditional cultures in achieves near equality with men, who otherwise occupy a
sub-Saharan Africa (Green, 1998). far more favored position in Nandi society than women.
However, where it does occur, A woman who marries a female husband is usually one
it only involves a small who is unable to make a good marriage, often because she
minority of women who SOUTH
(the female husband’s wife) has lost face as a consequence
take the role of a female SUDAN of premarital pregnancy. By marrying a female husband,
husband. Lake ETHIOPIA she too raises her status and also secures legitimacy for
Turkana
her children. Moreover, a female husband is usually less
Woman–Woman harsh and demanding, spends more time with her, and
SOMALIA
UGANDA
Marriage among allows her a greater say in decision making than a male
ley
Val
the Nandi
Nandi husband does. The one thing she may not do is engage in
ift
Hills KENYA
tR
sexual activity with her marriage partner. In fact, female
ea
Gr
Details differ from one
Lake Nairobi husbands are expected to abandon sexual activity alto-
society to another, but
© Cengage Learning
Victoria
gether, including with their male husbands to whom they
woman–woman mar-
remain married even though the women now have their
riages among the Nandi TANZANIA Indian
Ocean own wives.
of western Kenya may
be taken as representa-
tive of such practices in
Same-Sex Marriage Around the World Today
Africa (Oboler, 1980). The Nandi are cattle herders who In contrast to woman–woman marriages among the
also do considerable farming. Control of most significant Nandi are same-sex marriages that include sexual activ-
property and the primary means of production—livestock ity between partners. Over the past decades, the legal
and land—is exclusively in the hands of men and may be recognition of such unions has become a matter of vig-
transmitted only to their male heirs, usually their sons. orous debate in some parts of the world. Nearly twenty
Because polygyny is the preferred form of marriage, a countries—including Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Canada,
man’s property is normally divided equally among his Denmark, France, Iceland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands,
wives for their sons to inherit. Within the household, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, South Africa, Spain,
each wife has her own home in which she lives with her Sweden, the United Kingdom, the United States, and
children, but all are under the authority of the husband, Uruguay—have legalized same-sex marriage, and numerous
who is a remote and aloof figure within the family. In other countries are moving toward doing so (Figure 9.7).
such situations, the position of a woman who bears no Despite these major shifts, the issue of same-sex mar-
sons is difficult; not only does she not help perpetuate riage remains taboo, controversial, or unsettled in many
her husband’s male line—a major concern among the parts of the world, with official policies sometimes swing-
Nandi—but also she has no one to inherit the proper ing back and forth. This situation illustrates that cultures
share of her husband’s property. are dynamic and capable of change.
To get around these problems, a woman of advanced
age who bore no sons may become a female husband by
marrying a young woman. The purpose of this arrange-
ment is for the young wife to provide the male heirs her
female husband could not. To accomplish this, the wo-
Marriage and Economic
man’s wife enters into a sexual relationship with a man Exchange
other than her female husband’s male husband; usually
it is one of his male relatives. No other obligations exist Marriages in many human societies are formalized by
between this woman and her male sex partner, and her some sort of economic exchange. This may take the form
female husband is recognized as the social and legal father of a gift exchange known as bridewealth (sometimes
of any children born under these conditions. called bride-price), which involves payments of money
In keeping with her role as female husband, this or valuable goods to a bride’s parents or other close kin.
woman is expected to abandon her female gender identity This usually happens in patrilineal societies in which the
and, ideally, dress and behave as a man. In practice, the bride will become a member of the household in which
ideal is not completely achieved, for the habits of a life- her husband grew up; this household will benefit from her
time are difficult to reverse. Generally, it is in the context labor as well as from the offspring she produces. Thus,
of domestic activities, which are most highly symbolic of her family must be compensated for their loss.
female identity, that female husbands most completely Bridewealth is not a simple buying and selling of
assume a male identity. women; rather, it can contribute to the bride’s household
The individuals in woman–woman marriages enjoy
several advantages. By assuming male identity, a barren bridewealth The money or valuable goods paid by the groom or his
or sonless woman raises her status considerably and even family to the bride’s family upon marriage; also called bride-price.
Figure 9.7 Same-Sex

Marriage in the United
States
Tory receives a celebratory
kiss from her father alongside
her new spouse, Monica, at
their wedding in Connecticut,
where same-sex marriage
became legal in 2008.
© Marie Labbancz
(through purchases of furnishings, for example) or can One of the functions of dowry is to ensure a woman’s
help finance an elaborate and costly wedding celebration. support in widowhood (or after divorce), an important
It also enhances the stability of the marriage because it consideration for societies in which men carry out the
usually must be refunded if the couple separates. Other bulk of productive work and women are valued for their
forms of compensation are an exchange of women be- reproductive potential rather than for the work they do.
tween families—“My son will marry your daughter if In such societies, women incapable of bearing children are
your son will marry my daughter.” Yet another is bride especially vulnerable, but the dowry they bring with them
service, a period of time during which the (prospective) at marriage helps protect them against desertion. Another
groom works for the bride’s family (sometimes several function of dowry is to reflect the economic status of the
years, as among ancient Israelites). woman in societies in which differences in wealth are
In a number of societies, especially those with an ag- important. It also permits women, with the aid of their
riculturally based economy, women often bring a dowry parents and kin, to compete through dowry for desirable
with them at marriage. A dowry is a woman’s share of (that is, wealthy) husbands.
parental property that, instead of passing to her upon her
parents’ deaths, is given to her at the time of her marriage
(Figure 9.8). This does not mean that she retains control
of this property after marriage. In some European and Divorce
Asian countries, for example, a woman’s property tra-
Like marriage, divorce in most societies is a matter of great
ditionally falls exclusively under her husband’s control.
concern to the couple’s families because it impacts not
Having benefited by what she has brought to the mar-
only the individuals dissolving their marital relationship
riage, however, he is obligated to look out for her future
but also offspring, in-laws, other relatives, and sometimes
well-being, including her security after his death. In North
entire communities. Indeed, divorce may have social,
America today, a form of dowry persists with the custom
political, and economic consequences far beyond the
of the bride’s family paying the wedding expenses.
breakup of a couple and their household.
Across cultures, divorce arrangements can be made
for a variety of reasons and with varying degrees of dif-
bride service A designated period of time when the groom works for the
bride’s family. ficulty. Among the Gusii farmers of western Kenya, for
dowry A payment at the time of a woman’s marriage that comes from instance, sterility and impotence are grounds for a divorce.
her inheritance, made to either her or her husband. Among certain aboriginal peoples in northern Canada and
Family and Household 221
Caroline Penn/Encyclopedia/Corbis
Figure 9.8 Dowries in Traditional Rural Societies
A young Kyrgyz bride sits in front of colorful stacks of woven and richly embroidered blankets and
other textiles that she brings into the new household as part of her sep (dowry). The sep also includes
cutlery, dishes, clothes, pillows, wall hangings, and beautiful felt carpets. Notice the exquisitely carved
and painted wooden dowry chest on the left, which indicates her parental family’s high social status.
Chenchu foragers in central India, divorce is traditionally

discouraged after children are born; couples usually are
Family and Household
urged by their families to accept their differences. By con- Dependence on group living for survival is a basic human
trast, in the southwestern United States, a traditional Hopi characteristic. We have inherited this from primate ances-
Indian woman in Arizona could divorce her husband at tors, although we have developed it in our own distinctly
any time merely by placing his belongings outside the door human way—through culture. However each culture de-
to indicate he is no longer welcome. Among the most com- fines what constitutes a family, this social unit forms the
mon reasons for divorce across cultures are infidelity, steril- basic cooperative structure that ensures an individual’s
ity, cruelty, and desertion (Betzig, 1989; Goodwin, 1999). primary needs and provides the necessary care for chil-
Although divorce rates may be high in various parts of dren to develop as healthy and productive members of the
the world, they have become so high in Western indus- group and thereby ensure its future.
trial and postindustrial societies that many worry about Comparative historical and cross-cultural studies re-
the future of what they view as traditional and familiar veal a wide variety of family patterns, and these patterns
forms of marriage and the family. It is interesting to note may change over time. Thus, the definition of family is
that although divorce was next to impossible in Western necessarily broad: two or more people related by blood,
societies between 1000 and 1800, in those centuries few marriage, or adoption. The family may take many forms,
marriages lasted more than about ten or twenty years, ranging from a single parent with one or more children, to
due to high mortality rates caused in part by inadequate a married couple or polygamous spouses with offspring, to
healthcare and poor medical expertise (Stone, 2005). With several generations of parents and their children.
increased longevity, separation by death has diminished
and separation by legal action has grown. In the United
family Two or more people related by blood, marriage, or adoption.
States divorce rates have leveled off since peaking in the
The family may take many forms, ranging from a single parent with one
1980s, but over 40 percent of marriages still do not survive or more children, to a married couple or polygamous spouses with or
(Morello, 2011). without offspring, to several generations of parents and their children.
Figure 9.9 Household

Versus Family
Households can include
many individuals not related
to one another biologically
or through marriage, as shown
in this photo of nuns gathered
together for a meal at the
Sakyadhita Thilashin Nunnery
School in Sagaing, near
Mandalay, Myanmar.
© Melvyn Longhurst/Corbis
Family members may form a residential group or an Israeli kibbutz (a collectively owned and operated agri-
household, but not all households consist of family cultural settlement). So it is that family and household are
members. For purposes of cross-cultural comparison, an- not always synonymous (Figure 9.9).
thropologists define the household as a domestic unit of
one or more persons living in one residence. In the vast
majority of human societies, most households are made
Forms of the Family
up of families, but there are many other arrangements. To discuss the various forms families take in response to
For instance, among the Mundurucu Indians—an in- particular social, historical, and ecological circumstances,
digenous ethnic group subsisting on hunting, fishing, and we must first distinguish between a conjugal family
food gardens in the heart of Brazil’s Amazon rainforest— (in Latin conjugere means “to join together”), which is
married men and women are members of separate house- formed on the basis of marital ties, and a consanguineal
holds, meeting periodically for sexual activity. At age 13, family (based on the Latin word consanguineus, literally
boys join their fathers in the men’s house. Meanwhile, meaning “of the same blood”), which consists of related
their sisters continue to live with their mothers and the women, their brothers, and the women’s offspring.
younger boys in two or three houses grouped around Consanguineal families are not common, but exam-
the men’s house. Thus, the men’s house constitutes one ples include the classic case of the Nayar described earlier
household inhabited by adult males and their sexually in the chapter, as well as the Mosuo of southwestern
mature sons, and the women’s houses are inhabited by China, and the Tory Islanders—a Roman Catholic, Gaelic-
adult women and prepubescent boys and girls. speaking fishing people living on a small island off the
An array of other domestic arrangements can be found coast of Ireland. Typically, Tory Islanders are all close
in other parts of the world, including situations in which neighbors and do not marry until they are in their late
co-residents of a household are not related biologically or 20s or early 30s. By then, commented one local woman,
by marriage—such as the service personnel in an elaborate
It’s too late to break up arrangements that you have
royal household, apprentices in the household of craft
already known for a long time. . . . You know, I have
specialists, or groups of children being raised by paired
my sisters and brothers to look after, why should I
teams of adult male and female community members in
leave home to go live with a husband? After all, he’s
got his sisters and his brothers looking after him.
household A domestic unit of one or more persons living in one (Fox, 1978, n.p.)
residence. Other than family members, a household may include
nonrelatives, such as servants. Notably, because the community numbers but a few hun-
conjugal family A family established through marriage. dred people, husbands and wives are within easy commut-
consanguineal family A family of blood relatives, consisting of related ing distance of each other. According to a cross-cultural
women, their brothers, and the women’s offspring. survey of family types in 192 cultures around the world, the
Family and Household 223
extended family is most common, present in nearly half of Interestingly, the nuclear family
those cultures, compared to the nuclear family at 25 percent is also likely to be prominent in
and the polygamous family at 22 percent (Winick, 1970). traditional foraging societies such
as that of the Eskimo peo-
The Nuclear Family ple who live in the bar- SIBERIA
The most basic family unit is the nuclear family, made ren Arctic environments (RUSSIA)
of eastern Siberia (Russia), North Pole
up of one or two parents and dependent offspring, which
Artic
may include a stepparent, stepsiblings, and adopted chil- Alaska, Greenland, and Ocean
dren (Figure 9.10). Until recently, the term nuclear family Canada (where Eskimos ALASKA GREENLAND
(UNITED
referred only to the mother, father, and child(ren) unit— are known as Inuit). In STATES)
the family form that most North Americans, Europeans, the winter the traditional
Pacific Ocean
and many others regard as the normal or natural nucleus Inuit husband and wife,
of larger family units. with their children, roam CANADA
© Cengage Learning
In the United States, traditional mother, father, the vast Arctic Canadian
child(ren) nuclear family households reached their high- snowscape in their quest
est frequency around 1950, when 60 percent of all house- for food. The husband UNITED STATES
holds conformed to this model (Stacey, 1990). Today, such hunts and makes shelters.
families make up about 20 percent of U.S. households, The wife cooks, is responsible for the children, and makes
and the term nuclear family is used to cover the social real- the clothing and keeps it in good repair. One of a wife’s
ity of several types of small parent–child units, including traditional chores is to chew her husband’s boots to soften
single parents with children and same-sex couples with the leather for the next day so that he can resume his quest
children (Babay, 2013; U.S. Census Bureau, 2012). for game. The wife and her children could not survive
Industrialization and market capitalism have played without the husband, and life for a man is unimaginable
a historical role in shaping the nuclear family most of without a wife.
us are familiar with today. One reason for this is that Similar to nuclear families in industrial societies, those
factories, mining and transportation companies, ware- living under especially harsh environmental conditions
houses, shops, and other businesses generally pay indi- must be prepared to fend for themselves. Such isolation
vidual wage earners only for the jobs they are hired to comes with its own set of challenges, including the difficul-
do. Whether these workers are single, married, divorced, ties of rearing children without multigenerational support
or have siblings or children is really not a concern to the and a lack of familial care for the elderly. Nonetheless, this
profit-seeking companies. Because jobs may come and go, form of family is well adapted to a mode of subsistence that
individual wage earners must remain mobile to adapt to requires a high degree of geographic mobility. For the Inuit
the labor markets. And because few wage earners have the in Canada, this mobility permits the hunt for food (Figure
financial resources to support large numbers of relatives 9.11); for other North Americans, the hunt for jobs and im-
without incomes of their own, industrial or postindustrial proved social status require that the family unit be mobile.
societies do not favor the continuance of larger extended
families (discussed below), which are standard in most
The Extended Family
societies traditionally dependent on pastoral nomadism, When two or more closely related nuclear families clus-
agriculture, or horticulture. ter together in a large domestic group, they form a unit
known as the extended family. This larger family unit,
common in traditional horticultural, agricultural, and
pastoral societies around the world, typically consists of
= siblings with their spouses and offspring, and often their
parents. All of these kin, some related by blood and some
Husband/ Wife/
Mother by marriage, live and work together for the common good
Father
and deal with outsiders as a single unit. Extended family
households exist in many parts of the world—from the
Maya of Central America and Mexico to Pashtun tribes in
Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan.
© Cengage Learning
Because members of the younger generation bring

Daughter/ EGO Son/
Sister Brother their husbands or wives to live in the family, extended
nuclear family A group consisting of one or two parents and dependent

Figure 9.10 The Nuclear Family offspring, which may include a stepparent, stepsiblings, and adopted children.
This diagram shows the relationships in a traditional nuclear Until recently this term referred only to the mother, father, and child(ren) unit.
family, a form that is common but declining in North America extended family Two or more closely related nuclear families clustered
and much of Europe. together in a large domestic group.
Figure 9.11 Nuclear Families

in the Canadian Arctic
Among Inuit people in Canada
who still hunt for much of their
food, nuclear families, such as
the one shown here, are typical.
Their isolation from other relatives
is usually temporary. Much of the
time they are found in groups of
at least a few related families.
© Eastcott-Momatiuki/The Image Works

families have continuity through time. As older members more than a third of all births occur outside of marriage (Stein
die off, new members are born into the family. Extended & St. George, 2009). The proportion of U.S. single-parent
families do involve particular challenges, however. Among households is still rising and now surpasses 13 percent, while
these are difficulties that the in-marrying individual is the number comprised of married couples with children
likely to have in adjusting to the spouse’s family. stands at about 25 percent. Although single-parent house-
holds account for about 13 percent of all U.S. households,
Nontraditional Families and Nonfamily they are home to about 30 percent of all children (under
Households 18 years of age) in the country (U.S. Census Bureau, 2015).
In North America and parts of Europe, increasing numbers In the vast majority of cases, a child in a single-parent
of people live in nonfamily households, either alone or household lives with the mother. Single-parent households
with people who are not relatives. In fact, about one-third headed by women are neither new nor restricted to industrial
of households in the United States fall into this category or postindustrial societies. They have been studied for a long
(Figure 9.12). Many others live as members of what are time in Caribbean countries, where men historically have
often called nontraditional families. been exploited as a cheap source of labor for sugar, coffee, or
Increasingly common are cohabitation households, made banana plantations. In more recent decades, many of these
up of unmarried couples. Since 1960, such households have men are now also working as temporary migrant laborers
increased dramatically in number especially among young in foreign countries, primarily in the United States—often
couples in their 20s and early 30s in North America and parts living in temporary households composed of fellow laborers.
of Europe. In Norway, for example, over half of all live births Also significant today are the high numbers of blended
now occur outside marriage. One reason for this is that Nor- families. These are families composed of a married couple
wegian couples who have lived together for at least two years together raising children from previous unions.
and who have children have many of the same rights and
obligations as their married counterparts (Noack, 2001). For
many, however, cohabitation represents a relatively short-
term domestic arrangement because most cohabiting cou-
Residence Patterns
ples either marry or separate within two years (Forste, 2008). Anthropologists distinguish several residence patterns
Cohabitation breakup has contributed to the growing adopted by newly married couples across cultures. These
number of single-parent households—as have increases in arrangements are part of a cultural system’s adaptation
divorce, sexual activity outside marriage, declining marriage to ecological or labor market circumstances and various
rates among women of childbearing age, and the number of other factors.
women preferring single motherhood. In the United States, Patrilocal residence is a pattern in which a married
couple lives in the husband’s father’s place of residence.
patrilocal residence A residence pattern in which a married couple This arrangement is most often found in cultural situa-
lives in the husband’s father’s place of residence. tions where men play a predominant role in subsistence,
Residence Patterns 225
Percent Distribution of U.S. Households by Type, 1940–2015 Figure 9.12 Household Change in
the United States
Family Households
A household comprises all the
1940 42.9 33.4 4.3 9.4
people who occupy a single housing
unit—such as a family, a group
1960 44.3 30.5 4.1 6.2 of roommates, or an unmarried
couple. Over the past 75 years,
1980 30.7 30.2 7.2 5.6 there have been dramatic changes
in U.S. household structure. In
2000 23.5 28.1 9.2 7.1 1940, married couples with children
represented about 43 percent of all
2010 20.2 28.2 9.6 8.5 households, compared to married
couples without children (33 percent),
2015 25.5 22.7 13.4 5.0 single-parent families (4 percent),
and other types of family households
(9 percent). Nonfamily households
Nonfamily Households
made up only 10 percent of
1940 7.8 2.2
households nationwide, and most of
those were persons living alone. Today,
1960 13.4 1.7 only 25 percent of U.S. households
are comprised of married couples with
1980 22.6 3.8 children, and the number of single-
Married couples Married couples parent households now surpasses

2000 25.8 6.1 with children without children 13 percent (three-quarters of which
Single parents are single-mother households). The
with children Other family
2010 26.7 6.8 number of people living alone now
One person Other nonfamily exceeds all of the other categories.
2015 28.0 6.0 Note that percentages for subcategories may
not sum to category totals due to rounding.
0 20 40 60 80 100 Sources: Jacobsen, Mather, & Dupuis,

2012; U.S. Census, 2015.
particularly if they own property that can be accumulated; groom’s family. Less common, but also found in matrilineal
where polygyny is customary; where warfare is promi- societies, is avunculocal residence, in which the couple lives
nent enough to make cooperation among men especially with the husband’s mother’s brother.
important; and where an elaborate political organization In neolocal residence, a married couple forms a
exists in which men wield authority. These conditions are household in a separate location. This occurs where the
most often found together in societies that rely on animal independence of the nuclear family is emphasized. In
husbandry and/or intensive agriculture for subsistence. industrial societies such as the United States—where most
Where patrilocal residence is customary, the bride often economic activity occurs outside rather than inside the
must move to a different band or community. In such family and it is important for individuals to be able to
cases, her parents’ family is not only losing the services of move where jobs can be found—neolocal residence is bet-
a useful family member, but they are losing her potential ter suited than any of the other patterns.
offspring as well. Hence, usually there is some kind of Also noteworthy is ambilocal residence (ambi in Latin
compensation to her family, most commonly bridewealth. means “both”). In this arrangement, the couple can join
Matrilocal residence, in which a married couple lives either the groom’s or the bride’s family, living wherever
in the wife’s mother’s place of residence, is likely if cultural the resources are best or their presence is most needed or
ecological circumstances make the role of the woman pre- appreciated. This flexible pattern is particularly common
dominant for subsistence. It is found most often in horti- among food-foraging peoples; if resources are scarce in the
cultural societies where political organization is relatively territory of the husband’s family group, the couple may
uncentralized and cooperation among women is important. join the wife’s relatives for more readily available food
The Hopi Indians provide one example. Although Hopi supplies in their domain.
men do the farming, the women control access to land and
“own” the harvest. Men are not even allowed in the grana-
matrilocal residence A residence pattern in which a married couple
ries. Under matrilocal residence, men usually do not move
lives in the wife’s mother’s place of residence.
very far from the family in which they were raised, so they
neolocal residence A residence pattern in which a married couple
are available to help out there from time to time. Therefore, establishes its household in a location apart from either the husband’s
marriage usually does not involve compensation to the or the wife’s relatives.
Marriage, Family,
and Household in
Our Technological
and Globalized
World
Large-scale immigration, modern tech-
nology, and multiple other factors in the
emerging political economy of global
capitalism also impact the cross-cultural
mosaic of marriage, family, and house-
hold. For instance, electronic and digital
communication by way of fiber-optic
cables and satellites has transformed how
Reuters/Bobby Yip/Landov
individuals express sexual attraction and

engage in romantic courtship.
Today, local, cross-cultural, and trans-
national love relations bloom via the Inter-
net. Numerous online companies provide
dating and matchmaking services, permit- Figure 9.13 Factory Dormitory in China
ting individuals to post personal profiles Many of China’s 260 million migrant laborers work in factories and live in dormitories
and search for romantic partners or future such as this. Here we see workers eating lunch outside their dorm at a factory
district in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen in Guangdong Province.
spouses in a secured Internet setting. Such
services also appeal to individuals in eth-
nic or religious diasporas seeking others with compatible child to have a relationship with both the biological and
personal, ethnic, or religious backgrounds. Indian matrimo- the adoptive parents.
nial websites, for instance, are now also used for purposes Among other contributing factors to today’s diver-
of arranged marriages, allowing parents to upload a video sity of families and households is new reproductive
profile of their child, screen potential suitors, and settle on technology (NRT), including various forms of in vitro
the right match. fertilization (IVF) in which an egg is fertilized in a labo-
Social media also permit the pursuit of traditionally ratory. The embryo is then transferred to the uterus to
prohibited relationships through clandestine text mes- begin a pregnancy or is frozen for future use. In cases
saging of forbidden desires and taboo intimacies—for of IVF with a surrogate mother using donor egg and
example, across castes in India and between young sperm, a newborn essentially has five parents: the birth
unmarried men and women in traditional Muslim parents who provided the egg and sperm, the surrogate
communities. mother who carried the baby, and the parents who will
raise the baby.
Adoption and New Reproductive Migrant Workforces

Technologies Also of note in terms of new residential patterns is the
Although it has not been uncommon for childless cou- ever-growing number of households composed of tempo-
ples in many cultures throughout human history to rary and migrant workers. Today, China has 260 million
adopt children, including orphans and even captives, of them, mostly young people who have quit the peasant
today it is a transnational practice for adults from in- villages of their childhood and traveled to fast-growing
dustrial and postindustrial countries to travel across the cities to work in factories, shops, and restaurants. Some
world in search of children to adopt, regardless of their pile into apartments with friends or coworkers; others
ethnic heritage (see the Globalscape). Also increasingly live in factory dormitories—new, single-generation house-
common is open adoption, which makes it possible for a holds that stand in stark contrast to the multigenerational
extended family households in which they were raised
(Figure 9.13). Although many countries have passed leg-
new reproductive technology (NRT) An alternative means of islation intended to provide migrants with protections
reproduction, such as in vitro fertilization. concerning housing, as well as work conditions and pay
GLOBALSCAPE
Arctic
Ocean
RUSSIA
ASIA
NORTH UKRAINE
EUROPE
AMERICA Waltham
Boston CHINA
KOREA
Massachusetts
Pacific
Atlantic INDIA
VIETNAM Ocean
Ocean
AFRICA
PHILIPPINES
Pacific GUATEMALA Addis Ababa
Ocean ETHIOPIA
SOUTH
AMERICA Indian
© Courtesy of Wide Horizons for Children, Inc. www.whfc.org
Ocean
Tahiti AUSTRALIA
© Cengage Learning
ANTARCTICA
Transnational Child Exchange? Since the early 1970s, about 500,000 foreign children have
Settling into her seat for the flight to Boston, Kathryn cradled been adopted into families in the United States alone. A nearly
the sleepy head of her newly adopted son, Mesay. As the plane equal number have ended up in other wealthy countries. The global
lifted away from African soil and presented a sweeping view of flow to the United States peaked in 2004 when nearly 23,000
Ethiopia’s capital, tears slid down her cheeks. Were the tears for arrived—most from China (30 percent), Russia (25 percent),
Ethiopia’s loss of a boy, a boy’s loss of Ethiopia, or her profound Guatemala (14 percent), and Korea (7 percent), with 5,500 flown
joy for the gift of adoption? in from other poor countries such as India, the Philippines, Ukraine,
Child exchange is a universal phenomenon, taking place and Vietnam. Statistics vary and shift according to adoption rules.
across the world and throughout human history. Just as marriage Some countries have shut the door on foreign adoptions
and kinship mean different things in different cultures, so does due to accusations of exporting or even selling children. Others
child exchange, referred to in the English language as adoption. restrict or prohibit it for religious reasons. Sudan, for example,
In some cultures, adoption is rare, whereas in others, such as in forbids foreign adoption of Muslim children and automatically
Polynesian communities in the Pacific Islands, it is very common. classifies religiously unidentified orphans as Muslim. A country
For instance, in a small village in Tahiti over 25 percent of children that does not discriminate on the basis of religion is its neigh-
are raised by adoptive parents. bor Ethiopia, which has gained popularity as an infant-provider
A cross-cultural understanding of adoption is vital now that country. One of six U.S. agencies officially approved to do foreign
child exchange has become part of the global flow—especially adoptions from Ethiopia is Wide Horizons for Children in Waltham,
from poor countries in Africa, Latin America, Southeast Asia, Massachusetts, which has placed many Ethiopian children with
and eastern Europe—to affluent countries in North America and U.S. families. Among them is Mesay (pictured in the family photo
western Europe. The global exchange of children initially involved above), now settled into his new life with Kathryn, her husband,
war orphans after World War II. In recent decades, extreme pov- and their four other children, including a sister about his age,
erty has become a major factor, as mothers confronting serious adopted from China as an infant.
deprivation may feel forced to abandon, give away, or sometimes
sell their children. Whether brokered by government or nongov- Global Twister
ernmental agencies, by for-profit or nonprofit enterprises, global How do you compare a European or North American woman who
child exchange has become a big business—legal and illegal, accepts a surrogate pregnancy fee of $115,000 to $150,000 to
moral and amoral, joyful and sorrowful. This is especially true in cover the costs of bearing a child for someone else to a Third
poor countries where most workers earn less than a dollar a day, World mother living in poverty, who decides to give up her child
and a foreign adoption nets $12,000 to $35,000 in broker fees. for adoption for a price?
227
(such as the 1983 Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural family, and household forms, each in correspondence with
Worker Protection Act in the U.S.), the living situations related features in the social structure and conforming to
for these workers are often miserable (Chang, 2005). the larger cultural system. In the face of new challenges,
we explore and tinker in search of solutions, sometimes
As the various ethnographic examples in this chapter illus- finding completely new forms and other times returning
trate, our species has invented a wide variety of marriage, to time-tested patterns of more traditional varieties.
Chapter Check list
How do different cultures regulate sexual ✓✓Preferred marriage partners in many societies are
particular cross cousins (mother’s brother’s daughter if
relations? a man; father’s sister’s son if a woman) or, less
✓✓Every society has rules and customs concerning sexual commonly, parallel cousins on the paternal side
relations, marriage, household and family structures, (father’s brother’s son or daughter). Cross-cousin
and childrearing practices. These play important roles marriage is a means of maintaining and reinforcing
in establishing and maintaining the social alliances solidarity between related groups.
and continuity that help ensure a society’s overall
✓✓A growing number of societies support same-sex
well-being.
marriages. In some African cultures, traditional
✓✓Most cultures are sexually permissive or semi-permissive woman–woman marriages provide a socially approved
and do not sharply regulate personal sexual practices. way to deal with problems for which heterosexual
Others are restrictive, prohibiting all sexual activity marriages offer no satisfactory solution.
outside of marriage. Of these, a few punish adultery by
✓✓In many cultures, marriages are formalized by
imprisonment, social exclusion, or even death, as
economic exchange: Bridewealth is the payment of
traditionally prescribed by some religious laws.
money or other valuables from the groom’s to the
✓✓Incest taboos forbid marriage and sexual relations bride’s kin. Bride service occurs when the groom is
between certain close relatives. Such taboos are related expected to work for a period of time for the bride’s
to the practices of endogamy (marrying within a family. A dowry is the payment of a woman’s
group) and exogamy (marrying outside a group). inheritance at the time of marriage to her or to her
husband.
What is marriage? ✓✓Divorce is possible in all societies. Reasons and
✓✓Marriage is a culturally sanctioned union between two frequency vary, but the most common reasons across
or more people that establishes certain rights and cultures are infidelity, sterility, cruelty, and desertion.
obligations between them, them and their children,
and them and their in-laws. How do family and household differ, and
✓✓Marriage falls into several broad categories. Monogamy, what is the relationship between them?
having one spouse, is most common. Serial ✓✓The family may take many forms, ranging from a single
monogamy, in which a person marries a series of parent with one or more children, to a married couple
partners, is common among Europeans and North or polygamous spouses with or without offspring, to
Americans. several generations of parents and their children.
✓✓Polygamy (one individual having multiple spouses) ✓✓A family is distinct from a household, which is a
comes in two forms: polygyny and polyandry. domestic unit of one or more people living in one
Although few marriages in a given society may be residence. Other than family members, a household
polygynous, it is a preferred form of marriage in the may include nonrelatives, such as servants. In the vast
majority of the world’s cultures. majority of human societies, most households are
✓✓Because few communities have a surplus of men, made up of families or parts of families, but there are
polyandry (a woman having several husbands) is many other household arrangements.
uncommon. Also rare is group marriage, in which ✓✓The most basic domestic unit is the nuclear family—a
several men and several women have sexual access to group consisting of one or more parents and
one another. dependent offspring, which may include a stepparent,
✓✓In Western industrial and postindustrial countries, stepsiblings, and adopted children. Until recently, the
marriages are generally based on ideals of romantic term referred solely to the mother, father, and
love. In non-Western societies, economic considerations child(ren) unit.
are of major concern in arranging marriages, and ✓✓The nuclear family is common in the industrial and
marriage serves to bind two families as allies. postindustrial countries of North America and Europe
229
and also in societies living in harsh environments. It is ✓✓In North America and parts of Europe, increasing
well suited to the mobility required in food-foraging numbers of people live in nonfamily households,
groups and in industrial societies where job changes either alone or with nonrelatives. This includes
are frequent. unmarried cohabiting couples. Many others live in
nontraditional families, including single-parent
✓✓The extended family consists of several closely related
households and blended families.
nuclear families living and often working together in a
single household.
How do globalization and technology
What kinds of marital residence patterns impact marriage and family?
exist across cultures? ✓✓New reproductive technologies, surrogacy, and
international adoptions are adding additional
✓✓Three common residence patterns are patrilocal (married
dimensions to familial relationships.
couples living in the locality of the husband’s father’s
place of residence), matrilocal (living in the locality of the ✓✓Another phenomenon changing the makeup of
wife’s mother’s place of residence), and neolocal (living households and families worldwide is the ever-growing
somewhere apart from the husband’s or wife’s parents). population of temporary and migrant workers.
1. According to Hindu and Muslim tradition in South Asia 3. Although most women in Europe and North America
and North Africa, a bride’s mehndi evening is a lively probably view polygyny as a marriage practice
female-only gathering with special food, singing, and exclusively benefiting men, women in cultures where
lovemaking instructions, along with hand painting. Does such marriages are traditional may stress more positive
your culture have similar gender-segregated pre-wedding aspects of sharing a husband with several co-wives.
events? If so, what is the purpose of such a celebration? Are there conditions under which you think polygyny
2. Members of traditional communities in countries could be considered relatively beneficial for women?
where the state is either weak or absent depend on 4. Many children in Europe and North America are
consanguineal and affinal relatives to help meet raised in single-parent households. In contrast to
the basic challenges of survival. In such traditional the United States, where most children living with
societies, why would it be risky to choose marriage their unmarried mothers grow up in economically
partners exclusively on the basis of romantic love? disadvantaged households, relatively few children
Can you imagine other factors playing a role if the raised by unmarried mothers in Norway face poverty.
long-term survival of your community is at stake? Why do you think that is?
Sex Rules?
Every culture has rules concerning sexual and international). Next, analyze how these
relationships. However, the rules vary across relationships are viewed within your family and
cultures and are not always sharply defined and your wider community. Which are socially accepted,
applied. Digging into your own culture, make which are prohibited by law or faith, and what is
an inventory of six distinctive sets of sexual the punishment for those who ignore or violate
relationships you have observed in the media, the rules? Formulate three questions about the
noting the number of individuals involved, social reasons and moral justifications for the
their age (including minors and seniors), their prescriptions, prohibitions, and punishments in your
gender preference (including same sex and third community and present these questions to three
gender), genetics (degree of family relation), people who are likely to have different opinions.
marriage (including premarital, extramarital, Compare their answers, noting which answers are
postdivorce), and religion, racial, or ethnic identity similar and which are not, and try to explain why.
(including interreligious, interethnic, interracial, Conclude with a summary of your findings.
CHALLENGE ISSUE
All humans face the challenge of creating and maintaining a social network that reaches
beyond close relatives or a single household to provide additional security and support.
The most basic social network is arranged by kinship, often extending to more dis-
tantly related individuals claiming descent from the same ancestor. For many traditional
peoples around the world, including Scottish highlanders, large kin-groups called clans
have been important. There are several dozen Scottish clans, with members often shar-
ing the same family name. Pictured here is the opening parade of the international Clan
Grant summer games in Spey Valley, Scotland. Like members of other clans, the Grants
publicly show their collective identity by wearing kilts and shawls with the distinct tar-
tan (plaid) of their clan. Over several centuries, thousands of Scots were deported, fled,
or emigrated from their homelands, settling overseas, especially in Australia, Canada,
and the United States. Many, including people from the Grant clan, married into North
American Indian tribes. Today, their widely scattered offspring can be found across the
globe, including among Cherokee and Muskogee Indians. Aided by the Internet, many
seek to reestablish social ties of shared descent, traveling long distances to clan gather-
ings to celebrate their cultural heritage with traditional dancing, piping, games, and food.
Kinship and Descent 10
All societies rely on some form of family and household organization to meet In this chapter you
basic human needs: securing food, fuel, and shelter; protecting against danger; will learn to
coordinating work; regulating sexual relations; and organizing childrearing. Al- ●● Explain how kinship
though they may be efficient and flexible, family and household organizations is the basis of social
may not be sufficient to handle all the challenges and opportunities people face. organization in every
culture.
For example, members of one independent local group often need some means
of interacting with people outside their immediate circle for defense against
●● Apply kinship
terminology as a
enemies or natural disasters such as floods. A wider circle may be necessary in
cross-cultural code
forming a cooperative workforce for tasks that require more participants than for analyzing social
close relatives alone can provide. networks.
Humans have come up with many ways to widen their circles of societal ●● Contrast cultures in
interaction. One is through a formal political system, with personnel to make which ancestry is traced
and enforce laws, keep the peace, allocate scarce resources, and coordinate other
through foremothers,
forefathers, or both.
cultural functions. But the predominant way to organize in cultures that have
not politically developed as state societies—especially foraging, crop-growing,

●● Distinguish the
characteristics of
and herding communities—is by means of kinship, a network of relatives into lineages and clans from
which individuals are born and married, and with whom they cooperate based those of kindreds.
on customarily prescribed rights and obligations. The more that individuals ●● Identify three kinship
become enmeshed in larger networks, as happens in political states, the less terminology systems
they depend on kinship for survival. Still, as explained in this chapter, kinship and the significance
of their distinct
remains fundamental in the organization of any society, past and present.
classifications of close
relatives for family
attitudes and behavior.
Descent Groups
●● Interpret totemism as a
A common way of organizing a society along kinship lines is by creating descent cultural phenomenon.
groups. Found in many societies, a descent group is any kin-group whose ●● Discuss the significance
members share a direct line of descent of kinship in the
from a real (historical) or fictional
kinship A network of relatives into which contexts of adoption
individuals are born and married, and with
whom they cooperate based on customarily and new reproductive
common ancestor. Members of such a
prescribed rights and obligations. technologies.
group trace their shared connections descent group Any kin-group whose members
share a direct line of descent from a real
back to an ancestor through a chain of (historical) or fictional common ancestor.
231
232 CHAPTER 10 Kinship and Descent
Maori Origins: Ancestral Genes and Mythical Canoes

Anthropologists have been fascinated arrived in a great fleet of sailing canoes controversial because Maori equate an
to find that the oral traditions of Maori from Hawaiki, their mythical homeland individual’s genes to his or her genealogy,
people in New Zealand fit quite well with sometimes identified with Tahiti where the which belongs to one’s iwi or ancestral
scientific findings. New Zealand, an is- native language closely resembles their community. Considered sacred and en-
land country whose dramatic geography own. According to chants and genealogies trusted to the tribal elders, genealogy is
served as the setting for the Lord of the passed down through the ages, this fleet traditionally surrounded by tapu (“sacred
Rings film trilogy, lies in a remote corner consisted of at least seven (perhaps up to prohibitions”).c The Maori term for gene-
of the Pacific Ocean about 1,900 kilome- thirteen) seafaring canoes. Each of these alogy is whakapapa (“to set layer upon
ters (1,200 miles) southeast of Australia. large dugouts, estimated to weigh about layer”), which is also a word for gene.
Named by Dutch seafarers who landed on 5 tons, had a single claw-shaped sail and This Maori term captures something of
its shores in 1642, it was claimed by the carried 50 to 120 people, plus food sup- the original genous, the Greek word for
British as a colony about 150 years later. plies, plants, and animals. “begetting offspring.” Another Maori word
Maori, the country’s indigenous people, As described by Maori anthropologist for gene is ira tangata (“life spirit of mor-
fought back but were outgunned, out- Te Rangi Hiroa (Peter Buck), the sea- tals”), and for them, a gene has mauri (a
numbered, and forced to lay down their faring skills of these voyagers enabled “life force”). Given these spiritual asso-
arms in the early 1870s. Today, nearly them to navigate by currents, winds, ciations, genetic investigations of Maori
600,000 of New Zealand’s 4.1 million and stars across vast ocean expanses.a DNA could not proceed until the Maori
citizens claim some Maori ancestry. Perhaps escaping warfare and tribute themselves became actively involved in
Maori have an age-old legend about payments in Hawaiki, they probably made the research.
how they came to Aotearoa (“Land of the five-week-long voyage around 1350, Together with other researchers, Maori
the Long White Cloud”), their name for although there were earlier and later geneticist Adele Whyte has examined sex-
New Zealand: More than twenty-five gen- canoes as well. linked genetic markers, namely mitochon-
erations ago, their Polynesian ancestors Traditional Maori society is organized drial DNA in women and Y chromosomes
into about thirty different iwis (“tribes”), in men.d She recently calculated that the
grouped into thirteen wakas (“canoes”), number of Polynesian females required
each with its own traditional territory. to found New Zealand’s Maori population
Today, prior to giving a formal talk, Maori ranged between 170 and 230 women. If
still introduce themselves by identifying the original fleet sailing to Aotearoa con-
their iwi, their waka, and the major sacred sisted of seven large canoes, it probably
places of their ancestral territory. Their carried a total of about 600 people (men,
TAIWAN genealogy connects them to their tribe’s women, and children).
Pacific
Ocean founding ancestor who was a crewmember A comparison of the DNA of Maori with
or perhaps even a chief in one of the giant that of Polynesians across the Pacific
canoes mentioned in the legend of the Ocean and peoples from Southeast Asia
Great Fleet.b reveals a genetic map of ancient Maori
ME
LA
© Cengage Learning
AUSTRALIA Tahiti Maori oral traditions about their ori- migration routes. Mitochondrial DNA,
NE
NESIA
POLY
SIA
gins mesh with scientific data based on which is passed along virtually unchanged
anthropological and more recent genetic from mothers to their children, provides a
NEW ZEALAND research. Study by outsiders can be genetic clock linking today’s Polynesians
parent–child links. Typically, a set of culturally meaning- structure, they are still organized in about thirty large
ful obligations and taboos helps hold the structured social descent groups known as iwi (“tribe”), which form part of
group together. larger social and territorial units known as waka (“canoe”).
Even when a society becomes politically organized as Descent group membership must be sharply defined in
a state, elements of such kin-groups may continue. We order to operate effectively in a kin-ordered society. If mem-
see this with many traditional indigenous societies that bership is allowed to overlap, it is unclear where someone’s
have become part of larger state societies yet endure as primary loyalty belongs, especially when different descent
distinctive ethnic groups. So it is with the Maori of New groups have conflicting interests. Membership can be de-
Zealand, featured in this chapter’s Biocultural Connec- termined in a number of ways. The most common way is
tion. Retaining key elements of their traditional kinship what anthropologists refer to as unilineal descent.
Descent Groups 233
Peter Kingsford/LatitudeStock Images/AGE Fotostock

The canoes the ancient Maori used probably looked similar to this contemporary Maori sea canoe.
to southern Taiwan’s indigenous coastal by anthropological as well as molecular Cultural Survival Quarterly 20 (2). https://
peoples, showing that female ancestors biological data. www.culturalsurvival.org/ourpublications
originally set out from that island off the /csq/article/genealogy-sacredness-and-
southeastern coast of China about 6,000 Biocultural Question commodities-market (retrieved December 4,
years ago.e In the next few thousand Why do you think the Maori view genealogy as 2015)
years, they migrated by way of the Phil- sacred and attach certain prohibitions to it? d
Whyte, A. L. H. (2005). Human evolution
ippines and then hopped south and east in Polynesia. Human Biology 77 (2),
from island to island. Adding to their gene a
Buck, P. H. (1938). Vikings of the Pacific. 157–177.
pool in the course of later generations, Chicago: University of Chicago Press. e
Wilford, J. N. (2008, January 18). Pacific
Melanesian males from New Guinea and b
Hanson, A. (1989). The making of the Islanders’ ancestry emerges in genetic
elsewhere joined the migrating bands be- Maori: Culture invention and its logic. study. New York Times. http://www.nytimes
fore arriving in Aotearoa. American Anthropologist 91 (4), 890–902. .com/2008/01/18/world/asia/18islands
In short, Maori cultural traditions in c
Mead, A. T. P. (1996). Genealogy, .html (retrieved December 4, 2015)
New Zealand are generally substantiated sacredness, and the commodities market.
Unilineal Descent females are culturally recognized as socially significant

because they are considered responsible for the descent
Unilineal descent (sometimes called unilateral descent) group’s continued existence. In patrilineal societies, this
establishes group membership based on descent traced
exclusively through either the male or the female line unilineal descent Descent traced exclusively through either the male or
of ancestry. Traditionally, unilineal descent groups are the female line of ancestry to establish group membership; sometimes
called unilateral descent.
common in many parts of the world. Each newborn be-
matrilineal descent Descent traced exclusively through the female line
comes part of a specific descent group, traced through of ancestry to establish group membership.
the female line (matrilineal descent) or through the patrilineal descent Descent traced exclusively through the male line of
male line (patrilineal descent). In matrilineal societies ancestry to establish group membership.
revolution that radically changed Chinese society, remnants

= of the old patrilineal clan system persist—especially in
FF FM China’s rural areas and on the neighboring island of Taiwan.
= = = Patrilineal Descent among Han Chinese

FZ FZH FB FBW F M Over the past few millen-
nia, the basic social unit
for economic cooperation
= =
among the Han Chinese
FZS FSD FBS FBD ZH Z EGO W WB
has been the large ex-
© Cengage Learning
tended family, typically
including aged parents RUSSIA
ZS ZD S D and their sons, their

MONGOLIA
sons’ wives, and their
Figure 10.1 Tracing Patrilineal Descent sons’ children. Histori-
Only the individuals symbolized by a blue circle or triangle are cally, with patrilocal res-
© Cengage Learning
in the same descent group as EGO (the central person from CHINA
idence (defined in the Han
whom the degree of each kinship relationship is traced). The previous chapter) being NE
PAL
abbreviation F stands for father, B for brother, H for husband, S the norm, Han children INDIA Pacific
MYANMAR
for son, M for mother, Z for sister, W for wife, D for daughter. In Ocean
have grown up in a
English, the word cousin covers both FZS and FSD.
household dominated by their father and his male rela-
responsibility falls on the male members of the descent tives. Children have customarily maintained a respectful
group, thereby enhancing their social importance. social distance from their fathers, who represent authority.
The two major forms of a unilineal descent group are With brothers and their sons being part of the same
the lineage and the clan. A lineage is a unilineal kin- household, a Han boy’s paternal uncle is like a second
group descended from a common male or female ancestor father. He is treated with the same obedience and respect as
or founder who lived four to six generations ago and in the father, and his sons are like brothers. Thus, the Han dis-
which relationships among members can be exactly stated tinguish between cousins who are children of one’s father’s
in genealogical terms. A clan is an extended unilineal brother (tahng-shoong) and cousins who are the offspring of
kin-group, often consisting of several lineages, whose one’s father’s sister, mother’s sister, and mother’s brother,
members claim common descent from a remote ancestor, who are lumped together as beo-shoong. (This practice
usually legendary or mythological. remains evident in the Han language even among those
who no longer live in traditional patrilocal households.)
Patrilineal Descent and Organization Traditionally, when extended families become too large and
unwieldy, one or more sons establish separate households—
Patrilineal descent is the more widespread of the two
but the tie to their household of birth remains strong.
unilineal descent systems. Members of a patrilineal
Although family membership was and is important for
group trace their descent from a common male ancestor
each Han individual, the traditional primary social unit is the
(Figure 10.1). Brothers and sisters belong to the descent
lineage, or in Han terms, the tsu. Each tsu is a corporate kin-
group of their father’s father, their father, their father’s
group, a collective whose members trace their ancestry back
siblings, and their father’s brother’s children. A man’s son
about five generations exclusively through the male line to a
and daughter also trace their descent back through his an-
common ancestor. A woman belongs to her father’s tsu, but
cestor. In the typical patrilineal group, authority over the
traditionally, for all practical purposes, she is absorbed by the
children rests with the father or his elder brother. A wom-
tsu of her husband, with whom she lives after marriage.
an’s children are born into her husband’s descent group,
The tsu can be counted on to help its members eco-
while she remains part of her own father’s descent group.
nomically, and it functions as a legal body, passing judg-
Patrilineal kinship organization is traditionally embedded
ment on misbehaving members. People affiliated with
in many cultures worldwide and often endures despite radi-
the same tsu come together on ceremonial occasions,
cal political and economic changes. So it is among the Han,
including weddings, funerals, and rituals honoring their
China’s ethnic majority. Even after the 1949 communist
ancestors. Recently deceased ancestors, up to about three
generations back, are given offerings of food and paper
lineage A unilineal kin-group descended from a common ancestor or money on the anniversaries of their births and deaths,
founder who lived four to six generations ago and in which relationships
whereas more distant ancestors are collectively worshiped
among members can be exactly stated in genealogical terms.
five times a year. Each tsu maintains its own shrine for
clan An extended unilineal kin-group, often consisting of several
lineages, whose members claim common descent from a remote storage of ancestral tablets on which the names of all
ancestor, usually legendary or mythological. members are recorded (Figure 10.2).
Descent Groups 235
Figure 10.2 An Ancestral Temple in Zhejiang

Province, China
Among the Han, the ethnic majority in China,
almost all ancestral temples, or clan houses,
are dedicated to male forebears, reflecting the
country’s long-established patrilineal rules of
descent and cultural values. Clan members
affirm their place in the kin-group by making
offerings to the ancestors in special temples
such as the one pictured here, located in a
family home.
© Li jianhui/Panorama/The Image Works

Just as families periodically split up into new ones, Han Chinese maintain the traditions of children obeying
larger descent groups periodically splinter along the lines of and respecting their fathers and older patrilineal relatives.
their main family branches. Causes for this include disputes As the Han example suggests, males dominate in a
among brothers over management of landholdings and patrilineal society. No matter how needed and valued
suspicion of unfair division of profits. Even after such splits, women may be, they find themselves in a challenging
a new tsu continues to recognize and honor its lineage position. Far from resigning themselves to being subordi-
tie to the old tsu. Thus, over many generations, a whole nate, however, they actively work the system to their own
hierarchy of descent groups comes into being, with all advantage as best they can.
persons having the same surname considering themselves
to be members of a great patrilineal clan. With this comes Matrilineal Descent and Organization
the rule that individuals bearing the same clan surname Matrilineal descent is traced exclusively through the fe-
cannot marry each other. This marriage rule is still widely male line (Figure 10.3). In a matrilineal system, brothers
practiced today. and sisters belong to the descent group of the mother, the
Traditionally, owing obedience and respect to their mother’s mother, the mother’s siblings, and the mother’s
fathers and older patrilineal relatives, Han children marry
whomever their parents choose for them, and sons are
required to care for their elderly parents and to fulfill
ceremonial obligations to them after their death. In turn, =
inheritance passes from fathers to sons, with an extra MM MF
share going to the eldest because he ordinarily makes the
greatest contribution to the household. = = =
Han women, by contrast, traditionally have no claims
F M MBW MB MZH MZ
on their families’ heritable property. Once married, a
woman is in effect cast off by her own tsu in order to
produce children for her husband’s family and tsu. Yet, = =
members of her birth tsu retain some interest in her after WB BW B EGO W MBD MBS MSD MZS
© Cengage Learning
her departure. For example, her mother typically assists

her in the birth of her children, and her brothers or some
other male relative may intervene if her husband or other BD BS D S
members of his family treat her badly.
Although tsu bonds have weakened in communist Figure 10.3 Tracing Matrilineal Descent
China, some of the obligations and attitudes of the tradi- This diagram can be compared with patrilineal descent in
tional corporate kin-group persist there today, as well as Figure 10.1. The two patterns are virtually mirror images. Note
on the island of Taiwan. At a minimum, contemporary that a man cannot transmit descent to his own children.
Corbis Wire/Corbis
Figure 10.4 Matrilineal Family among the Mosuo
Unlike the Han, the ethnic majority in China who are patrilineal, several ethnic minorities in
southwestern China are matrilineal, including the Mosuo. The women in the Mosuo family
shown here are blood relatives of one another, and the men are their brothers. Mosuo
husbands live apart from their wives, in the households of their sisters.
sisters’ children. Thus, a man’s own children belong to his than his own son is the designated heir to his property
wife’s descent group, not his. and status. Thus, because sibling relations remain strong
In such arrangements, a woman may have consider- and marital ties are culturally less significant, divorce in
able power but rarely exercises exclusive authority in her unsatisfying marriages is more easily obtained in matrilin-
descent group. Typically, she shares power with her broth- eal than in patrilineal societies.
ers, rather than husband. For example, among the Mosuo,
one of several matrilineal ethnic minorities in southwest- Matrilineal Descent among Hopi Indians
ern China, women are heads of their households. They Among the Hopi Indians, a farming people whose ances-
usually make the family’s business decisions, and property tors have lived for many centuries in pueblos (“villages”)
passes through the female line of descent. Yet, political in the desert lands of northeastern Arizona, society is di-
power in Mosuo communities tends to be in the hands of vided into a number of clans based strictly on matrilineal
males (Mathieu, 2003) (Figure 10.4). descent (Connelly, 1979). At birth, a Hopi baby is assigned
Matrilineal systems are usually found in horticultural to his or her mother’s clan. This affiliation is so important
societies in which women perform much of the work in that, in a very real sense, a per-
the house and nearby food gardens. Matrilineal descent son has no social identity in
in part prevails because women’s labor as crop cultivators the community apart from
U.S.
Arizona
is vital to the society. A major function of matrilineal sys- it. Two or more clans to-
tems is to provide continuous female solidarity within the gether constitute larger
female work group. supra-clan units, which UTAH COLORADO
Though not true of all matrilineal systems, a common NEVADA

anthropologists refer to as
feature is the relative weakness of the social tie between phratries (discussed later
ARIZONA Hopi Indian
wife and husband. A woman’s husband lacks authority in this chapter). Reservation
NEW
in the household they share. Instead, one of her brothers Phratries and clans are CALIFORNIA
MEXICO
distributes goods, organizes work, settles disputes, super-
© Cengage Learning
the major kinship units

vises rituals, and administers inheritance and succession in Hopi culture, but the
rules. Meanwhile, the husband fulfills the same role in his basic functional social UNITED STATES
own sister’s household. Furthermore, his sister’s son rather units consist of lineages, MEXICO
Descent Within the Larger Cultural System 237
and there are several in each village. A senior woman (usu- Across the globe, several other forms of descent have
ally the eldest) heads each Hopi lineage, with her brother been developed in the course of cultural evolution. Among
or mother’s brother keeping the sacred “medicine bundle” Samoan Islanders (and many other cultures in the Pacific as
(objects of spiritual power considered essential for peoples’ well as in Southeast Asia), for instance, a person tradition-
well-being) and playing an active role in running lineage af- ally has the option of affiliating with either the mother’s
fairs. The senior woman may act as mediator to help resolve or the father’s descent group. Known as ambilineal descent,
disputes among group members. Also, although her brother such a kin-ordered system provides a measure of flexibility.
and mother’s brother have the right to offer her advice However, this flexibility also introduces a possibility of dis-
and criticism, they are equally obligated to listen to what pute and conflict as unilineal groups compete for members.
she has to say, and she does not yield her authority to them. This problem does not arise under double descent, or double
Most female authority, however, is exerted within the unilineal descent, a rare system in which descent is matri-
household, and here men clearly take second place. These lineal for some purposes and patrilineal for others.
households consist of the women of the matrilineage with Generally, where double descent is traced, the ma-
their husbands, daughters, and unmarried sons, all of trilineal and patrilineal groups take action in different
whom used to live in sets of adjacent rooms in single large spheres of society. For example, among the Yakö of eastern
buildings. Today, nuclear families often live (frequently Nigeria, property is divided into both patrilineal and ma-
with a maternal relative or two) in separate houses, but trilineal possessions (Forde, 1968). The patrilineage owns
motorized vehicles enable related households to maintain perpetually productive resources, such as land, whereas
close contact and cooperation as before. the matrilineage owns consumable property, such as
Hopi lineages function as landholding corporations, livestock. The legally weaker matriline is somewhat more
allocating land for the support of member households. important in religious matters than the patriline. Through
“Outsiders,” the husbands of the women whose lineage double descent, a Yakö might inherit grazing lands from
owns the land, farm these lands, and the harvest belongs the father’s patrilineal group and certain ritual privileges
to these women. Thus, Hopi men spend their lives labor- from the mother’s matrilineal group.
ing for their wives’ lineages, and in return they are given Finally, when descent derives equally from the mother’s
food and shelter. and father’s families, anthropologists use the term bilateral
Sons learn from their fathers how to farm, yet a man descent. In such a system individuals trace descent through
has no real authority over his son. When parents have dif- both of their parents’ ancestors. We recognize bilateral de-
ficulty with an unruly child, the mother’s brother is called scent when individuals apply the same genealogical terms
upon to mete out discipline. A man’s loyalties are therefore to identify similarly related individuals on both sides of the
divided between the households of his wife and his sisters. family. For instance, when they speak of a grandmother
According to tradition, if a man is perceived as being an un- or grandfather, no indication is given as to whether these
satisfactory husband, his wife merely has to place his per- relatives are on the paternal or maternal side of the family.
sonal belongings outside the door, and the marriage is over. Bilateral descent exists in various foraging cultures
In addition to their economic and legal functions, ma- and is also common in many contemporary state societies
trilineages play a role in Hopi ceremonial activities. A lin- with agricultural, industrial, or postindustrial economies.
eage owns a special house where the “clan mother” stores For example, although most people in Europe, Australia,
and cares for the clan’s religious paraphernalia. Together and Latin America typically inherit their father’s family
with her brother, the clan’s “big uncle,” the clan mother name (indicative of a culture’s history in which patrilineal
helps manage ceremonial activities. descent is the norm), they usually consider themselves as
much a member of their mother’s as their father’s family.
Other Forms of Descent

Whatever form of descent predominates, the kin of both
mother and father are important components of the so-
Descent Within the Larger
cial structure in all societies. Just because descent may be Cultural System
traced matrilineally, this does not mean that patrilineal
relatives are necessarily unimportant. By way of example, There is a close relationship between the descent system
among the matrilineal Trobriand Islanders in the southern and a cultural system’s infrastructure. Generally, patrilin-
Pacific, discussed in previous chapters, children belong to eal descent predominates when male labor is considered
their mother’s descent groups, yet fathers play an impor- of prime importance, as among herders and farmers. As
tant role in their upbringing. Upon marriage, the bride already noted, matrilineal descent predominates mainly
and groom’s paternal relatives contribute to the exchange
of gifts, and throughout life a man may expect his pater-
nal kin to help him improve his economic and political
bilateral descent Descent traced equally through father and mother’s
position in society. Eventually, sons may expect to inherit ancestors; associating each individual with blood relatives on both sides
personal property from their fathers. of the family.
in horticultural societies in which female work in food weakly developed. Such is the case in many countries of
gardens is especially important. Numerous matrilineal so- the world today, especially in remote mountainous or
cieties are found in southern Asia, one of the world’s ear- desert villages difficult to reach by state authorities. In
liest cradles of food production. They are also prominent those societies an individual has no legal or political status
in parts of indigenous North America, South America’s except as a lineage member. Citizenship is derived from
tropical lowlands, and parts of Africa. lineage membership and legal status depends on it, so
A lineage endures over generations because new mem- political powers are derived from it as well.
bers are continually born into it, replacing those who Because the ideas, values, and practices associated
die. Its ongoing existence enables it to act like a corpora- with traditional descent groups may be deeply embedded,
tion—owning property, organizing productive activities, such cultural patterns often endure in diasporic commu-
distributing goods and labor power, assigning status, and nities among immigrants who have relocated from their
regulating relations with other groups. As a repository of ancestral homelands and retain distinct identities as eth-
religious traditions, the descent group solidifies social co- nic minority groups in their new host countries. In such
hesion. Ancestor worship, for example, is often a powerful situations, it is not uncommon for people to seek familiar,
force acting to enhance group solidarity. Thus, a lineage is kin-ordered cultural solutions to challenges faced in un-
a strong, effective base of social organization. familiar state-organized settings. We see an example of
The descent group often endures in state-organized this in the Original Study on honor killing among Turkish
societies in which political institutions are ineffective or immigrants in the Netherlands.
ORIGI
NAL Honor Killing in the Netherlands
STU YD BY Clementine Van Eck
When I first told my anthropology profes- DENMARK

sors I wanted to write my dissertation on honor killing
NETHERLANDS
among Turkish immigrants in the Netherlands, they
told me no way. It was the mid-1990s, and everyone GERMANY
seemed to feel that writing negative things about strug- BELGIUM
gling immigrants was discriminatory. Better to choose a FRANCE
Atlantic
subject that would help them deal with the challenges Ocean
of settling in Dutch society, such as the problems they Black Sea
© Cengage Learning
experienced as foreigners in school or at work. But
TURKEY
I was quite determined to investigate this issue and
Mediterranean Sea
finally found a professor who shared my interest— SYRIA
Dr. Anton Blok. He himself was specialized in Italian
mafia,a so was quite used to violence of the cultural sort. European workers who stayed on as immigrants and suc-
Before getting into some of the details of my research, cessfully assimilated into Dutch society, many of the Mus-
I need to set the stage. Until the 1960s, the Netherlands lim newcomers formed isolated, diasporic communities.
was a relatively homogeneous society (despite its colonial During the past several decades, these communities
past). The major differences among its people were not have multiplied and rapidly expanded in size and are con-
ethnic but religious, namely their distinct ties to Cathol- centrated in certain areas of various cities. Today, the Turk-
icism or Protestantism (of various kinds). The country’s ish population in the Netherlands is about 450,000. Most
population makeup began to change dramatically after of them have become Dutch citizens, but they maintain
the economic boom of the 1960s created a need for some key cultural features of their historical “honor-and-
cheap labor and led to an influx of migrants from poor shame” traditions. And this is what is at stake when we are
areas in Mediterranean countries seeking wage-earning dealing with the problem of honor killing.
opportunities. Anthropologists have identified honor-and-shame tra-
These newcomers came not as immigrants but as ditions in many parts of the world, especially in remote
“guest laborers” (gastarbeiders) expected to return to their traditional herding and farming societies where the power
countries of origin, including Italy, Yugoslavia, Turkey, of the political state is either absent or ineffective. People
and Morocco. Although many did go back home, numer- in such areas, my professor, Dr. Blok, explained,
ous others did not. In contrast to most of the guest work-
ers from southern European nations, those from Turkey cannot depend on stable centers of political control for
and Morocco are mainly Muslim. And unlike southern the protection of life and patrimony. In the absence
of effective state control, they have to rely on their author and film director Theo van Gogh, well known for
own forces—on various forms of self-help. These his critical, often mocking, views on Islam. Although his
conditions . . . put a premium on self-assertive quali- murder was not an honor killing, it had key elements of
ties in men, involving the readiness and capacity to use that cleansing ritual: It occurred in a public place (on the
physical force in order to guarantee the immunity of life street) in front of many people, the victim had to die (in-
and property, including women as the most precious and jury would not suffice), the killer used many shots (or knife
vulnerable part of the patrimony of men. The extremes thrusts), the killing was planned (it was not the product of
of this sense of honour are reached when even merely a sudden outburst), and the killer had no remorse.
glancing at a woman is felt as an affront, an incursion Let me tell you about a recent and quite typical case. On
into a male domain, touching off a violent response.b a Friday evening the local police in an eastern Dutch com-
munity called in the help of our police team. A 17-year-old
Beyond serving as a means of social control in isolated
Turkish girl had run away to the family home of her Dutch
areas, honor-and-shame traditions may be used in situations
boyfriend, also 17. Her father, who had discovered that
where state mechanisms are alien to a certain group of peo-
this boy had a police record, telephoned his parents and
ple, as among some Turkish and Moroccan migrants in the
asked them to send the daughter home. The parents tried
Netherlands. Focusing on the latter, I tried to make sense of
to calm him down and told him his daughter was safe at
certain cultural practices that often baffle indigenous Dutch
their house. But as he saw it, she was in the most danger-
citizens accustomed to a highly organized bureaucratic state
ous place in the world, for she was with the boy she loved.
in which our personal security and justice are effectively
This could only mean that her virginity was in jeopardy
managed by social workers, police, courts, and so on. Most
and therefore the namus of the whole family.
of all, I wanted to understand honor killings.
My colleagues and I concluded that the girl had to be
Honor killings are murders in the form of a ritual, and
taken out of her boyfriend’s home that same night: The
they are carried out to purify tarnished honor—specifically
father knew the place, he did not want the boy as a son-in-
honor having to do with something Turks refer to as namus.
law, and he believed his daughter was not mature enough
Both men and women possess namus. For women and girls
to make a decision about something as important as mar-
namus means chastity, whereas for men it means having
riage. (“Just having a boyfriend” was not allowed. You ei-
chaste family members. A man is therefore dependent for
ther marry or you do not have a boyfriend, at least not an
his namus on the conduct of the womenfolk in his family.
obvious one.) Because of my honor killing research, I was
This means in effect that women and girls must not have
well aware of similar situations that ended in honor kill-
illicit contact with a member of the opposite sex and must
ings. To leave the girl where she was would invite disaster.
avoid becoming the subject of gossip because gossip alone
After we persuaded the prosecutor that intervention
can impugn namus. The victim of an honor killing can be
was necessary, the girl was taken from her boyfriend’s
the girl or woman who tarnished her honor, or the man
house and brought to a guarded shelter to prevent her
who did this to her (usually her boyfriend). The girl or
from fleeing back to him the next day. This is anthropol-
woman is killed by her family members, the man is killed by
ogy-in-action. You cannot always just wait and see what
the family of the girl/woman whose honor he has violated.
will happen (although I admit that as a scholar this is very
As I was wrapping up my PhD in 2000, Dutch society
tempting); you have to take responsibility and take action
still did not seem quite ready to acknowledge the phe-
if you are convinced that a human life is at stake.
nomenon of honor killing. That year a Kurdish boy whose
When I took up the study of cultural anthropology, I did
parents were born in Turkey tried to shoot the boyfriend of
so just because it intrigued me. I never imagined that what I
his sister. Because the attempt took place in a high school
learned might become really useful. So, what I would like to
and resulted in injury to several students and a teacher,
say to anthropology students is: Never give up on an inter-
authorities focused on the issue of school safety rather than
esting subject. One day it might just matter that you have
on the cultural reasons behind the murder attempt.
become an expert in that area. At this moment I am analyz-
A shift in government and public awareness of honor
ing all kinds of threatening cases and drawing up genealo-
killing took place in 2004. That year three Muslim Turkish
gies of the families involved—all in the effort to deepen our
women were killed by their former husbands on the street.
understanding of and help prevent honor killings.
Coming in quick succession, one after the other, these mur-
ders did not escape the attention of government officials Written expressly for this text, 2011. Updated demographics
or the media. Finally, honor killing was on the national 2016.
agenda. In November of that year I was appointed as cul-
tural anthropologist at the Dutch police force in The Hague a
Blok, A. (1974). The mafia of a Sicilian village 1860–1960. New
district and began working with law enforcers on honor York: Harper & Row.
killing cases there (and soon in other areas of the country). b
Blok, A. (1981). Rams and billy-goats: A key to the
On November 2, 2004, the day I gave an opening speech Mediterranean code of honour. Man 16 (3), 427–440; see also
about honor killings to colleagues at my new job, a radical Van Eck, C. (2003). Purified by blood: Honour killings amongst Turks
Muslim migrant from Morocco shot the famous Dutch in the Netherlands. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.
Lineage Exogamy Celtic word meaning “son of”), such as MacDonald,

McGregor, and Maclean.
A common characteristic of lineages is exogamy. As defined Because clan membership is often dispersed rather
in the previous chapter, this means that lineage members than localized, it usually does not involve a shared hold-
must find their marriage partners in other lineages. One ing of tangible property. Instead, it involves collective
advantage of exogamy is that competition for desirable participation in ceremonial and political matters. Only on
spouses within the group is reduced, promoting the group’s special occasions will the membership gather together for
internal cohesiveness. Lineage exogamy means that each specific purposes.
marriage is more than a union between two individuals; it However, clans may handle important integrative
is also a new alliance between lineages. This helps to main- functions. Like lineages, they may regulate marriage
tain them as components of larger social systems. Finally, through exogamy. Because of their dispersed membership,
lineage exogamy promotes open communication within clans give individuals the right of entry into associated
a society, facilitating the diffusion of knowledge and ex- local groups no matter where they are. Members usually
change of goods and services from one lineage to another. are expected to give protection and hospitality to others
In contemporary North American Indian commu- in the clan. Lacking the residential unity of lineages, clans
nities, kinship and descent still play an essential role in frequently depend on symbols—of animals, plants, natu-
tribal membership—as illustrated in this chapter’s Anthro- ral forces, colors, and special objects—to provide members
pology Applied. with solidarity and a ready means of identification. These
symbols, called totems, often are associated with the clan’s
mythical origin and reinforce for clan members an aware-
From Lineage to Clan ness of common descent.
The word totem comes from the Ojibwa American In-
In the course of time, as generation succeeds generation
dian word ototeman, meaning “he is a relative of mine.”
and new members are born into the lineage, the kin-
Totemism was defined by British anthropologist A. R.
group’s membership may become too large to manage or
Radcliffe-Brown (1930) as a set of customary beliefs and
may outgrow the lineage’s resources. When this happens,
practices “by which there is set up a special system of re-
as we have seen with the Chinese tsu, fission occurs; that
lations between the society and the plants, animals, and
is, the original lineage splits into new, smaller lineages.
other natural objects that are important in the social life.”
Usually, the members of the new lineages continue to
For example, Aborigines in central Australia such as the
recognize their original relationship to one another. The
Arunta traditionally believe that each clan descends from
result of this process is the appearance of a larger kind of
a mythological spirit animal.
descent group: the clan.
Native Americans in northwest Canada such as the
As already noted, a clan—typically consisting of sev-
Tsimshian on the Pacific Coast also use totemic animals
eral lineages—is an extended unilineal descent group
to designate their exogamous matrilineal clans but do
whose members claim common descent from a distant
not claim these creatures are mythological clan ancestors.
ancestor (usually legendary or mythological) but are un-
Among these coastal Indians, individuals inherit their
able to trace the precise genealogical links back to that an-
lineage affiliations from their mothers. As such, every
cestor. This stems from the great genealogical depth of the
Tsimshian forms part of a matrilineal “house group,”
clan, whose founding ancestor lived so far in the past that
a corporate kin-group known as a waap (the plural is
the links must be assumed rather than known in detail. A
wuwaap). Typically, each village consists of about twenty
clan differs from a lineage in another respect: It lacks the
such houses, ranked according to importance. Each Tsim-
residential unity that is generally (although not always)
shian house group forms part of a larger exogamous ma-
characteristic of a lineage’s core members.
trilineal clan, of which there are four. And each matriclan
As with the lineage, clan descent may be patrilineal,
is symbolically represented by an animal: Wolf, Eagle,
matrilineal, or ambilineal. Hopi Indians are an example
Raven, and Blackfish (Killer Whale). Carvings of these
of matrilineal clans (matriclans), whereas Han Chinese
crest animals, along with several other animal and human
and Scottish highlanders pictured in this chapter’s open-
images symbolically marking the mythology and history
ing, provide examples of patrilineal clans (patriclans).
of the lineage and validating its claims and privileges,
Tracing descent exclusively through men from a found-
are displayed on monumental cedar totem poles in front
ing paternal ancestor, Scottish highland clans are often
of the large wooden dwellings inhabited by the wuwaap
identified with the prefix “Mac” or “Mc” (from an old
(Anderson, 2006) (Figure 10.5).
We can see a reductive variation of totemism in con-
temporary industrial and postindustrial societies in which
fission In kinship studies, the splitting of a descent group into two or
more new descent groups. sports teams are often given the names of such powerful
totemism The belief that people are related to particular animals, plants, wild animals as bears, lions, and wildcats. In the United
or natural objects by virtue of descent from common ancestral spirits. States, this extends to the Democratic Party’s donkey
Resolving a Native American Tribal Membership Dispute

By Harald E. L. Prins
In autumn 1998, I received a call from At the time, they formed a poor and landless Flush with federal funding and rapidly
the tribal chief of the Aroostook Band of community not yet officially recognized as expanding its activities, the 500-member
Micmacs (now also spelled Mi’kmaq) in a tribe. During that decade, we helped the band became overwhelmed by complex
northern Maine asking for help in resolv- band define its political strategies, which bureaucratic regulations now governing their
ing a bitter tribal membership dispute. The included petitioning for federal recognition existence. Without formally established
conflict centered on the fact that several of their Indian status; claiming their tradi- ground rules determining who could apply
hundred individuals had become tribal tional rights to hunt, trap, and fish; and even for tribal membership, and overlooking fed-
members without proper certification of demanding return of lost ancestral lands. erally imposed regulations, hundreds of new
their Mi’kmaq kinship status. Traditional- To generate popular support for the names were rather casually added to its
ists in the community argued that their effort, I coproduced a film about the com- tribal rolls.
tribe’s organization was being taken over munity (“Our Lives in Our Hands”).a Most By 1997, the Aroostook band pop-
by “non-Indians.” With the formal status important, we gathered oral histories and ulation had ballooned to almost 1,200
of so many members in question, the detailed archival documentation to address members, and Mi’kmaq traditionalists were
tribal administration could not properly kinship issues and other government crite- questioning the legitimacy of many whose
determine who was entitled to benefit ria for tribal recognition. The latter included names had been added to the band roster.
from the available health, housing, and important genealogical records showing With mounting tension threatening to de-
education programs. After some hostile that most Mi’kmaq adults in the region stroy the band, the tribal chief invited me to
confrontations between the factions, tribal were at least “half-blood” (having two of evaluate critically the membership claims
elders requested a formal inquiry into the their grandparents officially recorded as of more than half the tribe. In early 1999, I
membership controversy, and I was called Indians). reviewed the kinship records submitted by
in as a neutral party with a long history of Based on this evidence, we effectively hundreds of individuals whose membership
working with the band. argued that the Aroostook Mi’kmaq could on the tribal rolls was in question. Several
My involvement as an advocacy anthro- claim aboriginal title to lands in the region. months later, I offered my final report to the
pologist began in 1981 when this Mi’kmaq Also, we were able to convince politicians in Mi’kmaq community.
band first employed me, along with Bunny Washington, DC, to introduce a special bill After traditional prayers, sweetgrass
McBride, to help them achieve U.S. gov- to acknowledge their tribal status and settle burning, drumming, and a traditional meal
ernment recognition of their Indian status. their land claims. When formal hearings of salmon and moose, I formally presented
were held in 1990, I my findings. Based on the official criteria,
testified in the U.S. about 100 lineal descendants of the origi-
Senate as an expert nal members and just over 150 newcomers
witness for the band. met the minimum required qualifications
The following year, for membership; several hundred others
the Aroostook Band would have to be removed from the tribal
of Micmacs Settle- roster. After singing, drumming, and closing
ment Act became prayers, the Mi’kmaq gathering dispersed.
federal law. This Today, two decades later, the band’s
made the band eligi- membership has grown beyond 1,200, due
ble for the financial to verified applications, as well as procre-
assistance (health, ation. Faring well, it has purchased about
housing, education, 3,200 acres of land, including a small res-
© Donald Sanipass
and child welfare) idential reservation near Presque Isle, now

and economic devel- home to about 300 Mi’kmaq. Also located
opment loans that here are tribal administration offices, a
are available to all health clinic, and a cultural center.
The Sanipass-Lafford family cluster in Chapman, Maine, represent
federally recognized
a traditional Mi’kmaq residential kin-group. Such extended families Written expressly for this text.
tribes in the United
typically include grandchildren and bilaterally related family
States. Moreover, the
members such as in-laws, uncles, and aunts. Taken from the
law provided the band a
“Our lives in our hands.” (1986). DER doc-
Sanipass family album, this picture shows a handful of members
in the mid-1980s: Marline Sanipass Morey with two of her with funding to buy a umentary, produced by H. E. L. Prins & K.
nephews and uncles. 5,000-acre territorial Carter. http://www.der.org/films/our-lives-in
base in Maine. -our-hands.html (retrieved January 2, 2016)
© Bob Rowan; Progressive Image/Corbis
Figure 10.5 Tshimshian People Raising a Totem Pole
The tradition of erecting totem poles to commemorate special events endures in several Native
American communities in the Pacific Northwest. Carved from tall cedar trees, these spectacular
monuments display a clan or lineage’s ceremonial property and are prominently positioned as
posts in the front of houses, as markers at gravesites, and at other places of significance.
Often depicting legendary ancestors and mythological animals, the painted carvings symbolically
represent a descent group’s cultural status and associated privileges in the community. Noted
carver David Boxley, a member of the Eagle clan, gifted this pole to the community.
and the Republican Party’s elephant, and to the Elks, the it through definitive genealogical links. As a rule, the feel-
Lions, and other fraternal and social organizations. These ings of kinship among members of lineages and clans are
animal emblems, or mascots, however, do not involve stronger than those of members of phratries and moieties.
the notion of biological descent and the strong sense of This may be due to the much larger size and more diffuse
kinship that they symbolize for clans, nor are they linked nature of the latter groups.
with the traditional ritual observances associated with Because feelings of kinship are often weaker
clan totems. between people from different clans, the moiety system
is a cultural invention that keeps clan-based communities
Phratry and Moiety together by binding the clans into a social network of
obligatory giving and receiving. By institutionalizing reci
Two larger kinds of descent groups are the phratry and the procity between groups of clans, the moiety system joins
moiety (Figure 10.6). A phratry (after the Greek word for together families who otherwise would not be sufficiently
“brotherhood”) is a unilineal descent group composed of
at least two clans that supposedly share a common ances-
try, whether or not they really do. Like individuals in the
Moiety
clan, phratry members cannot trace precisely their descent
links to a common ancestor, although they firmly believe
such an ancestor existed. Phratry
If the entire society is divided into only two major
descent groups, whether they are equivalent to clans or Clan
© Cengage Learning
phratries, each group is called a moiety (after the French

word moitié, for “half”). Members of the moiety believe Lineage
themselves to share a common ancestor but cannot prove
Figure 10.6 Descent Groups

phratry A unilineal descent group composed of at least two clans that
This diagram shows the organizational hierarchy of the moiety,
supposedly share a common ancestry, whether or not they really do. phratry, clan, and lineage. Each moiety is subdivided into
moiety A group, usually consisting of several clans, which results from a phratries, each phratry is subdivided into clans, and each clan
division of a society into two halves on the basis of descent. is subdivided into lineages.
Bilateral Kinship and the Kindred 243
invested in maintaining the

commonwealth.
Like lineages and clans,
phratries and moieties are often
exogamous, and so are bound
together by marriages between
their members. And like clans,
they provide members rights of
access to other communities.
In a community that does not
include one’s clan members,
one’s phratry members are still
there to turn to for hospital-
© Ray Roberts Brown/Smithsonian Institution

ity. Finally, moieties may per-
form reciprocal services for one
another. Among them, indi-
viduals look to members of
the opposite “half” in their
community for the necessary
mourning rituals when a mem-
ber of their own moiety dies.
Such interdependence between
moieties serves to maintain the Figure 10.7 Village Life in Moieties
cohesion of the entire society. Many Amazonian Indians in South America’s tropical woodlands traditionally live in circular
villages socially divided into moieties. Here we see the Canela Indians’ Escalvado village as
The principle of institu-
it was in 1970. The village is 300 meters (165 feet) wide. The community’s “upper” moiety
tionalized reciprocity between
meets in the western part. Nearly all of the 1,800 members of the Canela tribe reside in the
groups of matrilineal clans
village during festival seasons, but otherwise they are largely dispersed into their smaller, farm-
organized into two equal
centered circular villages. Behind the larger-circle village is a smaller abandoned village where
halves, or moieties, is beauti-
part of the tribe lived before uniting under one chief. Missionaries built the landing strip that
fully illustrated in the circu- runs through it.
lar settlement pattern of many
traditional Indian villages in
the tropical forests of South America’s Amazon region of extended family group known as the kindred—a
(Figure 10.7). Dwellings located in half of the village grouping of blood relatives based on bilateral descent.
are those of clans belonging to one exogamous moiety, The kindred is laterally rather than lineally organized—
and those on the opposite side are the dwellings of clans that is, it includes all relatives with whom EGO (the
belonging to the other. Because their clans are often central person from whom the degree of each relation-
matrilineal, the institutionalized rules of reciprocity in ship is traced) shares at least one grandparent, great-
this kin-ordered community traditionally require that a grandparent, or even great-great-grandparent, on his or
woman marry a man from a clan house on the opposite her father’s and mother’s side. Thus, depending on how
side of the village, who then moves into her ancestral many generations back one reckons, someone’s kindred
clan house. Their son, however, will one day have to find may include the entire direct-line offspring of his or
a wife from his father’s original moiety and will have to her eight great-grandparents, or sometimes even sixteen
move to his father’s mother’s side of the village. In this great-great-grandparents (Figure 10.8).
way, the moiety system of institutionalized reciprocity In societies in which small domestic units (nuclear
functions like a social “zipper” between clans engaged in families or single-parent households) are of primary
a repetitive cycle of exchange relations. importance, bilateral kinship and kindred organization
are likely to result. This can be seen in modern industrial
Bilateral Kinship
and the Kindred kindred A grouping of blood relatives based on bilateral descent;
includes all relatives with whom EGO shares at least one grandparent,
great-grandparent, or even great-great-grandparent on his or her father’s
Important as patrilineal or matrilineal descent groups and mother’s side.
are in many cultures, such kin-groups do not exist EGO In kinship studies, the central person from whom the degree of
in every society. In some, we encounter another type each kinship relationship is traced.
(financial reparation for the

Great
Great great Great loss of a murdered relative) is
great great great
First First
Second cousin great grandparent great cousin Second
involved, such “next of kin”
3 times aunt 5 uncle 3 times
Third cousin
twice removed 6 6 removed
cousin
twice
Third would be entitled to a share
cousin Great cousin
once removed 7
First Great great Great
7
First
removed once of it. In such societies, a trad-
Fourth removed 8 grandparent 8 removed Fourth
great great
cousin 9 Second
cousin
twice aunt 4 uncle
cousin
twice Second 9 cousin ing or raiding party may be
10 cousin cousin 10
once
removed 5 5 removed
once composed of a kindred, with
Fourth removed 6 Great 6 removed Fourth
Third Third
cousin
cousin 7 First grandparent First 7 cousin
cousin the group coming together
once Great Great once
cousin 3 cousin
removed 8
once
aunt uncle
once
8 removed to perform a particular func-
11 Third removed 4 4 removed Third 11
Fourth
cousin Second
5 5
Second cousin
Fourth
tion, share in the results, and
once cousin cousin once
Grandparent
cousin
twice
removed 6
2
6 removed cousin
twice
then disband. The kindred
removed 9 Aunt Uncle 9 removed
Second
cousin
First
3 3
First Second
cousin
may also act as a ceremo-
12 Third cousin cousin Third 12
once once
Fourth
cousin
twice removed 4 Parent 4 removed
cousin
twice Fourth nial group for initiations and
cousin cousin
3 times
removed 7 First
cousin Sister
1
Brother
First
cousin
7 removed
3 times other rites of passage. Finally,
removed 10 Second Second 10 removed
once once
13 Third cousin removed 2 2 removed cousin Third 13
kindreds may play a role in
cousin twice EGO twice cousin
Fourth 3 times removed 5 5 removed 3 times Fourth regulating marriage through
cousin removed 8 First First 8 removed cousin
4 times 11 cousin Niece Nephew cousin 11 4 times exogamy.
removed Second twice twice Second removed
14 Third cousin
3 times
removed 3
Child
3 removed cousin
3 times
Third 14 Because kindreds are EGO-
cousin 6 6 cousin
4 times removed 1 removed 4 times centered, each is unique,
removed 9 First Grand Grand First 9 removed
12 Second
cousin
3 times
niece nephew cousin
3 times Second 12 except among full siblings.
cousin 4 Grand 4 cousin
4 times
removed
child
removed
4 times Beyond being in the middle of
removed 7 7 removed
2
10 First
Great
grand
Great
grand First 10
one’s own kindred, a person
cousin cousin
4 times
niece nephew
4 times belongs to several kindreds
removed 5 Great 5 removed
8 Great
grandchild
Great 8
centered on other individu-
great 3 great
© Cengage Learning
grand grand als with memberships that
niece nephew
6
Great
great 6
overlap to various degrees.
grandchild
4
Thus, the social function of
this system is that each per-
son can turn to his or her
Figure 10.8 EGO and the Kindred
own kindred for aid, or may
The kindred designates a person’s exact degree of blood relatedness to other members of
be called upon by others, by
the family. This determines not only one’s social obligations toward relatives, but also one’s
virtue of being a member of
rights. For instance, when a wealthy widowed great-aunt without children dies without a will,
their kindreds.
specific surviving members of her kindred will be legally entitled to inherit from her.
and postindustrial societies, in regions with emerging

market economies, and in still-existing food-foraging
Kinship Terminology
societies across the globe.
Most Europeans and peoples of European descent in
and Kinship Groups
other parts of the world are familiar with the kindred; The system of organizing people who are relatives into
those who belong to it are simply referred to as “rela- different kinds of groups—whether kindreds, lineages,
tives.” Typically, it includes those blood relatives on both or clans—influences how relatives are labeled. Kinship
sides of the family who are seen on important occasions, terminology systems vary considerably across cultures,
such as family weddings, reunions, and funerals. In reflecting the positions individuals occupy within their
Ireland, Puerto Rico, or the United States, for example, respective societies and helping to differentiate one
nearly everyone can identify the members of their kin- relative from another. Distinguishing factors include
dred up to grandparents (or even great-grandparents) gender, generational differences, or genealogical differ-
and to their first cousins, nephews, and nieces. Some can ences. In the various systems of kinship terminology,
even identify second cousins in their kindred, but few any one of these factors may be emphasized at the ex-
can go beyond that. pense of others.
In traditional societies with bilateral descent, kin- By looking at the terms a particular society uses for
dreds play a significant role in a variety of situations. their relatives, an anthropologist can determine the struc-
Kindred members (“next of kin”) may be called upon ture of kin-groups, discern the most important relation-
to seek justice or revenge for harm done to someone ships, and sometimes interpret the prevailing attitudes
in the group. They might raise bail, serve as witnesses, concerning various relationships. For instance, a number
or help compensate a victim’s family. If blood money of languages use the same term to identify a brother and
© Uriel Sinai/GettyImages
Figure 10.9 Inuit Family in Greenland
The Inuit in Greenland are one of several large Eskimo groups inhabiting Arctic regions from
Alaska to Canada, Greenland, and eastern Siberia. Although they speak different languages and
dialects, they share a traditional way of life primarily based on hunting and fishing in which the
nuclear family is the primary social unit. As such, their kinship terminology system specifically
identifies EGO’s mother, father, brother, and sister and lumps all other relatives into a few broad
categories that do not distinguish the side of the family from which they derive. Here we see an
Inuit family having a seal meat barbeque on an island near the village of Ilimanaq, Greenland.
a cousin, and others have a single word for cousin, niece, each named after the ethnographic example first or best
and nephew. Some cultures find it useful to distinguish described by anthropologists. The last five of these sys-
the eldest brother from his younger brothers and have tems are fascinating in their complexity and are found
different words for them. And unlike English, many lan- among only a few of the world’s societies. However, to
guages distinguish between an aunt who is a mother’s illustrate some of the basic principles involved, we will
sister and one who is a father’s sister. focus our attention on the first three systems.
Regardless of the factors emphasized, all kinship
terminologies accomplish two important tasks. First,
they classify similar kinds of individuals into single
The Eskimo System
specific categories; second, they separate different kinds The Eskimo system, which is comparatively rare among
of individuals into distinct categories. Generally, two all the world’s systems, is the one used by most contem-
or more kin are merged under the same term when the porary Europeans, Australians, and North Americans. It
individuals have more or less the same rights and ob- is also used by a number of indigenous food-foraging
ligations with respect to the person referring to them peoples, including Arctic peoples such as the Inuit and
as such. This is the case among most English-speaking other Eskimos—hence the name (Figure 10.9).
North Americans, for instance, when someone refers to Sometimes referred to as the lineal system, the Eskimo
a mother’s sister and a father’s sister both as an aunt. As system emphasizes the nuclear family by specifically
far as the speaker is concerned, both relatives possess a
similar status.
Several different systems of kinship terminology re-
Eskimo system Kinship reckoning in which the nuclear family is
sult from the application of the previously discussed
emphasized by specifically identifying the mother, father, brother, and
principles—including the Eskimo, Hawaiian, Iroquois, sister, while lumping together all other relatives into broad categories
Crow, Omaha, Sudanese, Kariera, and Aranda systems, such as uncle, aunt, and cousin; also known as the lineal system.
= = = = =
Aunt Uncle F M Aunt Uncle
© Cengage Learning
Cousins Cousins B EGO Z Cousins Cousins
Figure 10.10 The Eskimo Kinship System

Kinship terminology in this system emphasizes the nuclear family (circled). EGO’s father and
mother are distinguished from EGO’s aunts and uncles, and siblings are distinguished from
cousins. However, no distinction is made between father's siblings and mother's siblings, nor
between their offspring.
identifying mother, father, brother, and sister while lump- together other kin on both sides of the family (such as
ing together all other relatives into a few large categories aunts, uncles, cousins).
(Figure 10.10). For example, the father is distinguished
from the father’s brother (uncle), but the father’s brother
is not distinguished from the mother’s brother (both are
called uncle). The mother’s sister and father’s sister are
The Hawaiian System
treated similarly, both called aunt. In addition, all the The Hawaiian system of kinship terminology, common
sons and daughters of aunts and uncles are called cousin, (as its name implies) in Hawaii and other islands in the
thereby making a generational distinction but without central Pacific Ocean but found elsewhere as well, is the
indicating the side of the family to which they belong or least complex system in that it uses only a few terms. Also
even their gender. called the generational system, it refers to all relatives of the
Unlike other terminologies, the Eskimo system same generation and sex by the same term (Figure 10.11).
provides separate and distinct terms for nuclear fam- For example, in one’s parents’ generation, the term used
ily members. This is probably because the Eskimo to refer to one’s father is used as well for the father’s
system is generally found in bilateral societies where brother and mother’s brother. Similarly, one’s mother,
the dominant kin-group is the kindred, in which only mother’s sister, and father’s sister are all grouped together
immediate family members are important in day-to- under a single term. In EGO’s generation, male and female
day affairs. This is especially true of modern European cousins are distinguished by gender and are equated with
and North American societies, in which many families brothers and sisters.
are independent—living apart from and not directly The Hawaiian system reflects the absence of strong
involved with other relatives except on special occa- unilineal descent, and members on both the father’s and
sions. Thus, these peoples generally distinguish be- the mother’s sides are viewed as more or less equal. The
tween their closest kin (parents and siblings) but lump siblings of EGO’s father and mother are all recognized as
1 = 2 = 3 = 4 5 = = 6
M F F M M F
© Cengage Learning
7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
B Z B Z B EGO Z B Z B Z
Figure 10.11 The Hawaiian Kinship System

In this kinship system the men numbered 2 and 6 are called by the same term as father (3);
the women numbered 1 and 5 are called by the same term as mother (4). All cousins of EGO’s
own generation (7 through 16) are considered brothers (B) and sisters (Z).
1 = 2 = 3 = 4 = 5 = 6
FZ F F M M MB
© Cengage Learning
7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
Cousins B Z B EGO Z B Z Cousins
Figure 10.12 The Iroquois Kinship System

According to the Iroquois system of kinship terminology, EGO’s father’s brother (2) is called
by the same term as the father (3); the mother’s sister (5) is called by the same term as
the mother (4); but the people numbered 1 and 6 are each referred to by a distinct term.
Those people numbered 9 through 14 are all considered siblings, but 7, 8, 15, and 16 are
considered cousins.
being similar relations and are merged under a single term person who is recognized as a relative, with all the specific
appropriate for their gender. In like manner, the children rights and obligations that come with being a daughter,
belonging to the siblings of EGO’s parents are related to son, brother, or sister to someone else in that kin-group.
EGO in the same way as are the brother and sister. Falling That is what “being related” is all about and what gives it
under the incest taboo, they are ruled out as potential symbolic meaning with practical consequences. Each kin
marriage partners. term marks out a specific set of rights and obligations for
individuals socially identified by such a cultural label. In
The Iroquois System state societies governed by law, these rights may even be
legally spelled out in detail.
In the Iroquois system of kinship terminology, the
father and father’s brother are referred to by a single
term, as are the mother and mother’s sister; however, the Fictive Kin by Ritual Adoption
father’s sister and mother’s brother are given separate terms
One example of making relatives of individuals who are not
(Figure 10.12). In one’s own generation, brothers, sisters,
biologically related is adoption—as discussed in the previ-
and parallel cousins (offspring of parental siblings of the
ous chapter’s Globalscape on the transnational adoption
same sex—that is, the children of the mother’s sister or
of children. Adoption is a longstanding and widespread
father’s brother) of the same sex are referred to by the same
cultural practice in many societies all around the world.
terms, which is logical enough considering that they are the
Historically, families and clans facing exceptional chal-
offspring of people who are classified in the same category
lenges to their survival sometimes went to war to obtain hu-
as EGO’s actual mother and father. Cross cousins (offspring
man captives from other societies—sometimes young men,
of parental siblings of opposite sex—that is, the children of
but usually women and children. These captives would
the mother’s brother or father’s sister) are distinguished by
then be adopted. This occurred among Iroquois Indians
terms that set them apart from all other kin. In fact, cross
in northeastern America. In the 17th and 18th centuries,
cousins are often preferred as spouses, for marriage to them
they often incorporated specially selected war captives and
reaffirms alliances between related lineages or clans.
other valued strangers, including European colonists, into
Iroquois terminology, named for the Iroquois Indians
their kin-groups in order to make up for population losses
of North America’s woodlands, is in fact very widespread
due to warfare and disease. As soon as these newcomers
and is usually found with unilineal descent groups. It was,
for example, the terminology in use until recently in rural
Chinese society.
Hawaiian system Kinship reckoning in which all relatives of the same
sex and generation are referred to by the same term: also known as the
generational system.
Making Relatives Iroquois system Kinship reckoning in which a father and father’s
brother are referred to by a single term, as are a mother and a mother’s
sister, but a father’s sister and a mother’s brother are given separate
Many societies may stress the biological in kinship, as the
terms. Parallel cousins are classified with brothers and sisters, whereas
English term blood relative demonstrates, but what ulti- cross cousins are classified separately but not equated with relatives of
mately matters is the culturally defined social status of a some other generation.
© Peter Turnley for Harper’s/Corbis

Figure 10.13 Godparents at Baby’s Baptism
In addition to being born into a family, people may gain relatives through adoption. Godparenting
is a form of ritual adoption in which a person accepts certain lasting obligations toward
someone else’s child. Typically, it includes sponsoring the child’s baptism ceremony, indicating
a spiritual relationship. A variation of this institution is compadrazgo, or “coparenthood,”
especially common in Latin America. Here a Catholic priest in a small church in Bolivia is
baptizing a baby in the company of the child’s parents and godparents.
were ceremonially naturalized, they acquired essentially One of the many variations of this institution is com-
the same birthright status as those actually born into one padrazgo, or “coparenthood.” Especially common in Latin
of the families and were henceforth identified by the same America, compadrazgo involves a child’s father and/or
kin term as the member being replaced. mother and godfather and/or godmother becoming linked
Even today, in some traditional societies a type of to one another through the ritual of a Roman Catholic bap-
ritual adoption might occur. For instance, especially in tism; they thereby agree to certain mutual rights and obli-
kin-ordered communities, the head of a clan or family gations. In compadrazgo, the main emphasis is placed not
may adopt an outsider, especially when such an individ- on the child–godparent relationship but on the fictive kin-
ual is valued as a contributing member because of unique ship between the child’s parents and the sponsor who be-
skills or contacts with the outside world. comes a ritual coparent, or compadre. Historically common
Becoming a godparent is a form of ritual adoption tradi- in South Europe and Latin America, such quasi-kinship is
tionally practiced in many parts of Europe—and spreading
to other parts of the world through European colonization a pact for mutual support between the two compadres,
or settlement. Generally, this involves the parent(s) of co-parents, involved. Such a pact can be entered into
a newborn child inviting another adult, whether or not between two compadres who are each other’s equals in
already a relative, to sponsor their child when he or she is social and economic standing. Very often, however, it
baptized and formally named. This creates a spiritual rela- is formed between people, of whom one is wealthier,
tionship in which the godfather and godmother assume of higher social standing and more powerful politically
co-responsibility for the child’s well-being (Figure 10.13). than the other. (Wolf & Hansen, 1972, pp. 131–132)
Kinship and New Reproductive implanted in another woman’s womb, to be raised by yet
another woman, who is the child’s mother? To compli-
Technology cate matters even further, the egg may have been fertil-
Advances in reproductive technology also pose new op- ized by sperm from a donor not married to, or in a sexual
portunities for kin-making. As defined in the previous relationship with, any of these women. Indeed, it has
chapter, new reproductive technology (NRT) is an alternative been suggested that about a dozen different modern kin-
means of reproduction, such as in vitro fertilization. Since type categories are embraced in the concepts of mother
1978, when the world’s first test-tube baby was created, and father in today’s changing societies (Stone, 2005).
thousands of babies have been created outside the womb, Clearly, new reproductive technology challenges pre-
without sexual intercourse—and all kinds of new tech- viously held notions of parenthood and kinship. These
nologies have become part of the reproductive repertoire. techniques force us to rethink what being biologically
These technologies have opened up a mind-boggling related to others really means. Moreover, they drive home
array of reproductive possibilities and social relations. the point that the human capacity for securing relatives
For example, if a child is conceived from a donor egg, is not only impressive and ingenious but also fascinating.
What is kinship, and what role does it play genealogical terms) and the clan (an extended kin
group, often consisting of several lineages, whose
in social organization? members claim common descent from a remote
✓✓Kinship is a network of relatives into which individuals ancestor, usually legendary or mythological).
are born and married, and with whom they cooperate
✓✓Double descent (matrilineal for some purposes,
based on customarily prescribed rights and obligations.
patrilineal for others) is rare. Ambilineal descent
✓✓In nonindustrial societies, kin-groups commonly deal provides a measure of flexibility in that an individual
with challenges that families and households cannot has the option of affiliating with either the mother’s or
handle alone—defense, resource allocation, cooperative father’s descent group. Bilateral descent derives from
labor. In larger and more complex societies, formal both the mother’s and father’s families equally.
political systems take over many of these matters.
What role does descent play within the
What is a descent group, and what are its larger cultural system?
various forms? ✓✓Because lineages are commonly exogamous, sexual
✓✓A descent group is any kin-group whose members share competition within the group is largely avoided, and
a direct line of descent from a real (historical) or marriage reinforces alliances between lineages. Lineage
fictional common ancestor. exogamy also serves to maintain open communication
within a society and fosters the exchange of
✓✓Unilineal descent establishes kin-group membership
information between lineages.
exclusively through the male line (patrilineal) or
female line (matrilineal). In all societies the kin of both ✓✓Unlike lineages, clan residence is usually dispersed. In
mother and father are important elements in the social the absence of residential unity, totems (symbols from
structure, regardless of how descent group membership nature that remind members of their common
is defined. However, unlike the patrilineal pattern, ancestry) often reinforce clan identification.
matrilineal descent does not automatically confer
✓✓A phratry is a unilineal descent group of two or more
gender authority.
clans that supposedly share a common ancestry. When
✓✓There is a close relationship between a culture’s a society is divided into two halves, each half
infrastructure and its descent system. Generally, consisting of one or more clans, these two major
patrilineal descent predominates when male labor is descent groups are called moieties.
considered of prime importance, as it is among
✓✓In a bilateral descent system, individuals are affiliated
pastoralists and agriculturalists. Matrilineal descent
equally with the mother’s and father’s families. Such a
predominates mainly among horticulturalists where
large group is socially impractical and is usually
female subsistence work is vital.
reduced to a small circle of paternal and maternal
✓✓The two major forms of a unilineal descent group relatives called the kindred. A kindred is never the
(patrilineal or matrilineal) are the lineage (a kin group same for any two people except siblings. Bilateral
descended from a common ancestor whose kinship and kindred organization predominate in
relationship to members can be exactly stated in societies where nuclear families are common.
What does kinship terminology reveal ✓✓The Hawaiian system is the simplest system of kinship
terminology, with all relatives of the same generation
about human relations?
and gender referred to by the same term.
✓✓Kinship terminology varies across cultures and reveals
✓✓In the Iroquois system, a single term is used for a
the organizational structure of kinship groups, the
father and his brother and another for a mother and
importance of certain relationships, and prevailing
her sister. Parallel cousins are equated with brothers
attitudes about specific kin. Some languages use the
and sisters but distinguished from cross cousins.
same term to identify a brother and a cousin,
suggesting that these kin are of equal importance to an ✓✓Adoption and the practice of godparenting establish
individual. Kin merged under the same term have the additional kin categories.
same basic rights and obligations with respect to the
person referring to them as such. ✓✓New reproductive technologies separating conception
from sexual intercourse and eggs from wombs
✓✓The Eskimo system emphasizes the nuclear family and challenge traditional notions of kinship and gender
merges all other relatives in a given generation into a and create new social categories.
few large, generally undifferentiated categories.
1. Thousands of Scots and people of Scottish descent be considered unsociable and even dangerously
from across the globe travel annually to traditional selfish?
events to gather together with their clans. Do you care 3. In some North American Indian languages, the
about your own distant relatives or ancestors, and English word for loneliness is translated as “I have
what will you pass on from your cultural heritage to no relatives.” What does that tell you about the
the next generation? importance of kinship in traditional cultures?
2. People in modern industrial and postindustrial 4. Today, many people use social media to stay in touch
societies generally treasure ideas of personal with relatives, friends, schoolmates, and colleagues. In
freedom, individuality, and privacy as essential to your social media network, where are these individuals
their happiness. Considering the social functions geographically located? How often do you see them in
of kinship relations in traditional non-state real space, and is your interaction with them different
societies, why do you think that such ideas may in person than online?
What’s in a Name?
A culture’s kinship terminology system offers not all live in the same neighborhood, region,
a quick but crucially important insight into the or even country. Interview that person (“EGO”)
group’s social structure. This is especially true for with the purpose of mapping that individual’s
traditional communities of foragers, herders, and kin-group. Identify how EGO is related to each
farmers, but remains important in industrial and member and note why these other people are
postindustrial societies in the age of globalization. significant in EGO’s life. Next, ask the informant
By means of computers and mobile devices linked for the kin terms he or she uses to distinguish
to the Internet, migrant workers, refugees, foreign these relatives from one another. Finally, match
students, members of diasporic communities, and each of these kin terms with the kin types (such
others with relatives dispersed across the world as mother’s father’s sister’s son or brother’s wife’s
stay involved in family affairs. Identify someone in daughter and so on). Finally, analyze the system
your own family, neighborhood, or circle of friends and apply the relevant anthropological concepts as
whose consanguineal and/or affinal relatives do reviewed in this chapter.
Johannes Eisele/AFP/Getty Images
CHALLENGE ISSUE
Beyond ties of kinship and household, people extend their social networks to cope with multi-
ple challenges of human survival. They form groups based on shared identities, interests, or
objectives, with memberships that may be compulsory or voluntary. Together, individuals inter-
act, collaborate, and overcome obstacles. Collective action strengthens ties that bind and
reduces tensions that divide. Playing games, including sports, has a similar effect. Athletes
show off superior mental or physical skills within and between teams while revealing or act-
ing out some of their culture’s core values. Many sports have their origins in warfare, with
rivals demonstrating skills and endurance. Here we see Afghan horsemen playing buzkashi
(“goat-grabbing”). In this traditional game, sometimes up to 200 riders fiercely compete for
possession of a headless body of a goat. Players from rival teams pick up and carry the car-
cass around a marker at one end of the field and then throw it into the scoring circle at the
opposite end. Competing for glory and prize money on special holidays, all the players—and
spectators—in this national sport are male, reflecting gender segregation in Afghan cultures.
Grouping by Gender,
Age, Common
Interest, and
11
Social Status In this chapter you
will learn to
●● Explain how social
groups are formed
based on age
Anthropologists have given considerable attention to kinship and marriage,
and gender, with
which operate as organizing principles in all societies and are usually the prime anthropological
basis of social order in stateless societies. Yet, because ties of kinship and house- examples of each.
hold are not always sufficient to handle all the challenges of human survival, ●● Identify different types
people also form groups based on gender, age, common interest, and social status. of common-interest
groups, noting their
function in expanding
an individual’s social
Grouping by Gender network beyond
relatives, friends, and
As shown in preceding chapters, division of labor along gender lines occurs neighbors.
in all human societies. In some cultures, many tasks that men and women ●● Distinguish between
undertake may be shared, or people may perform work normally assigned to egalitarian and
another gender without much ado. In others, however, men and women are stratified societies, with
examples of each.
rigidly gender segregated in what they do. Such is the case in many maritime
cultures, where seafarers aboard fishing, whaling, and freight ships are usually
●● Describe the possibilities
and limitations of
men. For instance, we find temporary all-male communities aboard ships of
upward and downward
coastal Basque fishermen in Spain, Yupik Eskimo whalers in Alaska, and Swahili social mobility.
merchants sailing along the East African coast. These seafarers commonly leave ●● Evaluate the structural
their wives, mothers, and daughters behind in their homeports, sometimes for similarities and
months at a time. differences between
class, caste, and race
Clearly demarcated grouping by gender also occurs in many traditional
in a stratified society.
food-gardening societies. For instance, among the Mundurucu Indians of Brazil’s
●● Recognize the
Amazon rainforest, men and women work, eat, and sleep separately. From age 13
challenges and
onward, males live together in one large house, whereas women, girls, and pre- opportunities of social
teen boys occupy several houses grouped around the men’s house: Men associate mobility in different
with men, and women with women. types of societies.
253
254 CHAPTER 11 Grouping by Gender, Age, Common Interest, and Social Status
Figure 11.1 Sacred

Trumpets of the Amazon
Gender-based groups
are common among the
Mundurucu and numerous
other Amazonian Indian
nations such as the
Yawalapiti pictured here,
who live on the Tuatuari
River in Brazil’s upper Xingu
region. Gender issues are
symbolically worked out
in their mythologies and
ceremonial dances. One
common theme concerns
ownership of the sacred
trumpets, which represent
spiritual power. The
tribesmen zealously guard
REUTERS/Paulo Whitaker/Landov
these trumpets, and only
men are allowed to play
them. Traditionally, women
were even forbidden to see
them.
Organized in patrilineal clans, the Mundurucu believe cultures, but each one provides distinctive social roles and
their guardian spirits dwell in sacred trumpets (karökö) comes with certain cultural features such as specific pat-
made of hollow wooden cylinders. The spirits are thought terns of activity, attitudes, obligations, and prohibitions.
to protect the community from harm and help secure In contrast to many industrial and postindustrial societ-
plenty of game animals. Exclusively controlled by men, ies where senior citizens are often isolated and looked down
the trumpets are phallic in form and are a central feature upon, old age in many traditional societies is a person’s
of exclusive men’s cults. As the repositories of male power, period of greatest respect (for women it may mean the first
these trumpets are carefully guarded and hidden in a sa- social equality with men). Rarely are the elderly shunted
cred hut next to the large men’s house. aside or abandoned. Even the Inuit of the Canadian Arctic,
According to Mundurucu myth, gender roles were who are often cited as a migratory people who traditionally
once reversed. Women ruled over men and controlled the abandoned their old and infirm relatives, did so only in
trumpets, which symbolized female reproductive capaci- truly desperate circumstances, when the traveling group’s
ties and power. But because women could not hunt, they physical survival was at stake. In all oral tradition societies,
could not supply the meat demanded by the spirits inhab- elders are the repositories of accumulated wisdom for their
iting the trumpets. Ever since taking the trumpets from people. Recognized as such and no longer expected to carry
the women and keeping them secret, men have ritually es- out many subsistence activities, they play a major role in
tablished their dominance (Murphy, 1959) (Figure 11.1). passing on cultural knowledge to their grandchildren.
In many cultures, the social position of an individual
in a specific life stage is also marked by a distinctive out-
Grouping by Age ward appearance in terms of dress, hairstyle, body paint,
tattoos, insignia, or some other symbolic distinction.
Like gender, grouping by age is based on human biology Typically, these stages are designed to help the transition
and as such is a cultural universal. All human societies from one age to another, to teach needed skills, or to lend
recognize a number of life stages. Even in its most min- economic assistance. Often they are taken as the basis for
imal form—marking distinctions among immature, ma- the formation of organized groups.
ture, and older people—age classification is significant.
The demarcation and duration of these stages vary across
Institutions of Age Grouping
An organized category of people with membership on
age grade An organized category of people based on age; every individual the basis of age is known as an age grade. Entry into
passes through a series of such categories over his or her lifetime. and transfer out of age grades may be accomplished
Grouping by Age 255
individually, either by a biological distinction, such as pu-

berty, or by a socially recognized status, such as marriage
or childbirth.
Members of an age grade may have much in common—
engaging in similar activities and sharing the same orien-
tation and aspirations. In many cultures, a specific time
is established for ritually moving from a younger to an
older grade. Among many examples of this is the tradi-
tional Jewish ceremony of the bar mitzvah (a Hebrew term
meaning “son of the commandment”), marking that a
13-year-old boy has reached the age of religious duty and
responsibility. Bat mitzvah (“daughter of the command-
ment”) is the term for the equivalent ritual for a girl.
Although members of senior groups commonly expect
Nigel Pavitt/John Warburton-Lee Photography/Alamy

respect from and acknowledge certain responsibilities to
their juniors, this does not necessarily mean that one grade
is seen as better, or worse, or even more important than an-
other. There can be standardized competition (opposition)
between age grades, such as that traditionally between
first-year and second-year students on college campuses.
In addition to age grades, some societies feature age
sets (sometimes referred to as age classes). An age set is a
formally established group of people born during a certain
timespan who move together through the series of age-
grade categories. Members of an age set usually remain Figure 11.2 Maasai Warrior Age-Grade Ceremony
closely associated throughout their lives. This is akin to Like the Tiriki and some other pastoralists in East Africa, the
but distinct from the broad and informal North American Maasai form age sets—established groups of people born
practice of identifying generation clusters composed of all during a similar timespan who move together through the series
of age-grade categories. The opening parade, shown here, of the
individuals born within a particular time frame—such as
elaborate eunoto ceremony begins the coming of age of morans
baby boomers (1946–1960), gen-Xers (1961–1981), and
(“warriors”) for Maasai subclans of western Kenya. At the end
the millennial or Internet generation (1982–2000) (year
of the ceremony, these men will be in the next age grade—
spans approximate).
junior adults—ready to marry and start families. Members of
The notion of an age set implies strong feelings of
the same age set, they were initiated together into the Warrior
loyalty and mutual support. Because such groups may
age grade as teenagers. They spent their Warrior years raiding
possess property, songs, shield designs, and rituals and are cattle (an old tradition that is now illegal but nonetheless still
internally organized for collective decision making and practiced) and protecting their community homes and animal
leadership, age sets are distinct from simple age grades. enclosures (from wild animals and other cattle raiders). The
eunoto ceremony includes a ritual in which mothers shave the
heads of the Warriors, marking the end of many freedoms and
Age Grouping in East Africa the passage to manhood.
Although age is a criterion for group membership in many
parts of the world, its most varied and elaborate use is with the closing of the oldest age set and the opening of
found in several pastoral groups in East Africa, such as the a new one.
Maasai, Samburu, and Tiriki in Kenya (Sangree, 1965). All Each age group has its own particular duties and re-
of these groups have similar rituals that mark the transi- sponsibilities. Traditionally, the first age grade, the War-
tion from one age group to the next (Figure 11.2). riors, served as guardians of the country, and members
In Tiriki society, each boy born within a 15-year pe- gained renown through fighting. Under British colonial
riod joins a particular age set. Seven named age sets exist, rule, however, this traditional function largely fell by the
but only one is open for membership at a time. When it wayside with the decline of intergroup raiding and war-
closes, the next one opens. And so it continues until the fare. Today, individual members of this age grade may find
passage of 105 years (7 times 15), when the first set’s mem- excitement and adventure by leaving their community for
bership is gone due to death, and it opens once again to extended employment or study.
take in new recruits.
Members of Tiriki age sets remain together for life as
age set A formally established group of people born during a certain
they move through four successive age grades. Advance- timespan who move together through the series of age-grade categories;
ment in age grades occurs at 15-year intervals, coinciding sometimes called age class.
Figure 11.3 Common-

Interest Associations
Among countless common-
interest associations
around the world is
the Shriners, a secret
fraternal order of middle-
class males committed
to “fun, fellowship, and
service.” Founded in the
United States in 1870, the
group was named after
the Ancient Arabic Order
of Nobles of the Mystic
Shrine. Today, it is an
international organization
with 200 chapters across
North and South America,
Europe, and Southeast
Asia.
© Todd Gipstein/Corbis
The next age grade, the Elder Warriors, had few spe- many of these traditional functions have been lost, and
cialized tasks in earlier days beyond learning skills they no new ones have arisen to take their places. Nonethe-
would need later on by assuming an increasing share of less, Ritual Elders continue to hold the most important
administrative activities. For example, they would chair positions in the initiation ceremonies, and their power as
the postfuneral gatherings held to settle property claims sorcerers and expungers of witchcraft is still recognized.
after someone’s death. Traditionally, Elder Warriors also
served as envoys between elders of different communities.
Nowadays, they hold nearly all of the administrative and
executive roles opened up by the creation and growth of
Grouping by Common
a centralized Tiriki administrative bureaucracy.
Judicial Elders, the third age grade, traditionally han-
Interest
dled most tasks connected with the administration and The rise of urban, industrialized societies in which in-
settlement of local disputes. Today, they still serve as the dividuals are often separated from their kin has led to
local judiciary body. a proliferation of common-interest associations—
Members of the Ritual Elders, the senior age grade, associations that result from an act of joining and are
used to preside over the priestly functions of ancestral based on sharing particular activities, objectives, values,
shrine observances on the household level, at subclan or beliefs (Figure 11.3). Some groups are rooted in com-
meetings, at semiannual community appeals, and at rites mon ethnic, religious, or regional background. Such
of initiation into the various age grades. They also were associations help people meet a range of needs from
credited with access to special magical powers. With the companionship to safe work conditions to learning a
decline of ancestor worship over the past several decades, new language and customs upon moving from one coun-
try to another.
Common-interest associations are also found in many
common-interest association An association that results from the
traditional societies, and there is some evidence that they
act of joining, based on sharing particular activities, objectives, values,
or beliefs, sometimes rooted in common ethnic, religious, or regional arose with the emergence of the first horticultural villages.
background. Notably, associations in traditional societies may be just as
Grouping by Common Interest 257
Dave Sanders/The New York Times/Redux

Todd Heisler/The New York Times/Redux
Figure 11.4 Induction of an Ashanti Chief in New York City

Today, about a quarter-million African-born immigrants live in New York City, and more come from
Ghana than from any other country on that continent. Many are part of Ghana’s Ashanti ethnic
group and are members of the Asanteman Association of the USA and its New York branch. They
swear allegiance to their traditional king in Ghana (the Asantehene) and elect a local chief, who
carries the title of Asantefuohene. New York’s newest Ashanti chief, formally addressed as Nana
Okokyeredom Owoahene Acheampong Tieku, works in the Bronx as an accountant and goes by the
name Michael. The king sent a high-ranking chief from Ghana for his 2012 swearing-in ceremony.
complex and highly organized as those found in industri- media, Ghanaians manage to maintain regular contact
alized countries. with relatives, friends, and others back home. Many
of them are Ashanti, a large ethnic group historically
Kinds of Common-Interest powerful as an independent nation politically organized
since the 1670s as a kingdom with a confederation of
Associations thirty-seven paramount chiefdoms. Known as Asanteman,
The variety of common-interest associations is aston- this kingdom is governed to this day by a ruler who car-
ishing. In the United States, they include sport, hobby, ries the royal title of Asantehene and resides in the royal
and civic service clubs; religious and spiritual organi- palace of his ancestors. His sacred power is symbolized by
zations; political parties; labor unions; environmental the “golden stool,” believed to have floated down from
organizations; urban gangs; private militias; immigrant heaven into the lap of his forefather and containing the
groups; academic organizations; women’s and men’s spirit-soul (sunsum) of the Ashanti nation. The current
clubs of all sorts—the list goes on and on. Their goals king is a British-educated business professional with inter-
may include the pursuit of friendship, recreation, and national executive experience.
the promotion of certain values, as well as governing, For purposes of mutual support and to maintain their
seeking peace on a local or global scale, and defending cultural identity in the diaspora, Ashanti migrants in
economic interests. New York City formed the Asanteman Association of the
Some associations aim to preserve traditional songs, USA in 1982, which now has numerous branches across
history, language, moral beliefs, and other customs among country. Members swear allegiance to their king in Ghana
members of various ethnic minorities. So it is among and elect local chiefs in the cities where they now live
many immigrant groups from Africa who live in major (Figure 11.4).
cities around the world, including in the United States. Jews, another ethnic minority group, sometimes estab-
Today, about 250,000 African-born immigrants live in the lish a sense of traditional community by means of symbolic
New York metropolitan area. geographic boundary markers. This chapter’s Original
The city’s largest African group hails from Ghana, a Study provides a detailed example of how Orthodox Jews
former British colony in West Africa. Using electronic maintain their cultural identity, even within a modern city.
ORIGI
NAL The Jewish Eruv: Symbolic Place in Public Space
S T U DY By Susan Lees
Cultural anthropologists are interested in how a As an anthropologist, I was intrigued by explanations

geographic space becomes a culturally meaningful place— given for certain practices because they heightened aware-
an area that we may think of as “our territory” or that we ness of the uniqueness of Jewish identity in a world where
designate for one particular purpose or another, such as temptations to assimilate with the larger, dominant culture
pasturing animals, playing sports, gardening, or worshiping. were strong. The eruv captured my interest because it seemed
There are certain boundaries to such places. We may mark to create, not just prohibit something. It transformed a
them off with lines or symbols not readily comprehensible group of diverse urban households into one common house-
to outsiders. hold, not just a community but a real “private” home. The
At times, different cultural groups may occupy the same symbolic “walls” around this collective domain were erected
geographic space, but each will see and divide it differently not to keep others out but to enclose its members and thus
in terms that are meaningful only within their group. We erase the actual walls of each individual household.
see this on maps where international borders cut through The ritual that creates an eruv requires that one member
traditional tribal or ethnic group territories. And we see it take a loaf of bread and make other members co-owners
in various urban communities that may divide up their of that loaf; the symbolism of a household is shared
city spaces in ways perceptible only to themselves. ownership (not consumption) of this most symbolically
An example can be found among Orthodox Jews who meaningful food. The boundaries of the eruv “house-
ritually define the boundaries of their communities for hold” they co-inhabit must be contiguous, broken only
the purpose of Sabbath observance: Once a week, on the by symbolic doorways through which they can pass as if
seventh day religiously reserved for worship and obliga- through doorways of their individual homes. As long as
tory rest, the area enclosed by the boundaries becomes, the contiguity is maintained, they can extend the eruv to
by definition, a single shared symbolic domain. This sym- incorporate hundreds or even thousands of other houses.
bolically enclosed space is called an eruv, which means The majority of North American Jews who are members of
“combination” of the private spaces of the household religious congregations belong to Reform synagogues (the
and the public areas of the sidewalks, streets, and perhaps other major groups are Conservative and Orthodox), and
parks. On the Sabbath, these spaces are ritually converted American Reform Judaism officially abandoned the eruv as
into one big communal household. a Sabbath practice in 1846. When I first became interested
The purpose of the eruv for Orthodox communities is in the subject, there were rather few eruvin anywhere.
to accommodate one of the many Sabbath prohibitions But in the early 1970s, on the heels of the 1960s civil
on religiously defined “work”: the work of “carrying” ob- rights movement in the United States, a shift in Jewish
jects from a private domain to a public one, or vice versa, identity issues occurred, and some younger generation
or carrying objects for any distance in a public domain.
On the Sabbath, if there is an eruv, observant Jews may
carry within the entire eruv enclosure as if they were in W A S H I N G T O N , D. C.
their own homes. For instance, they are permitted to push
Washington
a baby stroller or a wheelchair within the ritually enclosed National
Cathedral National
neighborhood. This makes it possible for whole families— Zoological Eruv
including small children and disabled individuals—to Park boundary
attend religious services in the synagogue or to socialize
with one another and still be faithful to traditional law. National
Mall
Historically, eruv boundaries were the walls of houses White
House Supreme Library
and courtyards and city walls within which communities Court of
Kennedy Center Congress
were enclosed. But today, where there are no walls, com- Lincoln Memorial RFK
munities sometimes erect thin strings or wires, or just use Stadium
U.S. Capitol
Po
Jefferson
to
wires already there on utility poles (such as phone or elec-

© Cengage Learning
m
VIRGINIA Memorial
ac
tricity wires) to demarcate the boundaries. These are known Pentagon

R iv
to members of the community but usually are invisible to

er
outsiders because they are part of the urban landscape.

I was first drawn to the subject of the eruv three decades
This map illustrates the eruv boundaries in Washington, DC—one
ago, when I leafed through my mother’s copy of the Code of
of many symbolically enclosed spaces created by Orthodox Jews in
Jewish Law still found in many American Jewish households. cities around the world.
Much of this text concerns rules about observing the Sabbath.
Grouping by Common Interest 259
Jews began to turn to traditional practices that distin- first developing the laws of the eruv more than 2,000 years
guished them from mainstream society and more assim- ago, this problem of how Jews could maintain a communal
ilated Jews. It was in this context that a proliferation of identity while living as a diasporic group (dispersed from their
new eruvin occurred in both urban and suburban contexts. ancestral homeland) was among their primary concerns.
Most eruvin have been established without conflict, but The eruv is one symbolic device to reinforce commu-
a few have been highly controversial. In my research, I was nity as neighborhood—to establish a meaningful place
interested to find that Jews are among the principal parties for a distinct group in a diverse society. Neighborhood
on both sides of eruv conflicts. Opponents of the eruv appear identities like these can be the basis for disputes about
to fear the creation, or re-creation, of ghettos of inassimilable exclusivity, but they can also ease the maintenance of
Jews who neither conform to nor respect the ideals of the cultural traditions and humanize life in the city.
dominant or mainstream culture—who appear “foreign” in
appearance and practices. When Jewish religious leaders were Written expressly for this text, 2008.
Men’s and Women’s Associations especially Western markets. Others take advantage of the
ever-growing number of tourists looking for adventure in
In some societies women have not established for- travel to remote areas (Figure 11.5).
mal common-interest associations to the extent that
men have, either because women are restricted by their
male-dominated culture or because women are absorbed
on the domestic front with a host of activities compatible
with childrearing. Moreover, some functions of men’s
associations—such as military combat duties—often are
culturally defined as fit only for adult males or are re-
pugnant to women. Still, as cross-cultural research makes
clear, women often play important roles in associations of
their own as well as in those in which men predominate.
Notably, an ever-expanding feminist movement has di-
rectly or indirectly inspired and promoted the formation
of professional organizations for women.
Women’s rights organizations, consciousness-raising
groups, and professional clubs are examples of some
of the associations arising directly or indirectly out
of feminist movements. These groups cover the entire
range of association formation, from simple friendship
and support groups to associations centered on poli-
tics, sports, the arts, spirituality, charity, and economic
endeavors—on a national and even international scale.
One example of a global female youth movement is
the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts.
Founded in England in 1928, this association supports
young-female scouting organizations with a total mem-
bership of over 10 million girls and young women in © jdandrews/earthXplorer.com
145 countries.
In some parts of the developing world—notably
Africa—women’s social clubs complement the men’s.
These clubs offer mutual support and spiritual counsel-
ing, as well as information on economic opportunities;
they are also concerned with educating women and with
charitable and wealth-generating activities. Increasingly, Figure 11.5 Women’s Weaving Cooperative in Peru
women’s clubs are devoted to politics. Established in a small Andean highland village about halfway
In rural areas all around the world, women’s craft as- between Písac and the ancient Inca royal capital Cuzco, this co-op
sociations and cooperatives are increasingly common and is committed to spinning, dying, and weaving wool from llamas and
economically productive. Many are enhanced through In- alpacas as women here have done for many generations—completely
ternet marketing opportunities, which make it possible for by hand using only natural materials and dyes. Most of the men in
the cooperatives to sell directly to buyers in far-off places, Ccaccaccollo, Peru, work as carriers for tourists hiking the Inca Trail.
Figure 11.6 Constant Communication

High-speed wireless networks in
affluent Japan, as in many other
parts of the world, make it possible
for people to continually tap into
information and exchange messages
and images by means of portable
computers or, increasingly, web-enabled
mobile telephones. For Japanese
commuters, who spend hours staring
at tiny screens on their mobiles while
riding the world’s most extensive
network of subways and commuter
trains, microblogging is especially
popular.
David Sacks/Getty Images

A striking example on the economic front is the text message and exchange images with “friends” as they
Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA), headquar- continually update their personal or other information
tered in Ahmedabad, India. With close to 1.5 million (Statistica, 2016).
members, it is the largest union of informal sector workers As noted in the chapter on language and communi-
in the country. Working with more than 250 cooperatives cation, at the start of 2016 there were nearly 3.8 billion
and thousands of individual artisans and small-scale farm- mobile phone users worldwide—more than half the hu-
ers from poor rural areas, SEWA has helped to establish man population. (Mobile cellular subscriptions were twice
support services vital to helping women achieve the goals that number due to various factors, such as individuals
of full employment and self-reliance—services in areas purchasing multiple sim cards and having both private
such as savings and credit, healthcare, child care, insur- and business phones) (GSMA Intelligence, 2016). Notably,
ance, legal aid, capacity building, and communication. about 90 percent of the world’s population is within mo-
SEWA’s Trade Facilitation Centre has grown into a global bile coverage (Figure 11.6) (Ericsson, 2016).
network aimed at making women’s voices and contribu- Social media tools are now also used by office man-
tions significant factors in world trade decisions. agers, city mayors, law enforcers, physicians, and school
principals for purposes of quick communication and
have become instrumental in the functioning of many
Associations in the Digital Age social groups. Importantly, in highly mobile societies and
Despite the diversity and vitality of common-interest globally interconnected cultures, social media makes it
associations, nowadays people across the globe spend less possible to build and expand social networks regardless of
time socializing with others in person. Instead, hundreds geographic distance and across international boundaries.
of millions spend their time with an ever-growing array
of electronic and/or digital devices, communicating with
others, entertaining themselves, and shopping.
Whether accessed by computer or mobile phone, Grouping by Social Status
social networking platforms—such as Facebook (with
over 1.5 billion active users worldwide), Gmail (900 in Stratified Societies
million), Instagram (400 million), Twitter (300 million),
Social stratification is a common and powerful structur-
and China’s WeChat (650 million)—enable individuals to
ing force in many of the world’s societies. Basically, a
stratified society is one in which people are hierar-
chically divided and ranked into social strata, or layers,
stratified society A society in which people are hierarchically divided
and ranked into social strata, or layers, and do not share equally in the and do not share equally in the basic resources that sup-
basic resources that support income, status, and power. port income, status, and power. Members of the bottom
Anthropologists and Social Impact Assessment

Anthropologists frequently do a type of of a diversion dam and an extensive canal Not surprisingly, Jacobs discovered
policy research called a social impact system for irrigation on the Rio Grande. widespread community opposition to this
assessment, which entails collecting data The project would affect twenty-two com- project, and her report helped convince
about a community or neighborhood for munities primarily inhabited by Hispanic Congress that any positive impact was
planners of development projects. Such Americans, as well as two Indian pueblos. far outweighed by negative effects. One
an assessment seeks to determine a pro- Unemployment was high in the region, and of the major objections to the construc-
ject’s effect by determining how and upon the project was seen as a way to promote tion project was that it would obliterate
whom its impact will fall and whether the urbanization, which theoretically would be the centuries-old irrigation system. Project
impact is likely to be positive or negative. associated with industrial development and planners had not recognized the antiquity
In the United States, any project requir- would also bring new land into production and cultural significance of these tra-
ing a federal permit or license or using for intensive agriculture. ditional irrigation structures, referring to
federal funds by law must be preceded by What the planners failed to take into them as “temporary diversion structures.”
a social impact assessment as part of the account was that both the Hispanic and The fact that the old dams associated with
environmental review process. Examples of Indian populations were heavily committed the ditches were attached to local descent
such projects include highway construction, to farming for household consumption groups was simply not acknowledged in the
urban renewal, water diversion schemes, (with some surpluses raised for the mar- government documents.
and land reclamation. Often, such projects ket), using a system of irrigation canals Beyond infringing on local control, the
are sited so that their impact falls most that had been established for 300 years. project threatened the community with a
heavily on neighborhoods or communities These canals are maintained by elected range of negative side effects: problems
inhabited by people in low socioeconomic supervisors familiar with the communi- linked to population growth and relocation,
strata—sometimes because the projects ties and knowledgeable about water laws, a loss of fishing and other river-related re-
are viewed as a way of improving the lives ditch management, and sustainable crop sources, and new health hazards, including
of poor people and sometimes because production. Such individuals can resolve increased threat of drowning, insect breed-
the poor people have less political power conflicts concerning water allocation and ing, and airborne dust.
to block these proposals. land use, among other issues. Under the
As an illustration of this kind of work, proposed project, this system was to be Based in part on Van Willigen, J. (1986).
U.S. anthropologist Sue Ellen Jacobs was given up in favor of one in which fewer Applied anthropology (p. 169). South
hired to do a social impact assessment people would control larger tracts of land Hadley, MA: Bergin & Garvey. See also Van
of a water diversion project in New Mexico and water allocation would be in the hands Willigen, J. (2002). Applied anthropology: An
introduction. Westport, CT: Bergin & Garvey.
planned by the Bureau of Land Reclamation of a government technocrat. One of the
in cooperation with the Bureau of Indian strongest measures of local government
Affairs. This project proposed construction would be lost.
strata (“have-nots”) typically have fewer resources, lower rank and power and about the same access to basic resources.
prestige, and less power than those in top-ranked strata In these societies, social values of communal sharing are cul-
(the “have-lots”). In addition, they usually face greater turally emphasized and approved; wealth hoarding and elit-
or more oppressive restrictions and obligations and ist pretensions are despised, belittled, or ridiculed. As we saw
must work harder for far less material reward and social in earlier chapters, foraging societies are characteristically
recognition. egalitarian, although there are some exceptions.
In short, social stratification amounts to culturally
institutionalized inequality. In the United States, certain
ethnic (or racial) minorities—in particular Hispanic, Afri-
Social Class and Caste
can American, and American Indian groups—are among A social class may be defined as a category of indi-
those who have been historically marginalized, posing viduals in a stratified society who have equal or nearly
a challenge for individuals born into these low-ranked equal prestige according to the system of evaluation. The
strata to move up the social ladder. As profiled in this
chapter’s Anthropology Applied feature, their needs are
egalitarian society A society in which people have about the same rank and
often ignored in development efforts. share equally in the basic resources that support income, status, and power.
A stratified society stands in sharp contrast to an social class A category of individuals in a stratified society who enjoy equal
egalitarian society, in which everyone has about equal or nearly equal prestige according to the hierarchical system of evaluation.
qualification “nearly equal” is important because a certain

amount of inequality may occur even within a given class.
Class distinctions are not always clear-cut and obvious in Brahman
societies that have a wide and continuous range of differ- (priests &
ential privileges. teachers)
A caste is a closed social class in a stratified society
in which membership is determined by birth and fixed Kshatriya
Twice-
for life. The opposite of the principle that all humans are (rulers & warriors)
born
born equal, the caste system is based on the principle that groups
Varnas
humans are born and remain unequal until death. Castes
are strongly endogamous, and offspring are automatically
Vaisya
members of their parents’ caste.
(farmers, merchants, & artisans)
The Traditional Hindu Caste System

The classic ethnographic example of a caste system is the Sudra
traditional Hindu caste system of India (also found in (laborers)
some other parts of Asia), which encompasses a complex
© Cengage Learning
hierarchy of closed social groups ranking from “ritual
Untouchables
purity” at the top to “filth” at the bottom. Each of some Outcastes
(“polluted” laborers)
2,000 different castes considers itself as
a distinct community higher or lower
than other castes, although their Figure 11.7 The Hindu Caste System
particular ranking varies across geo- Hindu castes are organized into four “grades of being” called
graphic regions and over varnas (“colors”) that determine what members are permitted
time. to do, touch, or eat; where they live; how they dress; and whom
The different castes they can marry. The highest-ranking order Brahman is associated
TIBET
are associated with spe- (CHINA) with the color white, below which are Kshatriya (red) and Vaisya
PAKISTAN BHUTAN
cific occupations and NEP (brown). Below these three are Sudra (black), who make a living as
AL
customs, such as food INDIA
laborers. Lower still are the “polluted” laborers, the Untouchables,
habits and styles of dress, INDIA
who are charged with cleaning the streets and with the collection
along with rituals involv- MYANMAR and disposal of garbage, animal carcasses, and sewage.
BANGLADESH
ing notions of purity and Mumbai
pollution. Ritual pollu- which traditional Hindus consider to be the highest au-
Indian
tion is the result of con-
© Cengage Learning
Ocean thority on their cultural institutions. It defines the Brah-

tact such as touching, mans as the purest and therefore highest varna.
SRI
accepting food from, or LANKA As priests and teachers, Brahmans represent the world
having sex with a mem- of religion and learning. Next comes the order of rulers
ber of a lower caste. To and warriors, known as the Kshatriyas. Graded below
remain pure, traditional Hindus are taught to follow the them are the Vaisyas (farmers, merchants, and artisans)
ritual path of duty, or dharma, of the specific caste into who are engaged in trade, cultivation, and skilled crafts.
which they are born, and to avoid everyone and every- At the bottom are the Sudras (laborers), an order required
thing considered taboo to their caste. For this reason, to serve the other three varnas. Members born into these
castes are always endogamous. Differences in caste rank- four varnas are believed to have been reincarnated from a
ings are traditionally justified by the religious doctrine morally correct earlier life in a lower-ranked order.
of the transmigration of the soul, or karma—a belief that Falling outside the varna system is a fifth category of
one’s status in this life is determined by one’s deeds in degraded individuals. These outcastes, known as Untouch-
previous lifetimes. ables or as Dalits (a Sanskrit name meaning “crushed” or
All of these castes, or jatis, are organized into four “suppressed”), are tasked with doing the dirty work in
ranked orders, or varnas (literally meaning “colors”), dis- society—collecting garbage, removing animal carcasses,
tinguished partly by occupation and ranked in order of cleaning streets, and disposing of dung, sewage, and other
descending religious status of purity (Figure 11.7). The refuse (Figure 11.8). Brahmans and members of other var-
religious foundation for this social hierarchy is found in nas avoid direct contact with Untouchables, believing that
a 2,000-year-old sacred text known as the Laws of Manu, touching or accepting food from them would result in rit-
ual pollution. Commonly associated with filth, outcastes
caste A closed social class in a stratified society in which membership constitute a large pool of cheap labor at the beck and call
is determined by birth and fixed for life. of those controlling economic and political affairs.
Sagar Kaul/Barcroft Media via Getty Images

Figure 11.8 Doing the Dirty Work
Cleaning sewers is a task that falls to Dalits (Untouchables) in India’s traditional hierarchical
caste system. They are also responsible for collecting and disposing of rubbish and animal
dung, as well as removing human excrement from public toilets. Here we see a young Dalit
man stepping out of the sewage drain he has been cleaning in New Delhi. Every day many
thousands of Dalits all across India manually unplug the dirtiest sewers and drains without
any safety equipment or protection. Injuries and serious health problems come with this work,
claiming many lives.
India’s national constitution of 1950 sought to abolish Other Stratified Systems

the caste system, but the traditional hierarchy remains Similar caste-like situations exist elsewhere in the world.
deeply entrenched in Hindu culture and is still widespread In several other South and Central American countries,
throughout southern Asia. In what has been called India’s for example, the wealthy upper class remains almost ex-
hidden apartheid, entire villages in many Indian states clusively of European descent and rarely intermarries with
remain completely segregated by caste. people of American Indian or African descent.
Dalits represent about 15 percent of India’s Most European stratified societies were historically or-
population—over 200 million people—and must endure ganized in closed social classes known as estates—ranked
social isolation, humiliation, and discrimination based as clergy, nobility, and citizens—each with distinctive
exclusively on their birth status. Even their shadows are political rights (privileges). Titles and forms of address
seen as polluting. They may not drink water from pub- hierarchically identified these estates, and they were pub-
lic wells or visit the same temples as the higher castes. licly distinguished by dress and codes of behavior. Not
Their children are still often made to sit at the back of unlike the lowest castes in the Hindu caste system, a large
classrooms, and in rural areas some are denied access to underclass of millions of serfs ranked at the bottom of the
education altogether. More than 60 percent of all Dalits European hierarchy. Prohibited from owning land or a
are illiterate. However, over the past half-century, Dalits, business, serfs could not vote and did not enjoy the rights
in concert with the lowest-ranking Sudra castes, have built of free citizens. Often dirt poor, they worked on large
a civil rights movement—described later in this chapter farms and houses owned by the elite. Unlike slaves, they
(Kanti, 2014; Thompson, 2014). could not be traded as personal property of their masters,
but they were restricted in their right to free movement than a medical specialist); wealth (rich people are
and required their master’s consent to marry. generally in a higher social class than poor people);
Serfdom existed for many centuries in much of dress (“white collar” versus “blue collar”); form of rec-
Europe. Russia was that continent’s last country to abolish reation (people in the upper class are expected to play
this system in 1861—just four years before slavery was golf rather than shoot pool down at the pool hall—but
abolished in the United States. It was several more decades they can shoot pool at home or in a club); residential
before the slave system officially ended in Brazil, China, location (people in the upper class do not ordinarily live
and other countries. in slums); kind of car; and so on. Class rankings do not
fully correlate with economic status or pay scales. The
local garbage collector or unionized car-factory laborer
Historical Racial typically make more money than an average college
Segregation in South Africa professor with a doctorate.
Symbolic indicators involve factors of lifestyle, but
and the United States differences in life chances may also signal differences in
Other than social class, caste, and estate, the hierarchy in class standing. Thus there is also a tendency for greater
a stratified society may be based on ethnic origin or skin physical stature and better overall health among people
color. For instance, dark-skinned individuals culturally of the upper class—the result of healthier diet and pro-
classified as colored or black may encounter social rules tection from serious illness in their growing-up years.
excluding them from certain jobs or neighborhoods and This correlates with a lower infant mortality and longer
making it difficult if not impossible to befriend or marry life expectancy for the upper class. See the Biocultural
someone with a lighter skin color. (As discussed earlier in Connection feature for a tragic description of such insti-
our text, the terms race, black, and white are purely social tutionalized racism.
constructions, with no basis in biology. For simplicity, we
use them here without quotation marks.)
One of the best-known historical examples of a plural-
istic country with social stratification based on the notion Maintaining Stratification
of race is South Africa. From 1948 to 1992, a minority of In any system of stratification, those who dominate
4.5 million people of European descent sought to protect proclaim their supposedly superior status by means of
its power and “racial purity” by means of a repressive a powerful ideology. Typically, they assert this ideology
regime of racial segregation and discrimination against through intimidation or propaganda (in the form of
25 million indigenous black Africans. Known as apartheid gossip, media, religious doctrine, and so forth) that
(an Afrikaans Dutch term meaning “segregation” or “sepa- presents their position as normal, natural, divinely
ration”), this white superiority ideology officially relegated guided, or at least well deserved. With the aid of cul-
indigenous dark-skinned Africans to a low-ranking stratum. turally institutionalized thought structures, religious
Similar to the Hindu caste system with its concepts of ritual and otherwise, those in power seek to justify their own
purity and pollution, South African whites feared pollution privileges and hope that members of the lower classes
of their purity through direct personal contact with blacks. will “know their place” and accept their subordinated
Until the mid-20th century, institutionalized racial seg- status.
regation prevailed in the United States, where the country’s India’s traditional caste system with its Hindu doc-
ruling upper class was historically comprised exclusively of trines assigns people to a particular position in the social
individuals of European (Caucasian or white) descent. For hierarchy. It carries the idea that if individuals faithfully
generations, it was against the law for whites to marry blacks perform the duties appropriate to their caste in this life-
or American Indians. Even after black slavery was abol- time (dharma), then they can expect to be reborn into a
ished in the United States in 1865, such interracial mixing higher caste in a future existence (karma). Thus, in the
prohibitions remained in force in many states from Maine minds of orthodox Hindus, one’s caste position is some-
to Florida. Despite significant steps toward equality since thing earned rather than the accident of birth that it ap-
enactment of civil rights laws in the 1960s, elements of pears to be to outside observers.
officially prohibited race-based segregation and race-based In contrast, the principle of human equality is fun-
discrimination persist (Boshara, 2003; Kennickell, 2003). damental to the American worldview articulated in the
U.S. Declaration of Independence, which declares “that
all men are created equal [and] endowed by their Creator
Indicators of Social Status with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life,
Social classes are manifested in various ways, including Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” The founding prin-
symbolic indicators. For example, in the United States ciple prevails—despite this stratified society’s history of
certain activities and possessions are indicative of class: racial and gender discrimination and its stark differences
occupation (a garbage collector has a different class status in wealth, status, and power.
African Burial Ground Project By Michael Blakey
In 1991, construction work-

ers in lower Manhattan un-
earthed what turned out to
be part of a 6-acre burial
ground containing remains
of an estimated 15,000
enslaved African captives
brought to New York in the
17th and 18th centuries
to build the city and pro-
vide the labor for its thriv-
ing economy. The discovery
© A. J. Giordano/Corbis SABA
sparked controversy as the
African American public held
protests and prayer vigils to
stop the part of a federal
building project that nearly
destroyed the site. In 1993,
the site was designated a The excavation site of the African Burial Ground in Lower Manhattan in New York City now features a
National Historic Landmark, distinctive memorial that commemorates this important historical archaeological project. Now a national
which opened the door to monument, the site is managed by the National Park Service.
researching and protecting
the site.
As a biological anthropologist and Afri- characterized by poor nutrition, grueling Individuals in this deeply troubling
can American, I had a unique opportunity physical labor that enlarged and often tore burial ground came from warring African
to work together with the descendant muscles, and death rates that were unusu- states including Calibar, Asante, Benin,
African American community to develop a ally high for 15- to 25-year-olds. Many of Dahomey, Congo, Madagascar, and many
plan that included both extensive biocul- these young adults died soon after arriving others—states that wrestled with the
tural research and the humane retention on slaving ships. Few Africans lived past European demand for human slaves.
of the sacred nature of the site, ultimately 40 years of age, and less than 2 percent They resisted their enslavement through
through reburial and the creation of a fit- lived beyond 55. Church records show rebellion, and they resisted their dehu-
ting memorial. The research also involved strikingly different mortality trends for the manization by carefully burying their dead
archaeological and historical studies that Europeans of New York: About eight times and preserving what they could of their
used a broad African diasporic context for as many English as Africans lived past cultures.
understanding the lifetime experiences of 55 years of age, and mortality in adoles-
these people who were enslaved and bur- cence and the early 20s was relatively low. Biocultural Question
ied in New York. Skeletal research also showed that Although few question that slavery is an
Studying a sample population of 419 those Africans who died as children and inhuman system of labor exploitation, was
individuals from the burial ground, our were most likely to have been born in it economically rational for slave owners
team used an exhaustive range of skeletal New York exhibited stunted and disrupted to mistreat their “human chattel,” as indi-
biological methods, producing a database growth and exposure to high levels of lead cated by the poor health, low fertility, and
containing more than 200,000 observa- pollution—unlike those who had been high mortality of African slaves in colonial
tions of genetics, morphology, age, sex, born in Africa (and were distinguishable New York?
growth and development, muscle devel- because they had filed teeth). Fertility
opment, trauma, nutrition, and disease. was very low among enslaved women in Adapted from Blakey, M. (2003). African
The bones revealed an unmistakable link New York, and infant mortality was high. Burial Ground Project. Department of An-
between biology and culture: physical wear In these respects, this northern colonial thropology, College of William & Mary.
and tear of an entire community brought city was very similar to South Carolina and Revised and updated by the author. See
on by the social institution of slavery. the Caribbean to which its economy was also Blakey, M. (May, 2010). African Burial
We now know, based on this study, that tied—regions where conditions for African Ground Project: Paradigm for cooperation?
life for Africans in colonial New York was captives were among the harshest. Museum International 62 (1–2), 61–68.
Figure 11.9 The Gulabi

Gang
Sometimes referred to as
“pink vigilantes,” these
poor rural women are part
of a movement challenging
their country’s repressive
status quo. Most of them
are Dalits (Untouchables).
Dressed in pink saris
(gulabi means “pink” in
Hindi), they demand justice
by shaming and intimidating
abusive men as well as
corrupt officials who deny
them equal access to water,
Jonas Gratzer/Getty Images

farming supplies, and other
resources.
Social Mobility moving up or down only a notch; if this continues in a

family over several generations, however, it may add up to
Most stratified societies offer at least some social mobility— a major change. Nonetheless, U.S. society makes much of
an upward or downward change in one’s social class posi- the relatively rare examples of great upward mobility con-
tion. The prospect of improving status and wealth helps to sistent with its cultural values (rags to riches) and tends to
ease the strains inherent in any system of inequality. overlook the numerous cases of little or no upward (not to
Social mobility is most common in societies made up mention downward) mobility.
of independent nuclear families where individuals are Caste societies exemplify closed-class societies because
closely tied to fewer people, especially when neolocal of their severe institutionalized limits on social mobil-
residence is the norm, and it is assumed that individuals ity. Yet, even the Hindu caste system, with its guiding
will leave their family of birth when they become adults. ideology that all social hierarchies within it are eternally
In such social settings—through hard work, occupational fixed, has a degree of flexibility and mobility. Individuals
success, opportune marriage, and dissociation from the may not move up or down the caste hierarchy, but whole
lower-class family in which they grew up—individuals can groups can do so depending on claims they assert for
more easily move up in status and rank. higher ranking and on how well they can convince or
In societies in which the extended family or lineage manipulate others into acknowledging their claims.
is the usual form, upward social mobility is more dif- During the past half-century, political activism has
ficult because each individual is strongly tied to many stirred among members of India’s vast underclass of Dal-
relatives (both close and more distant); those climbing its, now numbering about 250 million scattered all across
the social ladder are culturally obliged to leave none in this massive South Asian country of 1.2 billion people. A
the kin-group behind. In all likelihood, many relatives growing political force, Dalits are now organizing them-
of the highly successful Côte d’Ivoire soccer players de- selves on local, regional, and even national levels. Their
scribed in this chapter’s Globalscape have collectively movement for civil rights is facilitated by increased access
experienced upward mobility through their kinship ties to to digital communication technology.
these newly wealthy athletes. In recent years, Dalit women in many parts of India
Societies that permit a great deal of upward and have joined hands with the intention of claiming social
downward mobility are referred to as open-class societies— justice. Perhaps best known among them is a group in
although the openness is apt to be less in practice than India’s northern province of Uttar Pradesh who vigorously
members hope or believe. In the United States, regardless protest government discrimination and official corruption
of its ideology of human equality, most mobility involves and strive to create opportunities for women. Dressed in
vibrant pink saris and wielding traditional Indian fight-
ing sticks known as lathi, they are the Gulabi (“Pink”)
Gang (Figure 11.9). They demand justice—shaming and
social mobility An upward or downward change in one’s social class
position in a stratified society. intimidating abusive men and corrupt officials who deny
GLOBALSCAPE
Arctic
Ocean
Montreal, CANADA ASIA
GERMANY
Chelsea, ENGLAND Istanbul, TURKEY
NORTH EUROPE
AMERICA BELGIUM
Marseille, FRANCE
Shanghai, CHINA
Cairo, EGYPT
AFRICA Pacific
Pacific Ocean
Ocean
Abidjan,
SOUTH CÔTE D’IVOIRE
AMERICA Indian
Ocean
Atlantic
Ocean AUSTRALIA
Suhaib Salem/Reuters/Landov
SOUTH AFRICA
© Cengage Learning
ANTARCTICA
Playing Football for Pay and Peace? With the average Ivoirian earning less than $1,000 per year, it
The world’s most popular sport is football (called soccer in the United is not surprising that athletic talents like Drogba venture across the
States), with countless amateur and professional clubs and associ- globe for fortune and fame. In fact, all members of the Côte d’Ivoire
ations on every continent. The game originated in the British Isles, national football team normally play abroad, most for wealthy Euro-
where youth at schools and adults with money and leisure time com- pean clubs. Meanwhile, their home country has been wracked by a
peted for championships—a luxury out of reach for the working class. brutal civil war pitting southern ethnic groups against northern ones.
This changed about 150 years ago, when tournaments turned Ninety percent of Côte d’Ivoire’s foreign exchange earnings
into commercial spectacles with clubs earning revenues from come from cocoa beans. As a world-renowned sports star, Drogba
ticket and advertising sales. Initially opposed by upper-class tradi- began appearing in ads promoting the international sale of
tionalists defending the sport as a healthy and character-building Ivoirian chocolate. He also began to promote peace: During the
activity for amateurs (amator, Latin for “lover”), the emergence of 2006 World Cup games in Germany, enthusiastically watched on
professional clubs made it possible for athletes from the British television by millions of fellow Ivoirians back home, team captain
working class to play for pay. Drogba and his teammates (representing both southern and
Today, most professionals playing for the world’s top football northern Côte d’Ivoire) pleaded that the unity of the Elephants in
clubs are young millionaires such as Didier Drogba (pictured here), the stadium should inspire fellow Ivoirians to settle their conflict
a striker best known for his years with England’s champion club, and reunite as a country. In 2007, a peace agreement was signed
Chelsea, and as captain of his own country’s national team—the after Drogba helped move the Elephants’ African Cup of Nations
Côte d’Ivoire “Elephants.” Born in Abidjan, the major city in this for- qualifier match to the rebel stronghold of Bouaké, where warring
mer French West African colony, Drogba is a southerner belonging leaders found themselves celebrating their national team together.
to the Bete, one of the country’s sixty-five ethnic groups. Recruited Fighting broke out again in early February 2011 over contested
at an early age for a Belgian club, he was drafted by a French club in political elections. Soon thereafter, Drogba joined the Truth, Reconcili-
Marseille for $8 million. Chosen French Player of the Year in 2004, ation, and Dialogue Commission as a representative—his eye still on
after just one season, he signed with England’s champion team, the goal of bringing lasting peace to his home nation. In 2014, having
Chelsea, for a record $42-million multi-year contract (not counting captained the Côte d’Ivoire team for nine years and inspired his team-
endorsements). In 2012, he left Chelsea and gave a year apiece to mates in that year’s World Cup, Drogba retired from the Elephants.
clubs in China and Turkey, only to return to Chelsea for another two He had scored 65 goals across 104 matches—more than double
years. In 2014, England’s football fans voted him the club’s best the scoring output of any other player in the national team’s history.
ever player. He holds Chelsea’s record for goals made by a foreign
player and is that team’s fourth highest goal scorer of all time. In Global Twister
2015, he made the move to Montreal Impact. His earnings over the How realistic is Drogba’s idea that a national multi-ethnic soccer
years make him one of the world’s highest paid footballers. team can help unite his country’s rival factions in a lasting way?
267
them equal access to water, farming supplies, and other re- persist and even grow in many parts of the world, but
sources. As one of these “pink vigilantes” puts it, “On my there are notable social changes in the opposite direction.
own I have no rights, but together, as the Gulabi Gang, we In the course of the 19th century, slavery was abolished
have power” (Dunbar, 2008). and declared illegal nearly everywhere in the world. And
The Dalit women’s movement in India illustrates that in the last century, civil rights, women’s rights, and other
even long-established and culturally entrenched hierar- human rights movements resulted in social and legal
chical orders are not immune to challenge, reform, or rev- reforms, as well as changes in ideas and values regarding
olution. Great disparities in wealth, power, and privilege hierarchical social orders in many countries.
Chapter Check list
Beyond kinship, what kinds of groups do resources that support income, status, and power.
Societies may be stratified by gender, age, social class,
humans form and why? or caste.
✓✓Because ties of kinship and household are not always
✓✓A social class is comprised of individuals who enjoy
sufficient to handle all the challenges of human
equal or nearly equal prestige according to a society’s
survival, people also form groups based on gender, age,
system of evaluation.
common interest, and social status.
✓✓A caste is a closed social class with membership
✓✓Grouping by gender separates men and women to
determined by birth and fixed for life. A classic
varying degrees in different societies; in some they may
example is the traditional Hindu caste system of India.
be together much of the time, whereas in others they
It encompasses a complex ranking of 2,000 castes
may spend much of their time apart, even to the
associated with specific occupations and customs, and
extreme of eating and sleeping separately.
organized into four basic orders or varnas.
✓✓Age grouping may augment or replace kinship
✓✓The hierarchy in a stratified society may also be based
grouping. An age grade is a category of people
on ethnic origin or notions of race. In South Africa, for
organized by age. Some societies also have age sets,
example, people of European descent maintained
which are composed of individuals who are initiated
power through apartheid—a repressive regime of racial
into an age grade at the same time and move together
segregation and discrimination against indigenous
through a series of life stages.
black Africans from 1948 to 1992. A racist regime also
✓✓Common-interest associations are based on sharing existed in the United States.
particular activities, objectives, values, or beliefs.
✓✓Most stratified societies offer at least some social
Linked to social change and urbanization, their roots
mobility—upward or downward change in one’s social
may be found in the first horticultural villages.
class position. Even in caste societies, which impose
✓✓The Internet has lessened face-to-face interaction while severe institutionalized limits on social mobility, there
opening up new forms of virtual communication is some flexibility through group action, as seen in the
through social media. Dalit movement in India.
✓✓In contrast to a stratified society is an egalitarian one

What is a stratified society, and what are in which people have about the same rank and share
the possibilities and limitations of upward equally in the basic resources that support income,
and downward social mobility? status, and power.
✓✓A stratified society is divided into two or more

categories of people who do not share equally in basic
1. Soon after domesticating wild horses more than 5,000 Which core values do you think are reflected or expressed
years ago, tribesmen in Central Asia herded their flocks of in the sport most popular in your own country?
sheep and goats on horseback. Highly mobile, they also 2. When young adults leave their parental home to go
launched swift surprise attacks on enemies. This tradition to college or find employment in a distant part of
is reflected in buzkashi, Afghanistan’s national sport.
269
the country, they face the challenge of establishing 4. Slavery in the United States was officially abolished in
new social relationships—ones that are not based on 1865. Almost a century later, race-based segregation
kinship but on common interest. To which common- was officially outlawed in the United States, about
interest associations do you belong and why? the same time as caste-based discrimination of
3. Do you think that members of an upper class or caste Untouchables was constitutionally outlawed in
in a socially stratified system have a greater vested India. Do you think that these laws have ended
interest in the idea of law and order than those forced discrimination against historically repressed groups?
to exist on the bottom of such societies? Why or why If not, what do you think is required to end social
not? injustice?
Comfortable Connecting?
Choose a social media platform (such as Facebook, space, and is your interaction with them different
Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, or Instagram) that you in person than online? (If you don’t use social
use regularly. Make a list of the ways you use it media, find someone you know well who does
with relatives, friends, schoolmates, colleagues, or and interview the person to find answers to these
associates. Then make a list noting the geographic questions.) Analyze your findings, and draw some
locations of the twenty individuals in your conclusions about how your social media self (or
digital social network with whom you most often that of the interviewee) may be different from your
communicate. How often do you see them in real face-to-face self.
Photo by United Nation Relief and Works Agency via Getty Images
CHALLENGE ISSUE
Maintaining peace and order is a daily challenge in every society, especially when different
ethnic and religious communities coexist under the same political umbrella. Pluralistic
societies such as Switzerland, a republic with four national languages, have long enjoyed
peace and prosperity. But others risk sectarian violence among factions divided by ethnic-
ity, religion, language, or region. When the cultural fabric that keeps a society together is
fragile or unravels, the state may fail, collapsing into conflict and chaos. Escaping the peril,
refugees flee in search of safety, shelter, and food. Millions end up in camps, condemned
to a hopeless existence. Such was the case with British-controlled Palestine in 1947 when
the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution for that territory to be partitioned
between Jews and Arabs. It allowed for the formation of the Jewish state of Israel in 1948,
but some 700,000 Muslims and Christians were forced into exile. Many Palestinians ended
up in Yarmouk Camp on the outskirts of Syria’s capital city of Damascus. Eventually, more
than 160,000 sought refuge there, creating a ghetto in that 2-square-kilometer (500-acre)
area. In this photograph, we see that neighborhood, which in 2013 came under siege in
Syria’s civil war. Most managed to flee, but 20,000 remained, stuck in a wasteland of
despair. Those who fled are now among the 4 million Syrian refugees displaced throughout
the Middle East, about half of whom have escaped to Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, and beyond.
Politics, Power, War,
and Peace 12
In all societies, from the largest to the smallest, people face the challenge of In this chapter you
maintaining social order, securing safety, protecting property, and resolving con- will learn to
flicts. This involves mobilizing, contesting, and controlling power. All human ●● Analyze how the issue
relations entail a degree of power, which refers to the ability of individuals or of power is crucially
groups to impose their will upon others and make them do things even against important in every
society.
their own wants or wishes.
Ranging from persuasion to violence, power drives politics—a term that

difference between
derives from the Greek word polis, referring to a self-governing “city.” Many
authority and coercion.
definitions have been proposed, but one of the most basic is that politics is
●● Distinguish and discuss
the process determining who gets what, when, and how (Lasswell, 1990). In
types of political
the political process, coalitions of individuals and groups defend or dispute an organization and
established economic, social, or ideological order as they negotiate or fight with leadership.
rival factions and foreign neighbors. Political organization takes many forms, of ●● Determine how
which the state is just one. politics, economics,
Ironically, the political ties that facilitate human coexistence and coopera-
and maintenance of
(in)equality are linked.
tion also create the dynamics that may lead to social tension and sometimes to
violent conflict within and between groups. We see this in a wide range of situa-
●● Contrast systems of
justice and conflict
tions, from riots to rebellions to revolutions. Therefore, every society must have
resolution across
ways and means for resolving internal conflicts and preventing the breakdown cultures.
of its social order. Moreover, each society must possess the capacity to deal with ●● Recognize major causes
neighboring societies in peaceful or troubled times. of violent conflict, past
Today, state governments and international political coalitions play a central and present.
role in maintaining social order across the globe. Despite the predominance of ●● Identify the role of
state societies, there are many groups in which political organization consists of ideology in justifying
aggression versus
flexible and informal kinship systems.
power The ability of individuals or groups to nonviolent resistance.
impose their will upon others and make them
Between these two polarities of kin-
do things even against their own wants or
wishes.
●● Evaluate the importance
ordered and state-organized political
politics The process determining who gets of diplomacy and
systems lies a world of variety. what, when, and how. treaties in restoring and
maintaining peace.
271
272 CHAPTER 12 Politics, Power, War, and Peace
Systems of Political Uncentralized Political Systems

Organization Until recently, many non-Western peoples have had
neither chiefs with established rights and duties nor any
The term political organization refers to the way fixed form of government, as those who live in modern
power is accumulated, arranged, executed, and structur- states understand the term. Instead, marriage and kinship
ally embedded in society, whether in organizing a whale have formed their principal means of social organization.
hunt, managing irrigated farmlands, collecting taxes, or The economies of these societies are primarily of a subsis-
raising a military force. In short, it is the means through tence type, and populations are typically small.
which a society creates and maintains social order. It Power in this egalitarian form of political organiza-
assumes a variety of forms among the peoples of the tion is shared, with nobody exercising exclusive control
world, but anthropologists have simplified this complex over collective resources or public affairs. Important de-
subject by identifying four basic kinds of political sys- cisions are usually made in a collective manner by agree-
tems: bands, tribes, chiefdoms, and states (Figure 12.1). ment among adults. Leaders do not have real power to
The first two are uncentralized systems; the latter two force compliance with the society’s customs or rules, but
are centralized. if individuals do not conform, they are likely to become
TYPES OF POLITICAL ORGANIZATION

The symbol indicates that the attribute varies between less and more complex societies of that type.
BAND TRIBE CHIEFDOM STATE
MEMBERSHIP
Number of people Dozens and up Hundreds and up Thousands and up Tens of thousands and up
Settlement pattern Mobile Mobile or fixed: 1 or Fixed: 2 or more villages Fixed: Many villages
more villages and cities
Basis of relationships Kin Kin, descent groups Kin, rank, and residence Class and residence
Ethnicities and languages 1 1 1 1 or more

GOVERNMENT
Decision making, leadership Egalitarian Egalitarian or Big Man Centralized, hereditary Centralized
Bureaucracy None None None, or 1 or 2 levels Many levels
Monopoly of force No No No Yes Yes

and information
Conflict resolution Informal Informal Centralized Laws, judges
Hierarchy of settlement No No No Paramount village Capital

or head town
ECONOMY
Food production No No Yes Yes Intensive Intensive
Labor specialization No No No Yes Yes
Exchanges Reciprocal Reciprocal Redistributive (tribute) Redistributive (taxes)
Control of land Band Descent group Chief Various

SOCIETY
Stratified No No Yes, ranked by kin Yes, by class or caste
Slavery No No Some, small-scale Some, large-scale

© Cengage Learning
Luxury goods for elite No No Yes Yes
Public architecture No No No Yes Yes
Indigenous literacy No No No Some Often
Figure 12.1 Four Types of Political Systems

This figure outlines the four basic types of political systems: bands, tribes, chiefdoms, and
states. Bands and tribes are uncentralized political organizations; chiefdoms and states are
centralized.
Systems of Political Organization 273
targets of scorn and gossip—and may even be banished

or killed.
Bands
The band is a relatively small and loosely organized
kin-ordered group that inhabits a common territory and
that may split periodically into smaller family groups that
are politically and economically independent. Bands are
found among food foragers and other small-scale migra-
tory communities in which people organize into polit-
ically autonomous extended family groups that usually
Documentary Educational Resources

camp together as long as environmental and subsistence
circumstances are favorable. Bands periodically break up
into smaller groups to forage for food or visit other rela-
tives. The band is the oldest form of political organization
because all humans were once food foragers and remained
so until the development of farming and pastoralism over
the past 10,000 years.
Given their foraging mode of subsistence, band popu- Figure 12.2 Band Leadership
lation densities are usually less than one person per square Toma Tsamkxao was the headman of a Ju/’hoansi band. Lightly
mile. Because bands are egalitarian and small, numbering armed, he led his migratory community of hunters and gatherers
at most a few hundred people, there is no real need for in the Kalahari Desert. They ranged the region freely much
formal, centralized political systems. Everyone is related as their ancestors did for almost 40,000 years. About half a
to—and knows on a personal basis—everyone else with century ago, outsiders imposed radical changes on Bushmen
whom dealings are required, so there is high value placed bands. Some, guided by wise leaders like Tsamkxao, survived
on getting along. Conflicts that do arise are usually settled the upheaval and now subsist on a mix of livestock and crop
farming, crafts and tourism, and some traditional foraging.
informally through gossip, ridicule, direct negotiation,
or mediation. When negotiation or mediation are used,
the focus is on reaching a solution considered fair by all When local resources are no longer adequate to sustain
concerned parties, rather than on conforming to some a band, the leader coordinates and leads the move, select-
abstract law or rule. ing the new campsite. Except for the privilege of having
Decisions affecting a band are made with the par- first choice of a spot for his or her own fire, the leader of
ticipation of all its adult members, with an emphasis the band has few unique rewards or duties. For example,
on achieving consensus—a collective agreement—rather a Ju/’hoansi head is not a judge and does not punish
than a simple majority. Individuals become leaders by other band members. Troublemakers and wrongdoers are
virtue of their abilities and serve in that capacity only judged and held accountable by public opinion, usually
as long as they retain the confidence of the community. expressed by gossip, which can play an important role in
They have no real power to force people to abide by their curbing socially unacceptable behavior.
decisions. A leader who tries to coerce quickly runs into Through gossip—talking behind someone’s back and
resistance and loses followers. spreading rumors about behavior considered disruptive,
An example of the informal nature of band leadership shameful, or ridiculous—people accomplish several ob-
is found among the Ju/’hoansi Bushmen of the Kalahari jectives while avoiding the potential disruption of open
Desert, mentioned in earlier chapters. Each Ju/’hoansi confrontation. First, gossip underscores and reinforces the
band is composed of a group of families that live together, cultural standards of those who abide by the unwritten
linked through kinship ties to one another and to the rules of proper conduct. At the same time, the gossip dis-
headman (or, less often, headwoman). The head, called the credits those who violate standards of socially acceptable
kxau, or “owner,” is the focal point for the band’s claims
on the waterholes in the territory through which it tradi-
tionally ranges as a migratory community (Figure 12.2). political organization The way power, as the capacity to do something,
He or she does not personally own the waterholes and is accumulated, arranged, executed, and structurally embedded in
society; the means through which a society creates and maintains social
surrounding lands but symbolically represents the ances-
order and reduces social disorder.
tral rights of band members to them. If the head leaves
band A relatively small and loosely organized kin-ordered group that
the area to live elsewhere, people turn to someone else to inhabits a specific territory and that may split periodically into smaller
lead them. extended family groups that are politically and economically independent.
behavior. Furthermore, because gossip can damage a per- acts within the community or for the community in
son’s reputation and is often fueled by hidden jealousy or dealings with outsiders. Because clan members usually do
a secret desire to retaliate against someone considered too not all live together in a single local community, clan or-
accomplished or successful, it may function as a leveling ganization facilitates joint action with members of related
mechanism to reduce a real or perceived threat of an indi- communities when necessary.
vidual becoming too dominant. Leadership in tribal societies is relatively informal.
Another prime technique in small-scale societies for The Big Man common in Melanesian cultures in the
resolving disputes, or even avoiding them in the first South Pacific illustrates this. Heading up localized descent
place, is fission, meaning that anyone unable to get along groups or a territorial group, such a leader combines a
with others of their group may feel pressured to split off measure of interest in his community’s welfare with a
and move to a different group in which existing kinship great deal of cunning and calculation for his own personal
ties give them rights of entry. gain. His power is personal, for the Big Man holds no
political office in any formal sense, nor is he elected. His
Tribes prestige as a political leader is the result of strategic acts
The second type of uncentralized authority system is the that raise him above most other tribe members and attract
tribe. In anthropology, the term tribe refers to a wide loyal followers who benefit from or depend on his success.
range of kin-ordered groups that are politically integrated The Kapauku in the west central high-
by some unifying factor and whose members share a com- lands of New Guinea typify this form of
political organization. Among them, WEST
mon ancestry, identity, culture, language, and territory. PAPUA
Typically, a tribe has an economy based on some form the Big Man is called the tonowi
of crop cultivation or livestock raising. Tribes develop (“rich one”). To achieve
Paci fi c Ocean
when a number of culturally related bands come together, this status, one must be
peacefully settle disputes, participate in periodic visiting male, wealthy, generous,
and communal feasting, and intermarry for purposes of and eloquent. Physical WEST PAPUA
PAPUA
economic exchange and/or collective self-defense against bravery and an ability NEW
(I N DON ES IA) GUINEA
© Cengage Learning
common enemies. For this reason, tribal membership is to deal with the super-
usually larger than band membership. Moreover, tribal natural are also common
population densities generally far exceed that of migratory tonowi characteristics, Co r al
AUS TRAL IA Sea
bands and may be as high as 100 people per square kilo- but they are not essential
meter (250 people per square mile). Greater population (Figure 12.3).
density introduces a new set of problems, as opportunities A Kapauku Big Man functions as the headman of the
for bickering, begging, adultery, and theft increase mark- village unit in a wide variety of situations within and be-
edly, especially among people living in permanent villages. yond the community. He represents his group in dealing
Each tribe consists of one or more self-supporting and with outsiders and other villages and acts as negotiator
self-governing local communities (including bands) that and/or judge when disputes break out among his fol-
may then form alliances with others for various purposes. lowers. As a tonowi, he acquires political power by giving
As in the band, political organization in the tribe is often loans. Villagers comply with his requests because they are
informal and temporary. Whenever a situation arises rein his debt (often interest free), and they do not want to
quiring political integration of all or several groups within have to repay their loans. Those who have not yet bor-
the tribe—perhaps for defense, to carry out a raid, to pool rowed from him may wish to do so in the future, so they,
resources in times of scarcity, or to capitalize on a windfall too, want to keep his goodwill. A tonowi who refuses to
that must be distributed quickly lest it spoil—groups come lend money to fellow villagers may be shunned, ridiculed,
together to deal with the situation in a cooperative man- and, in extreme cases, even killed by a group of warriors.
ner. When the problem is satisfactorily solved, each group Such unfavorable reactions ensure that individual eco-
then resumes autonomy. nomic wealth is dispersed throughout the community.
In many tribal societies, the organizing unit and seat A Big Man gains further support from his relatives and
of political authority is the clan, composed of people who from taking into his household young male apprentices
claim descent from a common ancestor. Within the clan, who receive business training along with food and shel-
elders or headmen and/or headwomen regulate members’ ter. He also gives them a loan that enables them to marry
affairs and represent their clan in interactions with other when the apprenticeship ends. In return, they act as mes-
clans. The elders of all the clans may form a council that sengers and bodyguards. After leaving, they remain tied to
the tonowi by bonds of affection and gratitude.
Because a Big Man’s wealth comes from his success at
breeding pigs (the focus of the entire Kapauku economy,
tribe In anthropology, the term for a range of kin-ordered groups that are
politically integrated by some unifying factor and whose members share as described in the chapter on patterns of subsistence), it
a common ancestry, identity, culture, language, and territory. is not uncommon for a tonowi to lose his fortune rapidly
provide another example of decentralized political organi-

zation. Periodically, groups of male elders, each representing
their kinfolk, gather to deal with collective challenges. In
such a political assembly, known as a jirga, these Pashtun
tribal leaders make joint decisions by consensus—from set-
tling disputes, working out treaties, and resolving trade issues
to establishing law and order in their war-torn homelands.
Centralized Political Systems

When populations grow, individuals specialize, division
of labor increases, and surplus is exchanged in expanding
trade networks, political authority may become concen-
trated in a single individual (the chief) or in a body of
individuals (the state). In centralized systems such as chief-
doms and states, political organization relies more heavily
on institutionalized power, authority, and even coercion.
Chiefdoms
A chiefdom is a politically organized territory centrally
ruled by a chief heading a kin-based society with prestige
George Holton/Science Source
ranking and a redistributive economy. Rank in such a hi-

erarchical political system is determined by the closeness
of one’s relationship to the chief. The position of the chief
is usually for life and often hereditary. In patrilineal soci-
eties, the title passes from a man to his younger brother,
a son, or his sister’s son, but it in some cultures it may
Figure 12.3 Big Man from West Papua, New Guinea pass to widows, sisters, or daughters. Unlike the headman
Wearing his official regalia, the tonowi is recognizable among or headwoman in bands and tribes, the leader of a chief-
fellow Kapauku and neighboring Papua highlanders as a man of dom is generally a true authority figure with the power to
wealth and power. command, settle disputes, punish, and reward. This chief
serves to maintain peace and order within and between
allied communities.
due to poor management or simple bad luck with his pigs.
Chiefdoms have a recognized hierarchy consisting of
Thus, the Kapauku political structure shifts frequently: As
leaders who control major and minor subdivisions. Such an
one man loses wealth and consequently power, another
arrangement is a chain of command, linking leaders at every
gains it and becomes a tonowi. These changes prevent any
level, with each owing personal loyalty to the chief. It serves
single Big Man from holding political power for too long.
to bind groups in the heartland to the chief’s headquarters,
Political Integration Beyond the Kin-Group whether it is a large tent, wood house, or stone hall.
Chiefs usually control the economic activities of those
Age sets, age grades, and common-interest groups
who fall under their political rule. Typically, chiefdoms
are among the political integration mechanisms used
involve redistributive systems, and the chief has control
by tribal societies. Cutting across territorial and kin-
over surplus goods and perhaps even over the communi-
groupings, these organizations link members from dif-
ty’s labor force. Thus, the chief may demand a share of the
ferent lineages and clans. For example, among the Tiriki
harvested crop from farmers, which may then be redistrib-
of East Africa (as discussed in the previous chapter), the
uted throughout the domain. Similarly, manpower may
Warrior age grade guards the village and grazing lands,
be periodically drafted to form battle groups, build fortifi-
whereas Judicial Elders resolve disputes. The oldest age
cations, dig irrigation works, or construct ceremonial sites.
grade, the Ritual Elders, advise on matters involving the
The chief may also amass a great amount of personal
well-being of all the Tiriki people. With the tribe’s po-
wealth and pass it on to offspring. Land, cattle, and luxury
litical affairs in the hands of the various age grades and
goods produced by specialists can be collected by the
their officers, this type of organization enables the largely
independent kin-groups to solve conflicts and sometimes
avoid feuding between the lineages.
The Pashtun, a large ethnic group with tribes on both chiefdom A politically organized society in which several neighboring
sides of the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, communities inhabiting a territory are united under a single ruler.
Figure 12.4 Traditional Trial,

Kpelle Tribal Village Court
A Kpelle chief in Liberia, West
Africa, listens to a dispute in his
district. Settling disputes is one
of several ongoing traditional
tasks that fall to paramount
chiefs among Kpelle people.
Jacques Jangoux/Science Source

chief and become part of the power base. Moreover, high- Liberia, a pluralistic West African coun-
ranking families of the chiefdom may engage in the same try inhabited by about thirty eth-
practice and use their possessions as evidence of superior nic groups. Traditionally, the Kpelle
social status. are politically divided in LIBERIA
Traditionally, chiefdoms in all parts of the world have several independent par-
been unstable, with lesser chiefs trying to take power from amount chiefdoms, each
MALI
higher-ranking chiefs or rival chiefs vying for supreme comprising an alliance GUINEA
power as paramount chiefs. In precolonial Hawaii, for exam- of smaller chiefdoms. In
A F R I C A
ple, where war was the way to gain territory and maintain the 1800s, freed slaves
SIERRA
power, great chiefs set out to conquer each other in an from the United States LEONE CÔTE
effort to become paramount chief of all the islands. When colonized the country. D’IVOIRE
one chief defeated another, the loser and all his nobles Independent since 1847,
LIBE RI A
were dispossessed of property and were lucky if they es- and long dominated by
© Cengage Learning
caped alive. The new paramount chief then appointed his their descendents, Liberia
Atlantic
own supporters to positions of political power. never became politically Ocean
The political distinction between a paramount chief- centralized. Paramount
dom, princely state, or kingdom by whatever name cannot chiefs among the Kpelle
be sharply drawn. As an intermediary form of political and their neighbors retained political, administrative, and
organization between tribes and states, most chiefdoms, legal control of regional affairs as salaried state officials, me-
paramount chiefdoms, and kingdoms have disappeared in diating between the inhabitants in their districts (traditional
the course of time. However, many hundreds still exist in chiefdoms) and Liberia’s central government (Figure 12.4).
parts of Asia and Africa, for example—albeit no longer as
politically independent or sovereign domains. In English, States
the title paramount chief is often equated with “king,” a
The state is a political institution established to manage
term also used to cover a range of indigenous royal titles
and defend a complex, socially stratified society occupying
such as maharaja (in Hindi), emir or sultan (in Arabic), and
a defined territory. The most formal of political systems,
fürst (in Germanic Europe).
it is organized and directed by a government that has the
An example of this form of political organization may
capacity and authority to manage and tax its subjects, make
be seen among the Kpelle, the largest ethnic group in
laws and maintain order, and use military force to defend
or expand its territories. Two of the smallest states today
measure less than 2.5 square kilometers (1 square mile),
state A political institution established to manage and defend a whereas the largest covers about 17 million square kilome-
complex, socially stratified society occupying a defined territory. ters (6.6 million square miles).
Often states are ruled by coalitions of well-

RUSSIA Caspian
connected and wealthy individuals or groups Black Sea GEORGIA Sea
that have accumulated and fought over power.

Possessing the resources (including money,
ARMENIA AZERBAIJAN
weapons, and manpower), these ruling elites Ankara TURKEY
exercise power through institutions, such as a
Population
government and its bureaucracy, which allow 14.5 m
them to arrange and rearrange a society’s social Diyarbakir
and economic order.
A large population in a state-organized so- Pop. Pop.
2m 6.5 m IRAN
ciety requires increased food production and
wider distribution networks. Together, these lead Erbil
SYRIA Kirkuk
to a transformation of the landscape by way of Population
irrigation and terracing, carefully managed crop Sulaymaniyah 8m
rotation cycles, intensive competition for clearly Areas of high
© Cengage Learning
Kurdish population IRAQ Baghdad
demarcated lands and roads, and enough farm-
ers and other rural workers to support market Kurdish control
systems and a specialized urban sector.
Under such conditions, corporate groups
that stress exclusive membership multiply rap- Figure 12.5 The Kurdish Nation Across State Borders
idly, ethnic differentiation and ethnocentrism The Kurds—most of whom live in Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Syria—are an example
become more pronounced, and the potential of a nation without a state. This map indicates their politically divided ancestral
for social conflict increases dramatically. Given homeland (Kurdistan), where the majority of Kurds remain and notes their
these circumstances, state institutions—which population in the adjoining states where their numbers are highest. Kurds also
live outside the demarcated areas. About 60,000, mainly Yazidis, reside in
minimally involve a bureaucracy, a military,
Armenia and Azerbaijan. Many others are dispersed in a global diaspora: Some
and (often) an official religion—provide the
750,000 have moved to Germany; 150,000 to France; 80,000 to Sweden; and
means for numerous and diverse groups to
75,000 to Lebanon. Thousands more have migrated elsewhere in the world.
function together as an integrated whole.
An important aspect of the state is its dele-
gation of authority to maintain order within and outside or nationalities are politically organized into one terri-
its borders. Police, foreign ministries, war ministries, and torial state but maintain their cultural differences. Typi-
other bureaucracies function to control and punish dis- cally, smaller nations (including tribes) and other groups
ruptive acts of crime, dissension, and rebellion. By such find themselves at the mercy of one or more powerful
agencies the state asserts authority impersonally and in a nations or ethnic groups gaining political control over
consistent, predictable manner. the state.
States first began to emerge over 5,000 years ago. Often Frequently facing discrimination or repression, some
unstable, many have disappeared in the course of time, minority nations seek to improve their political position
some temporarily and others forever. Some were annexed by seceding and founding an independent state. So it is
by other states, and others collapsed or fragmented into with the Kurds, an Iranian-speaking Sunni Muslim na-
smaller political units. Although some present-day states tion whose ancestral homeland of about 200,000 square
are very old—such as Japan, which has endured as a state kilometers (77,000 square miles) has been subdivided
for almost 1,500 years—few are older than the United among the modern states of Turkey, Syria, Iraq, and Iran.
States, an independent country since 1783. With a population of about 35 million, they are much
A key distinction to make at this point is between more numerous than Australians, for example. In fact,
state and nation. A nation is a people who share a col- the total population of the four Scandinavian countries—
lective identity based on a common culture, language, Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden—is less than
territorial base, and history (Clay, 1996). Today, there that of the Kurds. For decades, they have been fighting
are roughly 5,000 nations (including tribes and ethnic for their independence. As a result of the civil wars in
groups) throughout the world, many of which have ex- Iraq and Syria, where the centralized power of the state
isted since before recorded history. By contrast, there are has weakened, Kurds have gained political autonomy in
almost 200 independent states in the world today, most of regions internationally still considered part of these two
which did not exist before the end of World War II (1945). failing states (Figure 12.5 and Figure 12.6).
As these numbers imply, nation and state do not
always coincide, as they do, for example, in Iceland,
Japan, and Swaziland. In fact, about 75 percent of the
world’s states are pluralistic societies, defined in an earlier nation A people who share a collective identity based on a common
chapter as societies in which two or more ethnic groups culture, language, territorial base, and history.
her anthropological research con-

cerning issues of power, including
cultural control.
Also basic to the political process
is the concept of authority, claiming
and exercising power as justified
by law or custom of tradition.
Unlike coercion, which imposes
obedience or submission by force or
intimidation, authority is based on
the socially accepted rules, collective
ideas, or codified laws binding people
together as a society. Without these
rules, ideologies, and laws, however
different in each culture, political rule
lacks legitimacy and will be interpreted
© Eddie Gerald/Alamy Stock Photo

and perhaps openly challenged as
unjust and wrong, opening the door
to forced removal.
In a monarchy—a state headed
by a single ruler—political authority
can be based on different sources of
Figure 12.6 Kurdish Fighters Struggling for Independence legitimacy, including divine will,
For decades, the Kurds have been fighting for political independence in their ancestral birthright in a royal lineage, or an
homeland. Here we see female guerrilla combatants of the PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ election held among free citizens or
Party) in the Qandil Mountains, near the Iranian border of northern Iraq. a wealthy upper class (nobles). In a
theocracy—a state ruled by a priestly
elite headed by a supreme priest claiming holy or even
Political Systems and the divine status—legitimacy is embedded in sacred doctrine.
Question of Authority In an aristocracy, on the other hand, the ruling noble elite
claims legitimacy traditionally rooted in a ritual mixture
of high-status ancestry and class endogamy, military dom-
Whatever a society’s political system, it must find some
inance, economic wealth, and ceremonial capital.
way to obtain and retain the people’s allegiance. In uncen-
Finally, in a democracy rulers claim legitimacy based on
tralized systems, in which every adult participates in all
the idea that they act as representatives of the free citizens
decision making, loyalty and cooperation are freely given
who elected them into office with the mandate to act on
because each person is considered a part of the political
the basis of collectively approved rules in the form of law.
system. However, as the group grows larger and the orga-
A democracy may have a king or queen as symbolic head.
nization becomes more formal, the problem of obtaining
With an elected president as titular head, such a state is
and keeping public support becomes greater.
usually identified as a republic.
Centralized political systems may rely upon coercion
as a means of social control, imposing obedience or sub-
mission by force or intimidation. This, however, can be
risky because the large numbers of personnel needed to
apply force may themselves become a political power.
Politics and Religion
Also, the emphasis on force may create resentment and Frequently, religion legitimizes the political order and
lessen cooperation. Thus, hardfisted regimes such as dic- leadership. Religious beliefs may influence or provide
tatorships are generally short-lived; most societies choose authoritative approval to customary rules and laws. For
less extreme forms of social coercion. In the United instance, acts that people believe to be sinful, such as
States, this is reflected in the increasing emphasis placed murder, are often illegal as well.
on cultural controls, discussed later in this chapter. Laura In both industrial and nonindustrial societies, belief in
Nader (see the Anthropologist of Note) is well known for the supernatural is important and is reflected in people’s
political institutions. Politics and religion mesh in many
countries, including the United States where the newly
coercion Imposition of obedience or submission by force or intimidation. elected president takes the oath of office by swearing on
authority Claiming and exercising power as justified by law or custom a Bible, the holy book of Christianity. Other instances
of tradition. of the use of religion to legitimize political power in the
Politics and Religion 279
Laura Nader (b. 1930)
Laura Nader has stood situation: Never before have a few, by their actions and inactions,
out among her peers had the power of life and death over so many members of the
from the start of her ca- species.”c
reer in 1960, when she To date, the results of Nader’s own research have appeared
became the first woman in over a hundred publications. Among these are her numerous
faculty member in the books, including Naked Science: Anthropological Inquiry into
Courtesy of Dr. Laura Nader

Anthropology Department Boundaries, Power, and Knowledge (1996), The Life of the Law:
at the University of Cali- Anthropological Projects (2002), Plunder: When the Rule of
fornia, Berkeley. Law Is illegal (coauthored with Ugo Mattei, 2008), and Culture
Nader and her three and Dignity: Dialogues Between the Middle East and the West
siblings grew up in Win- (2013).
Laura Nader, a cultural anthropology sted, Connecticut, chil- Playing a leading role in the development of the anthropology
professor at the University of dren of immigrants from of law, Nader has taken on specialists in the fields of law, chil-
California, Berkeley, specializes Lebanon. As she recalls, dren’s issues, nuclear energy, and science (including her own
in law, dispute resolution, and “My dad left Lebanon profession), critically questioning the basic assumptions (“central
controlling processes. for political reasons, and dogmas”) under which these experts operate. She presses her
when he came to the students to do the same—to think critically, question authority,
land of the free, he took it seriously. So we were raised to believe and break free from the “controlling processes” of the power
that you should be involved in public issues.”a They were also elite. In 2000, Nader accepted one of the highest honors of the
taught to question assumptions. American Anthropological Association—an invitation to give the
Both Nader and her younger brother Ralph have made careers distinguished lecture at its annual gathering.
of doing this. She is an anthropologist noted for her cross-cultural Today, at age 85, Nader still teaches at Berkeley. In a recent
research on law, justice, and social control and their connection interview she said this about the discipline she has been commit-
to power structures. He is a consumer advocate and former U.S. ted to for so many years:
presidential candidate who is well known for being a watchdog on
For me anthropology is the freest of scientific endeavors
issues of public health and the safety and quality of life.
because it potentially does not stop at boundaries that
Laura Nader’s undergraduate studies included a study-abroad
interfere with the capacity of the mind for self-reflection.
year in Mexico. Later, while earning her doctorate in anthropology
This is a moment for new syntheses in a world that is both
at Radcliffe College, she returned to Mexico to do fieldwork in a
interconnected and disconnected, on a planet where long
Zapotec Indian peasant village in the Sierra Madre Mountains of
term survival is at risk. Anthropologists should not shrink
Oaxaca. Reflecting on this and subsequent research, she says,
from the big questions. We have a large part to play.d
In the 1950s, when I went to southern Mexico, I was studying
how the Zapotec organize their lives, what they do with their
problems, what they do when they go to court. And when a
“Conversation with Laura Nader.” (2000, November). California
I came back to this country, I started looking at American Monthly.
equivalents, at how Americans solve their consumer and b
Ibid.
service complaints.b c
Nader, L. (1972). Up the anthropologist: Perspectives gained from
Nader’s first decade of teaching at Berkeley coincided with the studying up. In D. Hymes (Ed.), Reinventing anthropology (p. 284).
Vietnam War, an era when the campus was in a perpetual state New York: Pantheon Books.
of turmoil with students demonstrating for peace and civil rights. d
De Lauri, A. (2013, December 18). Think like an anthropologist: A
Becoming a scholar-activist, she called upon colleagues to “study conversation with Laura Nader. Allegra Lab. http://allegralaboratory
up” and do research on the world’s power elite. “The study of .net/think-like-an-anthropologist-a-conversation-with-laura-nader/
man,” she wrote in 1972, “is confronted with an unprecedented (retrieved January 4, 2016)
United States are the phrases “one nation, under God” There, two chief rabbis (Jewish priests) alternate as pres-
in the Pledge of Allegiance, “In God We Trust” etched in ident of the country’s Chief Rabbinate. Recognized as
coins, and “so help me God,” which is routinely used in the supreme authority for Judaism in that country, it
legal proceedings. claims jurisdiction over many aspects of Jewish life and
Religious legitimization of government is more clearly supervises rabbinical courts. Managed by the Ministry
defined in Israel, which defines itself as a Jewish state. of Religious Services, the Chief Rabbinate court is part of
© K. Prose/Pressnet/Tophan/The Image Works

© Reuters/Corbis
Figure 12.7 Church and State in Iran and Great Britain

In contrast to countries such as the United States, where religion and state are constitutionally
separated, countries such as Iran and Great Britain permit a much closer relationship between
political and religious affairs. For instance, since 1989, a grand ayatollah named Ali Khamenei
has held the title of Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, serving as the country’s
highest-ranking religious and political authority. In England, Queen Elizabeth is not only her
country’s nominal head of state but also the Supreme Governor of the Church of England, which
entitles her to appoint the Anglican bishops in that state.
Israel’s judicial system, and its verdicts are carried out and
enforced by the police.
Politics and Gender
Another example of religious legitimization of gov- Historically, irrespective of cultural configuration or
ernment is seen in Kano in the savannahs of northern type of political organization, women have held impor-
Nigeria, where the emir governs a traditional kingdom tant positions of political leadership far less often than
inhabited by the Hausa and Fulani ethnic groups. The men. But there have been many significant exceptions,
emir rules by Shariah, a moral and legal code based on including some female chiefs heading American Indian
what traditional Muslims accept as God’s infallible law. chiefdoms in the Caribbean and southeastern United
In an annual festival marking the end of the Muslim holy States. Traditionally, there were also female rulers of
month of Ramadan, regional chiefs heading cavalry regi- Polynesian chiefdoms and kingdoms in the Pacific,
ments showcase their horsemanship at a military parade including Tonga, Samoa, and Hawaii. Moreover, there
in a public display of loyalty to their ruler. were numerous powerful queens heading monarchies
Since 1979, when the Islamic revolution toppled the and even empires in Asia, Africa, and Europe during
dictatorship of the shah (“emperor”) in Iran, that coun- the past few thousand years (Linnekin, 1990; Ralston &
try has been a theocratic republic, with a democratically Thomas, 1987; Trocolli, 2006).
elected president and parliament subordinate to the Perhaps the most notable example among historical
supreme religious authority of the most holy of all Shia female rulers was Queen Victoria, the long-reigning
Muslim holy men—the grand ayatollah. Numerous other queen of England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. Also
examples in which political and religious institutions recognized as monarch in a host of colonies all over the
are intricately intertwined can be found across the globe world, Victoria even acquired the title Empress of India.
(Figure 12.7). Ruling the British empire for nearly sixty-four years
Cultural Controls in Maintaining Order 281
(1837–1901), she was perhaps the world’s wealthiest and Just as the obi had a council of dignitaries to advise
most powerful leader. In 2015, Victoria’s great-great- him and act as a check against any arbitrary exercise of
granddaughter Queen Elizabeth II surpassed the duration power, a council of women served the omu. The duties
of her reign. Crowned ruler of England and Scotland, of the omu and her advisors involved tasks such as estab-
Elizabeth is also the symbolic head of the Common- lishing rules and regulations for the community market
wealth, an intergovernmental organization of fifty-four (marketing was a woman’s activity) and hearing cases
independent states (almost all former British colonies), involving women brought to her from throughout the
collectively promoting free trade, rule of law, human town or village. If such cases also involved men, then
rights, and world peace. she and her council would cooperate with the obi and
High-profile female leadership is becoming more his council.
common, and in most contemporary societies women In the Igbo system, women managed their own affairs.
have gained the same political rights and opportu- They had the right to enforce their decisions and rules
nities as men. In recent years, a growing number of with sanctions similar to those employed by men, includ-
women have been elected as their country’s presidents, ing strikes, boycotts, and “sitting on” someone, including
chancellors, or prime ministers across the globe. Oth- a man:
ers lead political opposition parties, sometimes head-
To “sit on” or “make war on” a man involved
ing mass movements. Among the latter is Aung San
gathering at his compound, sometimes late at
Suu Kyi in Myanmar, profiled toward the end of this
night, dancing, singing scurrilous songs which
chapter.
detailed the women’s grievances against him
Although there have been and continue to be many
and often called his manhood into question,
societies in which women have lower visibility in
banging on his hut with the pestles women used
the political arena, that does not necessarily indicate
for pounding yams, and perhaps demolishing
that they lack power in political affairs. For example,
his hut or plastering it with mud and roughing
among the six allied Iroquois Indian nations in north-
him up a bit. A man might be sanctioned in this
eastern America, only men were appointed to serve as
way for mistreating his wife, for violating the
high-ranking chiefs on the confederacy’s grand council;
women’s market rules, or for letting his cows eat
however, they were completely beholden to women, for
the women’s crops. The women would stay at his
only their “clan mothers” could select candidates to this
hut throughout the day, and late into the night if
high political office. Moreover, women actively lobbied
necessary, until he repented and promised to mend
the men on the council, and the clan mothers had the
his ways. (Van Allen, 1997, p. 450)
right to depose a chief representing their clan whenever
it suited them.
As for women having more vis-
ible roles in traditional societies,
one example is the dual-gender Cultural Controls
in Maintaining Order
government system of
the Igbo in Nigeria, MALI
West Africa. Among NIGER CHAD Every society has cultural controls—means of ensuring
the Igbo, each political
BURKINA that individuals or groups conduct themselves in ways
unit traditionally had FASO
BENIN that support the social order. We may distinguish between
separate political in- NIGERIA internal and external forms of cultural control.
stitutions for men and
GHANA
TOGO
A F R I C A
women, so that both
© Cengage Learning
genders had an autono-

mous sphere of author-
CAMEROON Internalized Control
Atlantic
ity as well as an area Ocean As discussed in an earlier chapter, individuals raised in
of shared responsibility a particular culture undergo a process of enculturation
(Njoku, 1990; Okonjo, during which ideas, values, and associated structures of
1976). At the head of each political unit was a male obi, emotion are internalized, impacting their thoughts, feel-
considered the head of government although he pre- ings, and behavior. The internalization of cultural control
sided over only the male community, and a female omu, leads to what we know as self-control—a person’s capacity
the acknowledged mother of the whole community but to manage his or her spontaneous feelings and to restrain
in practice concerned with the female section. Unlike impulsive behavior.
a queen (though both she and the obi were crowned),
the omu was neither the obi’s wife nor the previous obi’s cultural control Control through beliefs and values deeply internalized
daughter. in the minds of individuals.
Self-control may be motivated by ideas or emotions would he have been guilty of breaking the law—formal
associated with positive cultural values such as self-denial rules of conduct that, when violated, effectuate negative
for the common good. For example, many cultures honor sanctions.
traditions of charity, self-sacrifice, or other good deeds. For sanctions to be effective, they must be applied
Performed out of a desire to help those in need, such acts consistently, and they must be generally known among
of kindness or generosity may spring from a spiritual or members of the society. Even if some individuals are not
religious worldview—the collective body of ideas mem- convinced of the advantages of social conformity, they are
bers of a culture generally share concerning the ultimate still more likely to obey society’s rules than to accept the
shape and substance of their reality. consequences of not doing so.
Self-control may also be motivated by negative ideas
and associated emotions such as shame, guilt, fear of
bad luck or evil spirits, or terror of divine punishment—
concepts that are culturally relative and variable. For ex-
Cultural Control: Witchcraft
ample, Wape hunters in Papua New Guinea believe that In societies with or without centralized political systems,
their ancestral spirits roam the woods and will sabotage witchcraft sometimes functions as an agent of cultural
any hunter who has wronged them or their descendants control and involves both self-control and social controls.
by preventing him from finding game or hitting his An individual will think twice before offending a neighbor
mark. Like devout Christians who avoid sinning for fear if convinced that the neighbor could retaliate by resorting
of hell, Wape hunters avoid quarrels and maintain tran- to black magic. Similarly, individuals may not wish to be
quility within the community for fear of supernatural accused of practicing witchcraft, and so they behave with
punishment, even though no one in their village may greater circumspection (Figure 12.8).
be aware of their bad deed. Tied to adversity—bad harvests, sickness, death—
accusations of sorcery or witchcraft (“black magic”) are
typically directed at low status or marginal persons.
Often, older women and widows are targeted, especially in
Externalized Control male-dominated villages in the rural backlands of rapidly
Because internalized controls are not wholly sufficient changing societies. Charged with causing misfortune by
even in bands and tribes, every society develops external- casting evil spells, they are viewed a threats to the moral
ized social controls. One type of such control is known order.
as a sanction—a social directive designed to encourage Among the Azande of South Sudan, people who think
or coerce conformity to cultural standards of acceptable they have been bewitched may consult an oracle, who,
social behavior. after performing the appropriate mystical rites, may es-
Sanctions may be positive or negative. Positive sanc- tablish or confirm the identity of the offending witch
tions consist of incentives to conform, such as awards, (Evans-Pritchard, 1937; Films Media Group, 1981). Con-
titles, promotions, and other demonstrations of approval. fronted with this evidence, the witch will usually agree to
Negative sanctions consist of threats such as ridiculing, cooperate in order to avoid any additional trouble. Should
humiliating, fining, flogging, banishing, jailing, and even the victim die, the relatives of the deceased may choose
killing for violating the standards. to make magic against the witch, ultimately accepting the
Furthermore, sanctions may be formal or informal, death of some villager as evidence of both guilt and the
depending on whether or not a customary law or legal efficacy of their magic.
statute is involved. In the United States, a man who goes For the Azande, witchcraft provides not only a
shirtless to a church service may be subject to a variety sanction against antisocial behavior but also a means
of informal sanctions, ranging from disapproving glances of dealing with natural hostilities and death. No one
from the clergy to the chuckling of other parishioners. If, wishes to be thought of as a witch, and surely no one
however, he were to show up without any clothing at all, wishes to be victimized by one. By institutionalizing
he would be subject to the formal negative sanction of their emotional responses, the Azande successfully
arrest for indecent exposure. Only in the second instance maintain social order.
Today, witch hunts are on the rise in many parts of
sub-Saharan Africa, but also in Papua New Guinea, north-
worldview The collective body of ideas members of a culture generally east India, Nepal, and other parts of the world. In the
share concerning the ultimate shape and substance of their reality.
past fifteen years, about 2,500 accused witches in India
social control External control through open coercion.
have been murdered—commonly being tortured into a
sanction An externalized social control designed to encourage
conformity to social norms. confession and then being burned alive or butchered with
law Formal rules of conduct that, when violated, effectuate negative knives, axes, or stones (McCoy, 2014; United Nations
sanctions. Human Rights, 2009).
Holding Trials, Settling Disputes, and Punishing Crimes 283
beyond the family. A dispute between

two people will interfere with the ability
of members of separate families to come
to one another’s aid when necessary and
is consequently a matter of wider social
concern. By collectively evaluating the
situation and determining who is right
or wrong, community members focus
on restoring social harmony rather than
punishing offenders. Without binding
legal authority, they customarily settle a
dispute through a song duel in which the
individuals insult each other with songs
specially composed for the occasion. The
audience is the jury, and their applause
settles the conflict. If, however, social
harmony cannot be restored—and that is
the goal, rather than assigning and pun-
UB Photos/Barcroft India
ishing guilt—one or the other disputant
may move to another band (Figure 12.9).
By contrast, in most modern state
societies someone who commits an of-
fense against another person may become
Figure 12.8 Witch-Hunting in the 21st Century subject to a series of complex legal pro-
In many parts of the world today—including regions in Africa, South Asia, and ceedings. In criminal cases the primary
Melanesia—people are accused of being witches. The targets can be men and even concern is to assign and punish guilt
children, but most often they are women, especially those who are widowed and rather than to help out the victim. The
poor, or outspoken and seen as a threat to a male-dominated social order. Their offender will be arrested by the police;
cases are remarkably similar: Sickness, death, or some other misfortune strikes their tried before a judge and perhaps a jury;
community, and these individuals are blamed, punished, banished, driven to suicide, and, depending on the severity of the
or even killed. The woman pictured here, brutally murdered and buried in a rice paddy crime, may be fined, imprisoned, or even
field, was a victim of witch-hunting in India’s state of Assam. Her tragic case is not executed. Rarely does the victim receive
unusual. Every year since 1995, 150 to 200 women accused of witchcraft have been restitution or compensation. Throughout
killed in India. Beyond witch hunts prompted by escalating tension, marking women as this chain of events, the accused party is
witches has become a common ploy to grab land, settle scores and grudges, or mete dealt with by police, judges, jurors, and
out punishment for rejected sexual advances. Witch-hunters are rarely reported to jailers, who typically have no personal ac-
authorities, and of those who are, barely 2 percent are convicted (Sharma, 2012).
quaintance whatsoever with the plaintiff
or the defendant. The judge’s work is dif-
Holding Trials, ficult and complex. In addition to sifting through evidence

presented in a courtroom trial, he or she must consider a
Settling Disputes, wide range of norms, values, and earlier rulings to arrive at
a decision that is considered just, not only by the disputing
and Punishing Crimes parties but by the public and other judges as well.
In many chiefdoms, incorruptible supernatural, or at
State societies make a clear distinction between offenses least nonhuman, powers are thought to make judgments
against an individual and those against the state. In non- through a trial by ordeal. For example, among the Kpelle
state societies such as bands and tribes, however, all of Liberia discussed earlier in this chapter, when guilt is in
offenses are viewed as transgressions against individuals or doubt, a licensed “ordeal operator” may apply a hot knife
kin-groups (families, clans, and so on). Disputes between to a suspect’s leg. If the leg is burned, the suspect is guilty;
individuals or kin-groups may seriously disrupt the social if not, innocence is assumed. But the operator does not
order, especially in small communities where the dispu- merely heat the knife and apply it. After massaging the
tants, though small in absolute numbers, may represent a suspect’s legs and determining the knife is hot enough,
large percentage of the total population. the operator then strokes his own leg with it without be-
Among traditional Inuit bands in northern Canada, for ing burned, demonstrating that the innocent will escape
example, there is no effective domestic or economic unit injury. The knife is then applied to the suspect.
urged their federal government to reform justice services

to make them more consistent with indigenous values and
traditions (Criminal Code of Canada, §718.2e). In partic-
ular, they have pressed for restorative justice techniques
such as the Talking Circle. For this, parties involved in a
conflict come together in a circle with equal opportunity
to express their views—one at a time, free of interruption.
Usually, a “talking stick” (or an eagle feather or some other
symbolic object) is held by whoever is speaking to signal
that she or he has the right to talk at that moment, and
others have the responsibility to listen.
Violent Conflict
Flicker Alley LCC

and Warfare
Figure 12.9 Inuit Song Duel Regulation of a society’s internal affairs is an important
Among Inuit of northern Canada, the traditional way of settling function of any political system, but it is by no means
a dispute in the community is through a song duel, in which the sole function. Another is the management of its ex-
the individuals insult each other in songs composed for the ternal affairs—relations not just among different states
occasion. The applause of onlookers determines the winner, and but among different bands, lineages, clans, or whatever
the affair is considered closed; no further action is expected. the largest autonomous political unit may be. And just as
force, threatened or actual, may be used to maintain or
restore order within a society, such powerful pressures are
also used in the conduct of external affairs.
Up to this point—consciously or unconsciously—the
Humans have a grim track record when it comes to
operator has read the suspect’s nonverbal cues: gestures,
violence. Far more lethal than spontaneous and indi-
the degree of muscular tension, amount of perspiration.
vidual outbursts of aggression, organized violence in
From this the operator can judge whether the anxiety
the form of war is responsible for enormous destruc-
exhibited by the accused indicates probable guilt; in
tion of life and property. In the past 5,000 years or so,
effect, a psychological stress evaluation has been made.
some 14,000 wars have been fought, resulting in many
As the knife is applied, it is manipulated to either burn
hundreds of millions of casualties. In the 20th century
or not burn the suspect, once this judgment has been
alone, an estimated 150 million people lost their lives
made. The operator does this manipulation easily by
due to human violence.
controlling how long the knife is in the fire, as well as
The scope of violent conflict is wide. It ranges from
the pressure and angle at which it is pressed against the
individual fights, local feuds, raids, and piracy (see the
leg (Gibbs, 1983).
Globalscape), to rebellions, insurgencies, guerrilla attacks,
The use of the lie detector (polygraph) in the United
and formally declared wars fought by professional armed
States is a similar example of assessing guilt, although
forces.
the guiding ideology is scientifically grounded rather
than metaphysical. This machine is thought to establish
objectively who is lying and who is not, but in reality
the polygraph operator cannot just “read” the needles
Why War?
of the machine. He or she must judge whether they are Different motives, strategic objectives, and political or
registering a high level of anxiety brought on by the test- moral justifications for war exist. Some societies engage
ing situation, as opposed to the stress of guilt. Thus, the in defensive wars only and avoid armed confrontations
polygraph operator has something in common with the with others unless seriously threatened or actually at-
Kpelle ordeal operator. tacked. Others initiate aggressive wars to pursue particular
Punitive justice, such as flogging or jailing, may be the strategic goals, including material benefits in the form of
most common approach to justice in state societies, but it precious resources such as oil, as well as territorial expan-
has not proven to be an effective way of changing criminal sion or control over trade routes. Competition for scarce
behavior. In North America over the past four decades, resources may turn violent and lead to war, but aggressive
there has been significant movement away from the courts wars may also be waged for ideological reasons, such as
in favor of outside negotiation and mediation. For exam- spreading one’s worldview or religion and defeating “evil”
ple, indigenous communities in Canada have successfully and “wrongdoers” elsewhere.
GLOBALSCAPE
Arctic
Ocean
DENMARK
CANADA UKRAINE
London ASIA
FRANCE
EUROPE
USA
Toronto
CHINA
Minneapolis
Atlantic SAUDI Pacific
INDIA
Ocean ARABIA Ocean
AFRICA Dubai Mumbai
YEMEN
Pacific
Ocean Eyl, Puntland
SOMALIA
SOUTH KENYA
AMERICA Nairobi Indian
Ocean
AUSTRALIA
Veronique de Viguerie/Edit by Getty Images

Melbourne
© Cengage Learning
ANTARCTICA
Pirate Pursuits in Puntland? companies covering the ships took in $635 million, and private
Abshir Boya, a towering Somali pirate, is active in the coastal wa- armed security forces earned $530 million. About thirty countries
ters off the Horn of Africa, which juts deep into the Arabian Sea. spent a total of $1.3 billion on military operations. These and
He lives in the old fishing port of Eyl in Puntland, an autonomous numerous other antipiracy expenses totaled nearly $7 billion.a
territory in Somalia. By 2009, Eyl had become a pirate haven, hold- At their peak of success in 2009, Somali pirates held dozens
ing a dozen hijacked foreign ships and their multinational crews. of captured ships and nearly a thousand seamen. By mid-2012,
Like Boya, most of the few hundred other pirates based in Punt- those numbers were down to about a dozen vessels and several
land are Darod clansmen pressed out of their traditional fisheries by hundred crew, due to an increase in foreign naval patrols and
foreign commercial fleets polluting their coasts and depleting their prosecutions. Earlier that year, the European Union toughened
fish stocks. Since 1991, Somalia has been splintered by rebellions, its antipiracy mandate to allow forces patrolling the Indian Ocean
clan rivalries, and armed foreign interventions. It no longer has a to attack bases in Somalia. Numerous Somali pirates have been
centralized power system maintaining law and order for its citizens, killed or captured. Nonetheless, piracy continues; there is still no
who survive on an average annual income of $600. With a national international consensus on how to handle it, so there are still ran-
economy in tatters, Boya and his clansmen spied the wealth pass- soms to be claimed by the most daring pirates.b Although criminal
ing through the Arabian Sea and decided to grab a share. prosecution of piracy in international waters is problematic due to
Bankrolled by emigrated Somali investors living in cities such jurisdiction questions, many pirates are now in jails in half a dozen
as Melbourne, Dubai, Nairobi, London, Toronto, and Minneapolis, foreign countries, including the United States.
pirate gangs are equipped with radios, cell phones, and GPS,
plus semi-automatic pistols, assault rifles, and rocket-propelled Global Twister
grenade launchers, often bought in Yemen. Speeding across What is justice for Somali fishermen pressed into piracy?
open sea in skiffs, they chase cargo ships, oil tankers, and cruise
ships from around the world, including the United States, Canada, a
Oceans Beyond Piracy: One Earth Future Foundation. (2015). The
Denmark, France, Saudi Arabia, India, and China. economic cost of Somali piracy 2011. http://oceansbeyondpiracy
Some pirate captains have banked success, including Boya, .org/publications/economic-cost-somali-piracy-2011 (retrieved
who claims to have led over twenty-five hijackings. Ship owners pay December 9, 2015)
huge ransoms—thirty-one of them in 2011, averaging $5 million b
Anyimadu, A. (2015, July 21). With Somali pirates, pay the ransom
each. Somali sea bandits—about a thousand in total—are obliged until there’s a global consensus. New York Times. http://www
to pay their backers and share earnings with many poor relatives .nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2013/08/07/when-ransoms-pay
in their large clans. Notably, ransoms represented only about -for-terrorism/with-somali-pirates-pay-the-ransom-until-theres-global
2 percent of piracy costs for shippers in 2011. Insurance -consensus (retrieved January 1, 2016)
Medyan Dairieh/ZUMA Press/Corbis

Figure 12.10 Islamic State Militants
Fighters of the self-proclaimed Islamic State, also known as Daesh (the acronym of its Arabic name), have been waging a brutal
jihad (“holy war”) to expand Sunni Muslim fundamentalism across the globe. Declaring a worldwide caliphate, this fanatical militant
group pledges allegiance to a leader who has claimed the ancient title of caliph—the divinely appointed successor to the Prophet
Muhammad. They enforce a radical interpretation of Shariah law drawn from the Quran, a copy of which is held up by the fighter on the
right side of this photo. Another jihadist raises his right index finger in a symbolic gesture alluding to their belief in the oneness of God,
while a third holds the group’s black banner, a flag flown by the Prophet in Islamic tradition. Representing the Prophet’s seal, the white
circle encloses the Arabic text for “Muhammad is the Prophet of God.” This banner is a symbol in Islamic tradition announcing the
advent of the Mahdi, a spiritual leader who will rule before the end of the world and triumph over injustice. The Islamic State now holds
territory in large parts of Syria and Iraq and is expanding terrorist operations.
Religious and other ideological justifications for war Some argue that males of the human species are naturally
are rooted in a society’s worldview. They range from the aggressive. As evidence they point to aggressive group
Christian Crusades targeting Muslims in Palestine and behavior exhibited by chimpanzees in Tanzania, where
surrounding Islamic territories about 700 to 900 years researchers observed one group systematically destroy
ago to the more recent brutal jihad (“holy war”) waged another and take over their territory. And there is ample
by fanatic Islamic fundamentalists in North Africa evidence that armed conflicts in the form of deadly feuds
and Southwest Asia. Militant extremists, such as ad- and raids between groups of fishers, hunters, herders, and
Dawlah al-Islāmı̄yah (abbreviated to Daesh), often direct food producers have been going on for thousands of years.
this modern-day Islamic fundamentalism. Better known However, warfare among humans is not a universal
in the English-speaking part of the world as the Islamic phenomenon and not an unavoidable expression of
State (IS), this radical splinter group of al-Qaeda based in genetic predisposition for violent behavior (see this
Iraq and Syria aims to restore what it believes to be “pure” chapter’s Biocultural Connection). In fact, in various parts
Islam. Toward that end, it seeks to expel so-called infidels of the world there are societies that do not practice war-
(nonbelievers) from ancestral soil; to topple regimes that fare as we know it. Examples include people as diverse as
it thinks promote or tolerate religious “corruption”; and the Ju/’hoansi Bushmen and Pygmy peoples of southern
to destroy statues, shrines, and temples dedicated to what Africa, the Arapesh of New Guinea, and the Jain of India,
it sees as false gods (Figure 12.10). as well as the Amish of North America. Moreover, among
Beyond such explanations for warfare, is there some- societies that do practice warfare, levels of violence may
thing in our genetic makeup that makes it inevitable? differ dramatically.
Violent Conflict and Warfare 287
Sex, Gender, and Human Violence

At the start of the 21st century, war and will be considerably larger than females, positive directions only by a coattails pro-
violence are no longer the strictly male and aggression will serve males well. In cess whereby females were “pulled along”
domains that they were in many societies monogamous species, males and females toward improved biological states by virtue
in the past. War has become embedded will be of similar sizes. of the progress of the genes they shared
in civilian life in many parts of the world, Primatologist Richard Wrangham has with males.c Wrangham’s more recent
and it impacts the daily lives of women taken the idea of sexual selection even Demonic Males theory is similarly shaped
and children. Moreover, women now serve further. In his book Demonic Males, he by culture. It incorporates the dominant
in the military forces of several states, explores the idea that both male aggres- world order (military states) and the gen-
although their participation in combat is sion and patriarchy have an evolutionary der norms (aggressive males) it values. In
often limited. Some female soldiers in the basis. He states that humans, like our both cases, the putatively scientific theory
United States argue that gender should close cousin the chimpanzee, are “party has created a natural basis for a series of
not limit their participation in combat gang” species characterized by strong social conventions.
as they consider themselves as strong, bonds among groups of males who have This does not mean that biological
capable, and well trained as their male dominion over an expandable territory. differences between the sexes cannot be
counterparts. Others believe that biolog- These features “suffice to account for studied in the natural world. Instead, scien-
ically based sex differences make war a natural selection’s ugly legacy, the ten- tists studying sex differences must be es-
particularly male domain. dency to look for killing opportunities pecially sensitive to how they may project
Scientists have long argued that males when hostile neighbors meet.”a Violence, cultural beliefs onto nature. Meanwhile,
are more suited to combat because natu- in turn, generates a male-dominated so- the attitudes of some women soldiers
ral selection has made them on average cial order: “Patriarchy comes from biology continue to challenge generalizations re-
larger and stronger than females. Darwin in the sense that it emerges from men’s garding “military specialization” by gender.
first proposed this idea, known as sexual temperaments out of their evolutionarily
selection, in the 19th century. At that time derived efforts to control women and at Biocultural Question
he theorized that physical specializations the same time have solidarity with fellow All across the world, males are far more
in animal species—such as horns, vibrant males in competition against outsiders.”b likely to serve as warriors than females
plumage, and, in the case of humans, Although Wrangham allows that evolution- and, consequently, are far more likely to
intelligence and tool use—demonstrate ary forces have shaped women as well, lose their lives on the battlefield. Do you
selection acting upon males to aid in the he suggests that females’ evolutionary think that there is any structural relation-
competition for mates. In these scenarios, interests cannot be met without coopera- ship between high male combat mortality
male reproductive success is thought to be tion with males. rates and polgyny as the preferred mar-
optimized through a strategy of “spreading Feminist scholars have pointed out riage type in most traditional cultures?
seed”—in other words, by being sexually that these scientific models are gen-
active with as many females as possible. dered in that they incorporate the norms a
Wrangham, R., & Peterson, D. (1996).
Females, on the other hand, are con- derived from the scientists’ culture. Dar- Demonic males (p. 168). Boston: Houghton
sidered gatekeepers who optimize their win’s original model of sexual selection Mifflin.
reproductive success through caring for incorporated the Victorian gender norms b
Ibid., p. 125.
individual offspring. According to this the- of the passive female and active male. c
Fedigan, L. M. (1986). The changing role
ory of sexual selection, in species where Primatologist Linda Fedigan suggests that of women in models of human evolution.
male–male competition is high, males in Darwinian models women evolved in Annual Review of Anthropology 15, 25–66.
Evolution of Warfare About a century ago, tens of thousands of soldiers on

the French-German frontline in World War I experienced
We have ample reason to suppose that war—not to be chemical warfare for the first time in history. Although
confused with more limited forms of deadly violence such other poison gases had been used a few years earlier,
as raids—has become a problem only in the last 10,000 troops in the trenches in 1917 were attacked by mustard
years, since the invention of food-production techniques gas—a chemical poison that causes blindness, large blis-
and especially since the formation of centralized states ters on exposed skin, and (if inhaled) bleeding and blis-
5,000 years ago. It has reached crisis proportions in the past tering in the mouth, throat, and lungs. The development
200 years, with the invention of modern weaponry and of weapons of mass destruction has been horrendously
increased direction of violence against civilian populations. effective.
Today, the chemical, biological, and nuclear weapon

arsenals stockpiled by many states are sufficient to wipe
Ideologies of Aggression
out all life on the planet, many times over. Because dan- Whatever may be possible in terms of military technology,
gerous poisons, such as the anthrax bacterium or the it takes ideas and motivation to turn humans into killers,
nerve gas Sarin, are cheap and easy to produce, non-state and that stems from culture. As noted earlier in this chap-
groups, including terrorists, also seek to acquire to them, ter, justifications for war are fixed in a society’s worldview.
if only to threaten to use them against more powerful It is said that war dehumanizes others—an ideological
opponents. process that usually begins with degrading opponents to a
The evolution of warfare continues to be driven by lower status as barbaric, evil, ugly, worthless, or otherwise
new inventions in military technology, with weapons inferior. Having thus dehumanized their adversaries, hu-
becoming increasingly complex and effective—from mans conjure justifications for slaughter and pillage, often
machine guns, supersonic jet fighters, and atomic raping vanquished women, mutilating enemy bodies for
bombs to high-energy laser beams, pilotless drones, trophies, and turning captives into slaves.
and computer viruses. Precision killing in modern No matter how extreme and negative the emotions
warfare, however, is an illusion as casualties among may be when confronting the enemy, warriors are usually
civilians far outnumber the casualty rate of soldiers physically and mentally trained for combat. In preparing
(Figure 12.11). and conditioning young men (and sometimes women)
Heather Ainsworth/The New York Times/Redux
Figure 12.11 Drone Pilot Operator

From his computer console at a military command post in New York State, this U.S. Attack Wing
airman remotely operates a drone aircraft in support of U.S. ground troops battling enemies in
tribal territories of Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan. Equipped with Hellfire missiles, his
drone surveys the terrain with powerful cameras beaming live video via satellite. Drones can
be thought of as modern versions of dangerous spirits magically directed by invisible warlords.
U.S. forces have used Predator drones since 1995, targeting enemies primarily in Muslim
insurgencies across western Asia and North Africa. During that same period, the entertainment
industry has provided opportunities for “child soldiers” across the globe to play telewarfare
video games in arcades or at home.
Violent Conflict and Warfare 289
for the battlefield, they are indoctrinated by an ideology Feeling divinely directed to liberate her homeland
justifying war, which may come wrapped in magic and from evil and found a Christian theocracy based on the
other metaphysics. There are all too many examples of Ten Commandments, Alice recruited 8,000 Acholi and
how religious and ideological justifications for war are other northern warriors for a crusade to free Uganda from
entrenched in a society’s worldview. So-called holy wars all enemies of God. She called her militant cult the Holy
can flare up across the religious spectrum. The following Spirit Mobile Force. In late 1987, supernaturally aided by
example from East Africa provides a more detailed look. Lakwena and his phantom army of 144,000, Alice led
7,000 of her warriors southward, aiming to capture Ugan-
Case Study: A Christian Holy War in Uganda da’s capital city, Kampala.
Once described as the pearl of Africa, Filled with malaika, Alice’s troops marched in cross-
Uganda is a pluralistic country with shaped battle formations, carrying Bibles and singing
about 34 million inhabitants di- hymns. They had smeared their bodies with holy oil ex-
vided into more than a dozen ethnic tracted from wild shea nuts, assured it would shield them
groups, including the Acholi. Dur- UGANDA from bullets. They were armed with rifles, plus magic sticks
ing the colonial and stones blessed to explode when hurled at the enemy.
period, British SOUTH SUDAN In the first few battles, they scored victories when terrified
Garamba
missionaries con- National Park ETHIOPIA government troops ran away. But 80 kilometers (50 miles)
verted a large ma- east of Kampala, the Holy Spirit Mobile Force was mas-
jority of Ugandans DEM. REP. Acholi sacred, mowed down in a barrage of mortar attacks and
to Christianity. OF CONGO UGANDA machine-gun fire. Convinced that bullets could not pierce
Since gaining A F R I C A the purified, Alice interpreted this defeat as evidence that
Kampala
independence in KENYA evil spirits had gained control over many in her own army.
1962, Uganda has RWANDA Lake Abandoning the battlefield, she escaped into Kenya where
suffered numerous she died in a refugee camp twenty years later.
© Cengage Learning
Vi c t o r i a
regional insurgen- Hundreds of Holy Spirit warriors who survived the
cies, civil wars, ordeal joined other rebel groups, including the Lord’s
and interethnic BURUNDI TANZANIA Resistance Army (LRA) formed by Joseph Kony, an Acholi
clashes, resulting witchdoctor. A former Roman Catholic altar boy related
in death or displacement for millions. During the to Alice, Kony adopted some of her spiritual repertoire
1981–1986 Ugandan Bush War, Acholi soldiers fought in founding a militant cult based on a mixture of in-
with the losing faction, suffering huge losses and digenized Christian and Muslim beliefs and practices.
humiliation. After growing to a force of 4,000 warriors, his insurgency
By 1986, many Acholi Christians believed the apoca- degenerated into a murderous campaign based on terror
lypse described in the Bible’s Book of Revelation was upon tactics. The LRA also kidnapped many thousands of chil-
them. One such Acholi was Alice Auma, a 30-year-old dren, indoctrinating them to become merciless fighters
woman who had been married and divorced twice for be- (Figure 12.12).
ing barren. Alice found inspiration in the biblical promise By 2006, LRA troops had dwindled to about 600, and
of a “new earth” free of suffering and death. Through a the Uganda army had forced them across the border into
vision she believed was divine, she learned that a holy the Democratic Republic of Congo. The rebels hid out in
messenger had chosen her as his spirit-medium. Some- Garamba National Park—a vast wilderness inhabited by
times this powerful spirit took possession of Alice. She elephants, giraffes, hippos, rare white rhinoceroses, and
named him Lakwena—the Acholi word for “apostle” or many other animals.
“messenger from God”—and claimed that he commanded Since then and despite peace talk efforts, Kony’s sol-
the heavenly force of 144,000 redeemed men described in diers continue to carry out periodic raids. For instance, in
Revelation. a June 2008 foray into South Sudan, they forcibly added
In 1986, spiritually empowered by Lakwena, Alice some 1,000 new recruits, including hundreds of abducted
became a nebi (Acholi translation for a “biblical children. In air and ground military offensives throughout
prophet”). At séances, she gave herself over to malaika the following six months, Ugandan soldiers attacked rebel
(Swahili for “angels”), who filled her with power to heal camps in the Garamba forest, killing more than 150 LRA
people diagnosed as victims of evil spirits. Gaining a troops, capturing another 50 (including several low-level
reputation as a witchdoctor, she became known as Alice commanders), and rescuing many of the kidnapped chil-
Lakwena. Her patients included many Acholi soldiers dren and other forced recruits. The LRA retaliated with
who believed they were possessed by cen—the polluting killing raids, capturing replacement recruits, including
spirits of killed enemies seeking revenge. To keep their more children.
soul and body clean, Alice ordered them to abstain from In the past few years, nearly half a million people
alcohol and sex. have fled their villages for fear of attack—not only in the
a deliberate act or as the accidental outcome of activities

carried out by one people with little regard for their im-
pact on others. All genocides contain eight recognizable
stages: classification, symbolization, dehumanization, or-
ganization, polarization, preparation, extermination, and
denial (Stanton, 1998).
The most widely known act of genocide in recent
history was the attempt of the Nazis during World War II
to wipe out European Jews and Roma (Gypsies) in the
name of racial superiority and improvement of the hu-
man species. Reference to this mass extermination as the
Holocaust—as if it were unique—tends to blind us to the
fact that genocide is an age-old and ongoing phenom-
enon, with many examples from across the globe and
throughout human history. Less known are the mass
killings of some 1.5 million Armenians. Historically, this
large ethnic group with its own language formed a king-
dom in the West Asian highlands now divided between
the republics of Armenia, Iran, and Turkey. As a Christian
minority, Armenians were incorporated within the
Ottoman empire for centuries but were targeted for ex-
termination or deportation in 1915. Many of those who
survived the subsequent massacres in what is now Turkey
fled abroad, transforming “the Armenians into one of
Helen Margaret Giovanello
the world’s largest diaspora peoples—estimated at up to

10 million people, more than three times [the Republic of]
Armenia’s population” (Herszenhorn, 2015).
Among numerous more contemporary examples
of genocide, government-sponsored terrorism against
Figure 12.12 Young Acholi Soldier in the Lord’s indigenous communities in Guatemala reached its
Resistance Army height in the 1980s, the same decade in which Saddam
After Alice Lakwena’s crusade ended in a bloodbath, her relative Hussein’s government used poison gas against the
Joseph Kony adopted some of her ideas, forming the Lord’s Kurdish ethnic minority in northern Iraq. In 1994,
Resistance Army (LRA). Unlike Alice, he often forced children Hutus in the African country of Rwanda slaughtered
into service. In 2006 he and his fighters, including the armed about 800,000 of their Tutsi neighbors (Human Rights
teenager pictured here, retreated into the Democratic Republic
Watch Report, 1999). Estimates vary, but during the 20th
of Congo’s vast Garamba National Park and staged raids from
century, as many as 83 million people may have died
there. Wanted for war crimes and accused of being a demon,
of genocide (White, 2003). The horrors continue in the
Kony remains in hiding.
current century, particularly in Africa and Asia, but also
in other parts of the world.
Democratic Republic of Congo, but also in neighboring
South Sudan and the Central African Republic. Kony, the
rebel army’s charismatic Christian cult leader, remains
at large, still believing in his divinely guided insurgency Armed Conflicts Today
(Allen, 2006; Behrend, 1999; Finnström, 2008). Since the last decade of the 20th century, several dozen
wars have raged around the globe. They occur not only
Genocide between states but primarily within pluralistic countries
where interethnic conflicts abound and/or where the
As these cross-cultural examples of violent conflict in- political leadership and government bureaucracy are cor-
dicate, warfare often involves a complex dynamic of rupt, ineffective, or without popular support. A contem-
economic, political, and ideological interests. This is es- porary example is Syria, noted in this chapter’s opening
pecially true when violence escalates into genocide—the page. The population of this West Asian country is about
physical extermination of one people by another, either as 60 percent Arabs, 10 percent Kurds, and 2 percent Turk-
men—all Sunni Muslims. The Alawites and Ismaili sects
represent a Shia Muslim minority of 16 percent, whereas
genocide The physical extermination of one people by another, either as
a deliberate act or as the accidental outcome of activities carried out by the rest are Druse (2 percent) or belong to various Chris-
one people with little regard for their impact on others. tian denominations (10 percent, down from 30 percent in
Peacemaking 291
the 1920s). An estimated 500,000 are Palestinian refugees, evidence of their official status and mission as envoys or
and another 2 million are Iraqis who fled fighting in their diplomats.
homeland. Since 2011 when the Syrian civil war erupted, A formally binding agreement between two or more
about 250,000 inhabitants have been killed (40 percent of groups that are independent and politically self-governing
whom were women and children). More than 4 million (such as tribes, chiefdoms, and states) is a contract known
Syrians are now refugees with many seeking a new life in as a treaty. Determining issues of war and peace and
northwestern Europe. influencing the survival and well-being of multitudes,
Foreign military intervention is a hallmark of many treaty making is ritually concluded with a ceremonial
long-lasting wars in regions that are strategically impor- performance.
tant or that are rich in natural resources, including the In different cultures across the globe, a wide range of cer-
Democratic Republic of Congo, a failed state in mineral- emonial artifacts have been used in diplomatic protocol—
rich Africa. There, a violent war erupted in 1998 that such as special shell-beaded belts (wampum) presented by
ultimately involved eight neighboring countries and about Iroquois chiefs and long-stemmed tobacco pipes smoked by
twenty-five armed forces. Claiming the lives of nearly Lakota leaders and numerous other Plains Indian peoples.
6 million people and forcing millions more to flee their Thus equipped, delegates participate in formal rituals
home villages, this gruesome war with mass murder and brokering terms of agreement, including mutually bind-
mass rape is known as Africa’s World War. Beyond massa- ing rules to prevent or end conflict and live in friendship
cres, it led to large-scale destruction of roads, bridges, and and peace. These terms so negotiated may secure rights
buildings, dooming survivors to an insecure existence of of access or claims to tracts of disputed land, water, other
daily hardship. natural resources, safe passage across territorial boundaries
Notably, many armies around the world recruit chil- for trade or pilgrimages to sacred sites, and a host of other
dren. Experts estimate that some 250,000 child soldiers, issues setting rules to maintain order and avoid conflict.
many as young as 12 years old, are participating in armed Today, many indigenous nations who could not resist more
conflicts around the world, especially in Africa (“Child powerful states claiming political control or ownership
soldiers global report 2008,” 2009; “5th report on children over their ancestral lands are appealing to international or-
and armed conflict in the DR Congo,” 2014; see also UN ganizations for support in their struggle against repression,
News Centre, 2014). respect for their human rights and cultural freedom, and
Beyond these wars there are numerous so-called restoration of their political rights of self-determination in
low-intensity wars involving guerrilla organizations, rebel their homeland.
armies, resistance movements, terrorist cells, and a host
of other armed groups engaged in violent conflict with
official state-controlled armed forces. Every year, confron- Politics of Nonviolent
tations result in hundreds of hot spots and violent flash
points, most of which are never reported in the world’s
Resistance
major news media. There are other options for resolving major political
conflicts besides fighting with deadly weapons or interna-
tional diplomacy. In 1947, India and Pakistan gained po-
litical independence from their British colonial overlords
Peacemaking in part due to a nonviolent resistance movement led by
Mohandas Gandhi.
Throughout history, people have tried to prevent con- Born into the Vaisya caste in Gujarat, in 1869, Gandhi
flicts from escalating into violence, just as they have was the son of a high-ranking district official. In 1888,
endeavored to end existing violence and restore peaceful he sailed to London, where he completed his law stud-
relations. Thus, diplomacy and nonviolent resistance are ies. Failing to establish himself as a lawyer in India, the
a vital part of this chapter’s discussion. 23-year-old accepted a position in Johannesburg, South
Africa. There, like fellow dark-skinned Indians, he experi-
enced racist discrimination.
Peace Through Diplomacy Making a decision to fight colonial repression and in-
justice, Gandhi built a movement founded on the concept
Most societies have established diplomatic procedures
of satyagraha, which he conceived while serving as a legal
to resolve conflicts, and some have been more suc-
advisor for Indian traders and laborers working in British
cessful than others at implementing them to maintain
South Africa in 1906. The term is based on the Sanskrit
peace. Typically, politically organized groups designate
high-ranking trusted individuals to discuss a mutually
acceptable agreement to secure peace. Authorized as rep-
treaty A contract or formally binding agreement between two or more
resentatives acting on behalf of their tribal elders, chief, groups that are independent and self-governing political groups such as
king, or other sovereign head, these people usually carry tribes, chiefdoms, and states.
words satya (“truth”), implying love, and agraha (“firm- In 1988 Suu Kyi founded the National
ness”). As he described it in 1908, applying satyagraha League for Democracy (NLD) as a MYANMAR
to the pursuit of truth required weaning one’s opponent coordinating body for nonviolent
from the error of injustice: resistance. Two years later, after
winning a majority of
by patience and sympathy. . . . And patience
the national votes and
means self-suffering. So the doctrine came to mean
gaining 81 percent of the INDIA
vindication of truth, not by infliction of suffering on CHINA
seats in the Myanmar Par-
the opponent, but on one’s own self. . . . A satyagrahi
liament, she was placed
enjoys a degree of freedom not possible for others,
under house arrest and MYANMAR
for he becomes a truly fearless person. Once his mind LAOS
isolated from the public,
is rid of fear, he will never agree to be another’s slave.
as well as from her hus-
© Cengage Learning
Bay of
(Gandhi, 1999, vol. 19, p. 220, & vol. 8, p. 151) Bengal THAILAND
band and two children.
ANDAMAN
Returning to India in 1915, Gandhi mobilized the first of Refusing to compromise ISLANDS
many mass protests against colonial injustices applying her principles and accept (INDIA)
satyagraha as a “weapon of the strong” that “admits no exile, she endured in

violence under any circumstance” (Gandhi, 1999). solitude and periodically
The journey toward independence was long and full went on hunger strikes. She became one of the world’s
of losses for Gandhi and his satyagrahis, but they emerged most prominent political prisoners and was awarded the
victorious in 1947. Tragically, six months later, as Gandhi Nobel Peace Prize and many other international honors for
strove to maintain peace between religious factions, a her courageous human rights activism.
Hindu extremist assassinated the 79-year-old hero. In 2011, having been confined for fifteen of the
Gandhi’s triumphant example lives on. Among the previous twenty-one years and widowed, she finally
many current examples of nonviolent resistance is the regained her freedom and resumed her public role as
National League for Democracy (NLD), a popular mass head of the opposition movement. Six months later, the
movement to end the military grip on power in Myanmar, NLD Party won most of the vacant seats in the House
formerly known as Burma. Its founder and leader, Aung of Representatives, with Suu Kyi taking her long-denied
San Suu Kyi, is an Oxford University-trained political leader seat in Myanmar Parliament. In 2015, the NLD won an
raised in the Buddhist tradition like most of her followers. absolute majority in both houses of Parliament, fortifying
She is the daughter of a freedom fighter who led the coun- the democratic influence of its founder and chairperson
try to its 1947 independence from British colonial rule. Suu Kyi (Figure 12.13).
Figure 12.13 Myanmar’s

New Parliament
Pro-democracy leader Aung
San Suu Kyi attends the
first day of a new parliament
session in Naypyitaw,
Myanmar, on February 1,
2016. Suu Kyi’s National
League for Democracy now
holds a majority of seats
after the party’s landslide
victory in the November
2015 election. The previous
parliament was dominated
by army-backed candidates,
in a country that had spent
nearly five decades under
military rule.
© U Aung/Xinhua/Alamy Live News
Peacemaking 293
William Ury: Dispute Resolution and the Anthropologist

In an era when disputes quickly escalate government officials in negotiation skills. title, The Power of a Positive No. His 1999
into violence, conflict management is of It has four key goals: (1) design, imple- book, Getting to Peace: Transforming Conflict
growing importance. A world leader in this ment, and evaluate better dispute resolu- at Home, at Work, and in the World, he exam-
profession is U.S. anthropologist William tion practices; (2) promote collaboration ines what he calls the “third side,” which is
L. Ury, an independent negotiations spe- among practitioners and scholars; (3) de- the role that the surrounding community can
cialist who has wide-ranging experience velop education programs and materials play in preventing, resolving, and containing
working out conflicts—from family feuds for instruction in negotiation and dispute destructive conflict between two parties.a
to boardroom battles to ethnic wars. resolution; (4) increase public awareness His books have been translated into more
In his first year at graduate school, Ury and understanding of successful conflict than thirty languages.
began looking for ways to apply anthropol- resolution efforts. Like others in this field, Ury aims to
ogy to practical problems, including con- In 1982, Ury earned his doctorate in create a culture of negotiation in a world
flicts of all dimensions. He wrote a paper anthropology from Harvard with a disserta- where adversarial, win–lose attitudes are
about the role of anthropology in peace- tion titled “Talk Out or Walk Out: The Role out of step with the increasingly interde-
making and on a whim sent it to Roger and Control of Conflict in a Kentucky Coal pendent relations among people.b In writ-
Fisher, a law professor noted for his work Mine.” Afterward, he taught for several ing and action, he challenges entrenched
in negotiation and world affairs. Fisher, in years while maintaining a leadership role ideas that violence and war are inevitable,
turn, invited the young graduate student to at PON. In particular, he devoted himself offering convincing evidence that human
coauthor a kind of how-to book for interna- to PON’s Global Negotiation Initiative. With beings have as much inherent potential for
tional mediators. The book they researched former U.S. president Jimmy Carter, he cooperation and coexistence as they do for
and wrote together turned out to have a cofounded the International Negotiation violent conflict. Certain that violence is a
far wider audience because it presented Network, a nongovernmental body seeking choice, Ury says, “Conflict is not going to
basic principles of negotiation that could to end civil wars around the world. end, but violence can.”c
be applied to household spats, manager– Utilizing a cross-cultural perspective
a
employee conflicts, or international crises. sharpened through years of anthropolog- Pease, T. (2000, Spring). Taking the third
Titled Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement ical research, Ury has specialized in eth- side. Andover Bulletin 93 (3), 24. Ury also
Without Giving In, it sold millions of copies, nic and secessionist disputes, including covers this topic in his 2010 talk for the
was translated into twenty-one languages, those between white and black South noted TED series: http://www.ted.com/talks
and earned the nickname “the negotiator’s Africans, Serbs and Croats, Turks and /william_ury
b
bible.” Kurds, Catholics and Protestants in North- See Weber, L. (2015, January 23). Your own
While working on Getting to Yes, Ury and ern Ireland, and Russians and Chechens worst enemy in a negotiation? Look in the
Fisher cofounded the Program on Negoti- in the former Soviet Union. The Russian mirror. Wall Street Journal. http://blogs.wsj.com
ation (PON) at Harvard Law School, pull- Parliament awarded him a Distinguished /atwork/2015/01/23/your-worst-enemy-in
ing together an interdisciplinary group of Service Medal for his work on resolving -a-negotiation-look-in-the-mirror/ (retrieved
academics interested in new approaches ethnic conflicts. January 4, 2016); see also the Program on
to and applications of the negotiation Among the most effective tools in Ury’s Negotiation website: http://www.pon.harvard
process. Today, this applied research cen- applied anthropology work are the books he .edu/
c
ter is a multi-university consortium that continues to write on dispute resolution— Ury, W. L. (2002, Winter). A global immune
trains mediators, businesspeople, and from his 1993 Getting Past No to his 2007 system. Andover Bulletin 95 (2).
Throughout the world, liberation, civil rights, and and ideological factors. Military technology has led to the
pro-democracy movements have successfully applied the launching of ever-more effective killing machines operating
politics of nonviolent action in their struggles against po- in factories of death. The challenge of eliminating human
litical repression, racist discrimination, and dictatorships violence has never been greater than it is in today’s world—
(Sharp, 1973, 2010; Stolberg, 2011). And some anthropol- nor has the cost of not finding a way to do so. Throughout
ogists have made significant contributions in the arena of history and across the globe, individuals and groups have
peaceful conflict resolution, as chronicled in this chapter’s created, adopted, and applied ways to avoid and resolve
Anthropology Applied feature. conflicts by means of nonviolence. As we will see in the
As the cross-cultural examples featured in this chapter next chapter, the search for peace and harmony crosses
show, the political challenges of maintaining order and re- political and chronological boundaries and is among the
solving conflicts are complex, involving economic, political, challenges humans engage through religion and spirituality.
Chapter Check list
What is power, and why is it a vital issue ✓✓States are inherently unstable and transitory and differ
from nations, which are communities of people who
in every society? share a collective identity based on a common culture,
✓✓Power is the ability of individuals or groups to impose language, territorial base, and history.
their will upon others and make them do things even
against their own wants and wishes. Ranging from How do political organizations establish
persuasion to violence, power drives politics—the authority?
process of determining who gets what, when, and how.
✓✓Authority—claiming and exercising power as justified
✓✓A society’s political organization establishes how power by law or custom of tradition—is basic to the political
is accumulated, arranged, executed, and structurally process. Unlike coercion, which imposes obedience by
embedded in that society. force or intimidation, authority is based on the socially
accepted rules or codified laws binding people together
What are the different types of political as a society.
organization? ✓✓Most governments use some measure of ideology,
✓✓Political organizations, which can be uncentralized or including religion, to legitimize political power.
centralized, include bands, tribes, chiefdoms, and
✓✓Historically, far fewer women than men have held
states.
important positions of political leadership, but there
✓✓The band is a relatively small (a few hundred people at have been significant exceptions. Today, high-profile
most) and loosely organized kin-ordered group that female leadership is increasingly common.
inhabits a specific territory and that may split into
smaller extended family groups that are politically and How do political systems maintain social
economically independent. order and handle misconduct, crime, and
✓✓Typically, bands are found among food foragers and conflict within a society?
other nomadic societies where people organize into
✓✓There are two kinds of cultural control. Internalized or
politically autonomous family groups. Political
self-control is comprised of deeply ingrained sentiments
organization in bands is democratic, and informal
about what is proper and what is not. Externalized
control is exerted by public opinion in the form of
control includes sanctions or social directives designed
gossip and ridicule.
to encourage or coerce conformity to cultural standards
✓✓In anthropology, a tribe is a kin-ordered group of acceptable behavior.
politically integrated by a unifying factor and whose
✓✓Law is formal rules of conduct that, when violated,
members share a common ancestry, identity, culture,
lead to negative sanctions. In centralized political
language, and territory. With an economy usually
systems, this authority rests with the government and
based on crop cultivation or herding, the tribe’s
court system, whereas uncentralized societies give this
population is larger than that of the band. Political
authority directly to the injured party.
organization is transitory, and leaders have no coercive
means of maintaining authority. ✓✓All societies use negotiation to settle individual
disputes. In negotiation, the parties to the dispute
✓✓In many tribal societies, the organizing political unit is
reach an agreement themselves, with or without the
the clan, comprised of people who consider themselves
help of a third party. Typically, in non-state societies,
descended from a common ancestor. Another type of
efforts to resolve disputes focus on restoring social
tribal leadership is the Big Man, who builds up his
harmony. Punitive justice (such as imprisonment)
wealth and political power until he must be reckoned
stands in contrast to restorative justice.
with as a leader.
✓✓As societies grow and become more complex socially, Why war and how did it evolve?
politically, and economically, leadership becomes more
centralized. ✓✓Violent conflict—ranging from individual fights to
local feuds to formally declared international wars
✓✓A chiefdom is a politically organized society in which fought by professional armed forces—may be waged
several neighboring communities inhabiting a territory over scarce resources, territorial expansion, or ideology.
are united under a chief who heads a ranked hierarchy
of people. ✓✓War, a rather recent phenomenon, became prominent
as populations grew in the wake of the Neolithic
✓✓The most centralized political organization is the revolution. In the past 5,000 years, humans have
state—an institution established to manage and defend fought some 14,000 wars resulting in many hundreds
a complex, socially stratified society occupying a of millions of casualties, yet war is not a universal
defined territory. phenomenon. Some societies engage in defensive wars
295
only and try to avoid armed confrontations, and some ✓✓Treaties are formally binding agreements between two
societies do not practice warfare as we know it. or more groups that are independent and self-
governing political groups such as tribes, chiefdoms,
✓✓New inventions in military technology have
and states.
dramatically increased the complexity of warfare and
the number of civilian casualties. ✓✓In 1947, India and Pakistan gained political
independence from their British colonial overlords in
✓✓Genocide is the physical extermination of one people
part due to a nonviolent resistance movement led by
by another.
Mohandas Gandhi.
What nonviolent approaches do humans ✓✓A present-day example of nonviolent resistance is the
use to resolve conflicts? popular mass movement to end the military grip on
power in Myanmar led by Aung San Suu Kyi.
✓✓Throughout history, people have used diplomacy to
prevent conflicts from escalating into violence.
1. In Syria, a pluralistic society with many ethnic and solving conflicts? If so, what is the role of an ideology
religious groups, a civil war has turned into sectarian that asserts national and/or religious righteousness?
violence with numerous factions and splinter groups 3. When your own government commits its military
fighting each other. Can you imagine your own to fight on foreign soil, on what basis does it seek
country becoming a theocracy, dictatorship, or even a to justify the decision to send soldiers into deadly
failed state? What does it take to maintain tolerance combat against a declared enemy opponent?
and peaceful order?
4. Do you think nonviolent resistance is effective as a tactic
2. Do you think there is a relationship between challenging social or political injustice? Can you imagine
a profitable arms industry, promoting military a situation in which such protest is not only effective
dominance, and the pursuit of war as a means of but would also be legitimate? If so, on what grounds?
Politics and Purses
In many countries, political power is concentrated financing, with a focus on major individual,
in the hands of a wealthy elite owning or corporate, or institutional donors. Contact each of
controlling large corporations. Assuming you live these three elected officials and ask them, or their
in a democracy, please select three politicians staffers, to explain what these donors expect to
in your state, province, or district who have get in return for their support. Because actions
successfully run for high public office. Check speak louder than words, check which decisions
newspapers, websites, and other sources of were made that directly or indirectly favor these
information about their election campaign donors.
Josef Polleross/Getty Images
CHALLENGE ISSUE
As self-reflecting beings, humans face the challenge of making sense of our place in the uni-
verse. We puzzle over truly big questions about time and space and wrestle with existential
questions about our own fate, life, and death. For countless generations, our species has cre-
atively engaged in such reflections on the unknown, the mysterious, the supernatural. We do
this through our culture in sacred narratives and rituals—prayers, chants, dances, prostrations,
burnings, and sacrificial offerings—the cornerstones of many religions. In the small Himalaya
kingdom of Bhutan, where many people remain illiterate, Buddhist monks perform religious
legends in theatrical dance while trumpets offer sacred sounds to the divine. Here we see the
ceremonial Stag and Hounds dance, Shawo Shachi, in a centuries-old dzong or fortified monas-
tery. The dog-masked dancer acts out an ancient legend about Guru Rinpoche. This supreme
saint tamed bloodthirsty hunting dogs with songs and pacified their infuriated master, con-
verting him to Buddhism. Subduing demonic forces, the saint bought harmony and happiness
through sacred teachings and inspired many followers. The state religion in Bhutan is a branch
of Tibetan Buddhism established by an ascetic monk in the late 12th century. Achieving liv-
ing sainthood, this monk reincarnated many times in the course of centuries and founded a
spiritual lineage of ruling priest-kings. By collectively commemorating him, present-day monks
reinforce the beliefs and practices that support their nation’s traditional power structure.
Spirituality, Religion,
and Shamanism 13
Religions play an important role in determining cultural identity in many soci- In this chapter you
eties across the globe, sometimes overruling other major identity markers such will learn to
as kinship, social class, and ethnicity or nationality. From an anthropological ●● Articulate how religion
point of view, spirituality and religion are part of a cultural system’s superstruc- is related to other parts
ture, earlier defined as the collective body of ideas, beliefs, and values by which of a cultural system.
members of a culture make sense of the world and their place in it. In contrast ●● Distinguish a cross-
to theology or other disciplines, anthropology examines the entirety of shared cultural variety of
supernatural beings and
concepts concerning the ultimate shape and substance of reality in terms of a
spiritual forces.
people’s worldview—the collective body of ideas members of a culture generally
●● Identify religious
share concerning the ultimate shape and substance of their reality.
specialists and contrast
Notably, just 16 percent of the world’s population is categorized as nonreli- the different rituals they
gious. This broad label covers a range of worldviews—from atheism to secular oversee.
humanism to individually held spiritual beliefs that do not fit any formally ●● Recognize why places
institutionalized religion. (Figure 13.1). become sacred sites and
The superstructure of cultural systems is intricately connected with the in-
pilgrimage destinations.
frastructure and social structure. Guided by our barrel model, we therefore ex- ●● Explain beliefs in evil
pect adaptations in the superstructure when there are technological, economic,
magic, or witchcraft,
linking this to fear and
social, and/or political changes. Based on that principle, worldwide transforma-
social control.
tions in the ideological landscape are to be anticipated as an integral component
●● Interpret why shamanic
of globalization. Reviewing world history for the past few thousand years, schol-
healing is thought to be
ars recognize radical transformations in religious and spiritual beliefs and rituals effective.
everywhere. Taking the long view, we discover that, like political states discussed ●● Analyze the connection
in the previous chapter, most religions we know today are, in fact, not that old. between cultural upheaval
And even those that appear to be old are quite different from when they began. and revitalization
movements.
In this chapter we offer a cross-cultural review and comparative historical
perspective on a wide range of spiritual traditions and religions. We explain
how societies have developed worldviews concerning the non-ordinary, myste-
rious, transcendental, or supernatural—cultural superstructures with particular
repertoires of spiritual beliefs, ritual practices, and religious institutions, often
considered sacred or holy.
297
298 CHAPTER 13 Spirituality, Religion, and Shamanism
Buddhism 6% Christianity 33%

Includes Catholic,
Roles of Spirituality
Chinese
Traditional 6%
Other
4%
Protestant, Eastern
Orthodox, Pentecostal,
and Religion
Indigenous 6% AICs, Latter-Day
Among people in all societies, particular spiritual or reli-
Includes African Saints,
Jehovah’s gious beliefs and practices fulfill individual and collective
Traditional/
Diasporic Witnesses, psychological and emotional needs. They reduce anxiety
Quakers, by providing an orderly view of the universe and answers
etc.
Nonreligious 16% to existential questions, including those concerning suf-
Includes agnostic, fering and death. They provide a path by which people
atheist, secular
humanist, and transcend the burdens of mortal existence and attain, if
people with “no Islam 21% only momentarily, hope and relief.
religious preference.” Shia, Spiritual or religious beliefs and practices serve nu-
Half of this group Sunni, etc.
is “theistic” merous cultural purposes. For instance, a religion held
Hinduism 14%
© Cengage Learning
but nonreligious. in common by a group of people reinforces community
values and provides moral guidelines for personal con-
duct. It also offers narratives and rituals used to confirm a
social hierarchy and legitimize political power; conversely,
it may allow for narratives countering the divine claims of
Figure 13.1 Major Religions of the World
This chart shows the world’s major religions with percentages powerholders, even providing justifications and rituals to
of their adherents. The total adds up to more than 100 percent resist and challenge them. In addition, people may turn
due to rounding. Two have enormous followings: Christianity, to religion or spirituality in the hope of reaching a specific
with about 2.2 billion adherents (half of whom are Roman goal, such as restoring health, securing a harvest, ending
Catholic), and Islam, with over 1.5 billion (an overwhelming violence, or being rescued from danger (Figure 13.2).
majority of whom are Sunni). Within both religions are Anthropologists recognize that not everyone believes
numerous major and minor divisions, splits, and sects. in a supernatural force or entity, but they also agree that
Sources: adherents.com; Pew Research Center, 2011. there is no known culture that does not provide some set
AP Images/Ed Way
Figure 13.2 Bugi Sailors Praying, Indonesia

The Bugi of Sulawesi (Celebes) are famous for their oceangoing schooners. For generations,
these Indonesian seafarers have plied the waters between Malaysia and Australia, transporting
spices and other freight. Life at sea is risky—sudden storms, piracy, and other mishaps—and
sailors pray for safety. This prayerful Bugi gathering in Jakarta on Java Island took place on a
holiday ending Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting. During that time Muslims refrain from
eating, drinking liquids, smoking, and sexual activities, from sunrise to sunset. This taboo
serves to purify thought and build restraint for Allah’s sake.
Myth and the Mapping of a Sacred Worldview 299
of ideas about existence beyond ordinary and empirically plead with high-ranking deities for aid the way members
verifiable reality—ideas concerning the supernatural or of stratified societies more typically do. Their holistic
metaphysical. Because such ideas serve cultural purposes worldview is often referred to as naturalistic, an imprecise
and fulfill emotional and psychological needs, it makes but workable term.
sense that spirituality and religions developed tens of At the other end of our spectrum are state societies
thousands of years ago and occur across the globe. with commercial or industrial economies, sophisticated
In the wake of major technological inventions and technologies, and social stratification based on a com-
new discoveries since the 1600s, European intellectuals plex division of labor. There, high-ranking social groups
predicted that magic, myth, and religion would be re- typically seek to control and manage the construction of
placed by empirical research, proven facts, and scientific a society’s worldview as an ideological means of legitimiz-
theories. Some even forecasted the end of religion alto- ing and reinforcing their vested interests in its hierarchical
gether. But to date, and despite tremendous scientific structure. Usually featuring a ranked order of supernatural
achievements, that has not occurred. Confronted by radi- beings—for instance, God and (in some religions) the
cal cultural changes, and feeling threatened by upheaval, angels, saints, or other holy figures—it simultaneously
many turn to religion and spirituality in search of reassur- reflects and reinforces the stratified system in which it is
ing answers and hope. embedded. In such societies, religious activities are usually
reserved for designated locations, times, and occasions.
Religions provide a powerful ideology justifying in-
equality in a state society, but they may also inspire sub-
Anthropological Approach ordinated peoples to envision an alternative social order
to Spirituality and Religion freeing them from exploitation, repression, and humilia-
tion. Thus, religiously motivated social movements have
challenged political establishments.
Worldwide, people are inspired and guided by strongly
held ideas about the supernatural, putting into practice
what they deeply believe to be true or right. It is not the
responsibility of anthropologists to pass judgment on the Myth and the Mapping
metaphysical truth of any particular faith system, but it
is our task to show how each embodies a number of re- of a Sacred Worldview
vealing facts about humanity and the particular cultural
Because much remains beyond human capacity to actu-
superstructure within which these religious or spiritual
ally observe and explain based on obvious or empirical ev-
beliefs are ideologically embedded.
idence alone, people have creatively worked out narratives
Based on a cross-cultural and comparative historical
explaining the fundamentals of human existence—where
perspective on worldviews, we define religion as an or-
we and everything in our world came from, why we are
ganized system of ideas about the spiritual sphere or the
here, and where we are going. These narratives form part
supernatural, along with associated ceremonial practices
of a people’s worldview or cosmology—their understanding
by which people try to interpret and/or influence aspects
of the universe, its form and workings. Falling into the
of the universe otherwise beyond their control. Similar
category of myth (mythos, Greek for “word,” “speech”),
to religion, spirituality is concerned with the sacred, as
these stories play a fundamental role in religious and
distinguished from ordinary reality, but it is often individ-
spiritual beliefs and practices. Myths are believed to be
ual rather than collective and does not require a formal
true, even sacred, by those subscribing to the particular
institution. Both indicate that many aspects of the human
worldview engendering such narratives.
experience are thought to be beyond natural or scientific
Typically, a myth features supernatural forces or beings
explanation.
engaged in extraordinary or miraculous performances.
Spirituality and/or religion continue to play a role
It may offer a morality play, providing an ethical code
in all known cultures. However, considerable variability
exists globally (Figure 13.3). At one end of the anthro-
pological spectrum are food-foraging peoples, who have
limited technological ability and social division of labor religion An organized system of ideas about the spiritual sphere or the
supernatural, along with associated ceremonial practices by which people
to exploit or control their natural environment. Broadly try to interpret and/or influence aspects of the universe otherwise
speaking, they hold that nature is pregnant with the beyond their control.
spiritual. Embedded and manifested in all aspects of their spirituality Concern with the sacred, as distinguished from material
culture, spirituality permeates their daily activities—from matters. In contrast to religion, spirituality is often individual rather
than collective and does not require a distinctive format or traditional
food hunting or gathering to making fires, building
organization.
homes, and conversations about life before or after death.
myth A sacred narrative that explains the fundamentals of human
It also mirrors and confirms the egalitarian nature of so- existence—where we and everything in our world came from, why we are
cial relations in their societies, in that individuals do not here, and where we are going.
ASIA
NORTH
AMERICA EUROPE
Atlantic
Pacific
Ocean
Ocean
AFRICA
Pacific
Ocean
Indian
Ocean
SOUTH
AMERICA AUSTRALIA
Predominant Religions
CHRISTIANITY ISLAM Chinese Religions
Protestant Sunni Muslim Shinto and Buddhism
Roman Catholic Shia Muslim Judaism
Eastern Orthodox Sikhism
© Cengage Learning
Coptic OTHER Indigenous (mostly animism)
Mormon (LDS) Hinduism Indigenous and Christian
Mixed Sects Buddhism Unpopulated Areas
Figure 13.3 Global Distribution of Predominant Religions

This map depicts the global distribution of major religions, indicating where they predominate.
In some areas, the mixture of different religions is such that no single faith is shared by most
of that region’s inhabitants. Not detailed enough to show pockets with significant numbers of a
particular faith (such as Israel’s 6 million Jews), it also omits many religions that are dispersed
or eclipsed by others—including several worldwide ones such as Ahmadiyya (a Muslim sect,
with 10 million adherents), Jehovah’s Witnesses (a Christian sect with 7 million adherents), and
Bahá’í (with 6 million adherents, emphasizing the spiritual unity of all mankind and recognizing
divine messengers from various religions).
for its audience and guidelines for human behavior. For spiritual rituals. Their actions presuppose the existence
example, the Puranas (a body of religious texts, including of spiritual forces that can be tapped into, or supernat-
cosmological myths, considered sacred by Buddhists and ural beings interested in human affairs and available
Hindus) are rich in such material. So are the Bible, Quran, for aid. In many cultures, these supernatural forces or
and Torah, each held sacred in distinct but historically spiritual beings are associated with unique geographic
related religions originating in Southwest Asia. Whether locations valued as sacred sites—extraordinary rock
orally transmitted in poems or stories, musically in songs, formations, lakes, wells, waterfalls, mountains, and so
in dance motions, in pictures or sculptures, or in writing, forth. Supernatural beings can be divided into three cat-
these representations have been passed on from genera- egories: deities (gods and goddesses), ancestral spirits,
tion to generation and inform believers with a sacred map and other sorts of spirit beings.
of the cosmos, or universe, and their place in it.
Gods and Goddesses

Supernatural Beings Not all religions anthropomorphize the divine, but many
do. Symbolically constructing a divine order that mirrors
and Spiritual Forces a society’s gender structure, many religions recognize
male and female deities. Gods and goddesses, or divini-
A hallmark of religion is belief in spiritual forces and ties, are the great and more remote supernatural beings.
supernatural beings. Attempting to control by religious Generally speaking, cultures that subordinate women to
means what cannot be controlled in other ways, hu- men attribute masculine gender to the more powerful
mans turn to prayer, sacrifice, and other religious or gods or to a supreme deity. For instance, in traditional
Supernatural Beings and Spiritual Forces 301
Christian religions believers speak of God as

a father who had a divine son born from a
human mother, but they do not entertain
thoughts of God as a mother or as a divine
daughter. Such male-privileging religions de-
veloped in many societies traditionally based
on the herding of animals or intensive ag-
riculture with frequent warfare, and politics
controlled by men.
Goddesses, by contrast, are likely to be
prominent in societies where women play a
significant role in the economy and enjoy
relative equality with men. Such societies are
most often those that depend on crop cultiva-
tion traditionally carried out solely or mostly
by women. Typically, these may feature fertil-
ity and earth goddesses.
Some religions recognize deities repre-
sented as male–female combinations. For ex-
ample, one of the Greek gods, also recognized
in the Roman empire, was Hermaphroditus,
the beautiful two-sexed son of Hermes (or
Mercury) and Aphrodite (or Venus). Hindus
recognize a similar third-gender divinity when
they worship Ardhanarishvara (“the Lord who
is half woman”) (Figure 13.4).
If a religion recognizes only one supremely
powerful divinity as creator and master of the
universe, we speak of monotheism. If it
acknowledges more than one divinity, each
governing a particular domain, we label it
polytheism. Gods and goddesses of ancient
Greece illustrate the latter: Zeus ruled the sky,
Ephotocorp/Robert Harding
Poseidon the sea, and Hades the underworld
and the dead. In addition to these three
brothers, Greek mythology features a host
of other deities, both male and female, each
similarly concerned with specific aspects of
life and the universe. Athena and Nike, for
Figure 13.4 Ardhanarishvara, a Dual-Gender Divinity
instance, were goddesses of war and victory,
Some religions recognize deities as physically resembling human beings, males
respectively. A pantheon, or a collective of and females. Among the many gods in the Hindu tradition is one that embodies
gods and goddesses worshiped in a society, both genders at once. Pictured here is Ardhanarishvara—a composite androgynous
is common in many religions, today most form of the Hindu god Shiva and his consort Parvati. Having just one female
famously in Hinduism. breast, this divinity represents a synthesis of masculine and feminine energies
Because states typically have grown of the universe.
through conquest, often their pantheons
have expanded, with local deities of con-
quered peoples being incorporated into the official state
Ancestral Spirits
pantheon. A frequent feature of pantheons is the presence Beliefs in ancestral spirits support the idea that human
of a supreme deity, who may be all but totally ignored by beings consist of intertwined components: body/matter
humans. Aztecs of the Mexican highlands, for instance, (physical) and mind/soul (spiritual). This dualistic concept
recognized a supreme duo to whom they paid little at-
tention. Assuming this divine pair was unlikely to be in- monotheism The belief in only one supremely powerful divinity as
terested in ordinary humans, they devoted themselves to creator and master of the universe.
lesser deities thought to be more directly concerned with polytheism The belief in multiple gods and/or goddesses.
human affairs. pantheon A collective of gods and goddesses worshiped in a society.
carries with it the possibility of a spirit being freed from the Animism is typical of those who see themselves as
body—through dream, trance, or death—and even having being a part of nature rather than dominating or su-
a separate existence. Frequently, where a belief in ancestral perior to it. This includes most food foragers and food
spirits exists, these nonphysical beings are seen as retaining gardeners, among others. Deities, if they are believed
an active interest and membership in society. to exist at all in such societies, may be seen as having
Beliefs in ancestral spirits are found in many parts of created the world and perhaps making it fit to live in;
the world, especially among people having unilineal de- but in animism, spirits are the ones to beseech when
scent systems with their associated ancestor orientation. ill, the ones to help or hinder the shaman, and the
In several African cultures, the concept is highly elaborate, ones whom the ordinary hunter may meet when off in
and people believe ancestral spirits behave much like hu- the wilderness.
mans; they are able to feel hot, cold, and pain and may
even die a second death by drowning or burning. Because
spirits sometimes participate in family and lineage events, Animatism
seats will be provided for them, even though they are
Although supernatural power is often thought of as
invisible. If spirits are annoyed, they may send sickness
being vested in spirit beings, it does not have to be.
or death. Eventually, they are reborn as new members of
Such is the case with animatism—the belief that na-
their lineage, so adults need to observe infants closely to
ture is enlivened or energized by an impersonal force
determine just who has been reborn. Such beliefs provide
or supernatural energy, which may make itself mani-
a strong sense of solidarity among members of the same
fest in any special place, thing, or living creature. This
kin-group through the generations.
basic concept, which probably developed well before
the first transition from food foraging to food produc-
tion 10,000 years ago, is still present in many societies
Other Types of Supernatural around the world today. For example, in China it ap-
Beings and Spiritual Forces pears in the form of a concept known as qi (or ch’i),
which may be translated as “vital energy.” Inuit people
In cross-cultural research, anthropologists encounter a
in Arctic Canada think of this force in terms of a “cos-
range of spiritual and religious beliefs or practices in addi-
mic breath-soul” they call sila. In northeastern America,
tion to those in which people worship one or more gods
Algonquian-speaking indigenous peoples refer to imper-
and goddesses and revere ancestral spirits. They also find
sonal spirit power as manitou.
societies in which people believe in numerous other dis-
One of the best-studied examples of animatism can
tinct spirit beings, including many varieties of a belief in
be found in the Pacific where Oceanic peoples inhab-
an impersonal spirit power or supernatural force.
iting hundreds of islands share a concept they refer to
as mana—the idea of a cosmic energy passing into and
Animism through everything. Affecting living and nonliving
One of the most widespread concepts concerning super- matter alike, mana is probably best defined as “super-
natural beings is animism, a belief that nature is enliv- naturally conferred potency” (Keesing, 1992, p. 236)—
ened or energized by distinct personalized spirit beings similar to “the force” in the Star Wars films. Traditional
separable from physical bodies or the material substance Maori, Tahitians, Tongans, and other Oceanic peoples
they inhabit. Spirits such as souls and ghosts are thought typically attribute success—identified by actual achieve-
to dwell in humans, animals, and plants, as well as ments such as triumph in combat, bountiful harvest,
human-made artifacts and natural features such as stones, and abundant fish or game—to mana. As far as they are
mountains, and wells; for animists, the world is filled concerned, belief in this supernatural force rests on prag-
with particular spirits. These beings are a highly diverse matic evidence.
lot. Less remote than gods and goddesses, they may be Animism (a belief in distinct spirit beings) and ani-
benevolent, malevolent, or just plain neutral. Involved in matism (which lacks particular substance or individual
people’s daily affairs, they also may be awesome, terrify- form) are often found in the same culture. This is the case
ing, lovable, or mischievous. Because they may be pleased among the Inuit, who believe in spirit beings known as
or irritated by human actions, people are obliged to be anirniit as well as in the impersonal spirit power they call
concerned about them. sila (Merkur, 1983) (Figure 13.5).
In many religious traditions, certain geographic places
are thought to be spiritually significant or are held sacred
for various reasons, including ideas here discussed in
animism The belief that nature is enlivened or energized by distinct
terms of animism and animatism. Typically, such sites
personalized spirit beings separable from bodies.
are rivers, lakes, waterfalls, islands, forests, caves, and—
animatism The belief that nature is enlivened or energized by an
impersonal spiritual force or supernatural energy, which may make itself especially—mountains. We revisit the topic of sacred sites
manifest in any special place, thing, or living creature. later in the chapter.
Religious Specialists 303
H. Mark Weidman Photography/Alamy

Figure 13.5 Inuit Food Ritual
Inuit of Arctic Canada refer to spirit beings as anirniit (singular anirniq, meaning “breath”) and
still obey certain taboos and perform rituals when killing game animals and dividing the meat.
This is to avoid offending the animal’s spirit (which remains alive and may take revenge on
the hunter). Today, most Inuit are Christians, and their concept of anirniq is akin to “soul.” But
traditional food rituals continue, including the fair distribution of meat from a whale hunt. In this
photo, an Inuit community follows tradition in collecting shares of beluga whale in the Arctic
village of Pangnirtung on Baffin Island.
Religious Specialists Reserving exclusive rights to exercise spiritual power,

groups of priests and/or priestesses bond together in an
Most cultures include individuals who guide others in effort to monopolize the means of sacred practice. This
their spiritual search and ritual practices. Thought to includes controlling holy sites of worship, supervising
be inspired, enlightened, or even holy, they command prescribed rituals, and maintaining possession of regalia,
respect for their skills in contacting and influencing spir- relics, statues, images, texts, and other representations
itual beings and manipulating or connecting to supernat- of holiness. In so doing, they also create, promote, and
ural forces. Often, they display unique personality traits maintain the ideological sources needed to symbolically
that make them particularly well suited to perform these construct the religious authority from which they derive
tasks for which they have undergone special training. their legitimacy.
When deities are identified in masculine terms, it is
not surprising that the most important religious lead-
Priests and Priestesses ership positions are reserved for men. Such is the case
in Judaism and Islam, as well as the Roman Catholic
In societies with resources to support a full-time religious
Church, the latter of which has always been headed by
specialist, a priest or priestess will be authorized to
a male pope and his all-male council, the College of
perform sacred rituals and mediate between fellow hu-
Cardinals.
mans and supernatural powers, divine spirits, or deities. In
many societies, they are familiar figures known by official
titles such as lama, kahuna, imam, priest, minister, rabbi,
swami, or copa pitào. How they dress, what they eat, where
they live, and numerous other indicators may distinguish
priest or priestess A full-time religious specialist formally recognized
them from others in society and symbolically indicate for his or her role in guiding the religious practices of others and for
their special status. contacting and influencing supernatural powers.
Change Your Karma and Change Your Sex?

By Hillary Crane
believe certain behavior—such as dili- (“dharma brother”). They use this linguistic
gently practicing Buddhism—improves change to signal that they identify them-
karma and the chances of attaining spir- selves as men and to remind one another
itual goals in this lifetime or coming back to behave like men, particularly like the
in a better birth. Other behavior—such monks at the temple.
East
China as killing a living being, eating meat, de- Monastics also reduce their attach-
Sea siring or becoming attached to things or ments to worldly things like music and
people—accrues bad karma. food. Nuns usually emphasize forsaking
Shanghai One way karma manifests itself is in food and eat as little as possible. Their ap-
one’s sex. Taiwanese Buddhists believe pearance, already quite masculine because
CHINA
that being born female makes it harder to they shave their heads and wear loose,
attain spiritual goals. This idea comes, in gray clothing, becomes even more so when
ait
part, from the inferior status of women in they lose weight—particularly in their hips,
Str
HONG
an
KONG Taiwan and the belief that their “compli- breasts, and thighs. Also, after becoming
iw
Taipei
Ta
cated bodies” and monthly menstruation monastics, they often experience a slow-
© Cengage Learning
TAIWAN
cycles can distract them. Moreover, they ing or stopping of their menses. Although
South believe, women are more enmeshed in these physical changes can be attributed
China
Sea Philippine Sea their families than men, and their emo- to change in diet and lifestyle, the nuns
tional ties keep them focused on worldly point to them as signs they are becoming
rather than spiritual tasks. men, making progress toward their spiritual
Taiwanese Buddhists who decide to goals, and improving their karma.
As Mahayana Buddhists, Taiwanese Chan become monks and nuns must break
(Zen) monastics believe that all humans from their families to enter a monastery. Biocultural Question
are able to reach enlightenment and be Because women are thought to be more The Zen Buddhist ideal of enlightenment,
released from reincarnation. But they attached to their families than are men, realized when the soul is released from
believe it is easier for some because of leaving home is seen as a particularly reincarnation, prescribes an extreme as-
the situation into which they are born—for big step for nuns and a sign that they are cetic lifestyle for nuns that makes them
example, if one is born in a country where more like men than most women. In fact, physically incapable of biological repro-
Buddhism is practiced, in a family that a nun’s character is considered mascu- duction. Do you think that their infertility
teaches proper behavior, or with excep- line, unlike the frightened, indecisive, and allows these female monastics to emo-
tional mental or physical gifts. emotional traits usually associated with tionally adapt to a way of life that denies
Chan monastics view contrasting hu- women in Taiwan. When they leave home them motherhood?
man circumstances as the result of the nuns even stop referring to themselves
karma accrued in previous lives. They as women and call one another shixiong Written expressly for this text, 2008.
Female religious specialists are likely to be found only

in societies in which women are acknowledged to signifi-
Spiritual Lineages: Legitimizing
cantly contribute to the economy, and gods and goddesses Religious Leadership
are both recognized (Lehman, 2002). Also, all around the As with political institutions discussed in the previous
world women fully devoted to a religious life have formed chapter, religious organizations are maintained by rules
their own gender-segregated institutions such as all-female that define ideological boundaries, establish membership
convents headed by an abbess. Such nunneries not only criteria, and regulate continuity of legitimate leadership
exist in countries with longstanding Christian traditions, in the faith community. And, like other institutions, reli-
but were also founded in the Himalayas and many other gions have always been challenged by changes. Even in a
Buddhist regions in southern and eastern Asia, including highly stable cultural system, every generation must deal
Taiwan, as described by U.S. anthropologist Hillary Crane with natural transitions in the life cycle, including death
in the Biocultural Connection. of religious leaders. In many religions, spiritual leadership
is thought to be vested in divine authority, representing or proclaim the new pope to be the divinely ordained spir-
even embodying the divine itself. How do religions secure itual heir of St. Peter, Vicar of Christ. Believed by 1.2 bil-
legitimate successors and avoid disruption and confusion? lion Christians to hold the sacred key to heaven, the pope
Several major religions follow a principle of leadership is traditionally addressed as “Holy Father.” The current
in which divine authority is passed down from a spiritual Pope Francis is the 266th holder of this nearly 2,000-year-
founding figure, such as a prophet or saint, to a chain of old religious office.
successors who derive legitimacy as religious leaders from A fourth and final example of spiritual lineage is found
their status in such a lineage. Here identified as spiritual in Tibetan Buddhism, divided into four major orders or
lineage, this principle has been worked out in numerous schools. Each has its own monasteries, monks of various
cross-cultural variations over the course of thousands of ranks from novice to lama, and a wealth of ancient texts,
years. It not only applies to leadership of entire religions ritual practices, meditations, and other sacred knowledge
but to segmental divisions of religions, such as sects and passed on largely by oral tradition. Highest in rank among
orders. the monks are reincarnated saints. These are individuals
Whereas kings in traditional political dynasties derive who, fully emanating the divine Buddha spirit, achieved
legitimacy from their ancestral blood lineage, religious enlightenment during their lifetime; led by compassion,
leaders obtain it from their spiritual line of descent as they chose to give up nirvana (“eternal bliss”) after death
specified in each particular religious tradition. The longer to return to life on earth. To fulfill this role, such a saintly
these lineages have existed, the greater their opportunities person must be recognized. Toward this end, a select
for building up a fund of symbolic capital—ideas and rit- group of high-ranking lamas guided by omens seeks out a
uals, including sacred gestures, dances, songs, and texts. newborn boy believed to be a tulku (“emanated incarna-
This fund also includes regalia, paintings, statues, and tion”) of a recently deceased saintly lama in their spiritual
sacred architecture such as shrines, tombs, and temples, lineage. Once they find the little boy, they ritually induct
along with the land on which they stand. Thus, some and enthrone him and begin grooming him for his desig-
religious leaders and their followers have accumulated a nated spiritual leadership position in the Buddhist order.
considerable amount of material wealth utilized in the ex- Of about 500 tulku lineages in Tibetan Buddhism, the
ercise of religious authority, in addition to the immaterial most famous is the Dalai Lama (“teacher who is spiritually
holdings of traditional knowledge and sacred rituals. as deep as the ocean”). For centuries, this illustrious lin-
Here, to illustrate the cross-cultural range of spiritual eage has been the highest-ranking political and spiritual
lineages, we distinguish four major forms. First, in some position among Tibetan Buddhists. Its origins trace back to
religions, spiritual leaders or high-ranking priests claim a high-ranking monk named Gendun Drup (1391–1474),
divine authority based on recognized biological descent thought to have embodied the Buddha spirit of compas-
from a common ancestor believed to have been a prophet, sion. A few years after the death of the thirteenth Dalai
saint, or otherwise sacred, holy, or even divine being. Such Lama in 1933, high-ranking monks from his order identi-
is the case with kohanim (high-ranking Israelite priests) fied a 2-year-old boy in a small farming village as his rein-
claiming patrilineal descent from the legendary high carnated “wisdom mind.” Renaming him Tenzin Gyatso,
priest Aaron, believed to have lived about 3,500 years ago. they later enthroned the little tulku as His Holiness, the
In other religions, leaders personally groom, train, and fourteenth Dalai Lama (Figure 13.6).
appoint a spiritual heir, a successor tasked with guarding
and continuing the spiritual legacy of the order or sect as
established by its founder. For example, a sect of Muslim Shamans
mystics known as Sufi is widely dispersed across Asia and
Societies without religious professionals have existed
North Africa and historically divided into many dozens of
far longer than those that have them. Although lacking
orders or brotherhoods. A master teacher, known by an
full-time specialists, they have always included individ-
honorific title such as sheikh, heads each brotherhood. The
uals considered capable of connecting with supernatural
sheikh derives his spiritual authority from his position in
beings and forces—individuals such as shamans. That
a silsila (Arabic, meaning “chain”), named after a found-
capacity, partially based on learned techniques, is also
ing saint who originally laid down a particular method of
based on personality and particular emotional experi-
prayer and ritual practiced by followers seeking oneness
ences that could be described as mystical. Supplied with
with God (Abun-Nasr, 2007; Anjum, 2006).
spiritual knowledge in the form of a vision or some other
A third form of legitimizing the authority of a religious
extraordinary revelation, these individuals are believed to
leader is by election. In such cases, a group of leading el-
ders comes together in a ritual gathering at a traditionally
designated location and chooses one of their own to suc-
ceed the deceased leader. One of the best-known examples
spiritual lineage A principle of leadership in which divine authority is
in world history is the election of a pope by a group of passed down from a spiritual founding figure, such as a prophet or saint,
cardinals—“princes” of the Roman Catholic Church who to a chain of successors.
visions of an alternate reality inhabited by spirit beings

such as guardian animal spirits who may assist with heal-
ing. Similar spiritual practices exist in many indigenous
cultures outside Siberia, especially in the Americas. For
that reason, the term shaman is frequently applied to a
variety of part-time spiritual leaders, diviners, and tra-
ditional healers active in many other parts of the world
(Kehoe, 2000).
Anthropologist Michael Harner (see Anthropologist of
Note), a modern-day shamanic practitioner famous for his
participant observation among Shuar (or Jívaro) Indian
shamans in the Amazon rainforest, defines a shaman as
someone who enters an altered state of consciousness “to
contact and utilize an ordinarily hidden reality in order to
acquire knowledge, power, and to help other persons. The
shaman has at least one, and usually more, ‘spirits’ in his
or her personal service” (Harner, 1980, p. 20).
Shamanic Experience
Someone may become a shaman by passing through
stages of learning and practical experience, often involv-
ing psychological and emotional ordeals brought about
by isolation, fasting, physical torture, sensory depriva-
tion, and/or hallucination (Latin for “mental wandering”).
Eyes Wide Open/Getty Images
Hallucinations may occur when one is in a trance state;

they can come about spontaneously, but they can also be
induced by drumming or consuming mind-altering drugs
such as psychoactive vines or mushrooms.
Because shamanism is rooted in altered states of
consciousness and the human nervous system univer-
Figure 13.6 Dalai Lama
sally produces these trance states, individuals experience
Of the 500 or so lineages in Tibetan Buddhism, the most
similarly-structured visual, auditory, somatic (touch), ol-
famous is the Dalai Lama. Here we see the fourteenth Dalai
factory (smell), and gustatory (taste) hallucinations. The
Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, conducting a teaching on “the essence of
refined gold” at the main Tibetan temple in Dharamshala, India. widespread occurrence of shamanism and the remarkable
Dharamshala is the center for the world’s exiled Tibetans. similarities among shamanic traditions everywhere are
Following the 1959 Tibetan uprising, the fourteenth Dalai Lama consequences of this universal neurological inheritance.
fled here, followed by an influx of Tibetan refugees. But the meanings ascribed to sensations experienced in
altered states and made of their content are culturally
determined; hence, despite their overall similarities, indig-
be supernaturally empowered to heal the sick, change the enous traditions typically vary in particular details.
weather, control the movements of animals, and foretell Shamans can be contrasted with priests and priestesses
the future. As they perfect these and related skills, they in that the latter serve deities of the society. As agents of
may combine the role of a diviner and a healer, becoming divine beings, priests and priestesses order believers what
a shaman. to think and do, whereas shamans may challenge or nego-
Originally, the Tungus word shaman referred to a tiate with the spirits. In return for services rendered, sha-
medical-religious specialist, or spiritual guide, among mans may collect a fee—money, fresh meat, or some other
the Tungus people and other Siberian pastoral nomads valuable item. In some cases, shamans are rewarded by the
with animist beliefs. By means of various techniques prestige that comes as a result of a healing or some other
such as fasting, drumming, chanting, or dancing, as well extraordinary feat.
as hallucinogenic mushrooms, these shamans enter into
a trance. In this waking dream state, they experience Shamanic Healing
Shamans are essentially spiritual go-betweens who act on
behalf of a client, often to bring about healing or to fore-
tell a future event. Typically, they enter a trance state, ex-
shaman A person who enters an altered state of consciousness
to contact and utilize an ordinarily hidden reality in order to acquire perience the sensation of traveling to the alternate world,
knowledge, power, and to help others. and see and interact with spirit beings. Shamans may try
Michael J. Harner (b. 1929)
A world-renowned expert on shamanism, U.S. anthropologist they believe are the “true” forces governing sickness and health,
Michael Harner studied at the University of California, Berkeley. life and death.
Starting out in archaeology and collaborating with Alfred Kroeber Harner returned to the Upper Amazon in 1960 for more
on Mojave pottery research, he later switched to ethnography. In- ethnographic fieldwork, this time among the Conibo in eastern
trigued by the Jívaro, legendary for shrinking human heads, he Peru. Seeking greater insight on ayahuasca’s psychological im-
ventured into eastern Ecuador’s tropical forest in 1956, at age 27. pact on the native cosmology, he drank the magic brew. Passing
For nearly a year, he lived among these Amazonian Indians, now through the door of perception into the shamanic view of reality,
better known as Shuar. They still subsisted on food gardens and he found himself in a world beyond his “wildest dreams”: a
by hunting and gathering; they fiercely guarded their freedom and supernatural landscape inhabited by spirit beings. Singing in-
launched raids on enemy tribes. credibly beautiful music, they began to carry his soul away and
Holding an animistic worldview, the Shuar distinguish be- he felt he was dying. Coming out of this experience, and later
tween what Harner has identified as ordinary and non-ordinary ones with Conibo shamans, Harner realized that anthropologists
realities. They believe that supernatural forces govern daily life had seriously underestimated the powerful influence hallucino-
and that spirit beings can be perceived and engaged only by sha- genic drugs traditionally have on Amazonian Indian ideologies
mans capable of entering non-ordinary reality. They access this and practices.
reality by drinking natema, a bitter brew made from a jungle vine In 1963, Harner earned his doctorate at UC Berkeley, and
known as ayahuasca (“vine of the soul”). As they told Harner, the next year went back to Shuar country for additional sha-
drinking this hallucinogenic potion, shamans enter an altered manic experience. In 1966, having taught at UC Berkeley and
state of consciousness in which they perceive and engage what served as associate director of the Lowie Museum of Anthro-
pology, he became a visiting professor at Yale and Columbia
University. In 1969, he did fieldwork among a neighboring
Jivaroan-speaking tribe, the Achuara, and the following year
joined the graduate faculty of the New School for Social
Research in New York City. Over the next few years he published
his monograph, The Jívaro: People of the Sacred Waterfalls, an ed-
ited volume titled Hallucinogens and Shamanism, and numerous
academic articles.
Continuing cross-cultural research on shamanism, Harner
became interested in drumming as an alternative means of
achieving what he now identifies as SSC (shamanic state of
consciousness). Learning and using this method of monotonous
percussive sound (“sonic driving”), he began offering training
workshops and published The Way of the Shaman, a groundbreak-
ing book now translated into a dozen languages.
Collaborating with his wife, clinical psychologist Sandra
Harner, in 1979 he started the Center for Shamanic Studies,
now called the Foundation for Shamanic Studies, a nonprofit
charitable and educational organization dedicated to the
preservation, study, and transmission of shamanic knowledge.
Its indigenous assistance program supports the survival of
shamanic healing knowledge among such peoples as the
Canadian Inuit, Scandinavian Sámi, and Tuvans of Central Asia
and Siberia.
Since resigning from his university professorship in 1987, this
anthropologist has been fully devoted to shamanic studies and
© 2011 France Viana
healing practice, training others, including physicians, psycho-

therapists, and other healthcare professionals. The foundation’s
faculty assists him in this work.
In his most recent book, Cave and Cosmos: Shamanic En-
Michael Harner—anthropologist, shaman, and founder of the counters with Spirits and Heavens (2013), Harner recounts and
Foundation for Shamanic Studies in Mill Valley, California. compares experiences of shamanic “ascension” and offers in-
structions on his core shamanism techniques.
to impose their will upon these spirits, an inherently dan-

gerous contest, considering the superhuman powers that
spirits are thought to possess. A
An example of this can be seen in the trance dances
of the Ju/’hoansi Bushmen of Africa’s Kalahari Desert.
Traditional Ju/’hoansi belief holds that illness and mis-
fortune are caused by invisible arrows shot by spirits.
Healers, who possess the powerful healing force called
n/um (the Ju/’hoansi equivalent of mana), can remove the
arrows. Some healers can activate n/um by solo singing or
MAGIC
instrument playing, but more often this is accomplished
FIELD
through the healing ceremony or trance dance (Figure 13.7).
© Cengage Learning
B C
Figure 13.8 The Shamanic Complex

Shamanic healing takes place within a “magic field” created
when the shaman (A) and patient (B), as well as their community
(C), are all convinced that the shaman is a genuine healing
master using appropriate techniques that are effective and
beneficial. Similar psychological processes are involved in
Western medical treatments.
The precise effects of the shamanic treatment are

not known, but its psychological and emotional impact
is thought to contribute to the patient’s recovery. From
an anthropological perspective, shamanic healings can
be understood by means of a three-cornered model: the
shamanic complex, which is created by the interrelation-
ship of the shaman, the patient, and the community to
which both belong (Figure 13.8). For healing to occur,
Kim Walker/Robert Harding/Newscom
the shaman needs to be convinced of the effectiveness of

his or her spiritual powers and techniques. Likewise, the
patient must see the shaman as a genuine healing master
using appropriate techniques. Finally, to complete this
triangular “magic field,” the community within which
the shaman operates on the patient must view the healing
ceremony and its practitioner as potentially effective and
beneficial.
Figure 13.7 Ju/’hoansi Shaman Healer and Helper in
Shamanic healing ceremonies involve social-
Trance Dance
psychological dynamics also present in Western med-
Ju/’hoansi shamans may find their way into a trance by
dancing around a fire to the pulsating sound of melodies sung
ical treatments. Consider, for example, the placebo
by women. Eventually, sometimes after several hours, “the effect—the beneficial result a patient experiences after
music, the strenuous dancing, the smoke, the heat of the fire, a particular treatment, due to the person’s expecta-
and the healers’ intense concentration cause their n/um to tions concerning the treatment rather than from the
heat up. When it comes to a boil, trance is achieved. At that treatment itself. Notably, some people involved in
moment, the n/um becomes available as a powerful healing contemporary biomedicine work collaboratively with
force to serve the entire community. In trance, a healer lays practitioners of traditional belief systems toward the
hands on and ritually cures everyone sitting around the fire” healing of various illnesses (Harner & Harner, 2000;
(Shostak, 2000, pp. 259–260). Offiong, 1999).
Ritual Performances 309
Ritual Performances sense of inner peace and cosmic harmony), as well as so-
cially, such as by establishing or restoring harmony within
A ritual is a culturally prescribed symbolic act or proce- their family, community, or some other group.
dure designed to guide members of a community in an A cross-cultural comparison of these spiritual or reli-
orderly way through personal and collective transitions. gious ceremonies shows that the four elements of water,
Relieving anxiety and tensions in crises, rituals provide air, fire, and earth have been used in a wide range of
symbolic means of reinforcing a group’s social bonds. Not rituals for thousands of years all across the globe. For in-
all of them concern the sacred (consider, for example, stance, cleansing by water is very common in many forms
student graduation ceremonies in North America). But of baptism, hot steam is used in sweat lodges, and burning
those that do are ideologically linked to beliefs in the su- of fragrant organic matter (such as plant leaves or resins)
pernatural, playing a crucial role as spirituality or religion is used in smoking and smudging ceremonies. The human
in action. Anthropologists have classified several different body and mind may also be subjected to rituals of internal
types of ritual. Among these are rituals of purification, purification by means of prayer, meditation, chanting,
rites of passage, rites of intensification, and magical ritu- fasting, or dancing (Figure 13.9).
als, including witchcraft.
Rites of Passage
Rites of Purification: Taboo A rite of passage is a ritual marking important ceremo-
and Cleansing Ceremonies nial moment when members of a society move from one
distinctive social stage in life to another, such as birth,
In many religious and spiritual traditions, rituals have marriage, and death. When crossing the boundary (limen)
been developed to symbolically restore one’s place in the between such stages, people briefly cease to be part of
cosmic order, removing “dirt,” washing “impurity,” and the stage left behind and have not yet become integrated
making “clean” in body, mind, and soul. In every society, into the next. Like travelers passing through a border
people follow certain culturally prescribed rules about area between two countries not controlled by either of
what is dirty or filthy, or whichever term symbolically them, they are neither here nor there. Guiding people
represents pollution—rules that say what they cannot through such uncertain transit zones, rituals associated
eat, drink, touch, talk, or even think about. For instance, with changing social status unfold in three phases: separa-
many millions of Hindus eat pork but avoid beef because tion (preliminary), transition (liminary), and incorporation
they regard the cow as a sacred animal. On the other (post-liminary).
hand, many millions of Muslims consume beef but avoid Phase one is the ceremonial removal of the individual
pork because in Islam swine is considered unclean. In this from everyday society, phase two is a period of ritual isola-
Muslims have something in common with Jews, who also tion, and phase three is the formal return and readmission
avoid pork. back into society in his or her new status (Van Gennep,
Culturally prescribed avoidances involving ritual pro- 1960). Because certain transitions in the human life cycle
hibitions are known as taboo, a term derived from the are crucially important to the individual as well as to the
Polynesian word tabu (or tapu). Among Pacific Islanders social order of the community, these rituals may involve a
it refers to something that has supernatural power and is religious specialist, such as a priest or priestess.
to be avoided. Especially applied to sacredness, blood and This sequence of phases occurs in a great array of rites
anything associated with sickness and death, taboos are of passage all around the world—from wedding ceremo-
taken very seriously. When a taboo is violated, believers nies marking the transition from single to married status
expect supernatural punishment will follow. This penalty to ceremonies identifying the transference of religious
may come in magical form as misfortune—an unlucky leadership in a spiritual lineage to a designated heir to cer-
accident, resulting in loss, sickness, or death. It is also emonies initiating new members into a distinctive group.
possible that the taboo breaker will be punished by des-
ignated members in the community and may be ordered
to undergo a purification ritual and make a sacrifice. ritual A culturally prescribed symbolic act or procedure designed to
guide members of a community in an orderly way through personal and
Sometimes, the ultimate sacrifice is demanded, and the
collective transitions.
offender is executed. taboo Culturally prescribed avoidances involving ritual prohibitions,
When someone has violated a taboo, or is otherwise no which, if not observed, lead to supernatural punishment.
longer “clean,” in many cultures a rite of purification rite of purification A symbolic act carried out by an individual or a
is used to establish or restore purity. These rites may group to establish or restore purity when someone has violated a taboo
involve one person, but many are group or community or is otherwise unclean.
rite of passage A ritual that marks an important ceremonial moment
ceremonial affairs. As symbolic acts, purification rituals
when members of a society move from one distinctive social stage in life
are filled with spiritual or religious meaning. They impact to another, such as birth, marriage, and death. It features three phases:
participants emotionally and psychologically (restoring a separation, transition, and incorporation.
K. M. Westerman/Documentary/Corbis
Figure 13.9 A Sufi Sema (Prayer Dance) in Aleppo, Syria
Sufism, a mystical Muslim movement that emerged a thousand years ago, emphasizes the
surrender of individual ego and attachment to worldly things in order to be receptive to God’s
grace. Known as whirling dervishes, these Sufi dancers are part of the Mevlevi brotherhood, a
spiritual lineage founded by the Persian Sufi master (mawlana) Jalal ad-Din ar-Rumi in the
13th century. According to Mevlevi tradition, during the sema the soul is freed from earthly
ties and is able to jubilantly commune with the divine. (Dervish literally means “doorway” and
is thought to be an entrance from the material world to the spiritual.) The felt hat represents
personal ego’s tombstone, and the wide skirt symbolizes its shroud.
For instance, when Maasai boys in East Africa’s grasslands dancing, storytelling, and food accompany the ordeal and
move into the Warrior age set; they are ritually removed the training, which produces a strong sense of sisterhood.
from their families and circumcised, returning weeks later The girls emerge from their initiation as women in knowl-
as armed young men with a distinctive hairstyle and dress. edgeable control of their sexuality, eligible for marriage
Another example is the ritual preparation for woman- and childbearing (MacCormack, 1977).
hood experienced by Mende girls in West Africa. Soon af-
ter their first menstruation, they are separated from family
and spend weeks in seclusion. Discarding their childhood
clothes, they learn the moral and practical responsibilities
Rites of Intensification
of motherhood from senior women. Believing circumci- A rite of intensification is a ritual held to reaffirm the
sion enhances a girl’s reproductive potential, these elders ties that bind a group together when crisis threatens the
are tasked with removing each girl’s clitoris (considered social order. Whatever the precise nature of the crisis—a
a female version of a penis). A good deal of singing, death in the family, an earthquake, an epidemic, or a
terrorist attack—community rituals are organized to ease
anxiety, prevent a breakdown, and orient individuals to-
rite of intensification A ritual that takes place during a crisis in the life ward a restoration of collective well-being. A celebratory
of the group and serves to bind individuals together. affirmation of the group’s ideals and values reassures
Ritual Performances 311
people that the upheaval is temporary and that normal

life will continue.
Rites of intensification do not have to be limited to
times of overt crisis. In regions where human activities
change in accordance with seasonal climatic shifts, these
rites may take the form of annual ceremonies. They are
particularly common among horticultural and agricul-
tural peoples. For example, solstice ceremonies are staged
to correspond with the crucially important planting and
harvesting seasons, ritually articulating traditional ideas
about the role of the supernatural in the cyclical return of
rain, the light and warmth of the sun, and other factors
of nature vital to healthy and bountiful crops. A similar
cultural linkage between the annual subsistence cycle and
the ceremonial calendar with its rites of intensification
can be found in societies based on seasonal fishing and
herding or hunting of migratory animals.
Magical Rituals
People in many cultures believe that supernatural powers
can be compelled to act in certain ways for good or evil
purposes by recourse to specified formulas. In short, they
believe in magic and carry out magical rituals. Such
rituals are intended to ensure positive ends such as good
crops, fertility of livestock, replenishment of hunted
game, prevention of accidents, healing of illness, protec-
tion against injury, promise of victory, and the defeat of
enemies, real or imagined. In traditional societies many of
these rituals rely on fetishes—objects believed to possess
© SSPL/The Image Works

magical powers (Figure 13.10).
Magical rituals are also popular in wealthy industri-
alized societies. Individuals commonly seek “good luck”
when the outcome is in doubt or beyond one’s influence—
from lighting a votive candle for someone going through
Figure 13.10 Congolese Fetish
a hard time, to wearing lucky boxers on a hot date, to the
This 100-year-old carving from the Democratic Republic of
curious gesturing baseball pitchers perform on the mound.
Congo is a nkondi, with supernatural power coming in part
Anthropologists distinguish between two fundamental
from magic herbs hidden inside by a diviner. Such fetishes are
principles of magic. The first principle—that like produces
traditionally used to identify wrongdoers, including thieves and
like—is identified as imitative magic or sympathetic
witches responsible for mishaps, diseases, or death. A nkondi
magic. In Myanmar in Southeast Asia, for example, a re-
is activated by provocations (such as hammering nails into it)
jected and spiteful lover might engage a sorcerer to make or invocations urging magic punishment of the suspects.
an image of his would-be love. If this image were tossed
into water, to the accompaniment of certain charms, it
was expected that the girl would go mad and suffer a fate Related to this is the custom in Western societies of trea-
similar to that of her image. suring things that have been touched by special people.
The second principle is that of contagious magic— Such items range from a saint’s relics to possessions of
the idea that things or persons once in contact can in- other admired or idolized individuals, from rock stars to
fluence each other after the contact is broken. The most sports heroes to spiritual gurus.
common example of contagious magic is the permanent
relationship between an individual and any part of his or
magic Specific formulas and actions used to compel supernatural
her body, such as hair, fingernails, or teeth. For instance,
powers to act in certain ways for good or evil purposes.
the Basutos of Lesotho in southern Africa were careful to
imitative magic Magic based on the principle that like produces like;
conceal their extracted teeth to make sure they did not sometimes called sympathetic magic.
fall into the hands of certain mythical beings who could contagious magic Magic based on the principle that things or persons
harm the owners of the teeth by working magic on them. once in contact can influence each other after the contact is broken.
Earl & Nazima Kowall/Corbis
AP Images/ANAT GIVON
Figure 13.11 Divination
The range of traditional divination techniques still practiced in many hundreds of cultures is very
large. Several techniques have become popular far outside the regions where they originated,
including “bone throwing.” On the left, we see Ndebele women healers (“witchdoctors”) known
as sangomas, in Gemsbokspruit, Mpumalanga Province, South Africa, practicing this craft. In the
other photo, a well-known feng shui master in Hong Kong is using his “24 mountains” compass
to determine a building’s energy (ch’i or qi) outside a client’s apartment.
Divination: Omens and Oracles in the air, or interpreting colors, ripples, and whirls
Designed to access or influence supernatural powers, in water.
magical rituals have been developed to prepare for the More widely known is the divination technique in-
uncertain future—for the unseen and for the not yet volving palm reading, perhaps most famously practiced
present. Fears of pending dangers—for example, storms, by female Gypsy fortunetellers. So-called mediums are
attacks, betrayals, diseases, and death—call for precau- also popular. In the United States, for example, many
tionary measures, such as what to avoid and where to people believe mediums can contact the spirits of dead
go. How does one find and interpret the signs, or omens, relatives and pass on messages from beyond by means of
foretelling the future? The answer, as developed in many an ancient ritual method known as necromancy.
cultures, is through divination, a magical ritual designed Believed to possess knowledge hidden from ordinary
to discover what is unknowable by ordinary means, in people, diviners are feared in many cultures. However, they
particular signs predicting fate or destiny. are also in high demand among those who believe in a di-
Various ancient methods of divination exist, in- viner’s capacity to predict the future and provide insightful
cluding geomancy (from Greek, geo for “earth” and consultation concerning an important or risky undertaking.
manteia for “divination”), a technique traditionally One example of this is an ancient Chinese divination tech-
considered sacred and practiced by shamans, prophets, nique known as feng shui, literally translated as “wind-wa-
fortunetellers, or other oracles in communication with ter.” This method has gained popularity in North America,
supernatural forces. Skilled to interpret omens, a diviner especially on the Pacific Coast where growing numbers of
practicing geomancy may toss a handful of sand or peb- homebuilders and buyers hire feng shui consultants to help
bles, for example, and then analyze its random patterns, them design or redesign homes and offices to conform to
searching for information hidden to ordinary people. the principle of qi or ch’i (“vital energy”) (Figure 13.11).
Other divination methods include decoding flame or In some religious traditions, including Islam and
smoke patterns in a fire, deciphering cloud formations Christianity, fortunetelling and other divination rituals
have long been viewed with suspicion, and in many places
these practices have been prohibited. Especially when
performed by individuals functioning in other religious or
divination A magical procedure or spiritual ritual designed to discern
what is not knowable by ordinary means, such as foretelling the future by spiritual traditions believed to be false or worse, divination
interpreting omens. is condemned as evil magic, sorcery, or witchcraft.
Sacred Sites: Saints, Shrines, and Miracles 313
Witchcraft: Anxiety and Fears of Evil Magic to his hideaway, transforms again into human form,
Magical rituals intended to cause misfortune or inflict and slips back into his home before dawn (Kluckhohn,
harm are often referred to as sorcery or witchcraft— 1944; Selinger, 2007).
practices by individuals embodying evil spirit power or
those collaborating with malevolent supernatural beings.
In contrast to magic-working experts inclined to do good, Sacred Sites: Saints,
these individuals inspire fear.
Fear of witches is especially prevalent during periods
Shrines, and Miracles
of uncertainty and transition. When mysterious illnesses, Sacred sites are typically positioned in a transitional, or
devastating droughts, accidental deaths, economic un- liminary, zone between the natural and supernatural, the
certainties, and other upheavals disturb the cultural secular and spiritual, earth and heaven. Reaching high
order, confusion may result in a surge of suspicion and into the sky, mountaintops are often considered to be
a focus on disliked, unsociable, isolated individuals. magical places, shrouded in mystery. For instance, the
Especially in patrilineal or patrilocal communities, the Japanese view the snowcapped perfect volcanic cone of
accused is often an older woman, typically single or wid- Mount Fuji (“Ever-Lasting Life”) as a sacred place. Like-
owed and without children. Among matrilineal and ma- wise, the Kikuyu view Mount Kenya as the earthly dwell-
trilocal groups, however, people tend to think of witches ing place of their creator god Ngai.
as male. Not all individuals accused of “evil magic” are Some sites become sacred because they are places
punished, tortured, or killed, but witchcraft accusations where ordinary human beings experienced something
clearly function as a social control mechanism, horribly extraordinary—heard a divine voice or saw a guardian spirit,
reinforcing the moral code. patron saint, or archangel. Often a site is declared sacred
because believers associate it with a miracle-working mystic,
Navajo Skin-Walkers saint, prophet, or other holy person. The tombs of such in-
Beliefs in evil magic are wide- dividuals often turn into shrines (scrinium, Latin for “round
spread and take many forms. box” or “container,” holding relics). For example, stories
One interesting example of miraculous events and special powers emanating from
comes from the Navajo, Navajo
Reservation
Muslim tombs are common wherever Sufism, a far-reaching
Native Americans histori- mystical branch of Islam, is popular (Gladney, 2004).
cally surviving as sheep- Based on the principle of contagious magic, any
herders and small-scale material substance physically linked to a miraculous
UTAH COLORADO
irrigation farmers in the event or individual may itself become revered as holy or
vast deserts of Arizona Navajo Reservation sacred. This may include bones, hair, or any other body
and New Mexico. The part believed to have belonged to a saint, or something
Hopi
Navajo have a substan- Reservation the person wore, possessed, or simply touched. All these
© Cengage Learning
tial repertoire of sacred things may be treasured as holy relics and safeguarded in
rituals for healing vic- a shrine, inspiring the faithful.
tims of sorcery, all re- NEW Burial sites of saints often gain such importance that
ARIZONA MEXICO
lated to accusations of people feel inspired to construct a very large shrine for the
evil magic. saint’s entombment; termed a mausoleum, some of these
Among Navajos, who live in a residence group organized are large enough for the interment of lesser saints and pi-
around a head woman, traditional belief holds that a person ous individuals desiring proximity to the sacred saint after
suffering from severe anxiety disorder, repetitive nightmares, death. However large or small, shrines are religious focal
or delusions is a victim of sorcery. The idea is that a ghost points for prayer, meditation, and sacrifice.
or some other evil spirit, traveling under cover of darkness,
is responsible. And according to the Navajo, the suspect is a
powerful sorcerer, almost always a man, probably someone
Pilgrimages: Devotion in Motion
who has killed a relative and committed incest. Every year, many millions of devotees of many religions—
These dangerous Navajo sorcerers, resembling the including Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, and their
werewolf of European folklore and the Nagual in rural many branches—walk, climb, or even crawl to a sacred or
Mexico, are believed to be able to change themselves into holy site. Whether it is a saint’s tomb, a mountain, lake, river,
animal form. Referred to as a ’ánt’i˛˛ihnii (“skin-walker”), waterfall, or some other particular place believed to be meta-
such a sorcerer stealthily goes to a secluded spot, such as a physically significant, pilgrims (from Latin peregrinus, meaning
cave at night. There, he transforms into a coyote or wolf. “wanderer”) travel there seeking enlightenment, proving
Disguised in animal form, he emerges and runs fast toward their devotion, and/or hoping to experience a miracle.
his victim, bringing on ’ánt’i˛ (“the curse”). Having com-
pleted his accursed mission, the skin-walker swiftly returns witchcraft Magical rituals intended to cause misfortune or inflict harm.
A devotion in motion, a pilgrimage demands per-

sonal sacrifices from the travelers. Enjoying little comfort,
pilgrims may suffer from hunger and thirst, heat and cold,
pain and fear while on the road, sometimes for many days
or even months. During their sacred journey, they partic-
ipate in a religious drama, performing ritually prescribed
acts such as prayers, chants, or prostrations. To identify
their status as spiritually inspired travelers, some wear
special clothes, shave their heads, and carry amulets.
One of the most challenging pilgrimages is the climb up
the slopes of a mountain range in the Himalayas where Mount
Kailash rises 6,700 meters (over 22,000 feet). Located in west-
ern Tibet, this black, snowcapped mountain stands out boldly
in a dramatic landscape sacred to Hindus and Buddhists, as
well as Jains and Bönpos. The latter, who practice an ancient
Tibetan shamanic religion, refer to this hallowed mountain
as Tisé (“Water Peak”) because it is the source of four sacred
rivers. For Hindus, it is the holy abode of Lord Shiva, the de-
stroyer of ignorance and illusion and the divine source of yoga.
Jains view Kailash as the sacred place where their divine cul-
tural hero Rishabha (“Bull”)—an incarnation of Lord Vishnu—
first achieved full enlightenment. Finally, Tibetan Buddhists
revere it as Gangs Rinpoche (“Snow Lord”) and believe it to be
the abode of Khorlo Demchok (“Circle of Bliss”)—a wrathful
deity who uses his power to destroy the three major obstacles
to enlightenment: anger, greed, and ignorance.
For all four of these religious traditions, climbing to
the summit of this holy mountain is taboo. So, pilgrims
Glogowski/laif/Redux
demonstrate their devotion by means of a ritual encircle-
ment, or circumambulation—clockwise by Buddhists and
Hindus, and in reverse by Jains and Bönpos. The rugged,
52-kilometer (32-mile) trek is seen as a sacred ritual that re-
moves sins and brings good fortune. Each year thousands Figure 13.12 Pilgrimage to Mount Kailash in Tibet
follow the ancient tradition of encircling the mountain on Rising 6,700 meters (over 22,000 feet), this mountain has been
foot. The most devout pilgrims turn their circumambula- sacred for many generations to Buddhists and Hindus, as well as
Jains and Bönpos (followers of Tibet's indigenous religion, Bön).
tion into a sacrificial ordeal: Prostrating their bodies full
Every year a few thousand pilgrims make the tortuous 52-kilometer
length, they extend their hands forward and make a mark
(32-mile) trek around it. Some of them crawl the entire distance.
on the ground with their fingers; then they rise, pray, crawl
ahead on hands and knees to the mark, and then repeat
the process again and again (Figure 13.12). with miracles and legendary holy men and women. For
One of the world’s largest pilgrimages is the hajj—a example, for nearly a millennium Christian pilgrims from
performance of piety now made by 1.8 million Muslims all over Europe have made the long and difficult journey
traveling to Mecca in Saudi Arabia each year from all to Santiago de Compostela. Tens of thousands travel
across the globe. The largest contingent of hajjis—about to this Spanish seaport each year—most by foot, some
300,000 a year—comes from Indonesia. One of the five by bicycle, and a few on horseback like their medieval
pillars of Islam, the hajj brings all of these pilgrims to- counterparts. About 180,000 pilgrims walk the final 100
gether for collective prayers and other sacred rituals at the kilometers (62 miles) to the old cathedral with the shrine
Kaaba in Mecca, their religion’s holiest site. containing the sacred remains of the apostle Saint James
Christianity, originating in what was an eastern prov- venerated as Santiago (Santo Iago) since the Middle Ages
ince of the Roman empire about 2,000 years ago, has and recognized as the official patron saint of Spain. Many
created a sacred landscape dotted with dozens of major more Roman Catholics make pilgrimages to shrines de-
pilgrimage sites in Southwest Asia and Europe. As in other voted to Saint Mary, as described in the following section.
ancient religions, these sites are symbolically associated
Female Saints: Divine Protection for the Weak
pilgrimage A devotion in motion; traveling, often on foot, to a sacred or holy Many religions consider the divine to be primarily or
site to reach for enlightenment, prove devotion, and/or experience a miracle. exclusively masculine, as noted earlier. Ideologically
Sacred Sites: Saints, Shrines, and Miracles 315
reproducing the hierarchical social

order dominated by men, this ar-
rangement reflects the worldview of
traditional cultures that revere male
deities, prophets, and saints in offi-
cially sponsored cults and devotions.
But religions are not monolithic, and
some provide flexible spiritual space
for alternatives. We see this in Chris-
tian cults devoted to female saints
such as Mary, the virgin mother of
Jesus Christ, the son of God.
More powerful than the pope
in Rome, Mary has been loved and
adored as a holy mother residing in
heaven. Worldwide, Roman Catholic
multitudes look up to her for di-
vine protection. Like other Christian
saints, she is thought to perform mir-
acles and to be capable of physically
AP Images/Eduardo Verdugo
manifesting herself at places and

times of her choosing. Through the
centuries, many believers claim to
have witnessed such holy moments,
some officially reporting the miracle.
Typically, these believers are young
Figure 13.13 Virgin of Guadalupe Pilgrim, Mexico City
members of the underclass—herders,
On December 9, 1531, Saint Mary appeared to Mexican Indian Juan Diego, a recent
peasants, or housemaids, for exam-
Christian convert, as he passed by Tepeyac Hill in what is now Mexico City. At the
ple. Beyond stories about the female
site of this encounter, the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe was built with a shrine
saint manifesting herself to such
containing sacred evidence of this miraculous apparition. Pictured here are Christian
low-status individuals, the discovery pilgrims walking toward the shrine, which attracts more than 6 million devotees a year,
of sacred relics (such as a drowned or making it one of the largest pilgrimage sites in the world.
buried statue representing Mary) may
also generate excitement and hope in
difficult times. most of the 6 million pilgrims who visit her shrine each
As folk-based popular religious movements, Saint year are indigenous or mestizo Mexicans (Figure 13.13).
Mary cults not only developed across Europe, but also
in Latin America, the Philippines, and other parts of the
world historically colonized and dominated by Roman
Desecration: Ruining Sacred Sites
Catholics originating in Europe. The religious ideas Although popular shrines are destinations for believ-
and rituals of Catholicism changed many indigenous ers from near and far, they are also potential targets of
cultures—and were also changed by them. Of particular desecration. By means of such ideologically inspired
interest in this shifting religious landscape are Black violation of a sacred site, enemies aim to inflict harm,
Madonnas: brown or dark-colored clay or wooden statues, if only symbolically, on people judged to have impure,
or painted images, representing the virgin mother. false, or evil beliefs and ritual practices. Desecrations
A popular devotion involving a brown-skinned Saint have occurred across the globe for thousands of years,
Mary concerns the Virgin of Guadalupe. This Mexican as evidenced in archaeological sites and recorded in oral
cult originated in 1531, a decade after a Spanish army had traditions or historical documents.
conquered the Aztec Indian empire. That year, a recently For example, during the Protestant Reformation in the
converted Aztec Christian claimed that a holy woman 16th and 17th centuries, Christian Protestant iconoclasts
miraculously appeared to him in a blaze of light at the campaigning against idolatry in northwestern Europe
foot of a hill—now part of Mexico City. Speaking in his destroyed untold numbers of ancient Roman Catholic
native tongue and resembling an Aztec fertility goddess,
the mysterious brown-skinned woman told him a shrine
desecration Ideologically inspired violation of a sacred site intended to
had to be built in her honor. Known as the Virgin of inflict harm, if only symbolically, on people judged to have impure, false,
Guadalupe, she became the patron saint of Mexico. Today, or even evil beliefs and ritual practices.
statues and other treasures kept in sacred shrines. More to challenging and even destabilizing long-established
recently, militant Muslim fundamentalists in North Africa cultural systems and associated worldviews. Reacting to
and West Asia have blown up or bulldozed ancient these challenges, people often turn to the supernatural to
statues of divinities and centuries-old religious shrines allay the anxiety of a world going awry. Some bundle or
they denounce as objects of “false worship.” Intolerance devise their own spiritual beliefs and rituals. Others form
and destruction in the name of religion is not unique or join new spiritual movements.
to Christian or Muslim puritans, as militant Hindus and Typically, these religious movements call for a radical
others also engage in similar desecrations. Desecration can return to traditional foundations prescribed in sacred
also be inspired by antireligious fervor, as occurred with texts and narrowly interpreted by conservative spiritual
China’s Cultural Revolution in the 1960s, when masses leaders. Examples include Islamic fundamentalism in
of activists, swept up in state-sponsored zeal, went on countries such as Nigeria, Egypt, and Iran; Jewish fun-
a rampage destroying religious monuments, sculptures, damentalism in Israel and the United States; and Hindu
carvings, and paintings, as well as a large number of age- fundamentalism in India. Christian fundamentalism is
old sacred shrines. represented in the dramatic growth of evangelical de-
nominations in the United States, Latin America, and
sub-Saharan Africa.
Cultural Dynamics in the With over 2,000 distinctive faiths, the U.S. religious
landscape is highly diversified, and the country has given
Superstructure: Religious birth to many new religions, a few of which have gone
global. Moreover, in the past few decades, Asian immi-
and Spiritual Change grant groups have greatly added to the religious diversifi-
cation in North America as well as in Europe. In response,
New technologies, improved means of transportation, even global finance business is adapting to the changing
internationalization of production and labor markets, and ideological landscape, as illustrated in this chapter’s Orig-
worldwide movements of ideas and practices all contribute inal Study on Shariah-compliant banking.
NAL
ORIGI
S T U DY Sacred Law in Global Capitalism By Bill Maurer
I will never forget my introduction to Islamic bank reopens tomorrow.” He proceeds to disburse money
banking. It happened at a 1998 conference when I hap- based on people’s stated needs (“Could I have $17.50?”
pened into a darkened room where the founder of an one woman asks meekly) and guaranteed only by his trust
Islamic investment firm was showing a clip from the old in them.
Hollywood classic movie, It’s a Wonderful Life. On the Seconds before 6 o’clock, the last client leaves. George
screen, George Bailey, played by Jimmy Stewart, faces an has just two dollars left. He, his Uncle Billy, and two
anxious crowd of Bedford Falls citizens, who have rushed cousins count down the seconds and then lock the doors.
into his Building and Loan desperate to get their money. They have managed to stay in business for one more day.
There is about to be a run on the bank. They place the two remaining dollars in a tray, and George
One of the townspeople says he wants his money, now. offers a toast: “To Mama Dollar and to Papa Dollar, and if
George protests, “But you’re thinking of this place all you want this old Building and Loan to stay in business
wrong—as if I had the money back in a safe. The money’s you better have a family real quick.” “I wish they were
not here. Why, your money’s in Joe’s house that’s right rabbits,” says Cousin Tilly.
next to yours, and in the Kennedy house . . . and in a At this point in the film, the conference host paused
hundred others. You’re lending them the money to build the video and said, “This is the first lariba movie.” A mur-
and then they’re gonna pay it back. . . . Now, we can get mur went through the crowd. No one quite knew what
through this thing all right. We’ve got to stick together, he meant. Most of the audience was Muslim; this was a
though. We’ve got to have faith in each other.” The peo- Christmas movie. What was our host trying to say?
ple cry, “I’ve got doctor’s bills to pay!” “Can’t feed my I now know that lariba is Arabic for “no increase.” The
kids on faith!” Quran invokes the term riba (increase) twenty times, and
Then Mary, George’s newlywed bride, shouts from the term is often translated as interest or usury (excessive
behind the counter, “I’ve got two thousand dollars!” and interest). Islamic banking and finance aim to avoid riba
holds up a wad of bills. It is the money for their honey- through profit-and-loss sharing, leasing, or other forms of
moon. George chimes in, “This’ll tide us over until the equity- or asset-based financing.
Cultural Dynamics in the Superstructure: Religious and Spiritual Change 317
After that 1998 confer-

ence, I began my study of
global Islamic banking, in-
cluding the efforts of Amer-
ican Muslims to create a
new kind of “Islamic” mort-
gage that enables devout
Muslims to buy a home in
accordance with Islam’s
prohibition of interest. In-
stead of financing a home
purchase with interest-bear-
ing debt, Islamic alterna-
tives rely on either leasing
Palani Mohan /The New York Times/Redux

contracts (a sort of rent-
to-own arrangement where
the bank owns the house
and the purchaser buys out
the bank’s share over time)
or a partnership arrange-
ment (like a joint business
venture). Rather than hav-
Until the early 1990s, millions of Muslims throughout the world had few investment opportunities ing debt and interest at the
due to the ethics derived from Shariah law. Since then, hundreds of Islamic financial institutions have center of the mortgage, as
emerged in over fifty countries. Big U.S. and European banks, including Citibank, have also entered in a conventional loan, the
the Islamic banking business in order to tap into the rising oil wealth. Today, Shariah-compliant banks
house itself and its fair mar-
manage well over $750 billion globally. Here we see three Muslim women in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
ket rental value are at the
center. The purchaser buys
We are all aware of the recent global financial crisis, out the bank’s share over time. At the center is the
which led to the collapse of major corporations, the na- asset—the real thing—not the debt.
tionalization of big banks and car companies, massive un- Of course, there is no reason why a joint partnership
employment, and unnerving insecurity for many people to own a piece of property is any more “real” or less
in the United States and around the world. One of the “abstract” than bundling together debt. It depends on
leading causes of the crisis was the marketing of debt to one’s point of view, and one’s precommitments to certain
people who probably could not repay, and the packaging values—prohibiting interest and sharing risk, for example,
of those debts into complicated financial instruments that or distributing risk onto others. In Islamic finance, the
were supposed to curb risk but instead increased it. former is seen as “Shariah compliant,” or in accord with
What, you might ask, does anthropology have Islamic law; and the latter, as unjust because it offloads
to contribute to the study of the financial markets, one’s own share of risk onto others.
money, and the wider economy? Quite a lot, actually. At the same time, Islamic mortgages often require rel-
Among other things, anthropologists have repeatedly atively large down payments; this excludes poorer people
demonstrated that economic decisions thought to be from achieving the American dream of homeownership.
purely rational and self-interested are actually deeply So, we need to ask ourselves whether the virtues of adher-
embedded in social relationships, cultural values, and ence to the precepts of one’s religion outweigh broader
religious beliefs. social goals of financial inclusion.
Take securitized debt instruments, for example—loans Global Islamic banking today owes much to the immi-
like mortgages, chopped up and rebundled together into gration of Middle Eastern and South Asian students and
salable commodities. When they started to go sour, many professionals to the United States and western Europe since
commentators blamed the instruments’ complexity and the 1970s, and the consolidation of large U.S.–Muslim orga-
called for a return to an economy based on real things in- nizations. The oil boom in the Middle East during the 1970s,
stead of abstract tradable debt. However, we know from our which sparked renewed interest in Islamic banking in many
research across the globe that peoples in different cultures Muslim-majority countries, also encouraged the develop-
do not always differentiate the real from the abstract in the ment of a loosely knit interconnected network of Muslim
same way. A person’s reputation might be deemed more international businessmen, who, working for oil and chem-
solid and real than a piece of gold. And a piece of gold has ical companies as well as financial firms, gained experience
real value only because people agree to it as a convention. in Western regulatory and business environments.
Islamic home financing expanded greatly after the dream,” and they were eager to demonstrate their com-
2001 terrorist attack on New York’s World Trade Center mitment to that dream.
and the Pentagon; these attacks sent shockwaves through People involved in Islamic banking and finance are con-
the capitalist world system dominated by Wall Street. First tinually engaged in an effort to define precisely what their
of all, Americans in general, Muslims included, took their field is. Is riba simply Arabic for “interest,” or does riba refer
money out of the stock market after the attack and started only to “excessive interest” or usury? Does the prohibition
investing in real estate, buoyed by low interest rates and say something about justice, or does it moralize about proper
feeding the speculative real estate bubble. Second, Islamic market relationships? Like any aspect of culture—economy
mutual funds had been able to maintain their “Islamicity” included—Islamic banking is always a field of debate. And
in part by contributing a portion of their profits to charity more debate, not less, may help us all to find just, peaceful,
in order to religiously “cleanse” the funds; however, as and profitable ways out of the various catastrophes we con-
charities came under governmental suspicion for terrorist tinually make for ourselves, as we create the abstractions and
money laundering, many Muslims withdrew their invest- realities that mutually determine our lives together.
ments from these funds. Third, home financing, American
Muslims told me, is the cornerstone of the “American Written expressly for this text, 2010.
Revitalization Movements Europe, attracted to a naturalistic worldview, now also

practice forms of “ecospiritualism” (Prins, 1996). Often
No anthropological consideration of religion is complete this involves a revival of ancient pre-Christian traditions,
without some mention of revitalization movements— such as Asatru in Scandinavia and Druidry in the British
movements for radical cultural reform in response to Isles. Seeking a sacred relationship with nature, adherents
widespread social disruption and collective feelings of worship the earth, elements of the sky, and spirits they
great stress and despair. As a deliberate effort to construct believe arise from sacred places like rivers and mountains
a more satisfying culture, revitalization movements aim (Figure 13.14).
to reform not just the religious sphere of activity but may
also impact an entire cultural system.
Many such movements developed in indigenous
societies where European colonial exploitation caused
Syncretic Religions
enormous upheaval. They also occurred in 16th-century In Africa, during and following the period of foreign col-
Europe—as evidenced in the emergence of Puritans, onization and missionization, indigenous groups resisted
Mennonites, and other Protestant groups when tradi- or creatively revised Christian teachings and formed cul-
tional societies faced radical transformations triggered turally appropriate religious movements. During the past
by early capitalism and other forces. Likewise, revitaliza- century, thousands of indigenous Christian churches have
tion movements emerged in response to the industrial been founded in Africa. These churches are often born of
revolution triggering similar radical transformations alternative theological interpretations and new divinely
in agrarian societies in the 19th century. These oc- inspired revelations. They also originate from disapproval
curred not only in Europe but also in the northeastern by foreign missionaries concerning the preservation of
United States, where Mormonism, Jehovah’s Witnesses, traditional beliefs and rituals culturally associated with
Seventh-Day Adventists, and others began as Christian animism, ancestor worship, and spirit possession, as well
revitalization movements. as kinship and marriage.
Revitalization movements can be found in many re- Today, the African continent is as religiously and
ligions. They are evident in the revival or introduction spiritually diverse as ever. Although at least 40 percent
of traditional American Indian ceremonies such as the of the population is Christian, and more than another
sweat lodge now common on many tribal reservations 40 percent is Muslim, myriad African indigenous religions
in North America, as well as the spectacular Sun Dance persist and are often merged with Christianity or Islam.
ceremony held each summer at various reservations in
the Great Plains. Similar cultural revivals of “spiritual neo-
traditions” are on the rise in many parts of the world, in- Syncretic Religions Across
cluding Europe (Prins, 1994). Multitudes in northwestern
the Atlantic: Vodou in Haiti
In almost four centuries of trans-Atlantic slave trad-
revitalization movement A social movement for radical cultural reform
in response to widespread social disruption and collective feelings of ing, African captives—stolen from hundreds of towns
great stress and despair. and villages from Mauretania south to Angola and
Carl De Souza/AFP/Getty Images

Figure 13.14 Stonehenge, Wiltshire County, England
In 2010, the neo-tradition of Druidry was officially recognized as a religion in Great Britain.
Stonehenge, a 4,500-year-old Neolithic site, is one of its sacred centers. With 10,000 followers,
modern Druidry is rooted in the pre-Christian tradition of the Celtic peoples indigenous to the
British Isles.
beyond—were shipped across the ocean to labor on cot- Now mostly poor black peasants, they are nominal Roman
ton, sugar, coffee, and tobacco plantations from Virginia Catholics who, like their African ancestors across the
to Brazil. Ripped from family and community, individual Atlantic, believe in spirit possession.
slaves clung to some of their ancestral beliefs and knowl- Vodou rituals center on the worship of what Haitians
edge of rituals. refer to as loas—also known in Creole as saints. This
Sharing a life of forced labor, slaves from different tradition is essentially based on a belief in a reciprocal
ethnic, linguistic, and religious backgrounds formed small relationship between the spirits of the living and those of
communities, pooled remembered religious ideas and ritu- the dead, representing multiple expressions of the divine.
als, and creatively forged a spiritual repertoire of their own. Vodou priests summon spirits of deceased ancestors and
Founded on a mix of Yoruba and other African beliefs and other relatives by drumming in a temple. Dancing to the
practices, their emerging religions also incorporated Chris- beat, worshipers enter into trance. This is when a person’s
tian features, including terminology from the languages spirit temporarily vacates the human body, replaced by
of slave-owning colonists. In some cases, elements from a a loa from the spirit world who takes possession—the
region’s indigenous American cultures were also included. moment of divine grace (Figure 13.15).
Such creative blending of indigenous and foreign
beliefs and practices into new cultural forms is known as
syncretism. Especially after slavery was abolished in the
Secularization and Religious
course of the 1800s, these syncretic spiritual repertoires Pluralism
developed into Afro-Caribbean religions such as Vodou in Although Christianity in Europe is losing ground as a
Haiti and Santería in Cuba, which resemble Candomblé in result of Islam’s rise, a far more substantial decline is due
Brazil. All of these religions are spreading as adherents freely to secularization. In this process of cultural change,
migrate across borders (Fernández Olmos & Paravisini-
Gebert, 2003).
The name vodou (or voodoo) means “divine spirit” in syncretism The creative blending of indigenous and foreign beliefs and
practices into new cultural forms.
the language of the Fon, a large ethnic group in West
secularization A process of cultural change in which a population tends
Africa. Providing an escape from the indignities of poverty toward a nonreligious worldview, ignoring or rejecting institutionalized
and hopelessness, Vodou was developed by former slaves. spiritual beliefs and rituals.
Steve Winter/National Geographic Stock

Figure 13.15 Haitian Women in a Vodou Bathing Ritual
In mid-July every year, thousands of Haitian pilgrims journey to a sacred waterfall in the mountains
north of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, in reverence to a Black Madonna known as Our Lady of Carmel.
This Marian devotion is ritually associated with a major loa, or Vodou spirit, named Erzulie Dantor,
who mysteriously appeared on a palm tree at this waterfall about 150 years ago. Since then, an
important devotional activity is bathing in this sacred water, a deeply spiritual experience in which
Vodou practitioners like these women enter a trance filled with divine grace.
a population tends toward a nonreligious worldview, ig- under 30. Their ranks include more than 13 million
noring or rejecting institutionalized spiritual beliefs and self-described atheists and agnostics—nearly 6 percent of
rituals. Over the last few decades, growing numbers of the U.S. public (Pew Research Center, 2012). As in other
western Europeans have declared themselves to be with- large countries, there are regional contrasts, with the sec-
out religion. ularization trend among New Englanders far outpacing
Secularization is especially noteworthy in a prosperous several areas in the southeastern United States, where 80
capitalist country like Germany, which has been for many to 85 percent claim that religion plays an important role
centuries predominantly Lutheran and Roman Catholic. in their lives.
Today, almost 40 percent of Germans identify themselves
as nonreligious, compared to a mere 4 percent forty As chronicled in this chapter, the quest for metaphysi-
years ago. In contrast, religion is becoming more impor- cal explanations and revelations occurs everywhere in
tant in many parts of eastern Europe where atheism was countless ways—from massive religious gatherings to
communist state ideology for several generations in the the recurrent rise of new spiritual leaders and religious
20th century. movements, growing participation in pilgrimages and
Secularization also takes place in other wealthy in- spiritual healing ceremonies, and persistent efforts to
dustrialized countries. In the United States, for example, safeguard places that people have designated as sacred
20 percent of all adults are religiously unaffiliated—and sites. In this cross-cultural survey of religion and spiritu-
the figure jumps to about 35 percent among adults ality, we explored and contrasted numerous worldviews
with their symbolic constructs of the universe and our but also who they are. The need to find deeper meaning
place in it. Clearly, religion and spirituality are not just in life and to make sense of an increasingly complex,
about spiritual beliefs and rituals, however important uncharted, confusing, and even frightening world drives
these may be. They are also fundamental in the con- humans to continue their explorations—religious and
struction of social identities and motivate people to act spiritual, as well as scientific. All of this makes the anthro-
in prescribed ways. pological study of religion not only fascinating but crucial
Performing religion or spirituality, individually or col- in our efforts to better understand our species in all its
lectively, people not only express what they feel and think creative and destructive cultural capacity.
Chapter Check list
What are religion and spirituality, how men and women relate to each other in
everyday life.
and what role do they play in a
cultural system? ✓✓Monotheism holds that there is one supreme divinity;
polytheism acknowledges more than one deity.
✓✓Religion is an organized system of ideas about the
spiritual sphere or the supernatural, and it is a key part ✓✓Belief in ancestral spirits is based on the dualistic idea
of every culture’s worldview. Like religion, spirituality that human beings consist of a body and a soul or vital
is concerned with sacred matters, but it is often spirit that continues to participate in human affairs
individual rather than collective and does not require a after death.
distinctive format or traditional organization. ✓✓Animism, the belief that nature is enlivened by distinct
✓✓Among food-foraging peoples, religion is intertwined personalized spirit beings separable from bodies, is
with everyday life. As societies become more complex, common among peoples who see themselves as part of
it may be restricted to particular occasions. nature rather than superior to it.
✓✓Spiritual and religious beliefs and practices fulfill ✓✓Animatism, often found alongside animism, is a belief
numerous psychological and emotional needs, such as that nature is enlivened by an impersonal spiritual
reducing anxiety by providing an orderly view of the force, which may make itself manifest in any special
universe and answering existential questions. place, thing, or living creature.
✓✓Myths are narratives that explain the fundamentals of

human existence—where we and everything in our
What are the different types of religious
world came from, why we are here, and where we are specialists?
going. ✓✓Priests and priestesses are full-time religious specialists
✓✓A traditional religion reinforces group norms and authorized to perform sacred rituals and mediate with
provides moral sanctions for individual conduct. Its supernatural powers on behalf of others.
narratives and rituals confirm the existing social order, ✓✓Priests and priestesses typically hold their position by
but it may also provide vehicles for challenging that way of spiritual lineage in which divine authority is
order. People often turn to religion or spirituality in passed down from a spiritual founder to a chain of
the hope of reaching a specific goal such as restoring successors.
health.
✓✓There are four major forms of spiritual lineage:
What types of supernatural beings biological descent, training and appointment by
religious leaders, election, and recognition of a
and forces are included in the worldview reincarnated saint.
of humans?
✓✓Shamans are individuals skilled at entering an altered
✓✓Religion is characterized by a belief in supernatural state of consciousness to contact and utilize an
beings and forces that can be appealed to for aid ordinarily hidden reality in order to acquire knowledge
through prayer, sacrifice, and other rituals. and supernatural power to help other people.
Supernatural beings include major deities (gods and
goddesses), ancestral spirits, and other sorts of spirit
beings. What are religious rituals and rites,
✓ ✓Gods and goddesses are great but remote beings
and what purposes do they serve?
that control the universe. Whether people ✓✓A religious ritual is a culturally symbolic act or
recognize gods, goddesses, or both has to do with procedure designed to guide members of a
community in an orderly way through personal and ✓✓A pilgrimage is a devotion in motion—a journey, often
collective transitions. It is religion in action—the on foot, to a sacred site by individuals reaching for
means through which people relate to the enlightenment, proving devotion, and/or hoping to
supernatural. experience a miracle. Among the largest pilgrimages is
the hajj made by 1.8 million Muslims traveling to Mecca
✓✓Rites of purification are rituals performed to establish
in Saudi Arabia each year from all around the world.
or restore purity when someone has violated a taboo or
is otherwise unclean. ✓✓Many pilgrimages center on cults of the Virgin Mary.
These include Black Madonnas—dark-colored statues or
✓✓Rites of passage are rituals marking an important stage
painted images representing the virgin mother—such
in an individual’s life cycle, such as birth, marriage,
as the Virgin of Guadalupe whose shrine in Mexico
and death. They feature three phases: separation,
City draws 6 million pilgrims a year.
transition, and incorporation.
✓✓Sacred sites are potential targets of desecration—
✓✓Rites of intensification are rituals that ease anxiety and
ideological violation of a sacred site aimed at harming,
bind people together when they face a collective crisis
if only symbolically, people judged to have impure,
or change. Such rituals may also be staged to mark
false, or evil beliefs and ritual practices.
seasonal changes and subsistence cycles.
What are magic, divination, What are revitalization movements,

and witchcraft? and how are they connected to social
upheaval?
✓✓People in many cultures believe in magic: the idea that
supernatural powers can be compelled to act in certain ✓✓Revitalization movements arise when people seek radical
ways for good or evil purposes through specified cultural reform in response to widespread social
formulas. disruption and collective feelings of anxiety and despair.
✓✓Divination is a magical procedure or spiritual ritual ✓✓Revitalization examples include Mormonism in the
designed to find out what is not knowable by ordinary United States, ecospiritualism in many Western nations
means, particularly through signs foretelling fate or (such as the rise of Druidry in England), and the
destiny. revival of traditional American Indian ceremonies.
✓✓Witchcraft—magical ritual intended to cause ✓✓Syncretism, the creative blending of indigenous and
misfortune or inflict harm and often referred to as foreign beliefs and practices into new cultural forms,
sorcery—is believed to be practiced by people who can be found worldwide. It includes the practice of
embody evil spirit power or collaborate with Vodou among former slaves in Haiti, which features
malevolent supernatural beings. elements of Roman Catholicism and traditional African
beliefs such as spirit possession.
✓✓Belief in witchcraft is widespread, takes many forms,
and is especially common during periods of
uncertainty.
What is secularization?
✓✓Secularization is a process of cultural change in which
What are sacred sites and pilgrimages? a population tends toward a nonreligious worldview,
ignoring or rejecting institutionalized spiritual beliefs
✓✓Sacred sites may be places where ordinary people
and rituals.
experienced something extraordinary or places
associated with a holy person, or they may be ✓✓Fairly common in wealthy countries, secularization has
exceptional natural places, especially mountaintops. become especially prevalent in western Europe.
1. For countless generations, humans have creatively representation relate to your own existence? Does it
reflected on the universe and their place in it. have any meaning to you, your family, or others in
Often this is done through sacred rituals—culturally your community?
specific prayers, chants, prostrations, sacrificial
offerings, or dances, such as the Buddhist Stag 2. People in every culture experience anxiety, fear, and
and Hounds dance in Bhutan, pictured at the start social tension, and many attribute accidents, illnesses,
of this chapter. Are you personally familiar with or other misfortunes to evil magic practiced by
a periodic reenactment or visual representation malevolent individuals such as witches or sorcerers.
commemorating a significant historical event Do you believe people really possess such supernatural
in a major religious tradition? How does that powers to inflict harm?
323
3. Do the basic dynamics of the shamanic complex also 4. Revitalization movements occur in reaction to
apply to preachers or priests in modern churches and the upheavals caused by rapid colonization and
medical doctors working in modern hospitals? Can modernization. Do you think that the rise of religious
you think of some similarities among the shaman, fundamentalism among Christians, Muslims, Jews,
preacher, and medical doctor in terms of their and Hindus is a response to such upheavals? If yes,
respective fields of operation? how so?
Going Through a Phase
In every society, people take part in ceremonies, college graduation, marriage, or funeral). Identify
each of which has its own particular rituals. and briefly describe each of its three phases, and
Having read about various ritual practices in summarize why this social event requires the
this chapter, select a rite of passage you have ceremonial staging of a cultural ritual.
personally witnessed or participated in (such as
Sue Cunningham Photographic/Alamy
CHALLENGE ISSUE
Humans in all cultures face the challenge of creatively articulating ideas and emotions
concerning themselves and the world around them. Across the globe, people have devel-
oped art forms—musical, visual, verbal, movement, and so on—that symbolically express
meanings and messages. Art is often personal but may also communicate, stimulate,
and reinforce experiences and feelings of collective cultural identity. So it is with these
Amazonian Indians in traditional ceremonial paint and dress—members of the Kayapo
tribe inhabiting Brazil’s Xingu River area. Their heads are crowned with colorful radiating
feathers that represent the universe. Their faces and bodies are painted with black and
red designs that convey strength—the black dye made of charcoal and genipap fruit juice,
the red of crushed urucu seeds. And they carry age-old tribal weapons—clubs, spears,
bows, and arrows. In this case, they armed and adorned themselves to stage a political
protest in the streets of São Paulo, one of Brazil’s major cities. With dance, song, oratory,
and body ornamentation, they demonstrated against an $18.5 billion hydropower project,
the third largest in the world. For two decades they tried to halt the building of a huge dam
that threatens their health and way of life. Their artful protests attracted worldwide atten-
tion but failed to stop the massive project set to generate cheap electricity for millions.
The Arts 14
Humans in all cultures throughout time have expressed feelings and ideas about In this chapter you
themselves and the world around them through art—the creative use of the hu- will learn to
man imagination to aesthetically interpret, express, and engage life, modifying ex- ●● Define art and examine
perienced reality in the process. Art comes in many forms, including visual, verbal, how it is intertwined
musical, and motion—sometimes in combination and in an ever-expanding array with other parts of a
cultural system.
of formats made possible by the continual emergence of new technologies. Most
societies, past and present, have used art to symbolically express almost every part
●● Summarize
anthropology’s
of their culture, including ideas about religion, kinship, ethnic identity, and death.
cross-cultural and
From an anthropological perspective, the photo that opens this chapter is far comparative historical
more than a curious image of traditionally painted, feathered, and armed Kayapo perspective on art.
Indians in the Brazilian Amazon. It is an illustration of performance art—a ●● Identify different types
creatively expressed promotion of ideas by artful means dramatically staged to of art, each with
challenge opinion and/or provoke purposeful action. In Kayapo culture, dancing
specific anthropological
examples.
combined with the singing of warrior chants is a traditional variation of this art
form. Here we see the warriors in the modern city of Altamira protesting against
●● Recognize how art
expresses worldview
a huge hydroelectric dam. Through this particular performance, staged as a public
and analyze its
spectacle in an electronic media environment, they aimed to reach a global audience functions in the
of millions and win widespread support for their political struggle (Conklin, 1997; context of religion and
shamanism.
Prins, 2002). Performance art is not always successful. Although demonstrations
by Kayapo and neighboring tribes of the Xingu River drew international atten-
●● Explain and give
examples of the
tion, the dam is now near completion. Soon it will flood 400 square kilometers
relationship between art
(150 square miles) of tropical forest and destroy their habitat. and cultural identity.
Despite daily evidence of political (and commercial) uses of art, most people
●● Analyze how art has
living in the industrialized corners of the world think of the arts almost exclu- become a commodity
sively as an aesthetic pleasure for personal or shared enjoyment. From this “art in a market economy,
for art’s sake” perspective, art appears
and critically evaluate
art The creative use of the human
imagination to aesthetically interpret, express, what that means in a
to be confined to a distinctive cultural and engage life, modifying experienced reality globalized environment
in the process.
domain, quite apart from political,
performance art A creatively expressed
of rapid change.
economic, religious, and otherwise promotion of ideas by artful means
dramatically staged to challenge opinion and/
pragmatic or ideological activities. or provoke purposeful action.
325
326 CHAPTER 14 The Arts
But in most traditional cultures, art is so deeply embedded individuals and as members of society. Similarly, people in
in various aspects of life that many of these cultures do all cultures tell stories in which they express their values,
not have a distinctive term for it. hopes, and concerns and in the process reveal much about
For instance, commenting on beautiful ivory figurines themselves and the nature of the world as they see it.
carved by Aivilik Inuit (Eskimo hunters in Arctic Canada), In short, all peoples engage in artistic expression in one
U.S. anthropologist Edmund Carpenter observed: way or another. And, they have been doing this in countless
ways for more than 40,000 years—from painting animals
No word meaning “art” occurs in Aivilik, nor does on ancient rock walls to digital music jamming on iPhones.
“artist.” . . . Art to the Aivilik is an act, not an object; Whether a particular work of art is intended to be
a ritual, not a possession. . . . They are more interested appreciated purely for beauty or to serve some practical
in the creative activity than in the product of that purpose, it requires the same special combination of
activity [and do not differentiate between] works of symbolic representation of form and expression of feeling
art and utilitarian objects: but the two are usually that constitute the creative imagination. Because human
one. (Carpenter, 1959, n.p.) creativity and the ability to symbolize are universal, art is
This intricate link between art and other aspects of an important subject for anthropological study.
life is evident in the way art has been incorporated into
everyday, functional objects—from utensils, pottery, and
baskets used to serve, carry, or store food, to carpets and
The Anthropological
mats woven by nomadic herders to cover the ground in-
side their portable tent dwellings. Designs painted on or
Study of Art
woven or carved into such objects typically express ideas, Anthropologists have found that art often reflects a soci-
values, relationships, and objects that have meaning to an ety’s collective ideas, values, and concerns. Indeed, through
entire community (Figure 14.1). the cross-cultural study of art, we may discover much
Artful expression is as basic to human beings as talking about different worldviews and religious beliefs, as well as
and is by no means limited to a unique category of individ- political ideas, social values, kinship structures, economic
uals specialized as artists. We see this in the way people in relations, and historical memory.
all cultures adorn their bodies in certain ways—and how, In approaching art as a cultural phenomenon, anthropol-
by doing so, make a statement about who they are, both as ogists have the pleasant task of cataloguing, photographing,
Figure 14.1 Functional Art

Traditional bags artfully woven by Ayoreo Indian women are used to carry the food they hunt or gather
(such as tortoises) in the Gran Chaco, their wilderness domain in the borderlands of Paraguay and Bolivia.
The bags are made out of wild pineapple (dajudie) leaf fibers, which the women pull and twist into strong
strands and then dye with natural pigments. Each weaves a pattern distinctive of their clan. The Ayoreo
pictured here stayed remote from the modern world until 2004 when encroachment on their traditional
territory forced them to make contact. They continue to make and use these bags, which can now also be
seen hanging on museum walls and on the shoulders of fashionable women from New York to Paris.
recording, describing, and analyzing all possible forms of enjoying a meal. Although one of the men clutches a bag
imaginative activity in any particular culture. An enormous of money and appears to have knocked over a dish of salt,
variety of forms and modes of artistic expression exists in nothing else in the scene seems out of the ordinary.
the world. Because people everywhere continue to create Aesthetically, our non-Christian observer may admire
and develop in ever-new ways, there is no end to the in- the way the composition fits the space available, how the
teresting process of collecting and describing the world’s attitudes of the men are depicted, and the means by which
ornaments, ceremonial masks, body decorations, clothing the artist conveys a sense of movement. As narrative, the
variations, blanket and rug designs, pottery and basket painting may be seen as a record of customs, table man-
styles, monuments, architectural embellishments, legends, ners, dress, and architecture. But to interpret this picture—
work songs, dances, and other art forms—many of them to perceive its real meaning—the viewer must be aware
rich with religious symbolism. that in Christian symbolic culture money traditionally
To study and analyze art, anthropologists employ a represents the root of all evil, and spilling the salt suggests
combination of aesthetic, narrative, and interpretive ap- impending disaster. But even this is not enough; to fully
proaches. The distinctions among these methods can be understand this work of art, one must know something of
illustrated through a famous work of Western art, Leonardo the beliefs of Christianity. And if one wishes to understand
da Vinci’s painting The Last Supper, showing Jesus Christ and renditions of the Last Supper made by artists in other cor-
his apostles on their last night together before his arrest and ners of the world, it is necessary to bring insights about
crucifixion. A non-Christian viewing this late 15th-century those cultures into the equation as well (Figure 14.2). In
mural in Italy will see thirteen people at a table, apparently other words, moving to the interpretive level of studying
Figure 14.2 The Last Supper by Marcos Zapata (c. 1710–1773) Courtesy of Erin Erkun
To interpret this painting, one must know about Christianity and the artist’s cultural background.
It depicts the final meal shared by a spiritual leader and his twelve followers the eve before
his execution, an event commemorated by Christians for 2,000 years. For centuries, artists in
many societies have imagined this event in paintings, often copying from others before them.
This artist was an indigenous painter living in Cuzco, once capital of the Inca empire and long
colonized by Spaniards. Baptized as a Christian, he was influenced by European imagery but
made cultural adjustments so fellow Andean Indians coming to the church would understand
its significance. Directly looking at us is St. Peter, showing his sacred key to heaven. At the
center of the table sits Jesus, foretelling his death as a sacrifice, promising he will resurrect and
return as the Messiah. However, instead of lamb, Zapata painted a roasted cui (Cavia porcellus)
on the platter. Traditionally eaten by Andean highlanders, this domesticated guinea pig has
long been used for sacrificial and divining purposes; it is a culturally relevant substitute for the
sacrificial lamb, a traditional Israelite symbol representing their divine rescue from slavery in
Egypt. He also substituted red wine with chicha, an indigenous beer made of fermented maize.
© 1996 The Rock Foundation. Courtesy of Edmund Carpenter
Hanging
Hourglass Limbs Hocker
© Danita Delimont/Alamy Stock Photo

Figure 14.3 Kinship Symbolism in Art
In the figure at left, the top row shows the stylized human figures that are the basic bricks used
in the construction of genealogical patterns. The bottom row shows how these basic figures
are linked arm and leg with diagonally adjacent figures to depict descent. For thousands of
years people all over the world have linked such figures together, creating the familiar geometric
patterns that we see in countless art forms—from pottery to sculpture to weavings—patterns
that informed eyes recognize as genealogical. Pictured in the figure on the right are traditional
wooden shields with kinship designs made by Asmat people in West Papua.
art requires knowledge of the symbols and beliefs of the their basic patterns or arrangements). In some of the Amer-
people responsible for the art (Lewis-Williams, 1990). ican Indian art of the Northwest Coast, for example, ani-
A good way to deepen our insight into the relationship mal figures may be so highly stylized as to be difficult for
between art and the rest of culture is to examine critically an outsider to identify. Although the art appears abstract,
some of the generalizations that have already been made the artist has created it based on nature, even though he or
about specific art forms. Because it is impossible to cover she has exaggerated and deliberately transformed various
all art forms in the space of a single chapter, we will con- shapes to express a particular feeling toward the animals.
centrate on just a few—visual, verbal, and musical. Because artists do these exaggerations and transformations
according to the aesthetic principles of their Indian cul-
Visual Art ture, their meanings are understood not just by the artist
but by other members of the community as well.
For many people, the first thing that springs to mind in This collective understanding of symbols is a hallmark
connection with the word art is some sort of visual image, in traditional art. Unlike modern Western art, which is
such as a painting. Created primarily for visual perception, judged in large part on its creative originality and the
visual art ranges from images rendered on various surfaces unique vision of an individual artist, traditional art is all
to sculptures and weavings made with an array of materials. about community and shared symbolism. Consider, for
In many parts of the world, people have been making example, symbols related to kinship. As discussed in earlier
pictures in one way or another for a very long time— chapters, small-scale traditional societies—hunter-gatherers,
etching in bone; engraving in rock; carving and painting nomadic herders, slash-and-burn horticulturists—are pro-
on wood, gourds, and clay pots; or painting on cave walls, foundly interested in kinship relations. In such societies,
textiles, animal hides, or even their own bodies. Some form kinship may be symbolically expressed in stylized motifs
of visual art is a part of every historically known human and colorful designs etched or painted on human skin,
culture, and extraordinary examples have been found at animal hides or bones, pottery, wood, rocks, or almost any
prehistoric sites dating back more than 40,000 years. other surface imaginable. To cultural outsiders these designs
appear to be purely decorative, ornamental, or abstract,
Symbolism in Visual Art but they can actually be decoded in terms of genealogical
As a type of symbolic expression, visual art may be rep- iconography primarily illustrating social relations of mar-
resentational (imitating closely the forms of nature) or riage and descent (Prins, 1998; Schuster & Carpenter, 1996)
abstract (drawing from natural forms but representing only (Figure 14.3).
Shared symbolism has also been fundamental to
the traditional visual art of tattooing—although that is
visual art Art created primarily for visual perception, ranging from
etchings and paintings on various surfaces (including the human body) changing in some parts of the world, as discussed in this
to sculptures and weavings made with an array of materials. chapter’s Original Study.
NAL
ORIGI
S T U DY The Modern Tattoo Community By Margo DeMello
As an anthropology graduate student in the persistent and universal forms of body art and may date
early 1990s, I had no idea what (or, more accurately, back as far as the Upper Paleolithic era (10,000–40,000
whom) to study for my field research. Working as an years ago).
animal advocate, I had a house full of creatures to care Tattoos as signs derive their communicative power
for, which left me in no position for long-term travel to a from more than a simple sign-to-meaning correspon-
far-off field site. dence: They also communicate through color, style, man-
Then one of my professors suggested a topic that was ner of execution, and location on the body. Traditionally
literally under my nose—tattooing. I myself had several inscribed on easily viewable parts of the body, tattoos
tattoos and spent quite a bit of time with other tattooed were designed to be “read” by others and were part of a
people, including my husband, who had just become a collectively understood system of inscription. However,
professional tattooist. for many middle-class North Americans today tattoos are
Early on in my research, I, along with my husband, more about private statement than public sign, and these
strove to find a way to “join” what is known as the “tattoo individuals, especially women, tend to favor smaller tat-
community,” finding that it was not as friendly and open toos in private spots.
as we had imagined it to be. As an anthropologist, I came The process by which tattooing has expanded in
to see that the sense of exclusion we felt reflected the the United States from a working-class folk art into a
fact that we were on the lower rungs of a highly stratified more widespread and often refined aesthetic practice is
social group in which an artist’s status is based on such related to a number of shifts in North American culture
features as class, geography, and professional and artistic that occurred during the 1970s and 1980s. This time
credentials, and a “fan” might be judged on the type and period saw the introduction of finely trained artists
extent of his or her tattoos, the artist(s) who created them, into tattooing, bringing with them radically different
the level of media coverage achieved, and more. This backgrounds and artistic sensibilities to draw from.
awareness led to one of the major focuses of my work: More and more middle-class men and women began
how class and status increasingly came to define this once getting tattooed, attracted by the expanded artistic
working-class art form. choices and the new, more spiritual context of body
Ultimately, I spent almost five years studying and writ- decoration.
ing about tattooing, finding my “community” wherever Tattoos have been partially transformed into fine art
tattooed people talked about themselves and each other— by a process of redefinition and framing based on formal
within the pages of tattoo magazines and mainstream qualities (that is, the skill of the artist, the iconic content
newspapers, on Internet newsgroups, and at tattoo-oriented of the tattoo, the style in which the tattoo is executed,
events across the country. I spent countless hours in tattoo and so on) and ideological qualities (the discourses that
shops watching the artists work; I collected what I call surround “artistic” tattoos, discourses that point to some
“tattoo narratives,” which are often elaborate, sometimes higher reality on which the tattoo is based). When it is
spiritual, stories that people tell about their tattoos; and judged that a tattoo has certain formal artistic qualities as
I followed the careers of seminal artists. I even learned to well as expresses a higher, often spiritual, reality, then it
tattoo a bit myself, placing a few particularly ugly images is seen as art.
on my patient husband’s body. Although it may seem as though tattoos are not
Tattoos are created by inserting ink or some other good candidates to be defined as art, due to their lack
pigment through the epidermis (outer skin) into the of permanence (the body, after all, ages and dies) and
dermis (the second layer of skin) through the use of their seeming inability to be displayed within a gallery
needles. They may be beautiful as designs in and of setting, modern tattoo art shows get around these prob-
themselves, but they can also express a multitude of lems by photographing tattoos and displaying them in
meanings about the wearer and his or her place within a way that showcases the “art” and often minimizes
the social group. Whether used in an overt punitive the body. By both literally and figuratively “framing”
fashion (as in the tattooing of slaves or prisoners) or tattoos in a museum or gallery setting, or within an art
to mark clan or cult membership, religious or tribal book, the tattoo is removed from its social function and
affiliation, social status, or marital position, tattoos remade into art.
have historically been a social sign. They have long The basic working-class American tattoo designs (such
been one of the simplest ways of establishing humans as “Mother” or “Donna” inscribed alongside a heart)
as social beings. In fact, tattooing is one of the most have been relegated to the bottom rung of today’s tattoo
hierarchy in the United States. Such tattoos are now

seen by middle-class artists and fans as too literal, too
transparently obvious, and too grounded in everyday
experience and social life to qualify as art.
The modern, artistic tattoos that have increas-
ingly gained favor are less “readable” and no longer
have an easily recognizable function. Often derived
from foreign (or “exotic”) cultures (such as Polyne-
sia) and custom-drawn for the wearer, they tend to
eliminate the social aspect in favor of the highly
individualistic. Some are purely decorative, and
those that are intended to signify meaning often
do so only for the individual or those in his or her
intimate circle.
Tattoos in the United States have traveled a long
way from the tattoo of old: brought to North America
by way of British Captain James Cook’s 18th-century
explorations of the Pacific, moving, over time, from
a mark of affiliation to a highly individual statement
of personal identity, losing and regaining function,
meaning, and content along the way. In our increas-
ingly global world, tattoo designs and motifs move
swiftly and easily across cultural boundaries. As this
happens, their original, communal meanings are
often lost—but they are not meaningless. An animal
crest tattoo traditionally worn by Indians on the
northwest coast of North America to signify clan
membership may now be worn by a non-Native in
Ulrich Doering / Alamy
Boston as an artful, often private, sign of rebellion

against Western “coat and tie” consumer culture.
Written expressly for this text, 2005.
Tattoo artist with a client at the international Southern Ink Xposure

Tattoo Convention.
Rock Art from Southern Africa ferric oxide for red and reddish-brown hues—and mixed
Rock art—paintings and engravings made on large rock the colors with fat, blood, and perhaps water. They ap-
surfaces—is one of the world’s oldest art traditions, dating plied the paint with great skill—with lines and shading
back at least 40,000 years. Bushmen in southern Africa that elegantly captured the contours of the animals’ bod-
practiced this art continually from 27,000 years ago (per- ies and details such as the twist of an eland’s horns or the
haps earlier) until the beginning of the 20th century when black line running along its back.
European colonization led to the demise of their societies. The art shows Bushmen hunting various animals—
Their art depicted humans and animals in sophisticated especially eland, a massive antelope they believed pos-
ways, often in highly animated scenes. It also featured sessed supernatural powers (Figure 14.4). Often male hunt-
what appear to be abstract signs—dots, zigzags, nested ers are outfitted with spears or bows, arrows, and quivers.
curves, and the like. Until fairly recently, non-Bushmen Some scenes show hunting nets and fish traps. Women are
were puzzled by the significance of these abstract features also portrayed—identifiable by their sexual characteristics
and by the fact that new pictures were often created di- and their stone-weighted digging sticks.
rectly over existing images. Researchers, interpreting southern Africa’s prehistoric
These early ancestors of the Bushmen used charcoal rock art in light of ethnographic research among modern-
and specularite (a variety of the mineral hematite) for the day Bushmen communities, suggest certain designs relate to
color black; silica, china clay, and gypsum for white; and the shamanic trance dance. These often include fly whisks
Figure 14.4 Rock Art by

Bushmen in Southern Africa
Bushmen created rock
paintings and engravings
depicting animals they
believed possessed great
supernatural powers,
especially the eland.
Many of these renderings
also featured trance
dancing, sometimes
showing shamans
magically transforming
into birds, appearing
elongated and weightless
as if in flight or water—
imagery based on altered
states of consciousness
experienced in trance.
Prisma/Superstock
(used to extract invisible arrows of sickness) and designs of shamans try to do in trance is to “capture” these envi-
hand-clapping women surrounding dancing men whose sioned elands for purposes of making rain.
bodies are bent forward in the distinctive posture caused by All of this helps us understand why elands are so
the cramping of abdominal muscles as they go into trance. prominent in Bushmen rock art. Moreover, it reveals the
The designs also show dancers’ arms outstretched behind significance of the zigzags, dots, grids, and so forth that
their backs, which present-day Bushmen do to catch more are so often a part of the compositions. The interpretive
n/um (supernatural power). approach makes clear, then, that the rock art of south-
For a more complete interpretation of trance-influenced ern Africa is probably connected with the practices and
art, anthropologists explore a possible linkage with altered beliefs of shamanism. After shamans came out of trance
states of consciousness. Brain research indicates that hu- and reflected on their visions, they painted or engraved
mans typically move through three stages when entering their recollections on the rock faces. A similar interpretive
a trance. First, the nervous system generates images of analysis is needed to fully understand the art of Huichol
luminous, pulsating, revolving, and constantly shifting Indians living in Mexico, as profiled in this chapter’s
geometric patterns known as entoptic phenomena. Usually, Biocultural Connection feature.
these include dots, zigzags, grids, filigrees, nested curves,
and parallel lines, often in a spiral pattern. Next, the brain
tries to make sense of these abstract forms. Here, cultural Verbal Art
influences come into play, so a trancing tribesman in
Verbal art is creative word use on display that includes
southern Africa’s Kalahari region may construe a grid pat-
stories, myths, legends, tales, poetry, metaphor, rhyme,
tern as markings on the skin of a giraffe or nested curves
as a honeycomb (honey is a delicacy in the region). A chants, rap, drama, cant, proverbs, jokes, puns, riddles,
Canadian wheat farmer or Chinese shoemaker would and tongue twisters.
construe the patterns in very different ways. Since the 19th century, when Europe’s traditional rural
Finally, during the deepest trance stage, people tend to cultures changed as a result of urbanization and moderni-
feel as if they are at one with their visions, passing into a zation, the historical heritage of communities and regions
rotating tunnel or vortex. Typically, the tunnel has lattice- has been at risk of being forgotten or otherwise lost.
like sides in which iconic images of animals, humans, and Alarmed about these vanishing traditions—including leg-
monsters appear, merging with the entoptic forms of the ends, songs, dances, dress, and crafts—people interested
early trance stages. Trancing individuals usually see things
that have high significance within their own culture. Thus,
verbal art Creative word use on display that includes stories, myths,
Bushmen often see the eland, which they believe carries legends, tales, poetry, metaphor, rhyme, chants, rap, drama, cant,
supernatural powers for making rain. One of the things proverbs, jokes, puns, riddles, and tongue twisters.
Peyote Art: Divine Visions among the Huichol

For generations, Huichol Indians living or eagles soaring high in
in Mexico’s mountainous western Sierra the sky. Having visions
Madre region have created art remarkable extending far across the
for its vibrant colors. They are especially world, they interact di-
noted for their spectacular beadwork and rectly with their gods and
embroidery. Although many people far seek advice on behalf of
and wide appreciate the intricate beauty those who need help in
of Huichol art, most are probably unaware dealing with illness and
that the colorful designs express a reli- other misfortunes.
gious worldview tied to the chemical sub- From a chemical
stance of a sacred plant: a small cactus point of view, peyote
© Daniel Kramer Photography

“button” known as peyote (Lophophora contains a psychotropic
williamsii).a substance identified by
Among the many Huichol gods and god- scientists as an alkaloid.
desses, all addressed in kinship terms, is By consuming some of
Our Grandfather Fire. His principal spirit this toxic organic sub-
helper is Our Elder Brother Deer, a mes- stance, the Huichol move
senger between the gods and humans. into an altered state of Huichol artist Olivia Carrillo makes peyote-inspired art in Real de
Serving the Huichol as their spiritual guide, consciousness. In this Catorce, a town in the mountains of central Mexico. About an
this divine deer is also the peyote cactus dreamlike psychological hour’s horseback ride away from the Huichol sacred mountain
itself. Huichol Indians refer to peyote as state, which is also pro- Wirikúta, the town is located in the peyote heartland.
yawéi hikuri, the “divine flesh of Elder foundly emotional, they
Brother Deer.” Guided by their shamans on experience religiously in-
a pilgrimage to harvest peyote, they “hunt” spired, brilliantly colored visions from their Biocultural Question
this “deer” in Wirikúta, the sacred desert spirit world. In Huichol Indian art we often find vibrantly
highlands where their ancestor deities These are reflected in Huichol art, colored peyote buttons, articulating sha-
dwell. Having found and “shot” the first such as the piece pictured here in which manic visions induced by this psychotropic
cactus button with an arrow, they gather a stylized peyote button and deer have cactus. What was it that inspired traditional
many more, later to be consumed in fresh, been rendered in rainbow-hued beadwork European artists to paint Christian holy men
dried, or liquid form. by Huichol artist Olivia Carrillo, who lives and women with a halo—a silver- or gold-
Participating in a holy communion in the peyote heartland of central Mexico. colored ring around or above their heads?
with the creator god, Huichol shamans The sacred cactus, with its flower or star-
consume peyote (the divine flesh) as a like shape, is the most prominent symbolic a
Schaeffer, S. B., & Furst, P. T. (Eds.).
sacrament. Doing so, they enter into an design in Huichol art, beaded onto fabric (1996). People of the peyote: Huichol Indian
ecstatic trance. With the help of peyote, and objects of all kinds or embroidered history, religion, and survival. Albuquerque:
their spiritual guide, they become hawks on clothing. University of New Mexico Press.
in cultural preservation began collecting the unwritten Generally, the narratives that make up the verbal arts
popular stories (and other artistic traditions) of rural have been divided into several basic and recurring catego-
peoples. They coined the word folklore (folk refers to ries, including myth, legend, and tale.
“ethnicity”; lore is “traditional knowledge”) to distinguish
between “folk art” shared by the community and the “fine
Myth
art” collected by the elite.
As discussed in the previous chapter, the term myth
comes from the Greek word mythos, meaning “speech” or
folklore A term coined by 19th-century scholars studying the unwritten “story.” It is a narrative that explains the fundamentals
stories and other artistic traditions of rural peoples to distinguish
of human existence—where we and everything in our
between “folk art” and the “fine art” of the literate elite.
world came from, why we are here, and where we are go-
myth A sacred narrative that explains the fundamentals of human
existence—where we and everything in our world came from, why we are ing. A myth provides a rationale for religious beliefs and
here, and where we are going. practices and sets cultural standards for proper behavior.
A typical creation or origin myth, traditional with the The last work he made was Lake Champlain
western Abenaki Indians of northwestern New England and liked it so well that he climbed onto a rock in
and southern Quebec, is as follows: Burlington Bay and changed himself into stone so he
could sit there and enjoy his masterpiece through the
In the beginning, Tabaldak, “The Owner,” created
ages. He is still there and he is still given offerings of
all living things but one—the spirit being who was
tobacco as Abenakis pass this way. The Abenaki call
to accomplish the final transformation of the earth.
the rock Odzihózo, since it is the Transformer himself.
Tabaldak made man and woman out of a piece of stone,
(Haviland & Power, 1994)
but he didn’t like the result, their hearts being cold and
hard. So, he broke them up, and their remains today Such a myth, insofar as it is believed, accepted, and per-
can be seen in the many stones that litter the landscape petuated in a culture, expresses part of a people’s traditional
of the Abenaki homeland. Then Tabaldak tried again, worldview. This Abenaki myth accounts for the existence of
this time using living wood, and from this came all rivers, mountains, lakes, and other features of the landscape
later Abenakis. Like the trees from which the wood (such as Odzihózo Rock pictured in Figure 14.5), as well
came, these people were rooted in the earth and could as of humans and all other living things. It also sanctions
dance as gracefully as trees swaying in the wind. particular attitudes and behaviors. The myth is a product of
The one living thing not created by Tabaldak was creative imagination and is a work of art, as well as poten-
Odzihózo, “He Makes Himself from Something.” This tially a religious statement.
transformer created himself out of dust, but he wasn’t Extrapolating from the details of this particular
able to accomplish it all at once. At first, he managed Abenaki myth, we may conclude that these Native Amer-
only his head, body, and arms; the legs came later, icans traditionally recognize having a close relationship
growing slowly as legs do on a tadpole. Not waiting with animals and plants, as well as rocks, rivers, and so
until his legs were grown, he set out to transform the on. Such ideas led them to show special respect to the
shape of the earth. He dragged his body about with animals they hunted in order to sustain their own lives.
his hands, gouging channels that became the rivers. For example, before eating meat, they placed an offering
To make the mountains, he piled dirt up with his of grease on the fire to thank Tabaldak.
hands. Once his legs grew, Odzihózo’s task was made A characteristic of myths, such as this one, is that they
easier; by merely extending his legs, he made the reduce the complex or unknown in terms of a basic story
tributaries of the main stream. . . . accepted as explanation in the community. Mythmaking
© Ray Brown
Figure 14.5 Odzihózo Rock, Lake Champlain, Burlington, Vermont

This small granite island is featured in the creation myth of the Abenaki Indians, the original
inhabitants of the region. For untold generations, they have referred to it as Odzihózo after the
mythical transformer who laid out the river channels and lake basins in northeastern North America.
is an extremely significant kind of human creativity, and found in nonliterate societies with some form of state
studying the mythmaking process and its results can offer political organization; they serve to transmit and preserve a
valuable insight into the way people perceive and think culture’s legal and political precedents and practices.
about their world. Legends may incorporate mythological details, espe-
cially when they make an appeal to the supernatural, and
Legend are therefore not always clearly distinct from myth. Leg-
A legend is a story about a memorable event or figure ends may also incorporate proverbs and incidental tales
handed down by tradition and told as true but without ac- and thus be related to other forms of verbal art as well.
tual historical evidence. Legends commonly consist of pseu- For the anthropologist, the secular and apparently realis-
do-historical narratives that account for the deeds of heroes, tic portions of legends, whether long or short, carry particu-
the movements of peoples, and the establishment of local lar significance because of the clues they provide as to what
customs, typically with a mixture of realism and the super- constitutes a culture’s approved or ideal ethical behavior. The
natural or extraordinary. As stories, they are not necessarily subject matter of legends is essentially problem solving and
believed or disbelieved, but they usually serve to entertain mentoring, and the content is likely to include physical and
as well as to instruct and to inspire or bolster pride in family, psychological trials of many kinds. Certain questions may
community, or nation. Legends all around the world tell us be answered explicitly or implicitly: In what circumstances,
something about the cultures in which they are found. if any, does the culture permit homicide? What kinds of be-
A noteworthy example of a popular legend is that havior are considered heroic or cowardly? Does the culture
American Indians at Cape Cod welcomed the English stress forgiveness over retaliation as an admirable trait?
Pilgrims who came to the “New World” seeking religious
freedom—generously sharing their food and helping the Tale
newcomers survive their first winter. Gaining acceptance A third type of creative narrative, the tale, is recognized
in the 19th century, this romantic first-arrival story is often as fiction that is for entertainment but may also draw
told during Thanksgiving, an important national holiday a moral or teach a practical lesson. Consider this brief
in the United States. For Native Americans, it is a false summary of a tale from Ghana in West Africa, known as
representation of what actually happened almost 400 years “Father, Son, and Donkey” (Figure 14.6):
ago—the beginning of a foreign invasion and violent dis-
possession of their ancestral homeland. Thus, many Native A father and his son farmed their corn, sold it, and
Americans do not celebrate Thanksgiving Day. spent part of the profit on a donkey. When the
To a degree, in literate societies the function of legends hot season came, they harvested their yams and
has been taken over by history. The trouble is that history prepared to take them to storage, using their donkey.
does not always tell people what they want to hear about The father mounted the donkey and they all three
themselves, or, conversely, it tells them things that they proceeded on their way until they met some people.
would prefer not to hear. By projecting their culture’s “What? You lazy man!” the people said to the father.
hopes and expectations onto the record of the past, they “You let your young son walk barefoot on this hot
seize upon and even exaggerate some past events while ground while you ride on a donkey? For shame!”
ignoring or giving scant attention to others. Although this The father yielded his place to the son, and they
often takes place unconsciously, so strong is the motiva- proceeded until they came to an old woman. “What?
tion to transform history into legend that states have even You useless boy!” said the old woman. “You ride on
gone so far as to deliberately rewrite it. the donkey and let your poor father walk barefoot on
An epic is a long, dramatic narrative, recounting the this hot ground? For shame!” The son dismounted,
celebrated deeds of a historic or legendary hero, often sung and both father and son walked on the road, leading
or recited in poetic language. In parts of western and Cen- the donkey behind them until they came to an old
tral Africa, people hold remarkably elaborate and formalized man. “What? You foolish people!” said the old man.
recitations of extremely long legends, lasting several hours “You have a donkey and you walk barefoot on the
and even days. These long narratives have been described as hot ground instead of riding?” And so it goes. Listen:
veritable encyclopedias of a culture’s most diverse aspects, When you are doing something and other people
with direct and indirect statements about history, institu- come along, just keep on doing what you like.
tions, relationships, values, and ideas. Epics are typically This is precisely the kind of tale that is of special in-
terest in traditional folklore studies. It is an internation-
ally popular “numbskull” tale. Versions of it have been
legend A story about a memorable event or figure handed down by recorded in India, Southwest Asia, southern and western
tradition and told as true but without historical evidence.
Europe, and North America, as well as in West Africa. It
epic A long, dramatic narrative, recounting the celebrated deeds of a
historic or legendary hero, often sung or recited in poetic language. is classified or catalogued as exhibiting a basic motif or
tale A creative narrative that is recognized as fiction for entertainment story theme—father and son trying to please everyone—
but may also draw a moral or teach a practical lesson. one of the many thousands that have been found to recur
the son, and the donkey originated, the fact that it is

told in West Africa suggests that it states something valid
for that culture. The tale’s lesson of a necessary degree of
self-confidence in the face of arbitrary social criticism is
therefore something that can be found in the culture’s
values and beliefs.
Other Verbal Art

Myths, legends, and tales, prominent as they are in an-
thropological studies, in many cultures turn out to be
no more important than many other verbal arts. In the
culture of the Awlad ‘Ali Bedouins of Egypt’s western des-
ert, for example, poetry is a lively and active verbal art,
especially as a vehicle for personal expression and private
communication. These Bedouins use two forms of poetry.
One is the elaborately structured and heroic poems men
chant or recite only on ceremonial occasions and in spe-
cific public contexts. The other is the ghinnáwas or “little
Jon Sparks/Alamy
songs” that punctuate everyday conversations, especially
of women. Simple in structure, these deal with personal
matters and feelings more appropriate to informal social
Figure 14.6 Father, Son, and Donkey
situations, and older men regard them as the unimportant
A Bedouin father and son wait for tourists to rent their donkey productions of women and youths (Figure 14.7).
in Petra, Jordan. A scene such as this may bring to mind the Despite this official devaluation in the male-dom-
internationally popular “Father, Son, and Donkey” tale. Told inated Bedouin society, “little songs” play a vital part
in different versions, this tale conveys a basic motif or story in people’s daily lives. In these poems individuals are
situation—father and son trying in vain to please everyone. shielded from the consequences of making statements and
expressing sentiments that contravene the moral system.
in tales around the world. Despite variations in detail, Paradoxically, by sharing these “immoral” sentiments
every version follows the same basic structure in the se- only with intimates and veiling them in impersonal tradi-
quence of events, sometimes called the syntax of the tale: tional formulas, those who recite them demonstrate that
A peasant father and son work together, a beast of burden they have a certain control, which actually enhances their
is purchased, the three set out on a short excursion, the moral standing. As is often true of folklore in general, the
father rides and is criticized, the son rides and is criticized, “little songs” of the Awlad ‘Ali provide a culturally appro-
both walk and are criticized, and a conclusion is drawn. priate outlet for otherwise taboo thoughts or opinions
Tales of this sort (not to mention myths and legends) (Abu-Lughod, 1986). The same is true for disaster jokes or
that are found to have wide geographic distribution raise comedic satire in numerous contemporary societies.
some questions: Where did they originate? Did the story In all cultures the words of songs constitute a kind of
arise only once and then pass from one culture to another poetry. Poetry and stories recited with gesture, movement,
(diffusion)? Or did the stories arise independently (inde- and props become drama. Drama combined with dance,
pendent invention) in response to like causes in similar music, and spectacle becomes a public celebration. The
settings, or perhaps as a consequence of inherited prefer- more we look at the individual arts, the clearer it becomes
ences and images deeply embedded in the evolutionary that they often are interrelated and interdependent. The
construction of the human brain? Or is it merely that verbal arts are, in fact, simply differing manifestations of
there are logical limits to the structure of stories, so that, the same creative imagination that produces music and
by coincidence, different cultures are bound to come up the other arts.
with similar motifs and syntax (Gould, 2000)?
The significance of tales for the anthropologist rests
partly in this matter of their distribution. They provide Musical Art
evidence of either cultural contacts or cultural isolation Evidence of humans making music reaches far back
and of limits of influence and cultural cohesion. in time. Archaeologists have found flutes and whistles
Anthropologists are interested, however, in more (resembling today’s recorders) made from the bones of
than these questions of distribution. Like legends, tales mammoths and birds and dating back at least 42,000
very often illustrate local solutions to universal human
ethical problems, and in some sense they state a moral
philosophy. Regardless of where the tale of the father, motif An underlying theme around which a work of art is composed.
Figure 14.7 Bedouin Women

Singing and Making Bread
The ghinnáwas or “little
songs” of the Awlad ‘Ali
Bedouins in Egypt punctuate
conversations carried out
while the people perform
everyday chores. Through
these songs, they can express
what otherwise are taboo
subjects.
© Anthro-Photo
years (Higham et al., 2012). And historically known food- variety of ways. Such factors make it difficult to construct
foraging peoples were not without music. In the Kalahari a definition that satisfies across cultures. Broadly speak-
Desert, for example, a Ju/’hoansi hunter off by himself ing, music may be defined as an art form whose medium
would play a tune on his bow simply to help pass the is sound and silence; a form of communication that in-
time. (Long before anyone thought of beating swords cludes a nonverbal auditory component with elements of
into plowshares, some genius discovered that bows could tonality, rhythm, pitch, and timbre.
be used not just to kill but to make music as well.) In In general, human music is said to differ from nat-
northern New England, Abenaki shamans used cedar ural sounds—the songs of birds, wolves, and whales,
flutes to call game, lure enemies, and attract women. for example—by being almost everywhere perceived
In addition, shamans would use a drum—over which in terms of a repertoire of tones at fixed or regular
two rawhide strings were stretched to produce a buzzing intervals: in other words, a scale. Scale systems and their
sound, representing singing—to allow communication modifications make up what is known as tonality in
with the spirit world. music. These vary cross-culturally, so it is not surprising
The study of music in specific cultural settings, or that something that sounds musical to one group of
ethnomusicology, began in the 19th century with people may come across as noise to another.
the collection of folksongs and has developed into a Humans make closed systems out of a formless range
specialized subfield of anthropological study. Ethnomu- of possible sounds by dividing the distance between a tone
sicologists look at music within its cultural context and and its first overtone or sympathetic vibration (which al-
from a comparative and relativistic perspective (Nettl, ways has exactly twice as many vibrations as the basic
2005). Early ethnomusicologists focused primarily on tone) into a series of measured steps. In the Western or
non-Western musical traditions in tribal cultures. Today, European system, the distance between the basic tone and
some also study folk music or music played and enjoyed the first overtone is called the octave; it consists of seven
in different ethnic communities within industrialized steps—five whole tones and two semitones. The whole
modern states. tones are further divided into semitones, collectively re-
Music is a form of communication that includes a sulting in a twelve-tone musical scale. Interestingly, some
nonverbal auditory component. The information it trans- birds pitch their songs to the same scale as Western music
mits is often abstract and emotional rather than concrete (Gray et al., 2001), perhaps influencing the way these
and objective, and different listeners experience it in a people developed their scale.
One of the most common alternatives to the semi-
tonal system is the pentatonic (five-tone) system, which
ethnomusicology The study of a society’s music in terms of its cultural divides the octave into five nearly equidistant tones.
setting.
Such scales may be found all over the world, including
music Broadly speaking, an art form whose medium is sound and
silence; a form of communication that includes a nonverbal auditory
in much European folk music. Arabic and Persian music
component with elements of tonality, pitch, rhythm, and timbre. have smaller units of a third of a tone with seventeen and
The Functions of Art 337
twenty-four steps in the octave. Even quartertone scales

are used in large parts of South Asia, North Africa, and
the Middle East with subtleties of shading that are nearly
indistinguishable to most Western ears. Thus, even when
Westerners can hear what sounds like melody and rhythm
in these systems, for many the total result may sound
peculiar or “out of tune.”
Pitch is the quality of a sound governed by the rate
of vibrations producing it—in other words, the degree of
highness or lowness of a tone. Timbre, another element of
music, is the characteristic quality of sound produced by
a particular instrument or voice—also known as tone color.
It is what distinguishes one musical sound from another,
even when they have the same pitch and loudness. For ex-
ample, a violin and a flute playing the same note equally
loud have a different timbre.
Another organizing factor in music is rhythm. Involv-
ing tempo, stress, and measured repetition, it may be
more important than tonality. One reason for this may be
our constant exposure to natural pulses, such as our own
heartbeat and patterns of breathing and walking. Even
before we are born, we are exposed to our mother’s heart-
beat and to the rhythms of her movements, and as infants
we experience rhythmic touching, petting, stroking, and
© Zale Seck
rocking (Dissanayake, 2000).
The rhythms of traditional European music are most
often measured into recurrent patterns of two, three,
Figure 14.8 Senegalese Musician Zale Seck
and four beats, with combinations of weak and strong
Like so many other cultural elements, musical instruments and
beats to mark the division and form patterns. Non-Euro-
styles of playing and singing now circulate around the globe, as
pean music is likely to move in patterns of five, seven,
do the artists themselves. One such example is West African
or eleven beats, with complex arrangements of inter-
musician Saliou “Zale” Seck, known for his “funky crisscrossing
nal beats and sometimes polyrhythms: one instrument
rhythms.” A member of the Lébou tribe, Zale was born in the
or singer using a pattern of three beats, for example, old fishing town of Yoff, just north of Senegal’s capital city of
whereas another uses a pattern of five or seven. Poly- Dakar. He performs Wolof percussive music on a traditional skin-
rhythms are frequent in the drum music of West Africa, covered djembe (hand drum) and sabar (played with one hand
which shows remarkable precision in the overlapping of and a stick). Coming from a long line of griots (oral historians-
rhythmic lines (Figure 14.8). Non-European music also traditional storytellers), he transmits his people’s memory
may contain shifting rhythms: a pattern of three beats, for through lyrics of love and humanity. Fluent in French (his country
example, followed by a pattern of two or five beats with was a French colony for many years), Zale has toured Europe
little or no regular recurrence or repetition of any one and played on radio and television in France. Zale has relocated
pattern, although the patterns are fixed and identifiable to French-speaking Quebec in Canada to further pursue his
as units. musical career.
Melody involves both tonality and rhythm. It is a
rhythmical succession of musical tones organized as a
distinct phrase or sequence of phrases. The distinction
between rhythm, melody, poetry, rhyming lyrics, and
speech is not always clear-cut. This is the case, for exam-
The Functions of Art
ple, with rapping (chanted or spoken word poetry per- Beyond adding beauty and pleasure to life, art in all
formed to a beat). Moreover, while musical instruments its many forms has countless functions—from social,
often accompany vocalization, they may also be imitated, economic, and political to emotional, religious, and
as is the case with beatboxing (vocal percussion, using psychological. For anthropologists and others seeking to
mouth, voice, tongue, and lips mimicking sounds of understand cultures beyond their own, art offers insights
drums, rattles, whistles, and so forth). Both rapping and into a society’s worldview, giving clues about everything
beatboxing are popular forms of music associated with from sexuality and gender relations to religious beliefs,
hip-hop culture now spread across the world, a diffusion historical memory, political ideology, and perspectives on
aided by the Internet. nature, both past and present.
Within a society, art may serve to display wealth, so- of this, which is why they routinely employ appealing
cial status, religious affiliation, and political power. An ex- music or seductive images in their advertising—as do pro-
ample of this can be seen in the totem poles of American moters of political, ideological, charitable, or other causes.
Indians living along the Northwest Coast. Carved from As an activity or behavior that contributes to human
tall cedar trees, with stylized animal and human faces or well-being and that helps give shape and significance to life,
bodies, these poles are a symbolic display of a family or art is often intricately intertwined with religion or spiritu-
clan’s prestige and rank in their community’s social hier- ality. In fact, in elaborate ceremonies involving ornamenta-
archy. Similarly, art is used to mark kinship ties, as seen in tion, masks, costumes, songs, dances, and effigies, it is not
the colored patterns of Scottish tartans designed to identify easy to say precisely where art stops and religion begins.
clan affiliation. It can also affirm group solidarity and iden- Often art is created to honor or beseech the aid of a god, pa-
tity beyond local status or kinship lines, as evidenced in the tron saint, or guardian spirit (such as an angel, ancestor, or
stylized renderings of mascots for sports teams displayed animal helper). Shamans drum to help create a trance state
in competitions. Likewise, art depicts national political enabling them to enter the spirt world, Buddhist monks
emblems such as the dragon (Bhutan), bald eagle (United chant to focus their meditation. Christians sing hymns to
States), maple leaf (Canada), crescent moon (Maldives), praise God. Also, since ancient times, rituals and symbols
and cedar tree (Lebanon) that typically appear on coins, concerning death have been infused with artistry—from
flags, and government buildings. evocative funereal music and beautiful sacred objects buried
Playing an important role in traditional manual labor, with a body to detailed mummy portraits in ancient Egypt.
work songs have served (and in some places still do) to Today, in some parts of the world, artisans create coffins
coordinate efforts in heavy or dangerous labor (such as that are so creative that some find their way into museums
weighing anchor and hoisting or reefing sails on ships), to as art (see the Globalscape feature).
synchronize axe or hammer strokes, and to pass time and Sometimes art is used to transmit culturally significant
relieve tedium (Figure 14.9). And music, as well as dance ideas about the origin or mysteries of the world, ancient
and other arts, may also be used, like magic, to “enchant”— struggles and victories, or remarkable ancestors, as in
to take advantage of the emotional or psychological predis- epic poems passed down from generation to generation.
positions of another person or group so as to cause them Myths, a verbal art form, may offer basic explanations
to perceive reality in a way favorable to the interests of the about the world and set cultural standards for proper
enchanter. Indeed, the arts may be used to manipulate a behavior. Other times art is employed to express political
seemingly inexhaustible list of human emotions, including protest and influence events, as with posters or graffiti on
joy, grief, anger, gratitude, pride, jealousy, love, passion, buildings, marching songs in mass demonstrations, and a
and desire. Commercial marketing specialists are well aware host of other public performances.
© R. Todd Hoffman
Figure 14.9 Laborers in Mali, West Africa, Working to the Beat of a Drum
The drumming helps to set the pace of work, unify the workforce, and relieve boredom.
GLOBALSCAPE
Arctic
Ocean
ASIA
NORTH Amsterdam,
AMERICA NETHERLANDS EUROPE
UNITED
STATES Washington, DC
AFRICA Pacific
Pacific Ocean
Ocean Accra, GHANA
Nungua, GHANA
SOUTH
AMERICA Indian
Ocean
Atlantic
Ocean AUSTRALIA
© Cengage Learning
ANTARCTICA African Voices National Museum of Natural History,
© dpa picture alliance archive/Alamy Stock Photo

Smithsonian. Photography by Donald Hurlbert.
Do Coffins Fly? rest of the world. Its creator, Paa Joe, began working at age 15 for
In his workshop in Nungua, Ghana, master carpenter Paa Joe his cousin Kane Quaye, a carpenter known for designer coffins.
makes unique painted wooden coffins for clients in his Ga society Later, Joe started his own workshop and soon began receiving
and beyond. Some are spectacular, representing richly colored orders from other parts of the world—not only from individuals
tropical fish or even luxury cars, such as Mercedes-Benz. Cele- but also from museums. Using wood, enamel paint, satin, and
brating the life accomplishments of the deceased, these designer Christmas wrapping paper, Joe created this KLM airplane coffin in
coffins show off the family’s prominent status and wealth. 1997 for the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in
As a collective expression of culturally shared ideas about Washington, DC, where millions of visitors from all over the globe
the afterlife, a Ga funeral ceremony reminds the mourners of now admire this Ghanaian funereal ritual object.
important values embodied in the departed individual. Seeing the
deceased off on a journey to the afterlife, Ga mourners call out Global Twister
praises to this person, and some may even pour schnapps on
When the Smithsonian Museum purchased one of Paa Joe’s
the coffin. Henceforth, the deceased will continue to be ritually
remarkable coffins for public display, did this West African ritual
honored as an ancestor by descendants.
object transform into a work of art?
The 747 jumbo jet coffin pictured here confers upon the de-
ceased the prestige and mystique of air travel. Its colors, blue
and white, are those of the KLM Royal Dutch Airline, a longtime Based on script for the African Voices Exhibition at NMNH, Smith-
provider of air service between this West African country and the sonian, courtesy of Dr. Mari Jo Arnoldi.
339
Singers who use their art to stir awareness about social

injustice, racism, political repression, or environmental
Art, Globalization,
threats may gain a following in some circles. They may
also incur commercial boycotts, personal threats, or even
and Cultural Survival
imprisonment. There are many examples of this around As members of a highly creative species, humans have
the world. One comes from Russia, where the female developed and shared multiple art forms in the course
punk rock protest group Pussy Riot began staging proof thousands of years, expressing personal or collective
vocative performances in 2011, with feminist, lesbian, emotions, ideas, memories, hopes, or anything else im-
and other lyrical themes challenging the male-dominated portant or entertaining. In this chapter, we have surveyed
political establishment in their homeland. Edited into art traditions across time and cultures, suggesting the
music videos and uploaded on the Internet, their shows vast scope of creative expression. Artistic styles may have
provoked authorities and prompted church leaders to changed over the millenniums, yet there are remarkable
denounce them as handmaidens of the devil. In 2012, correlations between ancient art and that of today. One
three members of the band were arrested, convicted of of countless examples is art created in public spaces, such
delinquency “motivated by religious hatred,” and served as 2,000-year-old petroglyphs painted on massive cliffs
substantial jail time. Fearing the same fate, two others left flanking riverways in China and contemporary graffiti
the country. painted on towering buildings flanking streets in urban
Many minorities or marginalized groups have used centers around the globe (Figure 14.10).
music for purposes of self-identification—as a means of Today, modern telecommunications technology fa-
building group solidarity and distinguishing themselves cilitates a rapid and global spread of art forms, opens
from the dominant culture and sometimes as a channel the door to global artistic collaborations, and makes it
for direct social and political commentary. Music gives possible to share art in unprecedented ways across time
basic human ideas a concrete form, made memorable and and space. In this globalized age, indigenous peoples
attractive through melody and rhythm. Whether a song’s in remote corners of the world can market their artful
content is didactic, satiric, inspirational, celebratory, sa- creations online, and an Internet giant can create an
cred, political, or militant, experiences and feelings that international symphony orchestra: Responding to open
are hard to express in words alone are communicated in auditions hosted by YouTube, musicians from all around
a symbolic and notable way that can be repeatedly per- the world posted videos of themselves playing Internet
formed and shared. This, in turn, shapes and gives mean- Symphony No. 1, Eroica, by Chinese composer Tan Dun.
ing to the community. Winners traveled to New York City for a Carnegie Hall
In the United States there are numerous examples performance comprised of short live pieces plus a mashup
of marginalized social and ethnic groups sharing their of the video auditions.
collective emotions and expressing their pride, protest, Clearly, there is more to art than meets the eye or
or hopes through song. The clearest example may be ear (not to mention the nose and tongue—consider how
African Americans, whose ancestors were captured and burning incense or tobacco is part of the artfulness of
carried across the Atlantic Ocean to be sold as slaves. Out sacred ceremonies, and imagine the cross-cultural array
of their experience emerged spirituals and, ultimately, of smells and tastes in the cooking arts). In fact, art is
gospel, jazz, blues, rock and roll, hip-hop, and rap. These such a significant part of culture that many endangered
forms all found their way into U.S. mainstream culture indigenous groups around the world—those whose
and soon captivated audiences in many other parts of lifeways have been threatened first by colonialism and
the world. now by globalization—are using aesthetic expressions as
All across the globe, one can find musicians giving part of a cultural survival strategy (see the Anthropology
voice to social issues. In Australia, certain ceremonial Applied feature).
songs of the Aborigines have taken on a new legal func- Like the Kayapo Indian warriors in Brazil’s Amazonian
tion, as they are being introduced into court as evidence of rainforest, protesting the environmental destruction as
indigenous land ownership. These songs recount ancient depicted in this chapter’s opening photo, many have
adventures of mythic ancestors who lived in “Dreamtime” found that a traditional art form—a dance, a song, a dress,
and created waterholes, mountains, valleys, and other a basket, a carving, or anything that is distinctly beautiful
significant features in the landscape. The ancestors’ tracks and well made or performed—can serve as a powerful
are known as “songlines,” and countless generations of symbol that conveys the vital message: “We’re still here,
Aborigines have been “singing up the country,” passing and we’re still a culturally distinct people with our own
on sacred ecological knowledge. This oral tradition helps particular beliefs and values.”
Aborigines to claim extensive indigenous landownership, Yet, globalization also poses some threats to traditional
thus allowing them greater authority to use the land, as arts. For example, as discussed in the chapter on language
well as to negotiate and profit from the sale of natural and communication, globalization has fueled language
resources (Koch, 2013). loss. And as languages vanish, the particular myths and
Art, Globalization, and Cultural Survival 341
Keren Su/China Span/Getty Images

© Christer Lindberg
Figure 14.10 Ancient Rock Art and Modern Graffiti

Human beings have creatively altered their visual space by painting, sculpting, or scratching all sorts of images
conveying all sorts of messages—not all of which are approved or understood. What do these pictures or
letters mean? We need to know something about the culture within which symbolic representations originate
to decode meaning and message. This is also true for graffiti—an Italian word for scratches or scribbles. For
thousands of years, people have scratched or painted drawings and inscriptions on walls in public spaces—
cave walls, cliff walls, house walls, and almost any other flat surface. Graffiti may be made to intimidate or
express anger or hate (as between rival gangs). Texts and images may also express beauty and share pleasure
and good feelings. On the left we see a mural of a giant lizard crawling up the wall of an abandoned building in
central Lisbon, Portugal, as photographed by Swedish visual anthropologist Christer Lindberg, who is interested
in street art in urban landscapes. On the right we see ancient Chinese petroglyphs probably made more than
2,000 years ago on the face of Hua Mountain above the Zua River. Located in Guangxi near the Vietnamese
border, these Huashan drawings feature about 1,600 human figures and animals, as well as circular symbols
and drums, swords, and boats.
legends they conveyed are no longer told, and the songs lose their appeal and be forgotten. In fact, throughout the
they carried are no longer sung. There is also the risk that world, the cultural heritage of thousands of communities
when art forms that have been traditionally embedded in remains at risk and a huge repertoire of traditional art—
a culture are commodified, they lose their deep meaning. stories, songs, dances, costumes, paintings, sculptures,
Moreover, with the instant worldwide spread of newer art and so on—has already been lost, often without leaving
forms, such as mashups, traditional songs and dances may a trace.
Bringing Back the Past

By Jennifer Sapiel Neptune
Near the turn of the 20th century, a young museums all over the world.
Penobscot woman sat for a photograph, I dreamed of being able to
wearing a very old and elaborately beaded visit these objects, to study
ceremonial chief’s collar. She was the them up close, and to be
daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth Nicola able to find a way to bring
and the descendant of a long line of tribal them back into our world.
leaders. Her name was Florence Nicola, It was for this reason that
and she would go on to live a long life, I went into anthropology, to
marry Leo Shay, raise a family, and be learn how to research and
remembered as a fine basketmaker and write about my own culture.
dedicated advocate for our tribe. Her I started doing reproductions
efforts brought increased educational op- of the old beadwork designs,
portunities, the right for Native people in became a basketmaker,
Bangor Daily News/Bridget Brown

the state of Maine to vote in state and consulted on museum ex-
federal elections, and the first bridge hibitions, sold my own art-
that would connect our small village of work, and worked with the
Indian Island in the Penobscot River to Maine Indian Basketmakers
the mainland. Alliance promoting the work
Now, over one hundred years later, the of basketmakers and artists
photograph has resurfaced and found its from the four tribes in Maine.
way back to her son, Charles Shay. Charles In the spring of 2006 Penobscot artist and cultural anthropologist Jennifer
brought the photograph of his mother to Charles showed me the pho- Neptune hugs tribal elder Charles Shay after giving him
our tribal historian who recognized the tograph of his mother and the traditional collar he commissioned. Modeled after a
collar as one he had seen in the book asked me if I could make collar owned by his ancestors and now in the Smithsonian
Penobscot Man by Frank G. Speck, and he a reproduction of the collar Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian, the
was then able to trace it to the collections for him. piece took Neptune more than 300 hours to make.
of the Smithsonian Institution’s Museum of As I worked on the collar,
the American Indian. I was struck by how so much had changed There are no words that can express
In the late part of the 19th century since the late 18th century when the orig- how gratifying it was to hand over the fin-
the idea of the “vanishing Indian” took inal collar was made. Back then the wool, ished collar to Charles—and to have played
hold in anthropology—leading to a special- silk ribbon, and beads its maker used had a part in returning to him, his family, and
ized field known as “salvage ethnography,” come by ship, horse, and foot from trade our tribe a part our history.
which sought to save traditional knowledge, or treaty annuities; my materials were or- One hundred years ago when the collar
life ways, and material culture. Collecting dered over the Internet and came by UPS left my community, anthropology seemed
examples of material culture to be sold into and FedEx. She worked by the light of the to be about taking objects, stories, and
museum collections had become a busi- sun or fire; I worked mostly in the evenings information away. As an anthropologist and
ness for some—which was how the collar with electric lights. Her world had northern artist I believe that I have a responsibility
Florence wore in the photograph came to forests still untouched by logging and filled to use what I have learned to give back to
be purchased by George Heye sometime with caribou and wolves; my world had air- my community. I have been so fortunate
before 1905 and then joined the collec- planes, cars, and motorboats. to be able to have spent time in museum
tions of the museum. I have always found As I worked some more, I thought about collections visiting objects that most of my
it ironic that we as a people and culture did what had stayed the same. We had lived own people will never have the opportunity
not vanish, but during this time many of our and watched the sun rise and set on the to see. What I learned from my time with
tribes’ most precious material objects did. same island our ancestors had for over the collar was that the objects that left still
As a teenager I spent a lot of time 7,000 years. I wondered if we had stitched have a relationship with us today; they have
in the library at the University of Maine the same prayers into our work and if we a story that wants to be told, and they are
looking through photographs in books of used the same medicinal plants to soothe waiting for someone to listen.
Penobscot beadwork, appliqué ribbon work, our aching hands and shoulders at the end
basketry, and carvings that were now in of the day. Written expressly for this text, 2011.
343
Chapter Check list
Why do anthropologists study art? American Thanksgiving legend about English Pilgrims
and American Indians.
✓✓Anthropologists have found that art often reflects a
society’s worldview. ✓✓A tale is a creative narrative that is recognized as
fiction for entertainment but may also draw a moral or
✓✓From myths, songs, dances, paintings, carvings, and teach a practical lesson. One example is the “Father,
other art forms, anthropologists may learn how a Son, and Donkey” story, told in different versions
people imagine their reality and understand themselves around the world.
and other beings around them.
✓✓Through the cross-cultural study of art and creativity, What are music and ethnomusicology?
we discover much about different worldviews, religious ✓✓Ethnomusicology, the study of a society’s music in
beliefs, political ideas, social values, kinship structures, terms of its cultural setting, began in the 19th century
economic relations, and historical memory. with the collection of folksongs from non-Western
musical traditions. Today, it includes music played in
What is art? ethnic communities within industrialized modern
✓✓Art is the creative use of the human imagination to states.
aesthetically interpret, express, and engage life, ✓✓Music is difficult to define in a way that satisfies across
modifying experienced reality in the process. It comes cultures. Broadly speaking, it as an art form whose
in many forms, including performance, visual, verbal, medium is sound and silence or a form of
and musical. communication that includes a nonverbal auditory
✓✓Performance art is a creatively expressed promotion of component with elements of tonality, rhythm, pitch,
ideas by artful means dramatically staged to challenge and timbre.
opinion and/or provoke purposeful action.
What are the functions of art?
✓✓Visual art, created primarily for visual perception,
ranges from etchings and paintings on various surfaces ✓✓Art in all its many forms has countless functions
(including the human body) to sculptures and beyond providing aesthetic pleasure. Myths, for
weavings made with an array of materials. Key example, may offer basic explanations about the world
approaches in analyzing visual art are aesthetic, and set cultural standards for proper behavior.
narrative, and interpretive. ✓✓The verbal arts generally transmit and preserve a
✓✓Verbal art is creative word use on display that includes culture’s customs and values. Songs, too, may do this
stories, myths, legends, tales, poetry, metaphor, rhyme, within the structures imposed by musical form.
chants, rap, drama, cant, proverbs, jokes, puns, riddles, ✓✓Any art form, to the degree that it is characteristic of a
and tongue twisters. particular society, may contribute to the cohesiveness
or solidarity of that society. Yet, art may also express
How are myths, legends, and tales political themes and be used to influence events and
different from one another? create social change.
✓✓A myth is a short story about how the cosmos came ✓✓Often art is created for religious purposes, to honor or
about, including the factors that are responsible for the beseech the aid of a divine power, a sacred being, an
way it is and the significant features of the worldview. ancestral spirit, or an animal spirit.
An example is the Abenaki Indian creation story of
✓✓Endangered indigenous groups whose lifeways have
Tabaldak and Odzihózo.
been threatened by colonialism and globalization use
✓✓A legend is a story about a memorable event or figure aesthetic expressions as part of a cultural survival
handed down by tradition and told as true but without strategy.
historical evidence. A noteworthy example is the
1. In this chapter’s opening photograph, you saw confrontation, would you contemplate performance
indigenous activists, colorfully painted and with art as a means of political action? If so, how and by
feathered headdresses, participating in an important means of which art form?
protest rally. If your livelihood was seriously 2. Among the Maori in New Zealand, tattooing is a
threatened and you wanted to try to avoid violent traditional form of skin art, and their tattoo designs
are typically based on cultural symbols understood by society, and are these concerns reflected in any of your
all members in the community. Are the tattoo designs culture’s art forms?
in your culture based on traditional motifs that have a 4. Many museums and private collectors in Europe and
shared symbolic meaning? North America are interested in so-called tribal art,
3. Because kinship relations are important in small- such as African statues or American Indian masks
scale traditional societies, these relationships are originally used in sacred rituals. Are there sacred
often symbolically represented in artistic designs and objects such as paintings or carvings in your religion
motifs. What are some of the major concerns in your that might also be collected, bought, or sold as art?
A Heart for Art
All across the world, people creatively express and find out about its creative origin, its guiding
ideas and feelings—including both joy and anger, idea, and its purpose or message. Next contact
hope and despair, dreams and fears. They do at least four individuals (who differ in gender,
so through stories, songs, theater, paintings, age, and ethnicity, religion, or class) and ask
dances, and other art forms. Keeping in mind the what they think this art represents. Ask them
performance art of the Kayapo Indians pictured what they think it means to the public and who
on this chapter’s opening page, identify an art ordered, permitted, paid for, or otherwise made
form publicly performed in your own community. this performance happen in a public space. Having
Describe the artful performance, and note where, gathered and organized this information, offer
when, and why it is performed. Identify one of your own observation and opinion in a short essay
the performers (or someone closely involved), on the role of public art in your community.
imageBROKER/Alamy
CHALLENGE ISSUE
Environmental, demographic, technological, and other changes challenge cultures to adjust at an

ever-faster pace. Some peoples confront change on their own terms, welcoming new ideas, prod-
ucts, and practices as improvements. Often, however, outsiders introduce changes. These outsid-
ers may be businesspeople backed by banks, eager to capitalize on economic opportunities, or
governments striving to improve living standards and increase tax revenues. Such was the case
when foreign capitalists introduced railways in India in the mid-1800s while Great Britain ruled
and exploited that vast country as a cotton-producing colony. This occurred during the height of
the industrial revolution, which began with the invention of the steam engine. Steam power was
first harnessed to drive textile machines. Soon thereafter it led to the invention of steamboats
and locomotives, revolutionizing transportation and radically reducing the cost of moving raw
materials and commodities. Railways also provided passenger services, improving mobility of
the labor force. Today, India has one of the world’s largest railway networks, comprising almost
66,000 kilometers (41,000 miles) and carrying well over 8 billion passengers and more than
1 billion tons of freight annually. However, running this mass transportation network smoothly is
a daily challenge, and there are many breakdowns and delays. Here we see passengers stranded
at Allahabad Station in northern India, waiting for their delayed trains. Today, almost everyone
knows what it is like to feel stranded when the modern technology we have come to depend
upon breaks down—whether it is something as big as a train or small enough to fit in our hands.
Processes of
Cultural Change 15
Anthropologists are interested not only in describing cultures and explaining In this chapter you
how they are structured as systems of adaptation, but also in understanding why will learn to
and how cultures change. Because systems generally work to maintain stability, ●● Analyze why and how
cultures are often fairly steady and remain so unless there is a critical shift in cultural systems
one or more significant factors such as technology, demographics, markets, the change.
natural environment—or in people’s perceptions of the various conditions to ●● Identify the key
which they are adapted. mechanisms of cultural
change, providing
Archaeological studies reveal how elements of a culture may persist for
examples.
long periods. In Australia, for example, the cultures of indigenous inhabitants
●● Explain the
remained relatively consistent over many thousands of years because they suc-
consequences of
cessfully adapted to comparatively minor fluctuations in their social conditions unequal power in
and natural environments, making changes from time to time in tools, utensils, culture contact.
and other material support. ●● Compare directed and
Although stability may be a striking feature of many traditional cultures, all undirected change.
cultures are capable of adapting to changing conditions—climatic, economic, ●● Recognize and discuss
political, or ideological. However, not all change is positive or adaptive, and reactions to repressive
not all cultures are equally well equipped for making the necessary adjustments
change.
in a timely fashion. In a stable society, change may occur gently and gradually, ●● Assess the importance
without altering in any fundamental way the culture’s underlying structures.
of self-determination
in successful cultural
Sometimes, though, the pace of change increases dramatically. This is what
change.
happened during the industrial revolution, beginning with England, when its
●● Connect modernization
agriculture-based society transformed into a machine-based manufacturing
ideology to international
society within a few generations beginning in the 1770s. Such changes may resource exploitation
be disruptive to the point of destabilizing or even breaking down a cultural and global markets.
system. The modern world is full of such examples of radical changes, from the
political-economic disintegration of the former Soviet Union and the dramatic
capitalist transformation of communist China to the devastation by global cor-
porations of indigenous communities inhabiting remote regions from the cold
Arctic tundra to the hot Amazonian jungle.
347
348 CHAPTER 15 Processes of Cultural Change
Cultural Change and the innovation: the spear-thrower (also known as atlatl, its
Aztec Indian name). Invented at least 15,000 years ago by
Relativity of Progress big game hunters who needed more effective technology
to ensure success and safety, this device made it possible
The dynamic processes involved in cultural change are to hurl a dart or javelin with much greater thrust. Using it
manifold, including accidental discoveries, deliberate in- increased a projectile’s distance by 100 percent or more and
ventions, and borrowing from other peoples who introduce delivered much more force upon impact. Thus equipped,
or force new commodities, technologies, and practices. a hunter boosted his kill range and gained competitive
Change imposed upon one group by another continues advantage. Much later examples of primary innovation are
in much of the world today as culture contact intensifies the bow and arrow, the wheel, the alphabet, the concept of
between societies unequal in power. Among those who zero, the telescope, and the steam engine (an 18th-century
have the power to drive and direct change in their favor, invention that launched the industrial revolution), to men-
it is typically referred to as “progress,” which literally tion just a few major inventions.
translates as “to move forward”—that is, in a positive di- Many innovations are the result of inventive designs
rection. But progress is a relative term because not everyone and experimentation, but others come about through
benefits from change. In fact, countless peoples (including accidental discoveries. These may gain acceptance and
traditional foraging, herding, and peasant communities spawn innovations within their particular cultural con-
in many parts of the world) have become the victims of texts. An innovation must be reasonably consistent
state-sponsored or foreign-imposed economic development with a society’s needs, values, and goals in order to gain
schemes, wreaking havoc on their communities. acceptance. Take, for instance, the invention of wheel-
In recent decades, growing numbers of anthropologists and-axle technology. About 1,500 years ago, indigenous
have focused on the historical impact of international peoples in Mesoamerica came up with the concept. But
market expansionism on rural and urban communities instead of building wagons to be pulled by trained dogs
around the world, radically challenging, altering, or even or human captives, they created wheeled animal figurines,
destroying their traditional cultures. One of the first and most often representing dogs but also jaguars, monkeys,
most prominent among these scholars was Eric Wolf, an and other mammals, and left it at that. On the other side
Austria-born U.S. anthropologist who personally experi- of the Atlantic, this same technology—discovered a few
enced the global havoc and upheaval of the 20th century thousand years earlier—led to major secondary innova-
(see Anthropologist of Note). tions resulting in a series of radical cultural changes in
transportation technology, ultimately resulting in motor-
ized vehicles such as cars, trains, and planes.
A culture’s internal dynamics may encourage partic-
Mechanisms of Change ular innovative tendencies, even as they may discourage
or suppress others. Force of habit tends to obstruct ready
Some of the major mechanisms involved in cultural
acceptance of the new or unfamiliar because people typ-
change are innovation, diffusion, and cultural loss. These
ically stick with what they are used to rather than adopt
types of change are typically voluntary and are not
something strange that requires adjustment on their part.
imposed on a population by outside forces.
Obstacles to change are often ideologically embedded
in religious traditions. Consider, for instance, early rejec-
tions of scientific insights about the earth’s position in the
Innovation universe. Polish mathematician and astronomer Nicolaus
A major factor in cultural change, innovation is any new Copernicus discovered that the earth rotates around the
idea, method, or device that gains widespread acceptance in sun and published his new heliocentric theory in 1534, just
society. Primary innovation is the creation, invention, before he died. In the early 1600s, the Italian physicist and
or chance discovery of a completely new idea, method, or mathematician Galileo Galilei verified this controversial
device. A secondary innovation is a deliberate applica- theory by means of a much-improved telescope. In 1633,
tion or modification of an existing idea, method, or device. not long after publishing and defending his findings, he
What makes people come up with, and accept, an was tried for heresy because his observational astronomy
innovation? The most obvious incentive is reflected in the ran counter to the dogma of the Roman Catholic Church,
age-old proverb “Necessity is the mother of invention.” which was firmly based on a geocentric worldview as
We see this in an early prehistoric example of a primary revealed in sacred texts. Facing a death sentence, Galileo
recanted and was condemned to life under house arrest.
In 1758, after numerous additional scientific break-
primary innovation The creation, invention, or chance discovery of a
completely new idea, method, or device. throughs challenged Catholic dogma, heliocentric books
secondary innovation The deliberate application or modification of an were removed from the forbidden list of that powerful
existing idea, method, or device. international institution.
Eric R. Wolf (1923–1999)
Like the millions of peasants about whom he wrote, Eric Wolf returned to New York
1994 Photograph by Michael Macdonald, EWLS (Eric Wolf’s

personally experienced radical upheaval in his life due to powerful City and studied
outside political forces. A war refugee in his teens, he survived the anthropology under
Last Student) and “staunch banner carrier for Wolfian

battlefields and mass murders of Nazi-occupied Europe. Driven Julian Steward and
by the inequities and atrocities he witnessed during World War II, Ruth Benedict at
he turned to anthropology to sort through issues of power. View- Columbia University.
anthropology” (Wolf 12/25/1998)

ing anthropology as the most scientific of the humanities and the After earning his
most humane of the sciences, he became famous for his compar- doctorate in 1951
ative historical studies on peasants, power, and the transforming based on fieldwork
impact of capitalism on traditional nations. in Puerto Rico, he
Wolf’s life began in Austria shortly after the First World War. did extensive re-
During that terrible conflict, his Austrian father had been a pris- search on Mexican
oner of war in Siberia, where he met Wolf’s mother, a Russian peasants.
exile. When peace returned, the couple married and settled in Born in Austria, Eric Wolf became In 1961, he be-
Vienna, where Eric was born in 1923. Growing up in Austria’s a U.S. anthropologist famous for came a professor
capital and then (because of his father’s job) in Sudetenland his pioneering research on peasant at the University of
in what is now the Czech Republic, young Eric enjoyed a life of societies. Michigan. A prolific
relative ease. He relished summers spent in the Alps among local writer, Wolf gained
peasants in exotic costumes, and he drank in his mother’s tales tremendous recognition for his fourth book, Peasant Wars of
about her father’s adventures with Siberian nomads. the Twentieth Century, first published during the height of the
Life changed for Eric in 1938 when Adolf Hitler grabbed power Vietnam War. Protesting that war, he headed a newly founded
in Germany, annexed Austria and Sudetenland, and threatened ethics committee in the American Anthropological Association
Jews like the Wolfs. Seeking security for their 15-year-old son, and helped expose counterinsurgency uses of anthropological
Eric’s parents sent him to high school in England. In 1940, a year research in Southeast Asia.
after World War II broke out, British authorities believed invasion From 1971 onward, Wolf held a distinguished professorship at
was imminent and ordered aliens, including Eric, into an intern- Lehman College of the City University of New York (CUNY), where
ment camp. There he met other refugees from Nazi-occupied his classes were filled with working-class students of all ethnic
Europe and had his first exposure to Marxist theories. Soon he backgrounds, including many who took the anthropology courses
left England for New York City and enrolled at Queens College, he taught in Spanish. In addition, he taught at the Graduate
where Professor Hortense Powdermaker, a former student of Center (CUNY). Among his many publications is his award-winning
Malinowski, introduced him to anthropology. book, Europe and the People Without History (1982). In 1990, he
In 1943, the 20-year-old refugee enlisted in the U.S. Army’s received a MacArthur “genius grant.” In his final publications, he
10th Mountain Division. Fighting in the mountains of Tuscany, Italy, explored how ideas and power are connected through the medium
he won a Silver Star for combat bravery. At the war’s end, Wolf of culture.
Diffusion double-reed pipe operated by finger stops and three drone

pipes. All the pipes are sounded by air forced with the left
The spread of certain ideas, customs, or practices from one arm from a leather bag kept filled by the player’s breath.
culture to another is known as diffusion. So common is The bagpipe’s drone sounds resemble those of Bhutan’s
cross-cultural borrowing that U.S. anthropologist Ralph traditional sacred trumpets played in ancient Buddhist
Linton suggested that it accounts for as much as 90 per- religious ceremonies in this small Himalayan kingdom
cent of any culture’s content. (Figure 15.1).
People are creative about their borrowing, however, The extent of cultural borrowing can be surprising.
picking and choosing from multiple possibilities and Consider, for example, paper, the compass, and gunpowder.
sources. Usually, their selections are limited to those All three of these innovations were invented in China long
compatible with the existing culture. An example is before Europeans became aware of them about 700 years
the inclusion of bagpipes in the marching band of the
Royal Bhutan Army. Traditionally played by Scottish
Highland regiments when marching into combat and in diffusion The spread of certain ideas, customs, or practices from one
official ceremonies, this musical instrument features one culture to another.
Pedro Ugarte/AFP/Getty Images

Figure 15.1 Bagpipers, Royal Bhutan Army Marching Band
Unlike neighboring India, Bhutan remained independent from British colonial rule. This small
Himalayan kingdom, known to the Bhutanese as Drukyul (“Land of the Dragons”), is generally
averse to foreign cultural influences. However, the Drukpa (“Dragon People”) have selectively
embraced a few innovations, including the Scottish bagpipes, which found their way here via
India during the colonial era. Wearing traditional dress, bagpipers in the Royal Army Band play
imported instruments, producing a droning sound similar to age-old sacred trumpets played by
Buddhist monks in this region. They and other Drukpa musicians lead the way for singing the
national anthem Druk Tsendhen (“The Thunder Dragon Kingdom”), honoring the fifth traditional
Druk Gyalpo (“Dragon King”), who serves as head of this Buddhist state.
ago. Accepting these foreign artifacts, Europeans and others Indians—potatoes, beans, tomatoes, peanuts, avocados,
analyzed and improved them where needed. Such is the manioc, chili peppers, squash, chocolate, sweet potatoes,
case with the mixture of sulfur, charcoal, and potassium and corn to name a few—all of which now furnish a major
nitrate the Chinese used for fireworks and portable hand portion of the world’s food supply. In fact, American
cannons. Soon after learning about it, Europeans, Koreans, Indians are recognized as primary contributors to the
and Arabs adopted and adapted this primitive artillery and world’s varied cuisine and credited with developing the
gunpowder, triggering a revolution in traditional warfare largest array of nutritious foods (Weatherford, 1988).
from the 1300s onward. Two centuries later, Europeans
introduced firearms to the Americas. Within decades, in- Diffusion of a Global Staple Food: Maize
digenous coastal groups began using them in their raids, Particularly significant among the domesticated plants
transforming warfare as they had known it for generations. diffusing from the Americas is corn, also known as maize
America’s indigenous peoples not only adopted weap- (derived from a Caribbean Indian word maíz). The English
ons and other foreign trade goods, but also shared numer- originally referred to this Native American cereal plant as
ous inventions and discoveries their ancestors had made “Indian corn.” First cultivated by indigenous peoples in
in the course of many centuries. Of special note is the the Mexican highlands over 7,000 years ago, this food
range of domestic plants developed (“invented”) by the crop diffused to much of the rest of North, Central, and
Figure 15.2 Making Corn

Mush in Italy
Having spread from the tropics
of the Mexican highlands to
much of the rest of North and
South America, corn diffused
rapidly to the rest of the
world after Italian explorer
Christopher Columbus first
crossed the Atlantic in 1492.
A long-time favorite dish in Italy
is polenta (a thick mush made
of cornmeal). Here we see it
being made the traditional way:
boiled in a big copper cauldron
over a fire of hot coals and
then spread out and cooled
to firmness on a wooden or
© Hubert Stadler/Corbis
stone slab. In recent years,
polenta has become a favored
menu item in many chic U.S.
restaurants.
South America over the next few millennia. In 1493, the A Dutch engineer first proposed the use of decimal
explorer Columbus returned from America to Spain with fractions for measures, weights, and currency in everyday
a sampling of maize. From Spain, it spread to neighboring life. Three centuries later, in 1795, the French government
countries in southern Europe (Figure 15.2). Portuguese adopted the metric system as its official system of mea-
traders then introduced this staple food to western Africa surement. Soon, this innovation was introduced to neigh-
and South Asia; by the mid-1500s it had reached China. boring countries—standardizing a bewildering array of
Diffusing across the globe, maize has become one of regional and local measurement systems on the European
the world’s major staple foods and has been culturally continent. It continued to spread, despite initial reluc-
incorporated under many different names. Today, a tance or even resistance in some countries, such as Great
greater weight of maize is produced each year than rice, Britain. Since the early 1970s, that country and most of its
wheat, or any other grain—about 800 million tons, with former colonies have fully transitioned to metric. Today,
over half of the global production taking place in the at least officially, metrication is almost universal, with the
United States and China. exception of just three countries: Myanmar, Liberia, and
Currently, an enormous quantity of maize is grown for the United States (Cardarelli, 2003; Vera, 2011).
biomass fuel, such as ethanol, as an alternative to oil and
other nonrenewable fossil fuels. Moreover, the production
of genetically engineered maize (manipulated with herbi- Cultural Loss
cide or drought-resistant genes) has gained much ground,
Most often people look at cultural change as an accumula-
especially in the United States and many developing
tion of innovations. Frequently, however, the acceptance
countries, but European farmers and a growing number of
of a new innovation results in cultural loss—the aban-
consumers condemn this practice.
donment of an existing practice or trait. For example, in
ancient times chariots and carts were used widely in North
Diffusion of a Global Measurement Africa and Southwest Asia, but wheeled vehicles virtually
System: Metrics disappeared from Morocco to Afghanistan about 1,500
Another remarkable example of diffusion—breaking years ago. Camels replaced them, not because of some
through multiple language barriers and long-held local reversion to the past but because camels used as pack ani-
traditions—is the metric system used for measuring length, mals worked better. The old roads from the Roman empire
weight, capacity, currency, and temperature. Based on a had deteriorated, and these sturdy animals traveled well
classification in which standard units of measurement are with or without roads. Their endurance, longevity, and
multiplied or divided by 10 in order to produce larger or
smaller units, this rational system has greatly simplified
calculations. cultural loss The abandonment of an existing practice or trait.
Acculturation
and Ethnocide
Acculturation is the massive cul-
tural change that occurs in a society
when it experiences intensive first-
hand contact with a more powerful
society. It always involves an ele-
ment of force—either directly, as in
conquests, or indirectly, as in the im-
plicit or explicit threat that force will
be used if people refuse to make the
demanded changes (Figure 15.4).
In the course of culture contact,
any number of things may happen.
Merger or fusion occurs when two
cultures lose their separate identities
AP Images/Sayyid Azim
and form a single culture, as histori-
cally expressed by the melting pot ide-
ology of English-speaking, Protestant
Euramerican culture in the United
Figure 15.3 Camel Mobile Library States. Sometimes, though, one of
Providing books and reading materials to the Somali-speaking nomads in the remote the cultures loses its autonomy but
Garissa and the Wajir areas in its northeastern districts, Kenya’s National Library retains its identity as a subculture in
Association challenges the region’s 85 percent illiteracy rate. The program consists of the form of a caste, class, or ethnic
three teams, each with three male camels capable of traveling routes impassable even group. This is typical of conquest or
for 4-wheel drive vehicles. One camel is loaded with two boxes containing 200 books, one slavery situations.
transports the library tent, and a third carries miscellaneous items needed for the program. Acculturation may occur as a
result of military conquest, political
ability to ford rivers and traverse rough ground made and economic expansion, or massive invasion and break-
pack camels admirably suited for the region. Plus, they ing up of cultural structures by dominant newcomers who
were economical in terms of labor: A wagon required know or care little about the traditional beliefs and prac-
one man for every two draft animals, but a single person tices of the people they seek to control. Under the sway
could manage up to six pack camels. To this day, in many of powerful outsiders—and unable to effectively resist
remote and hot desert regions, camels are still the favored imposed changes and obstructed in carrying out many
and most reliable form of transportation for many pur- of their own social, religious, and economic activities—
poses (Figure 15.3). subordinated groups are forced into new social and cul-
tural practices that tend to isolate individuals and destroy
the integrity of their traditional communities. In virtually
all parts of the world today, people are faced with the
Repressive Change tragedy of forced removal from their traditional home-
lands, as entire communities are uprooted to make way
Innovation, diffusion, and cultural loss all may take place for hydroelectric projects, grazing lands for cattle, mining
among peoples who are free to decide for themselves what operations, or highway construction.
changes they will or will not accept. Frequently, however, Ethnocide, the violent eradication of an ethnic
people are forced to make changes they would not will- group’s collective cultural identity as a distinctive people,
ingly make, usually in the course of conquest and colonial- occurs when a dominant society deliberately sets out to
ism. A direct outcome in many cases is repressive change destroy another society’s cultural heritage. Such “culture
to a culture, which anthropologists call acculturation. The death” may take place when a powerful nation aggressively
most radical form of repressive change is ethnocide. expands its territorial control by annexing neighboring
peoples and their territories, incorporating the conquered
groups as subjects. A policy of ethnocide typically includes
acculturation The massive cultural change that occurs in a society when
forbidding a subjugated nation’s ancestral language, crimi-
it experiences intensive firsthand contact with a more powerful society.
nalizing their traditional customs, destroying their religion
ethnocide The violent eradication of an ethnic group’s collective
cultural identity as a distinctive people; occurs when a dominant society and demolishing sacred places and practices, breaking up
deliberately sets out to destroy another society’s cultural heritage. their social organizations, and dispossessing or removing
Repressive Change 353
Figure 15.4 Protesting Acculturation
Until a few decades ago, these Aché Indians survived as traditional hunters and
gatherers in the deep tropical forest of eastern Paraguay. Not unlike the Ju/’hoansi of
southern Africa, they were organized in small migratory bands and rarely had contact
with outsiders. Armed with spears and bows and arrows, they could not defend
their homeland against large numbers of foreign invaders equipped with chainsaws,
bulldozers, and firearms. Massacres and foreign diseases, coupled with massive
deforestation of their hunting territories, almost annihilated these people in the 1950s
and 1960s. Since then, they have been exposed to intensive acculturation. Here we
see the breakup of an Aché encampment in the middle of Asunción, Paraguay’s capital
city, where they lived during many weeks of protest against government policies.
the survivors from their homelands—in essence, stopping (“Brazilian walnut”), and jatobá (“Brazilian cherry”), which
short of physical extermination while removing all traces fetch high prices due to a growing international demand
of their unique culture. for luxury furniture, doors, decking, and floorings. Thanks
Ethnocide may also take place when so many carriers to corruption and lack of oversight, much of this precious
of a culture die that those who manage to survive become timber is illegally logged and laundered on a massive scale.
refugees, living among peoples of different cultures. Exam- Engaging in ecocide (environmental destruction), powerful
ples of this may be seen in many parts of the world today. entrepreneurs seeking to maximize profits push their labor
crews deeper into the forest where they run into indige-
nous groups such as the Kayapo (mentioned in an earlier
Case Study: Ethnocide of the chapter). Hired killers have wiped out several communities
of native peoples by targeting them from light planes with
Ya˓ nomami in Amazonia arsenic, dynamite, and machine guns.
During the past few centuries, many indigenous commu- Ethnocide is especially well documented for the
nities in North and South America have faced ethnocide. Ya̜nomami Indians inhabiting the borderlands between
Even those living remotely in the vast tropical rainforests Brazil and Venezuela. With a current population of about
of the Amazon are endangered in their survival as their 24,000, these hunters and food gardeners occupy about
territories come within reach of timber, gold-mining, and 180,000 square kilometers (70,000 square miles). They re-
oil-drilling companies. side in about 125 autonomous villages, each inhabited by
Amazonian forests are being decimated, with an aver- 30 to 300 people living collectively in large circular dwell-
age annual loss of about 18,000 square kilometers (about ings known as shabonos. Until two generations ago, they
7,000 square miles) in Brazil alone. Roads are bulldozed were almost completely isolated from the outside world—
to harvest valuable hardwood trees such as mahogany, ipê although they did experience limited cultural change prior
to first contact with foreign torched to build mining camps. Dozens of planes flew in
traders and Christian mis- daily, transporting personnel, equipment, and fuel.
sionaries. Evidence for Miners, loggers, and soldiers lured Ya̜nomami women
this was in their gardens, with commodities, infecting them with sexually transmit-
where they planted non- Atlantic ted diseases that spread quickly into the indigenous com-
Ocean
indigenous food crops— munities. On top of prostitution, the invaders introduced
plantains and bananas, GUYANA alcoholism. Processing the ore, miners also polluted the
SURINAME
both originating in rivers with mercury, poisoning fish and other creatures,
VENEZUELA . FRENCH
Africa—acquired through oco
R GUIANA including the Ya̜nomami. Within the decade, 20 percent
Orin
diffusion. This adoption of the Ya̜nomami died, and 70 percent of their ancestral
COLOMBIA
increased gardening pro- lands in Brazil were illegally expropriated.
ductivity, triggering pop- BRAZIL A campaign against this ethnocide, led by the Com-
er
ulation growth and, so n Riv mittee for the Creation of Ya̜nomami Park and Survival
© Cengage Learning
Amazo
it seems, more raids in International, forced the Brazilian government to protect
Yanomami in Venezuela
intervillage conflicts. indigenous territories and expel the miners. However,
Yanomami in Brazil
Through trading and PERU the destruction continued because garimpeiros crossed the
raiding, the Ya̜nomami border into Venezuela where they continued massacring
also acquired iron tools, especially machetes and axes. Ya̜nomami men, women, and children.
Despite their fierce reputation, they soon became victims In the mid-1990s, after years of pressure by the Inter-
of repeated assaults by gold miners, cattle ranchers, and American Commission on Human Rights, Venezuelan
other foreigners seeking to capitalize on their natural state authorities finally agreed to protect the Ya̜nomami
resources. In the late 1960s, hundreds of Ya̜nomami died in the remote borderlands and to provide some basic
in a measles epidemic. Threats to their survival multiplied healthcare to reduce alarming mortality rates. Like other
in the 1980s, when many thousands of Brazilian loggers Amazonian Indians, Ya̜nomami continue to struggle to
and garimpeiros (“gold miners”) invaded their lands, at- survive as an indigenous people. They live in a climate
tacking villagers defending their territories. Miners also of fear, with violent intimidation, physical threats, and
illegally crossed into Venezuela, spreading the violence. occasional killings, aggravated by poor health, low life
The Brazilian state, considering legalizing large-scale expectancy, and discrimination.
logging and mining in indigenous territories, stepped In such difficult times, spiritual leaders are especially
up its military presence in these borderlands, sending important. Among these is Davi Kopenawa, a shaman
troops, building barracks, and expanding airstrips in from the Ya̜nomami village of Watoriketheri (Figure 15.5).
the Ya̜nomami heartland. Huge stretches of forest were He and other shamans—traditionally skilled in contacting
Figure 15.5 Ya˓ nomami

Shaman and Political Activist
Davi Kopenawa
Traditionally, Ya˓ nomami shamans
such as Davi Kopenawa, seen
here surrounded by women and
children standing in front of their
shabono, cure the sick by
contacting the spirit world. Known
as shabori, they apply their skills
in negotiating extraordinary
challenges with hekura (“dangerous
spirits”). Today, those challenges
include ethnocide and ecocide.
Ya˓ nomami rely on shamans such
as Kopenawa to use their
remarkable powers when
negotiating with strangers
© Fiona Watson/Survival
representing powerful foreign

institutions, corporations, and
nongovernmental organizations
in an effort to prevent further
harm to their communities.
Reactions to Change 355
dangerous spirits in order to cure the sick and seek revenge Those working in this arena face a particular chal-
against enemies—now confront the deadly forces of eth- lenge: As anthropologists, they are bound to respect other
nocide and ecocide. Recognized as a spokesperson for the peoples’ dignity and cultural integrity, yet they are asked
Ya̜nomami in Brazil, Kopenawa has gained an international for advice on how to change certain aspects of those cul-
reputation as a political activist. He uses his extraordinary tures. If the people themselves request the change, there
powers in defense of his Amazonian homeland, negotiat- is no difficulty, but typically the change is requested from
ing with powerful foreign institutions, corporations, and outsiders. Supposedly, the proposed change is for the good
nongovernmental organizations in a heroic effort to stop of the targeted population, yet members of that commu-
the relentless destruction of Brazil’s indigenous peoples, nity do not always see it that way. The extent to which
cultures, and environment (Conklin, 2002; Kopenawa & applied anthropologists should advise outsiders about
Albert, 2010). how to manipulate people to embrace the changes pro-
posed for them is a serious ethical question, especially
when it concerns people without the power to resist.
Directed Change In direct response to such critical questions concern-
ing the application and benefits of anthropological re-
Although the process of acculturation often unfolds
search, an alternative type of practical anthropology has
without planning, powerful elites may devise and en-
emerged during the last half-century. Known by a variety
force programs of cultural change, directing immigrant
of names—including action anthropology and commit-
or subordinated groups into learning and accepting the
ted, engaged, involved, and advocacy anthropology—this
dominant society’s cultural beliefs and practices. So it was
involves community-based research and action in collab-
with the Ju/’hoansi of southern Africa, discussed in earlier
oration and solidarity with indigenous societies, ethnic
chapters. Rounded up by government officials in the early
minorities, and other besieged or repressed groups.
1960s, these Bushmen were confined to a reservation in
There is some reason for optimism, but governments
Tsumkwe in Namibia where they could not possibly pro-
and other powerful institutions directly intervening in
vide for their own needs. The government supplied them
the affairs of different ethnic groups or foreign societies
with rations, but these were insufficient to meet basic
all too often fail to seek professional advice from anthro-
nutritional needs.
pologists who possess relevant cross-cultural expertise and
In poor health and prevented
deeper insights. Such failures have contributed to a host of
from developing meaningful
avoidable errors in planning and executing development
alternatives to traditional activi-
programs in regions occupied by peoples whose survival
ties, the Ju/’hoansi became
is threatened and whose cultural heritage is endangered.
embittered and depressed,
In sum, the practical applications of anthropology are
and their death rate be-
not only necessary but are vital to the survival of many
gan to exceed the birth-
threatened groups.
rate. Within the next few
years, however, surviving Tsumkwe
Ju/’hoansi started to take NAMIBIA
matters into their own
hands. They returned to
BOTSWANA Reactions to Change
waterholes in their tradi- Atlantic The reactions of indigenous peoples to the changes outsid-
© Cengage Learning
tional homeland, where, Ocean ers have thrust upon them have varied considerably. Some
assisted by anthropol- have responded by retreating to more remote areas but are
ogists and others con- running out of geographic options due to ever-advancing
cerned with their welfare, mining, deforestation, and agricultural operations. Others
they are trying to sustain themselves by raising livestock. took up arms to fight back but were ultimately forced to
Whether this will succeed remains to be seen because there surrender much of their ancestral land, after which they
are still many obstacles to overcome. were reduced to an impoverished underclass in their own
One byproduct of such dealings with indigenous ancestral territories or were forced to relocate to areas
peoples has been the growth of applied anthropology, with less economic value. Today, they continue to fight
which was originally focused on advising government through nonviolent means to retain their identities as
programs of directed cultural change and solving prac- distinct peoples and seek to (re)gain control over natural
tical problems through anthropological techniques and resources.
knowledge. Today, applied anthropologists are in growing Resisting assimilation, a process of cultural absorp-
demand in the field of international development because tion of an ethnic minority by a dominant society, people
of their specialized knowledge of social structure, value
systems, and the functional interrelatedness of cultures assimilation Cultural absorption of an ethnic minority by a dominant
targeted for development. society.
often seek emotional comfort from tradition—customary found it scandalous for its erotic displays of “wild” danc-
ideas and practices passed on from generation to genera- ing, accompanied by chanting and shouting—suggestive
tion, which in a modernizing society may form an obstacle of sexual intercourse, body parts, and so on. A Methodist
to new ways of doing things. Traditions play an important missionary set about “civilizing” these tropical islanders
role in a cultural process identified as accommodation. by teaching cricket at the mission school. He hoped this
In anthropology, this refers to an adaptation process by gentlemanly sport would replace Trobriand rivalry and
which a people modifies its traditional culture in response fighting, encouraging proper bearing in dress, sportsman-
to pressures by a dominant society so as to preserve its ship, and ultimately religion.
distinctive ethnic identity and resist assimilation (Prins, But that is not what happened. Although the Trobri-
1996). In pursuit of such an accommodation strategy, anders took to the sport, they “rubbished” the British
ethnic groups may try to retain their distinctive identities rules. Making cricket their own, they played in traditional
by maintaining cultural boundaries such as holding onto battle dress and incorporated battle magic and erotic
traditional language, festive ceremonies, customary dress, dancing into the game. They modified the British style
ritual songs and dances, unique food, and so on. Later of pitching, making it resemble the old Trobriand way of
in this chapter we discuss two ethnographic examples of throwing a spear. And following the game, they held mas-
accommodation. sive feasts, where wealth was displayed to enhance their
prestige (Figure 15.6).
Cricket, in its altered form, serves traditional systems
Syncretism of prestige and exchange. Everyone associated with the
sport displays exuberance and pride, and the players are as
When people are able to hold on to some of their tra-
much concerned with conveying the full meaning of who
ditions in the face of powerful outside domination, the
they are as with scoring runs. From the sensual dressing
result may be syncretism—defined in an earlier chapter as
in preparation for the game to the team chanting songs
the creative blending of indigenous and foreign beliefs or
full of sexual metaphors to the erotic dancing between
practices into new cultural forms. Not unlike hybrids in
the innings, it is clear that each participant is playing for
the animal or plant worlds, these new forms take shape in
his own importance, for the fame of his team, and for the
a dynamic process of cultural adaptation in which groups
hundreds who watch the spirited spectacle.
gradually negotiate a collective response to new chal-
lenges in their social environment. Vodou, practiced in
Haiti and described in a previous chapter, is one of many
examples of religious syncretism. But syncretism also oc-
Revitalization Movements
curs in other cultural domains, including art and fashion, In contrast to cultural changes that are invited or initiated
architecture, marriage rituals, warfare, and even sports. by peoples themselves, those that are imposed or expe-
An intriguing illustration of syncretism can be found rienced as disruptive may be resisted or rejected. Such a
among the Trobriand Islanders of the southern Pacific. reaction may lead to a reform movement or take on a more
We touched on their cultural practices in earlier chapters, extreme character as a revitalization movement. As noted
noting that yams are the staple of their subsistence, the in the chapter on religion and spirituality, such radical
wealth of their economy, and the core of their culture. movements develop in response to widespread social
After the yam crop is harvested, everyone celebrates. The disruption and collective feelings of anxiety and despair.
major event in the traditional July and August harvest Efforts to rekindle the fire, restore a sense of energy, and
festivals is a kayasa, a ritual competition in which rival reclaim lost or abandoned cultural practices, these revital-
village chiefs show off their kuvi—colossal yams over ization movements are often, but not always, religiously
3.5 meters (12 feet) long. Centered on these huge tubers, or spiritually based. Sometimes, they even take on an
the kayasa ceremony involves dancing and ritual fighting armed revolutionary character.
between neighboring communities. The chief hosting the Anthropologists have identified a sequence common
event is always declared the winner. to the revitalization process. First is the normal state of
When Trobrianders came under colonial rule, British society in which stress is not too great, and sufficient cul-
administrators as well as Christian protestant missionaries tural means exist to satisfy needs. Next comes a phase of
and teachers took notice of the kayasa ceremony. They cultural upheaval, triggered by foreign invasion, domina-
tion, and exploitation, leading to growing frustration and
stress brought about by cultural upheaval. A deepening of
tradition Customary ideas and practices passed on from generation to the crisis marks the third stage, in which normal means
generation, which in a modernizing society may form an obstacle to new of resolving social and psychological tensions are inade-
ways of doing things.
quate or fail. The decline may trigger a radical response in
accommodation In anthropology, refers to an adaptation process by
which a people resists assimilation by modifying its traditional culture
the form of a collective effort to restore, or revitalize, the
in response to pressures by a dominant society in order to preserve its culture. During this phase, a prophet or some other spir-
distinctive ethnic identity. itual leader inspired by supernatural visions or guidance
Reactions to Change 357
Figure 15.6 Syncretism:

Trobriand Cricket
Indigenous peoples have
reacted to colonialism in
many different ways. When
British missionaries pressed
Trobriand Islanders of
Melanesia to celebrate their
regular yam harvests with a
game of “civilized” cricket
rather than traditional “wild”
erotic dances, Trobrianders
responded by transforming the
somewhat dull British sport
into an exuberant event that
featured sexual chants and
dances between innings. This
is an example of syncretism—
© Wolfgang Kaehler/Corbis
the creative blending of
indigenous and foreign beliefs
and practices into new cultural
forms.
attracts a following, leading to a cult and sometimes spi- most citizens are of indigenous descent and still speak
raling into a religious movement (Wallace, 1970). an ancestral home language other than Spanish. The two
most common are Aymara and Quechua, spoken by peo-
Cargo Cults ple inhabiting what was historically known as Qullasuyu,
the southeastern district of Tawantinsuyu (Quechua means
One particular historical example of a revitalization move-
“union of four districts”), the indigenous name for the
ment is the cargo cult—a spiritual movement (especially
ancient Inca empire.
common in Melanesia in the Southwest Pacific) in reac-
Following the December 2005 election of Evo Morales,
tion to disruptive contact with Western capitalism; the
Bolivia’s first indigenous president, the country’s indige-
cult promises resurrection of deceased relatives, destruc-
nous revitalization movement has enjoyed government
tion or enslavement of white foreigners, and the magical
support. The son of an Aymara Indian father and Quechua
arrival of utopian riches.
Indian mother, this socialist head of state was previously
Indigenous Melanesians referred to the white man’s
a militant peasant leader representing masses of migrant
wealth as “cargo” (pidgin English for European trade goods
farmers growing coca in the subtropical lowlands. Since
transported by ships or airplanes). In times of great social
the 1980s, he had risen to prominence as an agrarian
stress, native prophets emerged, predicting that the time of
trade union leader promoting Indian farmers’ rights. The
suffering would come to an end and that a new paradise on
day before his presidential inauguration in January 2006,
earth would soon arrive. Their deceased ancestors would
his unique position as Bolivia’s first indigenous president
return to life, and the rich white man would magically
was publicly recognized at a special ceremony held at the
disappear—swallowed by an earthquake or swept away by
famous archaeological site of Tiwanaku. Standing there,
a huge wave. However, the valued Western trade goods
flanked by amautas (“spiritual leaders”), Morales was
would be left for the prophets and their cult followers, who
vested with the ancient royal title of apu mallku (“condor
performed rituals to hasten this supernatural redistribution
king”) of Qullasuyu. Similar scenes marked inaugural cer-
of wealth (see Lindstrom, 1993; Worsley, 1957).
emonies for his second and third terms as president.
Situated between La Paz and Lake Titicaca, Tiwanaku is
A Contemporary Indigenous Revitalization unequaled in cultural significance as the ceremonial cen-
Movement: Qullasuyu ter of Bolivia’s indigenous revitalization movement. Long
In contrast to Melanesia’s cargo cults, which were in-
tensive and passing, a revitalization movement may
cargo cult A spiritual movement (especially noted in Melanesia)
also gain political state support and change a society’s
in reaction to disruptive contact with Western capitalism, promising
cultural institutions. One example of this is under way resurrection of deceased relatives, destruction or enslavement of white
in Bolivia, a pluralistic South American country where foreigners, and the magical arrival of utopian riches.
Figure 15.7 Celebrating the

Bolivian Indian New Year
For Bolivian Indians, participation
in the Qullasuyu revitalization
movement includes a return to
precolonial indigenous beliefs and
rituals, such as worshiping the
sun as the supreme sky deity. In
the Andean highlands of Bolivia,
many Indians mark the New Year
by participating in a neotraditional
sunrise ceremony known in the
Quechua language as the Inti
Raymi (“Sun Feast”). Here we see
a group of Quechua and Aymara
Indians at Isla Inkawasi, a rocky
outcrop in the middle of Salar de
Aizar Raldes/AFP/Getty Images

Uyuni, the world’s largest salt flat
at an elevation of 3,656 meters
(11,995 feet). They gather there
for the northern solstice at dawn
in mid-June to receive the first
rays of Tata Inti (“Father Sun”).
abandoned, its enormous temple complex with its large humans, animals, and plants, as well as the rest of the
pyramid, Akapana, was the capital of an ancient civilization natural environment—recognizing all as part of one large
that endured for many centuries before mysteriously col- ecosystem, a living Mother Earth, traditionally held sacred
lapsing about a thousand years ago. Because its inhabitants as Pachamama. Formalizing this, in 2010 Bolivia’s Plurina-
left no written records, their language remains unknown, tional Legislative Assembly passed the Ley de Derechos de
which means Aymara and Quechua peoples can share this la Madre Tierra (“The Law of the Rights of Mother Earth”),
archaeological site symbolically representing their proud granting all of nature equal rights to humans (Estado Pluri-
cultural heritages. Vesting these ruins with political and nacional de Bolivia, 2010).
spiritual meaning as a sacred monument, they feel in-
spired to reclaim indigenous autonomy and to reject the
foreign culture imposed on them during almost 500 years
of colonial domination and capitalist exploitation. Rebellion and Revolution
In 2007, pursuing his revitalization agenda, President
When the scale of discontent within a society reaches a
Morales chose Tiwanaku for an official event celebrating
critical level, the possibilities are high for a violent reac-
the adoption of the United Nations Declaration for the
tion such as a rebellion or insurgency—organized armed
Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Two years later, the seven-
resistance by a group of rebels to an established govern-
colored wiphala representing Qullasuyu became Boliv-
ment or authority in power. For instance, there have
ia’s official co-flag. It now flies alongside the country’s
been many peasant insurgencies around the world in the
long-established red, yellow, and green national banner
course of history. Historically, such uprisings are triggered
(Van Cott, 2008; Yates, 2011).
by repressive regimes that impose new taxes on already
Beyond restoring, preserving, and protecting indigenous
struggling small farmers unable to feed their families un-
cultural sites, customs, and so on, the revitalization move-
der such levels of exploitation (Wolf, 1999b).
ment in Bolivia involves a reclamation of precolonial sacred
One recent example is the Zapatista Maya Indian insur-
rituals, such as the worship of indigenous earth and sky dei-
gency in southern Mexico, which began in the mid-1990s
ties, in particular the sun and moon (Figure 15.7). Informed
and has not yet been resolved. This uprising involves
by an animistic worldview, the movement seeks to restore
thousands of poor Indian farmers whose livelihoods have
a more harmonious relationship among communities of
been threatened by disruptive changes imposed on them;
their human rights under the Mexican constitution have
insurgency An organized armed resistance or violent uprising to an
never been fully implemented (Figure 15.8).
established government or authority in power; also known as rebellion.
In contrast to insurgencies, which have rather limited
revolution Radical change in a society or culture. In the political
arena, it involves the forced overthrow of the existing government and objectives, a revolution—a radical change in a society
establishment of a completely new one. or culture—involves a more dramatic transformation.
Rebellion and Revolution 359
Daniel Aguilar/Reuters/Corbis
Figure 15.8 Zapatista Revolutionary Movement
On New Year’s Day 1994, when the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) went
into effect, 3,000 armed peasants belonging to the Zapatista revolutionary movement
invaded towns in southern Mexico. Mostly Maya Indians, they declared war on the Mexican
government, claiming that globalization was destroying their rural communities. Strong
Internet presence helped them build an international network of political support. Now
committed to nonviolent resistance to Mexican state control, Zapatistas have created
thirty-two self-governing municipalities grouped in five regional zones, called caracoles
(“conch shells”), referring to Maya sacred cosmology as mythological upholders of the sky.
Here we see commanders of the Zapatista National Liberation Army during the closing
ceremony of an indigenous congress. Behind them is a banner that pays tribute to the
Zapatista’s inspirational figure, Emiliano Zapata—one of Mexico’s best-known peasant
revolutionaries.
Revolutions occur when the level of discontent in a soci- control identify themselves as distinct nations and refuse
ety is very high. In the political arena, revolution involves to recognize the legitimacy of what they regard as a foreign
the forced overthrow of the existing government and the government.
establishment of a completely new one. Thus, in many former colonies, large numbers of people
The question of why revolutions erupt, as well as why have taken up arms to resist annexation and absorption by
they frequently fail to live up to the expectations of the imposed state governments run by people of other national-
people initiating them, is uncertain. It is clear, however, that ities. As they attempt to make their multi-ethnic states into
the colonial policies of countries such as Britain, France, unified countries, ruling elites of one nationality set about
Spain, Portugal, and the United States during the 19th and stripping the peoples of other nations within their states of
early 20th centuries have created a worldwide situation in their lands, resources, and particular cultural identities.
which revolution is nearly inevitable. Despite the political One of the most important facts of our time is that
independence most colonies have gained since World War II, the vast majority of the distinct peoples of the world have
powerful countries continue to exploit many of these “un- never consented to rule by the governments of states
derdeveloped” countries for their natural resources and within which they find themselves living (Nietschmann,
cheap labor, causing a deep resentment of rulers beholden 1987). In many newly emerging countries, such peoples
to foreign powers. Further discontent has been caused as feel they have no other option than to take up weapons
governing elites in newly independent states try to assert in armed protest and fight.
their control over peoples living within their boundaries. Apart from rebellions against authoritarian regimes, such
By virtue of a common ancestry, possession of distinct as in the Chinese, French, and Russian revolutions, many
cultures, persistent occupation of their own territories, and uprisings in modern times have been insurgencies against
traditions of self-determination, the peoples they aim to political rule imposed by foreign powers. Such resistance
usually takes the form of national independence movements frustrated by the cultural lens through which the revolu-
that wage campaigns of armed defiance against colonial or tionaries viewed their work. A tradition of deeply rooted
imperial dominance. The Mexican war of liberation against patriarchy extending back at least 2,200 years is not easily
Spain in the early 1800s and the Algerian struggle for inde- overcome and has influenced many of the decisions made
pendence from France in the 1950s are relevant examples. by communist China’s leaders since the revolution.
Of the hundreds of armed conflicts in the world today, Despite the current rapid changes taking place in
almost all are in the economically poor countries of Africa, China’s expanding urban areas, in many rural parts of
Asia, and Latin America, many of which were at one time the country a woman’s life is still largely determined by
under European colonial domination. Of these wars, most her relationship to a man—be it her father, husband, or
are between the state and one or more nations or ethnic son—rather than by her own efforts or failures. Moreover,
groups within the state’s borders. These groups are seeking many rural women face official local policies that identify
to maintain or regain control of their personal lives, com- their primary roles as wives and mothers. When they do
munities, lands, and resources in the face of what they work outside the house, it is generally at jobs with low
regard as repression or subjugation by a foreign power. pay, low status, and no benefits (Figure 15.9). Women’s
Revolutions do not always accomplish what they set no-wage home labor (and low-wage outside labor) have
out to do. One of the stated goals of the 1949 Chinese been essential to China’s economic expansion, which re-
communist revolution, for example, was to liberate lies on the allocation of labor by the heads of patrilineal
women from the oppression of a strongly patriarchal households (Liu, 2007).
society in which a woman owed lifelong obedience to a Facing obstacles that many rural Chinese women feel
male relative—first her father, later her husband, and, af- are insurmountable, more than 1 million of them attempt
ter his death, her oldest son. Although changes were and suicide each year—typically by swallowing pesticides or
continue to be made, the transformation overall has been fertilizer. Of these, 150,000 die. Rural China is the only
Jim Xu/Getty Images
Figure 15.9 Rural Women Removing Chips from Computer Boards, Guiyu, China
Since the late 1980s, e-waste from developed countries has been imported to China and
broken down at Guiyu. The city comprises 21 villages with 5,500 family workshops handling
some 1.5 million tons of e-waste annually and being exposed to carcinogens. Many women are
involved in this painstaking and unhealthy work. Here we see a woman heating up a computer
board on a charcoal-fired steel surface to remove computer chips.
Modernization 361
place on earth where the suicide rate for women is higher forms of energy—especially fossil fuels—to drive
than it is for men (Hasija, 2011; Pearson et al., 2002). machines.
The situation of rural women in China shows that the ●● Telecommunication: The fifth and most recent
undermining of revolutionary goals, if it occurs, is not subprocess involves electronic and digital media
necessarily by political opponents. Rather, it may be a processing and sharing of news, commodity prices,
consequence of the revolutionaries’ own traditional cul- fashions, and entertainment, as well as political and
tural background. In rural China, that includes patrilineal religious opinions. Information is widely dispersed to a
exogamy, patrilocality, and a patriarchal conservatism in mass audience, far across national borders.
which female labor is controlled by male heads of fami-
As modernization proceeds, other changes are likely
lies. As long as these traditional views continue to hold
to follow. In the political realm, political parties and some
sway, women will be seen as commodities.
sort of electoral apparatus frequently appear, along with
Revolution is a relatively recent phenomenon, occur-
the development of an administrative bureaucracy. In
ring only during the past 5,000 years or so. The reason is
formal education, institutional learning opportunities ex-
that rebellion requires a centralized political authority to
pand, literacy increases, and an indigenous educated elite
rebel against, and states did not exist before 5,000 years
develops. Many long-held rights and duties connected
ago. In kin-ordered societies organized as tribes and bands,
with kinship are altered, if not eliminated, especially when
without a centralized government, there could be no rebel-
distant relatives are concerned. If social stratification is a
lion or political revolution.
factor, social mobility increases as ascribed status becomes
less important and personal achievement counts for more.
Modernization Finally, as traditional beliefs and practices are under-

mined, formalized religion becomes less important in
many areas of thought and behavior. As discussed in the
One of the most frequently used terms to describe so-
chapter on religion, this may turn into a growing trend
cial and cultural changes as they are occurring today
toward a nonreligious worldview with people ignoring
is modernization. This is most clearly defined as an
or rejecting institutionalized spiritual beliefs and rituals.
all-encompassing and global process of political and
Known as secularization, this process is especially note-
socioeconomic change, whereby developing societies
worthy in highly organized capitalist states like Germany,
acquire some of the cultural characteristics common to
for many centuries predominantly Lutheran and Roman
Western industrial societies.
Catholic. Now, almost 40 percent of Germans identify
Derived from the Latin word modo (“just now”), mod-
themselves as nonreligious, an increase from less than
ernization literally refers to something “in the present
4 percent about forty years ago.
time.” The dominant idea behind this concept is that “be-
Secularization is also taking place in other western
coming modern” is becoming like European, North Ameri-
European countries, as well as in other parts of the world.
can, and other wealthy industrial or postindustrial societies,
However, in places in which the state is weak and un-
with the clear implication that not to do so is to be stuck in
bridled, capitalism has dramatically increased insecurity
the past—backward, inferior, and needing to be improved.
among the exploited and impoverished masses, the op-
It is unfortunate that the term modernization continues to
posite may result, with a reactionary trend toward a more
be so widely used, but because it is, we need to recognize its
spiritual or even religious worldview. This phenomenon
problematic one-sidedness, even as we continue to use it.
is evident in many eastern European, Asian, and African
The process of modernization may be best understood
countries—discussed in the chapter on religion.
as consisting of five subprocesses, all interrelated and with
no fixed order of appearance:
●● Technological development: In the course of moderniza- Indigenous Accommodation
tion, traditional knowledge and techniques give way
to the application of scientific knowledge and tech- to Modernization
niques borrowed mainly from the industrialized West. A closer examination of traditional cultures that have felt
●● Agricultural development: This is represented by a shift the impact of modernization will help to illustrate some
in emphasis from subsistence farming to commercial of the problems such cultures have encountered. Earlier in
farming. Instead of raising crops and livestock for their this chapter, we noted that ethnic groups, unable to resist
own use, people turn with growing frequency to the changes but unwilling to surrender their distinctive cultural
production of cash crops, with increased reliance on a heritage and identity, may pursue a strategy of accommo-
cash economy and on global markets for selling farm dation. Many have done so, but with variable success. Here
products and purchasing goods. we offer two ethnographic examples: the Sámi people living
●● Urbanization: This subprocess is marked particularly by
population movements from rural settlements into cities.
modernization The process of political and socioeconomic change,
●● Industrialization: Here human and animal power become whereby developing societies acquire some of the cultural characteristics
less important, and greater emphasis is placed on material of Western industrial societies.
in the Arctic and sub-Arctic tundra of northwest Russia and of the woods on noisy, smelly machines that invariably
Scandinavia and the Shuar Indians of Ecuador. chased the animals, often for long distances. And instead
of helping the reindeer in their winter food quest, aid-
Sámi Herders: The Snowmobile Revolution ing does with their calves, and protecting the herd from
and Its Unintended Consequences predators, the men appeared only periodically—either to
Until about half a cen- slaughter or to castrate the animals (Figure 15.10).
tury ago, Sámi reindeer The reindeer became wary of people, resulting in
herders in Scandinavia’s de-domestication, with reindeer scattering and running
Arctic tundra lived much off to less accessible areas. In addition, snowmobile
like their ancestors, pur- harassment seemed to adversely affect birthing and the
Barents
suing their livelihood Sea survival of calves. For example, within a decade the
through their traditional average size of the family herd among the Sámi in Finland
lifeways. In the 1960s,
Ar
ti c
Sámi Homeland had dropped from fifty to twelve—a number that is not
C ir
cl e
however, they purchased economically viable. The financial cost of mechanized
Atlantic
snowmobiles, expecting Ocean RUSSIA
herding and the decline in domesticated herd size have
motorized transporta- led many Sámi to abandon herding altogether (Pelto,
tion to make herding FINLAND 1973). Today, only about 10 percent of Sámi in Finland
© Cengage Learning
physically easier and NORWAY are full-time herders, and they vie with outside economic
economically more ad- SWEDEN
institutions such as forestry and tourism for access to and
vantageous. But that is use of land (Williams, 2003). Their situation is echoed
not what happened. among the Sámi across Scandinavia (Wheelersburg, 1987).
Given the high cost of buying, maintaining, and
fueling the machines, Sámi herders faced a sharp rise in Shuar Cattle Farmers: An Indigenous
their need for money. To obtain cash, men began going Experiment in Amazon’s Tropical Forest
outside their communities for wage labor more than just In contrast to the Sámi in northern Europe, the Shuar
occasionally, as had previously been the case. Moreover, Indians of Ecuador’s tropical forest deliberately avoided mod-
once snowmobiles were introduced, the familiar, pro- ernization until it was inevitable. Historically better known
longed, and largely peaceful relationship between herder as Jívaro, these Amazonian Indians subsisted on hunting
and beast changed into a noisy, traumatic one. The wild game and cultivating food gardens, periodically clearing
humans that reindeer encountered came speeding out small patches of forest by slash-and-burn. In 1964, threatened
© Timothy Fadek/Corbis
Figure 15.10 Sámi Reindeer Herding

In the 1960s, Sámi reindeer herders in Scandinavia’s Arctic tundra adopted newly invented
snowmobiles, convinced that these machines would make traditional herding physically easier
and economically more advantageous. As it turned out, the financial cost of mechanized herding
and the decline in domesticated herd size caused many Sámi to abandon herding altogether.
Modernization 363
with the loss of their land base as more and more Ecuadoran abandoned cattle grazing, even allowing a reforestation
colonists intruded into their territory, leaders from the many, of pasturelands. Instead, now that their title is officially
widely scattered Shuar communities came together and documented, they have turned to growing labor-intensive
founded a fully independent ethnic cash crops—not only fruits, plantain, and manioc, but
organization—the Shuar Federation— also coffee and cacao for sale to urban consumers or for
to take control of their own future. export (Rudel, Bates, & Machinguiashi, 2002).
Recognized by Ecua- The strategy of accommodation pursued by the Shuar
dor’s government, the Pacific
shows that sometimes positive results can occur when in-
group is officially dedi- Ocean digenous peoples are free to determine their own destinies
cated to promoting the COLOMBIA
even in the face of intense outside pressures. Tragically,
social, economic, and Quito until recently, few have had that option. Nevertheless,
ECUADOR
cultural advancement of like the Shuar, some groups have resourcefully resisted the
Shuar
the growing Shuar popu- Amazon outside forces of destruction arrayed against them. Some
lation. Through their as- Iquitos receive help from anthropologists, as discussed in this
Ma r er
© Cengage Learning
sociation, the Shuar took a ñ ó n R iv chapter’s Anthropology Applied feature.
control of their own ed- PERU
ucation, using their own
language and mostly
BRAZIL
Globalization in the
Shuar teachers; they established their own bilingual radio “Underdeveloped” World
station and a bilingual newspaper; and they participated
Throughout the economically developing world—in Africa,
in coordinating their own economic development efforts
Asia, Latin America, and elsewhere—whole countries are
with official government agencies. Perhaps most impor-
in the throes of radical political and economic change and
tant, the alliance provided a means for dealing with the
overall cultural transformation. Inventions and major ad-
pressing problem of land control.
vances in industrial production, mass transportation, and
Ecuador’s government categorized almost all tropical
communication and information technologies are trans-
woodlands in the Upper Amazon as tierra baldía (“empty
forming societies in Europe and North America as well. As
land”) because, although indigenous people lived there
discussed in Chapter 1, this worldwide process of accelerated
in widely scattered communities, most of their ancestral
modernization interconnecting all parts of the earth in one
hunting land remained undeveloped wilderness that lacked
vast interrelated and all-encompassing system is known
legal documentation of ownership. With many thousands
as globalization, evidenced in global movements of natural
of young mestizo (mixed Indian European ancestry) farmers
resources, trade goods, human labor, finance capital, infor-
in Ecuador’s highland valleys unable to feed their growing
mation, and infectious diseases.
families, officials encouraged them to resettle in the Oriente,
All around the globe we are witnessing the removal of
the “Wild East” of Ecuador. In the 1960s, it comprised almost
economic activities—or at least their control—from family
half of the country’s territory, but only about 2.5 percent of
and community settings. In many societies, such mod-
its total population. Accordingly, roads and bridges were con-
ernization processes are now happening very fast, often
structed, enabling mestizos to claim title to “free” land and without the necessary time to adjust. Changes that took
also providing them with access to the national market and generations to accomplish in Europe and North America
export. Further capitalizing on its “empty lands,” the state be- are attempted within the span of a single generation in de-
gan selling concessions to the foreign and domestic logging, veloping countries. In the process cultures frequently face
oil, and mining companies extracting its natural resources. unforeseen disruptions and a rapid erosion of dearly held
Besieged by development, and without legally recognized values they had no intention of giving up. Anthropologists
title to their ancestral lands, the Shuar Federation attracted doing fieldwork in distant communities throughout the
financial assistance and expert advice through foreign aid world witness how these traditional cultures have been
agencies and turned large tracts of woodland into pasture impacted, and often destroyed, by powerful global forces.
for cattle ranching. By the early 1970s, it had secured title to Commonly, the burden of modernization in developing
almost 1,000 square kilometers (39 square miles) of commu- countries falls most heavily on women. For example, the
nal land and established a cattle herd of more than 15,000 commercialization of agriculture often involves land reforms
head. Beyond supplementing the traditional Shuar diet of that overlook or ignore women’s traditional land rights. This
wild game and produce from slash-and-burn gardens, cattle reduces their control of and access to resources at the same
provided them with something to sell—a means of earning time that mechanization of food production and processing
cash to pay for commodities, healthcare, and so on. drastically reduces their opportunities for employment. As
Because Shuar turned to cattle primarily to secure legal a consequence, women are confined more and more to
title to their lands, it is not surprising that many switched traditional domestic tasks, which are increasingly devalued
to other income sources when alternatives opened up as commercial production becomes the dominant concern.
as a result of roads now connecting them to the rest of Moreover, the domestic workload tends to increase
the country. In recent decades, many Shuar have largely because men are less available to help out; tasks such as
Development Anthropology and Dams

During much of his forty-year career in schol-
arly and applied work, Michael M. Horowitz
served as president and executive director
of the Institute for Development Anthropol-
ogy (IDA) while holding the title of distin-
guished professor of anthropology at the
State University of New York, Binghamton.
His pioneering contributions to applied an-
thropology focused on achieving equitable
economic growth, environmental sustain-
ability, conflict resolution, and participatory
government in the former colonial world.
After cofounding IDA in 1976, Horowitz
became its principal leader. He has played a
key role in bringing anthropology forward as
© Earth Observatory/NASA
an applied science in international develop-
ment organizations such as the World Bank,
the United Nations Fund for Women, and the
U.S. Agency for International Development
(USAID), as well as nongovernmental organi-
zations (NGOs) such as Oxfam. He has men-
Visible from space, China’s Three Gorges Dam is the world’s largest and most powerful
tored several generations of young scholars
hydroelectric dam. With a length of about 2,300 meters (7,700 feet) and a height of 185
and professionals—paying particular atten-
meters (330 feet), it controls the Yangtze, the world’s third largest river. After fifteen years
tion to those from developing countries—
of construction with a price tag of $22 billion, it became operational in 2009. The dam was
encouraging the application of anthropology’s built to provide a clean energy alternative to coal and to control flooding along the Yangtze
comparative and holistic methodologies and River. However, it has been controversial since its inception because it has flooded ancient
theories to empower low-income majorities archaeological and cultural sites, displacing more than 1.4 million people, and it has caused
in the so-called underdeveloped world. significant ecological changes, including risks of landslides that threaten some 4 million
Horowitz’s work with pastoralists and people. Unlike the dam described in this Anthropology Applied feature, not one social
floodplain-dwellers has had substantial posi- scientist was consulted in the planning and assessment phase of Three Gorges Dam.
tive impact on the well-being of small produc-
ers and landholders in developing countries.
A clear example of this is the impact of his to manage the system with a controlled and river management, and it continues to
work on the lives and livelihoods of people release from the Manantali Dam in Mali in influence development policy, not only in
living downstream of a hydropower dam in order to reproduce as nearly as possible Africa, but also in Southeast Asia. Recog-
West Africa. Beginning in the 1980s, he and the pre-dam flow system. Horowitz’s long- nizing Horowitz’s contributions, the Society
his IDA team carried out rigorous anthropo- term field research demonstrated that for Applied Anthropology presented him
logical research along the Senegal River. seasonal flooding would provide economic, with the prestigious Bronislaw Malinowski
Their study showed that traditional, pre- environmental, and sociocultural benefits Award in 2006.
dam, flood-recession farming yielded better for nearly a million small producers.
results than irrigated agriculture and was The work carried out by Horowitz and his Based in part on Young, W. C. (2000).
better for the environment. IDA colleagues on the Senegal River Basin Kimball Award winner. Anthropology News
This finding influenced decisions made Monitoring Activity (SRBMA) was a break- 41 (8), 29. See also Society for Applied
by these countries and affiliated NGOs through in the concepts of resettlement Anthropology, 2006.
fuel gathering and water collection are made more diffi- such as tea, coffee, and cacao (the source of chocolate)—
cult as common land and resources come to be privately makes households vulnerable to wide price fluctuations.
owned and as woodlands are reserved for commercial ex- As a result, people cannot afford the high-quality diet that
ploitation. As well, the growing of nonfood crops for the subsistence farming provided, and they become malnour-
world market—such as cotton and sisal or luxury crops ished. In short, with modernization, women frequently
Modernization 365
Studying the Emergence of New Diseases

Since the Neolithic, people have had to Congo (DRC) as a consequence of hunting interplay between ecological disturbance
cope with a host of new diseases that and butchering these animals for food. and the emergence of new diseases,
began as a consequence of changes in For the first thirty years, few people were she tracked the health of local people in
human behavior. Over the past several de- affected; it was not until people began the wake of a massive logging operation.
cades, this has become a renewed source congregating in quickly growing cities like Her work provided valuable insights, such
of concern following the resurgence of Kinshasa that conditions were ripe for an as clarifying how the disease organisms
infectious diseases and the spread of a epidemic. spread from animal hosts to humans.
host of new and lethal diseases.a Most of the “new” viruses that have Jenkins’s research in PNG was unique
More than thirty diseases new to med- suddenly afflicted humans are in fact old because baseline health data on local
icine have emerged in the past thirty-five ones present in animals—such as mon- people were gathered before the environ-
years. Perhaps the best known of these keys (monkey pox), rodents (hantavirus), ment was disturbed. Researchers, many
is AIDS, which has become a top killer deer (Lyme disease), and insects (West trained by Jenkins, continue to build on
among infectious diseases. Since 1981, Nile virus). What is different is that some- her studies.
almost 40 million people have died of thing has enabled them to jump from their The importance of such investigations
AIDS, and today some 37 million people animal hosts to humans. is obvious: In a globalized world, as air
around the world are living with AIDS/HIV.b In the DRC, civil war created a situation travel allows diseases to spread world-
But there are others—like Ebola hemor- in which villagers in the central part of the wide, we need a fuller understanding of
rhagic fever, which causes victims to bleed country were faced with starvation. Their how pathogens interact with their hosts if
to death, and other hemorrhagic fevers like response was to increase the hunting of we are to devise effective preventive and
dengue fever, Lassa fever, and hantavirus; animals, including monkeys, squirrels, and therapeutic strategies to deal with them.
invasive streptococcus A, which consumes rats that carry a disease called monkey
the victims’ flesh; Legionnaire’s disease; pox. Related to smallpox, the disease Biocultural Question
and Lyme disease. transfers easily to humans, resulting in the Because new viruses and bacteria often
Although it is not clear what has largest outbreak of this disease ever seen spread rapidly, what do you think of gov-
sparked the appearance and spread of among humans. This outbreak has been ernment-funded research and develop-
these new diseases, one theory is that even more serious because of an appar- ment of killer diseases for purposes of
some are the result of human activities. ently new strain of the infection, enabling biological warfare?
In particular, road construction and the it to spread from person to person, instead
a
intrusion of people into remote ecological of only from an animal host.c Gibbons, A. (1993, August 6). Where are
settings, such as rainforests, along with Large-scale habitat disturbance is an “new” diseases born? Science 261 (5122),
worldwide shipping and airplane traffic, al- obvious explanation for such disease 680–681.
b
low viruses and other infectious microbes transfers. In another part of the world, “Global information and advice on HIV &
to spread rapidly to large numbers of peo- U.S. medical anthropologist Carol Jenkins AIDS.” (2015). AVERT.org. www.avert.org
ple. It is now generally accepted that the (1945–2008) conducted early health-re- (retrieved December 14, 2015)
HIV virus responsible for AIDS transferred lated research among various ethnic c
Cohen, J. (1997, July 18). Is an old virus
to humans from chimpanzees in the trop- groups in Papua New Guinea (PNG) from up to new tricks? Science 277 (5324),
ical forests of the Democratic Republic of 1982 to 1995. Aiming to understand the 312–313.
find themselves in an increasingly inferior position. As the seaport for shipment to the textile factories in Great
their workload increases, the value assigned to the work Britain in the mid-1800s. Ships, trains, trucks, airplanes,
they do declines, as does their relative educational status, and now also drones—as well as newspapers, magazines,
not to mention their health and nutrition. radios, televisions, and cell phones—help bring about
radical changes that local peoples often do not want and
Most anthropologists, based on their fieldwork experi- cannot stop because they are challenged to a degree that
ence, recognize that new roads, harbors, railways, and exceeds their coping capability. Meanwhile, powerful
airstrips impact the earth’s remaining wilderness—such groups with interests in capitalizing on cheap natural
as tropical forests, arid deserts, and Arctic tundra. These and human resources wherever available justify their re-
developments have costs. We opened this chapter with lentless expansion, arguing that modernization is both
a photo of a train station in India. In that country, steel inevitable and good for everyone, in particular for “prim-
railways were first constructed to transport cotton to itive” and “underdeveloped” peoples who ought to be
given opportunities to prosper and become wealthy just resources. Unfortunately, despite rosy predictions about a
like themselves. For a serious look at the consequences better future, hundreds of millions of people in our world
of these changes, see the Biocultural Connection feature. remain trapped in a wretched reality, struggling against
This worldview overlooks the fact that the standard poverty, hunger, poor health, and other dangers. In the
of living for the middle and upper classes in wealthy or next and final chapter of this book, we further explore the
industrialized countries is based on a consumption rate of underlying structures and deeper causes of these problems
nonrenewable resources whereby a small fraction of the and look at the role anthropology can and does play in
world’s population uses the vast majority of these natural helping to meet these challenges.
Chapter Check list
Why and how do cultural systems change? firsthand contact with a more powerful society. It may
occur as a result of military conquest, political and
✓✓Stability may be a striking feature of many traditional economic expansion, or the substantial influx of
cultures, but all cultures are capable of adapting to dominant newcomers.
changing conditions—climatic, economic, political, or
ideological. ✓✓Ethnocide is the violent eradication of an ethnic
group’s collective cultural identity as a distinctive
✓✓Dynamic processes involved in cultural change include people. It occurs when a dominant society deliberately
accidental discoveries, deliberate inventions to solve sets out to destroy another society’s cultural heritage.
some perceived problem, and borrowing from other Among many examples is the experience of Ya̜nomami
peoples who introduce—or force—new commodities, Indians of the Amazon forest in Brazil and Venezuela.
technologies, and practices.
✓✓Progress is a relative term that implies improvement as What is directed change?

defined by the people who benefit from the changes. ✓✓Although the process of acculturation often unfolds
without planning, powerful elites may devise and
What are the mechanisms of voluntary enforce programs of cultural change, directing immigrant
cultural change? or subordinated groups into learning and accepting a
dominant society’s cultural beliefs and practices.
✓✓Major mechanisms involved in voluntary cultural
change are innovation, diffusion, and cultural loss. ✓✓Applied anthropology—the application of
anthropological insights and methods to solving
✓✓Innovation is any new idea, method, or device that gains
practical problems—arose as anthropologists sought to
widespread acceptance in society. A primary innovation is
provide colonial administrators with a better
the creation, invention, or discovery of a new idea,
understanding of native cultures, either to better
method, or device. A secondary innovation is a deliberate
control them or to avoid their serious disruption.
application or modification of these innovations.
✓✓An alternative type of practical anthropology emerged
✓✓A culture’s internal dynamics may encourage certain
in the latter 20th century. Known by various names
innovative tendencies while discouraging others. Force
including action anthropology, it involves community-
of habit may obstruct the acceptance of an innovation.
based research and action in collaboration with
✓✓Diffusion, the spread of certain ideas, customs, or indigenous societies, ethnic minorities, and other
practices from one culture to another, may account for besieged or repressed groups. A serious ethical issue for
up to 90 percent of a culture’s content. Many domestic applied anthropologists is how far they should go in
food plants developed by American Indians spread trying to change the ways of other peoples.
around the world, including corn, also known as
maize. Typically, people borrow only those cultural How do people react to repressive change?
elements that are compatible with their own.
✓✓Some have retreated to inaccessible places in hopes of
✓✓Cultural loss involves the abandonment of some being left alone, whereas others have lapsed into apathy.
practice or trait.
✓✓Some, like the Trobriand Islanders, have reasserted
their traditional culture’s values by modifying foreign
What is repressive change? practices to conform to indigenous values, a
✓✓Frequently, one group forces changes upon another, phenomenon known as syncretism.
usually in the course of conquest and colonialism.
✓✓If a culture’s values are widely out of step with the
✓✓Acculturation is the massive cultural change that reality of their daily lives, revitalization movements
occurs in a society when it experiences intensive may arise.
367
✓✓One example of a revitalization movement is the cargo cultural characteristics common to Western industrial
cult (especially noted in Melanesia in the southwest societies.
Pacific) in reaction to disruptive contact with Western
✓✓The process of modernization consists of five
capitalism. A more recent example is the indigenous
subprocesses: technological development, agricultural
revitalization movement in Bolivia, led by the
development, urbanization, industrialization, and
country’s Aymara Indian president, Evo Morales.
telecommunication. Other changes follow in the areas
✓✓When the scale of discontent within a society is high, of political organization, education, social
violent reaction such as rebellion or insurgency organization, and religion. As traditional beliefs and
(organized armed resistance to the established practices are undermined, secularization may rise.
government or authority in power) is likely. And if the
✓✓Self-determination is deeply valued by traditional
level of dissatisfaction rises even higher, it may lead to
cultures feeling the impact of modernization and other
revolution—a radical change in a society or culture. In
cultural changes.
the political arena, revolution refers to the forced
overthrow of an existing government and the ✓✓Attempting to claim self-determination does not
establishment of a new one. guarantee success. Sámi reindeer herders living in
northern Scandinavia discovered this when they
What are modernization and adopted snowmobiles and faced a dramatic decline in
self-determination? the size of their herds. In contrast, Shuar Indians in the
Amazon who subsisted on wild game and forest
✓✓Modernization refers to an all-encompassing and global gardens increased their social and economic security
process of political and socioeconomic change, when they turned to raising cattle as a means of
whereby developing societies acquire some of the securing legal title to their lands.
1. When societies are swept up in the processes of 3. Globalization radically challenges most of us to adjust
modernization—whether they involve changes in at an ever-faster pace within increasingly complex
transportation, agriculture, industrialization, or transnational settings. Do you feel that these changes
telecommunication—all levels of their cultural systems are good for everyone?
are affected. How do you envision the long-term 4. When hearing or reading about insurgencies or violent
consequences of humanity’s ever-expanding dependence uprisings in the news, have you ever wondered why
on the conveniences offered by these changes? people are willing to risk their lives to bring about
2. Do you think that ecocide and ethnocide are inevitable change? What do you think accounts for that level of
in economic development and modernization processes commitment?
across the globe? If so, why? If not, what makes you
think so?
Life Without Imports
In this chapter we discussed diffusion and the fact inventory of your own family’s habits and identify
that as much as 90 percent of any culture’s content how many things you eat, drink, wear, or use that
is borrowed. Imagine a political revolution in which are grown or produced in your own country. Next,
the new authorities prohibit the consumption of compare that list with an inventory of similar
any imported goods and also make it a crime to items that were imported. Determine the ratio of
see foreign movies, read foreign literature, or get domestic and foreign commodities and estimate
news from foreign sources of information. Make an the degree of cultural change.
Lou-Foto/Alamy
CHALLENGE ISSUE
For thousands of years, humans have met the challenges of survival by adapting to their nat-
ural environment and transforming it to fit their needs. They turned deserts, forests, swamps,
and mountainsides into pastures, farmlands, and industrial centers, creating opportunities
(and unanticipated challenges) for an ever-growing population. Since the start of the industrial
revolution about two centuries ago, inaugurating what is now known as the Anthropocene,
the human population has expanded from 1 billion to about 7.4 billion—more than half now
living and working in urban areas. With the launching of telecommunication satellites in the
1950s—followed by the Internet in the 1960s, personal computers in the 1970s, and the
World Wide Web in the 1990s—the digital revolution has accelerated the globalization pro-
cess. Spinning webs of interconnectivity, people everywhere are adapting to new media envi-
ronments. Using social media, a few billion humans weave in and out of cyberspace on a daily
basis for work, news, entertainment, politics, and social networking. The population explosion
and technological innovations radically impact all aspects of culture in societies across the
globe—from infrastructure to social structure to worldview. In China, cyber cafés known as
(wangba) can be found in most cities. This is one of hundreds in Beijing, the capital city.
Global Challenges,
Local Responses,
and the Role of
16
Anthropology In this chapter you
will learn to
significance of the
concept of Anthropocene.
Today, billions of people take it for granted that they can slip into cyberspace and
connect with others regardless of geographic distance thanks to electronic, fiber- ●● Determine why the
optic, and digital telecommunication technology. Well over 1,300 operational sat-
development of a
single global culture is
ellites orbit the earth—revolving between about 160 and 35,786 kilometers (99 and
improbable.
22,236 miles) above the ocean surface (Figure 16.1). About half of these are designated
●● Identify the relationship
specifically for telecommunication, whereas others serve military, scientific, and
between ethnocentrism
weather forecasting purposes. Also included among these are about 50 global posi-
and xenophobia.
tioning satellites (GPS), orbiting at 16,000 kilometers (9,940 miles) above earth (Union
●● Assess the fundamental
of Concerned Scientists, 2015). Wireless telecommunication technology by means
role of power in
of mobile, mass-produced electronic equipment—from laptops to smartphones— structuring societies
fuels globalization in ways unimaginable to most people just three decades ago. and their cultures.
Because industrialization and globalization seem unstoppable, we are com- ●● Contrast hard and
pelled to ask: Can the thousands of different societies that have existed for soft power and offer
centuries, if not millennia, maintain their distinctive cultural identities and deal examples of each.
successfully with the multiple challenges hurled at them? Moreover, can our spe- ●● Explain why obesity,
cies successfully adapt to the dynamic global ecosystem of the Anthropocene— malnutrition, poverty,
a geological epoch defined by massive environmental changes brought on by hu- and environmental
mans since the industrial revolution?
destruction are evidence
of structural violence.
●● Evaluate the Gini index
Cultural Revolutions: From Terra as a tool for measuring
the income disparity gap.
Incognita to Google Earth
●● Analyze why globalization
Just five centuries ago, much of the earth was still unmapped terra incognita. That disrupts and reorganizes
does not mean that people had no knowledge of foreign cultures: Long-distance cultures all across
migrations and journeys by traders, raiders, and pilgrims have been part of human the globe, with both
Anthropocene A geological epoch defined by
positive and negative
history for millennia. But these explo-
massive environmental changes brought on by consequences.
rations were not accurately documented humans since the industrial revolution.
369
370 CHAPTER 16 Global Challenges, Local Responses, and the Role of Anthropology
which led to automobiles, followed by airplanes a few

GEO decades later—part of the mass travel and transportation
(Geosynchronous Orbit)
altitude of 35,786 km revolution of the 20th century. That period also brought
(22,236 mi) major innovations in telecommunications technology—
from print media to telegraph, camera, telephone, radio,
MEO television, communications satellites, and the Internet—
(Medium Earth Orbit)
altitude of 2,000 km making it possible to exchange more information with
(1,243 mi) more people faster and over greater distances.
Of note in this fast process of radical cultural change is
the discovery of nuclear fission in the late 1930s. During
World War II (1939–1945), the United States developed
enriched uranium, built the world’s first nuclear reactor to
breed plutonium, and produced the first nuclear weapons.
In 1945, U.S. warplanes dropped atomic bombs on the
citizens of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, forcing the Japanese
enemy into unconditional surrender.
Today, more than thirty countries operate hundreds of
LEO (Low Earth Orbit)
altitude between 160 km nuclear power reactors generating heat and electricity. Of
(99 mi) and 2,000 km these, nine have stockpiled nuclear weapons, collectively
(1,200 mi)
owning an arsenal estimated at about 10,000 warheads
capable of destroying human civilization many times over
© Cengage Learning
(Arms Control Association, 2015). Nuclear energy may

have benefited many societies, but some accidents have
been disastrous. All of these technological inventions have
transformed our natural environments, the ways we hu-
Figure 16.1 How Crowded Is It Up There? mans live—and how we perceive our place and destiny in
There are 1,300 operational satellites orbiting the earth— the universe. In 1969, American astronauts landed on the
revolving between 160 and 35,786 kilometers (99 and
moon. Three years later, on an aborted lunar trip, they took
22,236 miles) above the ocean surface. About half of these
the first full-view photo of earth (Figure 16.2). This image
are designated specifically for telecommunication, whereas
had a profound impact on humanity, igniting the environ-
others serve military, scientific, and weather forecasting
mental movement and the idea of “One Earth, One World.”
purposes. Also included among these are about 50 global
positioning satellites (GPS).
and summarized in a comprehensive format. And so it was

that Norse voyages to Canada’s northeast coast more than a
thousand years ago and Chinese naval expeditions (equipped
with compass) to eastern Africa in the early 1400s had little
or no impact on our geographic understanding of the world.
This changed soon after Christopher Columbus first
crossed the Atlantic Ocean in 1492 and Ferdinand Magellan’s
expedition completed the first circumnavigation of the globe
in 1522. News of their discoveries of foreign lands, peoples,
and natural resources spread quickly by means of the
recently invented movable-type printing press. Geographic
information improved, and cartographers began printing
more accurate maps, leading to the publication of the first
NASA Johnson Space Center
world atlas in 1570. Not long afterward, observational astron-

omy verified that the earth is not the center of the universe.
Just over two centuries ago, the invention of steam en-
gines and other machinery launched the industrial revolu-
tion, with large-scale factory production and an expanding
transportation network of steam-powered trains and ships. Figure 16.2 First Full-View Photo of Earth
The invention of electrical generators and the incandescent This famous “Blue Marble” shot represents the first photograph
lightbulb in the mid-1800s radically transformed patterns in which our planet is in full view. The crew took the picture on
of human behavior within a few generations. The speed of December 7, 1972, as Apollo 17 left earth’s orbit for the moon.
change accelerated with the introduction of gasoline- or With the sun at their backs, the crew had a perfectly lit view of
petrol-fueled internal combustion engines in the 1870s, the blue planet.
Cultural Revolutions: From Terra Incognita to Google Earth 371
About a dozen years before this photograph was taken,

the United States had secretly launched its first strategic
A Global Culture?
reconnaissance satellite for photographic surveillance The ever-growing interconnectedness of our species—
of the earth’s surface. During the Cold War with Russia evident in the global flow of humans, their products, and
and its communist allies (1947–1989), technological im- their ideas made possible by modern mass transportation
provements led to an eye-in-the-sky investigation system. and telecommunications media—has resulted in many
Specializing in geospatial data visualization applications, external similarities across cultures. This has spawned
a CIA-funded company created EarthViewer 3D in 2001. speculations that humanity’s future will feature a single
Three years later, Google, a U.S.-based megacorporation homogenous global culture.
providing Internet-related products and services, acquired Certainly, it is striking—the extent to which such
the technology that made this virtual globe, map, and items as Western-style fast food, soft drinks, clothing,
geographic information program commercially available music, and movies have spread to virtually all parts of the
to the public. globe. Among many examples is the U.S.-based global cor-
Today, we inhabit a planet that is under constant poration McDonald’s—the world’s largest fast-food chain.
surveillance from satellites relentlessly orbiting high With 36,000 restaurants in more than 100 countries,
above us. We now find it normal that we can download McDonald’s serves close to 70 million customers a day
detailed photographs of almost any spot on earth— (McDonald’s, 2015) (Figure 16.3). Famous for its Big Mac
and that such images make it possible to track radical hamburger, it has become emblematic of what is often
changes in our world’s natural environments, from mas- perceived as the homogenization of the world’s different
sive deforestation to garbage dumping, air pollution, and cultures in the age of globalization, sometimes referred to
urbanization. as the “McDonaldization” of societies (Ritzer, 1983).
Patrick Baz/AFP/Getty Images
Figure 16.3 McDonald’s, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

A U.S.-based company founded in 1955, McDonald’s is the leading global food service
retailer with more than 36,000 restaurants in more than 100 countries. Its Golden Arches
have become an internationally recognized symbol for fast-service fries, chicken, hamburgers,
salads, and milkshakes. Many of these restaurants are franchises owned and operated by local
businesspeople who are members of the same society as most of their customers. Success
depends not only on quality fast food and quick service, but also on respecting cultural food
taboos. In India, home to nearly a billion Hindus who obey a taboo on beef, the Big Mac is made
with lamb or chicken and is known as a Maharaja Mac. Beef burgers are not a problem in Saudi
Arabia, where the first McDonald’s franchise opened in 1993. Operated by Arab Muslims, there
are now about 100 McDonald’s in that nation, including this one in the capital city of Riyadh,
where men and women are gender segregated in different lines and dining areas.
Yet, as we look at reactionary movements—including of international cooperation, the world’s most powerful
the rise of religious fundamentalism, nationalism, and states instituted the World Bank and the International
ethnic identity politics around the world—the forecast Monetary Fund in 1944. To prevent perpetual war, they
of a single global culture appears unrealistic. If a sin- also formed the United Nations (UN) in 1945, soon fol-
gle homogenous global culture is not in the making, lowed by a number of global nongovernmental organi-
what is? zations (NGOs), such as the World Health Organization
(WHO). Likewise, global humanitarian aid organizations
formed, such as Amnesty International and Doctors
Global Integration Processes Without Borders.
For more than a century now, integration processes have In addition, countries all around the world have
been pursued on a worldwide scale, albeit with mixed developed mass tourism industries that connect people in
success. One of the first international organizations was other ways. Tourism is a $1.25 trillion industry in which
the Red Cross, followed by the international Olympic more than 1 billion international tourists travel each year
Games (Figure 16.4). The need for global integration (United Nations World Tourism Organization, 2015).
became all the more urgent in the wake of the Second Such global integration mechanisms connect people
World War, which ended with atomic bombs and re- all around the world, and they play a constructive role in
sulted in the ruination of hundreds of cities and the maintaining a world system. Notably, however, they do
deaths of 55 million people. Recognizing the urgency not produce a global transnational culture.
ZUMA Press, Inc./Alamy Stock Photo
Figure 16.4 2014 Winter Olympics, Sochi, Russia

The Olympics are unique among the many strands in today’s global web. Inspired by the ancient
Greek sporting event held at Olympia 2,000 years ago, the games have become a global spectacle,
with thousands of athletes from all around the world competing in a different country every four
years. In today’s world—where powerful states have conquered and destroyed many smaller nations
and tens of millions have been killed in warfare worldwide—this global sports gathering is a crucial
ritual, celebrating international peace in a friendly rivalry for medals and prestige.
Pluralistic Societies unique cultural heritage and emphasizing differences with

neighboring groups. This devolution inclination is evident
and Multiculturalism in numerous nationalist movements today—including
separatist movements of the Karen in Myanmar and the
As described in the chapter on politics, ethnic groups or Kurds in Turkey, Syria, and Iraq. In Mexico, the Maya
nations have organized as independent states for about continue to seek greater political self-determination on
5,000 years. Many expanded—often by means of mili- their tribal territories. Similar movements by indigenous
tary conquest—and as republics, kingdoms, or empires nations objecting to their subordinated status as internal
engaged in nation-building projects, pressing subjects or colonies also occur in many other countries, including
allied peoples into cultural assimilation. Other neighbor- Canada and the United States.
ing ethnic groups joined together, confederating into one When states with extensive territories lack adequate
political union or territorial state. In such pluralistic societ- transportation and communication networks or major
ies, each member group maintains its distinctive language unifying cultural forces (such as a common religion or
and cultural heritage. national language), it is more likely that separatist inten-
Today, there are a number of other forms of political tions will be realized. One recent example is the political
integration among neighboring ethnic groups, such as breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991 into about a dozen
the twenty-eight member states that comprise the Euro- independent republics—Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Esto-
pean Union. These countries achieved this unification nia, Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia, among others. Since
despite the hindrances of linguistic differences, distinctive then, some of these republics have fragmented even fur-
cultural traditions, bureaucratic red tape, and economic ther. For example, in 2008, two of Georgia’s ethnically dis-
disparities. tinct regions (South Ossetia and Abkhazia) officially split
One way of curbing divisive pressures inherent in after years of separatist pressure. And in 2013, Ukraine’s
pluralistic societies is to officially adopt a public policy of predominantly ethnic Russian Crimean Peninsula region
multiculturalism based on mutual respect and tolerance broke away and was annexed by Russia.
for cultural differences. In contrast to state policies of as- Among examples from other corners of the world,
similation in which a dominant ethnic group uses its power Sudan in northeastern Africa officially split along an
to impose its own culture as the standard, policies of multi- ethnic, religious, and geographic fault line in 2011, pro-
culturalism assert the value of different cultures coexisting ducing international recognition of the Republic of South
within a country. They call upon citizens from all ethnic Sudan as the 193rd member state of the United Nations.
groups to accept the rights of others to freely express their Since then, fierce fighting between two major ethnic
views and values. An example of long-established multicul- groups there (the Dinka and the Nuer) indicates that there
turalism may be seen in states such as Switzerland, where may be further territorial fragmentation.
peoples speaking German, French, Italian, and Romansh
coexist under the same government. Global Migrations: Migrants,
Cultural pluralism is more common than multicul- Transnationals, and Refugees
turalism, but several multi-ethnic countries are reevalu- Throughout history, challenges such as famine, poverty,
ating their cultural assimilation policies. One example is and violent intimidation by dangerous neighbors have
the United States, which now has over 120 different eth- forced people to move—often scattering members of
nic groups within its borders, in addition to hundreds of threatened ethnic groups. People also move for other
federally recognized American Indian groups. Another is reasons, including economic opportunity and political or
Australia with over a hundred ethnic groups and eighty religious freedom. Whether forced or free, migration—
languages spoken within its territorial boundaries. Many mobility in geographic space, involving temporary or
European countries are engaged in similar public debates, permanent change in usual place of residence—has always
as many millions of foreign immigrants have settled there had a significant effect on world social geography; it has
during the past few decades. contributed to cultural change and development, to the
diffusion of ideas and innovations, and to the complex
mixture of peoples and cultures found in the world today.
Pluralistic Societies Internal migration occurs when people move within the
boundaries of their country, shifting their usual residence
and Fragmentation
Pluralistic societies, in virtually all parts of the world, multiculturalism The public policy for managing cultural diversity in a
show a tendency to fragment, usually along major lin- multi-ethnic society, officially stressing mutual respect and tolerance for
cultural differences within a country’s borders.
guistic, religious, or ethno-nationalist divisions. Because
migration Mobility in geographic space, involving temporary or
of this trend, some predict a world in which ethnic groups
permanent change in usual place of residence. Internal migration is
will become increasingly nationalistic rather than united movement within countries; external migration is movement to a foreign
in response to globalization, each group stressing its country.
from one region to another. Typically, migrants leave their IDPs seek shelter within their home countries. Most are
farms, villages, and small towns in the rural backlands struggling in makeshift camps where they cannot make a
and move to cities to find greater economic opportunity, living. According to the United Nation’s Refugee Agency,
escape from poverty and starvation, and possibly avoid “Globally, one in every 122 humans is now either a ref-
armed conflict in their home region. External migration is ugee, internally displaced, or seeking asylum. If this were
movement from one country to another. Such migration the population of a country, it would be the world’s 24th
may be voluntary (people seeking better conditions and biggest” (UNHCR, 2015b) (Figure 16.6).
opportunities abroad), but all too often it may be involun-
tary. People who are taken as slaves or prisoners—or who Diasporas and Xenophobia
have been driven from their homelands by war, political Over the past few decades, mass migration across interna-
unrest, religious persecution, or environmental disasters— tional borders has dramatically impacted the ethnic com-
are involuntary migrants. position of affluent societies in Australia, western Europe,
Every year, a few million people migrate to wealthy and North America. For example, today, the number of
countries in search of wage labor and a better future for foreign-born people residing in the United States is close
themselves and their offspring (Figure 16.5). Although to 42 million—about 13 percent of the total population.
most cross international borders as legal immigrants, seek- Just over half come from Latin America, including about
ing work permits and ultimately citizenship in their new 12 million from Mexico alone (Pew Research Center, 2015).
homeland, many migrants are illegal and do not enjoy As the largest and fastest-growing group of immigrants in
crucial rights and benefits. Migrants also include transna- the United States, Latino immigrants are settled primar-
tionals, people who earn their living in one country while ily in California and Texas, where many form Spanish-
remaining citizens of another. speaking ethnic enclaves.
Today, beyond the masses of people who migrate for In addition, the United States is now home to over
work, some 60 million people are refugees or internally 25 million immigrants from Asian countries (such as
displaced persons (IDPs) who have fled their homes due to China and India) and sub-Saharan African countries (such
war. Refugees are those who flee to foreign countries while as Nigeria and Ethiopia). Over the past three decades,
Origin
Destination RUSSIA
POLAND
CANADA SLOVAKIA
UKRAINE
EUROPE
TURKEY
UNITED
CHINA STATES
INDIA
MOROCCO ALGERIA MIDDLE
MEXICO MALI EAST
PHILIPPINES SENEGAL NIGER PAKISTAN
HONDURAS CHAD
GHANA
ETHIOPIA
COLOMBIA NIGERIA
INDONESIA KENYA
BRAZIL TANZANIA
ANGOLA
FIJI BOLIVIA
AUSTRALIA
ARGENTINA SOUTH
© Cengage Learning
AFRICA
NEW ZEALAND
Figure 16.5 Migrating for Work

In our globalized world, tens of millions of people have moved across international borders for
better income-earning opportunities. They include farm and meat plant laborers, cleaners, cab
drivers, construction workers, servers in the tourism industry, as well as shopkeepers, nurses,
doctors, engineers, and computer specialists. Not shown here is the international flow of
refugees who are forced to flee to save their lives or preserve their freedom.
Oli Scarff/Getty Images

Figure 16.6 World’s Largest Refugee Camp
In the African country of Somalia, extended drought and years of civil war have caused chronic
famine and chased huge numbers of people out of the country. Some 350,000 are stuck in
this vast camp complex in Dadaab, Kenya, near the Somalia border—and at times the numbers
have swelled to nearly 500,000. It was established in 1991 to provide food and shelter for up
to 90,000 refugees fleeing the war, but two decades of ongoing conflict and natural disasters
in Somalia have generated a continuous flow of Somalis into the camp, requiring the creation of
numerous extensions, including this one set up to shelter 5,000 people. Now housing almost five
times the number for which it was originally built, the Dadaab camp is jammed, and resources are
inadequate. Moreover, situated on a floodplain, it is inaccessible for extended periods during the
rainy season, making the delivery of life-saving food, water, and healthcare unreliable.
the number of African immigrants self-identifying Turkish relatives entering the country. Even after several
as “black” has rapidly increased from 65,000 to more decades in Germany, many German Turks do not possess
than 1.1 million—and that figure continues to grow. citizenship and have not become culturally integrated into
Black immigrants from the Caribbean now number German society. Turkish, spoken by Germany’s largest eth-
1.7 million, but their rate of increase is slowing down. nic minority, has become that country’s second language.
Collectively, these many millions of new immigrants As a result of the Syrian civil war that began in 2012, about
contribute to the ever-changing multicultural fabric of a million refugees from the West Asian conflict zone are
U.S. society (Capps, McCabe, & Fix, 2011). also expected to settle in Germany, thus adding to the
Meanwhile, on the other side of the Atlantic, almost growing ethnic complexity of that country.
20 percent (about 12 million) of the people living in Confronted with millions of foreign immigrants,
France today are foreign-born immigrants and their off- Europe’s native-born or autochthonous (from the Greek
spring, primarily originating from former colonial ter- auto, “self,” and khthon, “soil”) populations are currently
ritories in West Africa and Southeast Asia. Islam is now wrestling with their national identities in a period of rapid
the second-largest religion in France with about 6 million change. With their concerns compounded by economic
adherents. insecurity, social tensions are on the rise, and so are rac-
About 3.5 million people of Turkish origin now reside ism and ethnic intolerance, directed especially against
in western Germany, not counting a few million other for- foreign-born Muslims who do not assimilate.
eign-born immigrants and their offspring. Initially needed In their diaspora (from the Greek daspeirein, “dis-
for cheap, unskilled labor, Turks were hired as “guest work- perse”), migrants and refugees often face great challenges
ers” in highly industrialized urban areas. Because most of as poor newcomers to host societies. Moving into areas
them remained, the authorities instituted a family reunifi- traditionally inhabited by other ethnic groups, they may
cation policy, which resulted in hundreds of thousands of face hostile opposition, especially when they compete for
new countries, those who remain

trapped in their troubled lands of
origin often face worse challenges:
malnutrition, hunger, chronic dis-
ease, and violence. For solace and
support, many newcomers form or
join communities of people who
have come from the same part of the
world. Also, modern transportation,
telecommunication technology, and
electronic cash transfers make it pos-
sible for diasporic communities all
across the globe to interact with rel-
atives and friends who have settled
elsewhere, as well as with their coun-
try of origin. Today, most migrants
reach across the miles to loved ones,
sharing news as well as emotional
and financial support. Worldwide,
electronic transfers to developing
AP Images
countries total about $440 billion
per year (World Bank, 2015a).
Figure 16.7 Migrants on the Run
Bengali Muslims—newcomers to villages in India’s northeast state of Assam—leave their Migrants, Urbanization,
homes following ethnic clashes with the indigenous Bodos in which many people were and Slums
killed and dozens of homes were burned to the ground. Government troops sent to quell Most migrants are poor and begin
communal clashes over land rights were ordered to shoot suspected rioters on sight. their new lives in expanding urban
areas. During the past fifty years, the
scarce resources, pose a threat to security, or are otherwise world’s urban population has more than tripled. Today,
unwelcome as newcomers. As such, they may be targeted for the first time in world history, close to half of our
for a hate-mongering campaign. Such xenophobia—fear species now resides in urban areas—over 3.5 billion peo-
or hatred of strangers or anything foreign—is especially ple. Just two centuries ago, at the start of the industrial
inflammatory in times of economic uncertainty when revolution, only about 3 percent of the world’s population
health and well-being are threatened and social tensions lived in cities.
rise. Under such circumstances, space for intercultural tol- Until 1950, the largest city in the world was London.
erance narrows, social boundaries become more sharply Although briefly overtaken by New York, the current ur-
defined, and ethnic differences are emphasized over hu- ban frontrunner has long been Tokyo, now counting 38
man commonalities. million inhabitants. In fact, the 10 largest cities in the
Sometimes, attitudes toward migrant laborers and world are all in Asia, except for New York (now dropped
recent immigrants grow so intensely negative that it does to 8th place). Cities have grown not only in size but also
not take much to ignite brutal violence. Such outbreaks in number. Today, there are almost 500 cities with pop-
are all too common in many countries, including South ulations exceeding 1 million. Of these more than 25 are
Africa and India. In the summer of 2012, for example, megacities, each with populations over 10 million. Urban
xenophobia erupted into interethnic violence in Assam, areas are gaining about 67 million people per year—
northeast India, as the Bodos, an indigenous Buddhist about 1.3 million every week. As the global population
mountain people, clashed with Bengali-speaking Muslim grows, the number of big cities will increase substantially,
immigrants over scarce farmland. Within a few weeks, with the majority located in coastal areas of developing
dozens of people from both sides had been killed, and countries.
many more were wounded. Nearly 400 settlements in Historically, cities grow primarily as a result of migra-
disputed areas were abandoned, as about 400,000 Bengalis tion by masses of people escaping rural poverty or seek-
packed up what they could carry and fled. This population ing economic opportunity. Many of these migrants have
is now dispersed in 270 refugee camps (Figure 16.7). little or no education, lack technical skills, and have just
Although migrants frequently experience hostility, one way to earn a living: selling their labor power on
hardship, disappointment, and sometimes failure in their the lowest rung of the economic ladder. Expectations
crushed by harsh reality, and far away from their home
xenophobia Fear or hatred of strangers or anything foreign. regions, migrants often find themselves condemned
Structural Power in the Age of Globalization 377
© Francis R. Malasig/epa/Corbis
Figure 16.8 Slum in Manila
Half of the inhabitants of Manila, the capital of the Philippines, live in slums such as this.
to a life in squalor in crowded shantytowns or slums,

with limited access to clean water, waste disposal, and
Structural Power in the
electricity.
One of the main concentrations of urban poor on the
Age of Globalization
planet today can be found in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial How did our species manage to construct such a world—
capital and now Africa’s largest city. In just four decades, so interconnected and so unfairly arranged between mil-
its population has exploded from less than 1.4 million lions of have-lots and billions of have-nots? Part of the
in 1970 to perhaps 21 million today. Unable to manage explanation, most scholars will agree, lies in a new form of
the enormous influx of migrants and their offspring, the expansive international capitalism that has emerged since
city now features huge overcrowded slums where two- the mid-1900s. Operating under the banner of globaliza-
thirds of the city’s inhabitants reside. Lagos is not unique: tion, it builds on earlier cultural structures of worldwide
Unplanned, makeshift, urban squatter settlements are trade networks, and it is the successor to a system of colo-
burgeoning around the globe. For instance, about half of nialism in which a handful of powerful, mainly European,
the 11 million inhabitants of Manila, capital of the Phil- capitalist states ruled and exploited foreign nations inhab-
ippines, now live in slums (Figure 16.8). iting distant territories.
Worldwide, about 1 billion people currently reside Enormously complex and turbulent, globalization is a
in slums, and the number is rapidly growing. About dynamically structured process in which individuals, busi-
60 percent of these slum-dwellers live in Asia, 20 percent ness corporations, and political institutions actively rear-
in Africa, 13 percent in Latin America and the Caribbean, range and restructure the political and economic field to
and only 6 percent in Europe. In sub-Saharan Africa, their own competitive advantage, vying for increasingly
72 percent of the urban population lives in slums— scarce natural resources, cheap labor, new commercial
a higher proportion than anywhere else in the world markets, and ever-larger profits. This restructuring occurs
(Birch & Wachter, 2011; United Nations Human Settle- in a world-encompassing arena and requires a great deal
ments Programme, 2003). of power. As earlier discussed in the chapter on politics,
Figure 16.9 Global Military Percentage of Global Military Spending by Country in Billions of Dollars
Spending by Country
Others 20% ($349 billion)
In 2014, world military spending
reached nearly $1.78 trillion, with
Turkey 1.3% ($23 billion)
the United States accounting for
more than 34 percent of the total. United Arab Emirates 1.3%
United States 34.3%
(Expenditures are rounded to the ($23 billion)
($610 billion)
nearest billion.) Australia 1.4% ($25 billion)
Source: Stockholm International Peace
Italy 1.7% ($31 billion)
Research Institute, 2015.
Brazil 1.8% ($32 billion)
South Korea 2.1% ($37 billion)
Japan 2.6% ($46 billion)
Germany 2.6% ($47 billion)
India 2.8% ($50 billion) People’s Republic of
© Cengage Learning
United Kingdom 3.4% ($61 billion) China 12.2% ($216 billion)
France 3.5% ($62 billion) Russia 4.8% ($85 billion)

Saudi Arabia 4.5% ($81 billion)
power refers to the ability of individuals or groups to im- about 34 percent of the $1.78 trillion spent on arms world-
pose their will upon others and make them do things even wide (Figure 16.9).
against their own wants or wishes. Worldwide, nine states have nuclear-weapon capabil-
Here we are concerned with structural power— ity: China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the
macro-level power that manages or restructures political United States, as well as Israel, India, Pakistan, and North
and economic relations within and among societies while Korea. Of these, Russia and the United States have by far
simultaneously shaping or changing people’s ideology the largest nuclear arsenals at their disposal. The United
(ideas, beliefs, and values) (Wolf, 1999a); it is a compound States possesses just over 4,700 operational warheads,
of hard power and soft power. In contrast to hard power, compared to Russia’s 4,500. In addition, these two coun-
which coerces by military force and/or financial pressure, tries have, respectively, 3,200 and 2,340 retired warheads
soft power coopts or manipulates, skillfully pressing peo- that are still intact but awaiting dismantlement (Arms
ple through attraction and persuasion to change their ide- Control Association, 2015).
ology (ideas, beliefs, and values). Propaganda is a form of In addition to military might, hard power involves
soft power, although the exercise of ideological influence using finance capital as a political instrument of coercion
(the global struggle for hearts and minds) also operates or intimidation in the global structuring process, capable
through more subtle means, such as foreign aid, inter- of forcing less powerful states to weaken the systems pro-
national diplomacy, news media, sports, entertainment, tecting their workers, natural resources, and local markets.
museum exhibits, and academic exchanges (Nye, 2002). The world’s wealthiest and most powerful countries—
including the United States, Russia, China, Japan, Germany,
Britain, and France—have repeatedly threatened or actually
Military Hard Power used the levers of structural power to impose changes on
a foreign political landscape by means of trade embargos,
Today, the United States has more hard power at its disposal
armed interventions, or full-scale invasions.
than any of its allies or rivals worldwide. It is the global
Home to more global corporations than any other
leader in military expenditure, spending $610 billion in
country, the United States endeavors to protect its inter-
2014, followed by China ($216 billion). As the world’s still
ests by investing in what it refers to as “free trade” as well
dominant superpower, the United States is responsible for
as a “global security environment.” However, through
maneuvering toward this strategic objective, the nuclear-
armed superpower often confronts opposition from
structural power Macro-level power that manages or restructures
political and economic relations within and among societies while
(potentially) hostile rivals such as Russia and, increasingly,
simultaneously shaping or changing people’s ideology (ideas, beliefs, and China, contesting its ambitions for worldwide supremacy.
values); a compound of hard power and soft power. Numerous other countries, unable to afford expensive
hard power Macro-level power that manages or restructures economic weapons systems or blocked from developing or acquir-
and political relations and coerces by military force and/or financial
ing them, have invested in biological or chemical weap-
pressure.
onry. Still others, including relatively powerless political
soft power Macro-level power that coopts or manipulates, skillfully
pressing people through attraction and persuasion to shape or change groups, have resorted to insurgencies, guerrilla tactics,
their ideology (ideas, beliefs, and values). or terrorism.
Structural Power in the Age of Globalization 379
Economic Hard Power So great is the power of large businesses operating all
across the globe that they increasingly thwart the wishes
Global corporations, rare before the latter half of the 20th of national governments or international organizations
century, now are a far-reaching economic and political such as the United Nations and the International Court of
force in the world. Modern-day business giants such as Justice. Because megacorporations restrict information about
Shell, Toyota, and General Electric are actually clusters their operations, it can be difficult for governments to make
of several corporations joined by ties of common owner- informed policy decisions. For example, regulating today’s
ship and responsive to a common management strategy. global pharmaceutical industry is all but impossible, not just
Usually tightly controlled by a head office in one country, because of complex cross-border business arrangements, but
transnational megacorporations organize and integrate also because of fraud, including sales of counterfeit prescrip-
production across the international boundaries of different tion drugs, some of which are harmful and even lethal. For
countries for interests formulated in corporate boardrooms, example some 200,000 die annually due to fake and sub-
regardless of whether these are consistent with the interests standard malaria drugs alone (Goldacre, 2013; Moran, 2013).
of people in the countries in which they operate. Each Beyond this information problem, global corporations
of the world’s top ten business giants currently generates have repeatedly shown they can overrule foreign policy
annual revenues well over $200 billion, and four of them decisions. This raises the issue of whether the global
top the $400 billion mark (Fortune, 2015) (Figure 16.10). arena should be controlled by immense powerful private
Annual GDPs of Selected Countries Compared to Revenues of Major Global Corporations, in Billions of Dollars
COUNTRY or GDP or
CORPORATION (Headquarters) Revenues
WALMART (United States) $486

THAILAND $405
SINOPEC (China) $447
DENMARK $342
ROYAL DUTCH SHELL (Netherlands) $431
PAKISTAN $244
CHINA NAT'L PETROLEUM (China) $429
IRAQ $224
EXXONMOBIL (United States) $383

PERU $203
BRITISH PETROLEUM (United Kingdom) $359
KUWAIT $164
STATE GRID (China) $339
HUNGARY $138
VOLKSWAGEN (Germany) $269
MOROCCO $110
TOYOTA (Japan) $248
© Cengage Learning
KENYA $61
GLENCORE (Switzerland) $221
Figure 16.10 GDPs of Selected Countries and Revenues of Global Corporations

In today’s consumer-driven world, it is not uncommon for the yearly revenues of large multinational
corporations to equal and even exceed the total value of all goods and services produced within
many countries per year, known as a country’s gross domestic product (GDP). This graph shows the
annual GDPs of selected countries alongside the annual revenues of leading global corporations.
Notably, revenues of each of the top four corporations exceeded the GDPs of 162 of the world’s
195 countries. Not shown here are the countries with the highest and lowest GDPs. Nearly half
have GDPs under $20 billion, and 20 fall below $1 billion. Only 14 countries surpass $1 trillion,
including the United States at more than $15 trillion, with China in second place at over $6 trillion.
Note that GDP says nothing about the unequal distribution of wealth within a country.
Sources: Based on Fortune’s “Global 500” list of corporate revenues (2015) and the World Bank, World Development
Indicators (2016).
corporations interested only in financial profits. According

to a study that diagrammed the interrelationships of more
than 43,000 corporations, 147 companies control nearly
40 percent of the monetary value of all transnational
corporations. Of the top 50 of these companies, most are
involved in banking, financial services, and insurance
(Ehrenberg, 2011; Vitali, Glattfelder, & Battiston, 2011).
With production, trading, and banking operations on
a global scale, the breakdown in one part of the system
may trigger a worldwide chain reaction of failures. This
is what occurred with the global financial crisis in 2008,
sparked by the bankruptcy of a handful of mismanaged
Wall Street firms—a crisis with worldwide ramifications
not yet resolved.
Globalization does more than create a worldwide
arena in which megacorporations reap megaprofits. It also
wreaks havoc in many traditional cultures, destroying
their natural habitats and disrupting their long-established
social organization.
Soft Power: A Global Media

Environment
In addition to reliance on military and economic hard power
in the global quest for dominance and profit, competing
states and corporations utilize the ideological persuasion
of soft power transmitted through information technology. Figure 16.11 Global Branding
One of the major tasks of soft power is to sell the general The poorest people in the world often wear clothing discarded by
idea of globalization as something positive and progressive those who are better off—and people from all walks of life can
(as “freedom,” “free trade,” “free market”) and to frame or be found wearing clothes with corporate logos, as demonstrated
brand anything that opposes capitalism in negative terms. by this Maká Indian woman in Paraguay. The power wielded by big
Global mass media corporations, for example, possess business (such as the Disney media corporation) is illustrated by
enormous soft power. They produce and distribute news the fact that corporations influence consumers to pay for clothing
and other information through transnational cable and and countless other goods that advertise corporate products.
satellite networks, as well as websites. These media giants
not only report news but also select the visual imagery Owned and controlled by large corporations, social
and determine what to stress or repress. By means of their media are used for a vast range of purposes—from product
tremendous soft power, these corporations influence pub- advertising to evangelizing, from fund-raising to popular
lic perception and action (“hearts and minds”). entertainment, from connecting with friends and family
The far-reaching capabilities of modern electronic and to rallying support for political action. But they are not
digital technologies have led to the creation of a global me- free. For corporations, banks, and governments, social
dia environment that plays a major role in how individuals media tools are a means of harnessing soft power for pur-
and even societies view themselves and their place in the poses of influencing public opinion, moving capital, sell-
world. The global flow of information made possible by ing music, or gaining prestige. As such, these instruments
fiber-optic cables, cell towers, and communication satel- can be (and are) manipulated for propaganda, public
lites orbiting the earth is almost entirely digital-electronic, opinion making, government surveillance, personal data
taking place in a new boundless cultural space that has mining, and deception for political and military purposes.
been called a “global mediascape” (Appadurai, 1990). That brings us to the subject of structural violence.
In recent years, the power of corporations has become
all the greater through media expansion. Over the past two
decades, a global commercial media system has developed,
dominated by a few megacorporations (such as Comcast, Dis-
Problems of Structural
ney, Facebook, and Google), most based in the United States.
Control of television, Internet, and other media, as well as
Violence
the advertising industry, gives global corporations enormous Structural power and its associated concepts of hard and
influence on the ideas and behavior of hundreds of millions soft power enable us to better understand the regional, na-
of ordinary people across the world (Figure 16.11). tional, as well as global arena in which local communities
Problems of Structural Violence 381
ASIA
NORTH
AMERICA EUROPE
Atlantic
Pacific
Ocean
Ocean
AFRICA
Pacific
Ocean
Indian
Ocean
SOUTH
AMERICA AUSTRALIA
Gini Index

(Income equality = 0)
25–30 40–45 55–60
30–35 45–50 60–66
35–40 50–55 No data
Figure 16.12 Gini Income Equality Index

The Gini index ranges from 0 to 100, with 0 corresponding to perfect equality (everyone has the
same income) and 100 corresponding to perfect inequality (one person has all the income, and
everyone else has zero income). Today China and the United States have similar income gaps
(42.1 and 40.8, respectively), Norway has the smallest gap (25.8), and numerous countries in
Africa and Latin America have the greatest income disparity with Gini ratings in the 50s or 60s.
throughout the world are now compelled to operate and the et al., 2008). Notably, these broad-stroke figures fail to
unequal distribution of wealth, health, and power in today’s indicate that some of the world’s poorest countries have
world. When structural power undermines the well-being of a small number of very rich citizens and that some very
individuals or groups, we speak of structural violence— wealthy countries include many poor inhabitants.
physical and/or psychological harm (including repression, In fact, the income disparity between rich and poor
environmental destruction, poverty, hunger, illness, and pre- within most countries has been widening in recent years—
mature death) caused by impersonal, exploitative, and un- as evident in the Gini income inequality index annually
just social, political, and economic systems (Farmer, 1996). posted by the United Nations. The Gini index ranges
Generally speaking, structural violence concerns the from 0 to 100, with 0 corresponding to perfect equality
impersonal systemic violation of the human rights of (everyone has the same income) and 100 corresponding
individuals and communities to a healthy, peaceful, and to perfect inequality (one person has all the income, and
dignified life. Human rights abuses are nothing new, but everyone else has zero income). For example, in commu-
structural violence and its countless manifestations have nist China, home to about 1.3 billion people, income
intensified due to overpopulation, environmental destruc- disparity has skyrocketed to 42.1—even surpassing that of
tion, and growing inequality in the Anthropocene. the world’s leading capitalist country, the United States,
where the gap has widened to 40.8. Income distribution
Poverty is far more equal in most of Europe, and the smallest rich–
poor gap in the world is in Norway (25.8). Countries with
Earlier we mentioned the more than sevenfold increase of the greatest income inequality are clustered in southern
humans in just eight generations, leading to overpopula- Africa and Latin America where numerous countries have
tion problems, especially in parts of Asia and Africa. This Gini ratings in the 50s or 60s (Figure 16.12).
problem is structurally linked to worldwide differences in
wealth and health. In 1960, the average income for the
structural violence Physical and/or psychological harm (including
twenty wealthiest countries in the world was fifteen times
repression, environmental destruction, poverty, hunger, illness, and
that of the twenty poorest countries. Today, it is about premature death) caused by impersonal, exploitative, and unjust social,
thirty times higher (World Bank, 2015b; see also Davies political, and economic systems.
Anthropologist S. Ann Dunham, Mother of a U.S. President

By Nancy I. Cooper
As our plane descended over the island married an economics student from Kenya, into concern about the welfare of small
of Java, the most spectacular sight of my East Africa. In 1961, she gave birth to his enterprises embedded within larger, more
life came into view: a full-blown eruption namesake, Barack Obama, Jr., who would powerful economic systems.
of Merapi volcano billowing clouds of grow up to be the forty-fourth president of Soon, Ann began working as a con-
ash straight up into the sky. On the lower the United States. The marriage was short- sultant, hired by what became a long
slopes of this exploding “mountain of fire” lived, and Ann became a single parent. list of mostly foreign aid and economic
(gunung api), hundreds of thousands of While studying an-
people would have to flee their homes and thropology, Ann met and
farms. My thoughts were with them—and married Lolo Soetoro, a
Provided by Nancy Cooper, Anthropology Dept., University of Hawaii

with my friend Ann Dunham. She had re- geography student from
searched and worked with rural people in Java. In 1967 she and
this region as an applied anthropologist her young son joined him
before her untimely death at age 52 in in Jakarta, Indonesia’s
1995. I had known her while doing my own capital city. Befriend-
research here on Indonesia’s most popu- ing local boys, “Barry”
lated island. I was returning to meet some happily roamed nearby
of the people she had known. fields among goats and
Stanley Ann Dunham’s life started out water buffalo. Ann gave
ordinary enough in an American working- birth to daughter Maya
class family from Kansas. They lived in and became interested
several states before settling in the eth- in handmade crafts like
nically diverse state of Hawai‘i. As a teen basketry, ceramics, and
Ann thrived there, embracing the common leatherwork, trying her Ann Dunham turns the wheel of an agricultural machine in
humanity in cultural differences. At the Uni- own hand at weaving and Pakistan in 1987.
versity of Hawai‘i in Honolulu, she met and batik. This interest grew
Measured on a global scale, the chasm between have- forty-fourth president of the United States, Barack Obama.
lots and have-nots has reached stratospheric proportions She is featured in this chapter’s Anthropology Applied.
(Oxfam, 2016; World Bank, 2015c):
●● The 62 richest people on earth possess nearly
$1.8 trillion—the same amount shared by 3.6 billion Hunger, Obesity, and Malnutrition
people at the bottom half of the world’s income scale.
Today, over a quarter of the world’s countries do not
●● Since 2000, the poorest half of the world’s population
produce enough food to feed their populations, and
has received just 1 percent of the total increase in
they cannot afford to import what is needed. World-
global wealth, while half of that increase has gone to
wide, about 800 million people experience chronic
the top 1 percent.
hunger—about 1 out of 9 individuals. Each year, fam-
●● Nearly 10 percent of people in the world live on less
ine claims the lives of more than 3 million children
than $1.90 a day.
ages 5 and under, and those who survive it often suffer
These statistics represent a gross inequity that poses physical and mental impairment (Food and Agriculture
a radical challenge for achieving global security and Organization of the United Nations, 2013; World Food
well-being. The situation would be even worse without Programme, 2015).
the efforts of individuals, organizations, and institutions Many of the world’s hungry are victims of structural
dedicated to narrowing the insupportable gap between violence. This is because the increasing rate of starvation
the world’s wealthiest and poorest peoples. Among those is due not only to environmental calamities, but to hu-
was U.S. anthropologist Ann Dunham—the mother of the man actions ranging from warfare to massive job cuts,
development organizations. At the Ford with her anthropological fieldwork, culmi- years earlier. Word spread quickly through
Foundation’s Southeast Asia regional office nated in her 1992 doctoral dissertation on the village of Kajar that Ann’s friend was
in Jakarta, for example, she oversaw grants peasant blacksmithing, published by Duke visiting, and I was greeted warmly. I sat
in the Women and Employment branch and University Press in 2009.a In both words with the family of the late owner of the
collaborated on a study of rural women in and action, Ann argued against Western blacksmithing cooperative featured in Ann’s
the outlying islands of Indonesia. In the modernization theories that insisted that book, swapping stories about her and look-
1980s, as a cottage industries develop- all developing economies must go through ing at photos she had taken of them and
ment consultant with the Agricultural De- the same stages Western capitalist econ- fellow villagers. And I spent long hours vis-
velopment Bank of Pakistan, she arranged omies experienced in order to succeed in iting with blacksmiths as they hammered
credit for low-income handicraft castes in the global market environment. Recognizing hot scrap metal into useful tools.
the Punjab, including blacksmiths. the disturbing effects that rapid moderniza- All too soon it was time to leave. Volcanic
Next, Ann became a research coor- tion often has on indigenous populations ash had shut down the airport where I had
dinator (funded by USAID and the World with colonial histories, she refuted such landed, so I left the region by rail. As the
Bank) at Bank Rakyat Indonesia, helping damaging notions and sought ways to solve train pulled away from the station, images
implement a microcredit project for own- the real challenges of emerging economies of blacksmithing and new friends danced
ers of small rural businesses. Today, this with sensitivity and analytical prowess. in my head, along with renewed memories
bank has one of the largest microfinance Ann Dunham’s contributions were for- of an engaged anthropologist whose work
programs in the world, and microcredit is mally recognized fifteen years after her changed people’s lives for the better.
widely recognized as a significant means death when she was awarded Indonesia’s
of lessening poverty. In between appoint- highest civilian honor. Accepting the prize Written expressly for this text, 2011.
ments, Ann returned to Hawai‘i to settle on behalf of his mother from President
her children in school and continue her Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, President a
Ann died before having an opportunity to
own studies. She also did a brief stint Obama said, “In honoring her, you honor revise her dissertation for publication, as
with Women’s World Banking based in New the spirit that led her to travel into villages she had planned; Alice G. Dewey, her advisor,
York City. throughout the country.” and I, her fellow graduate student, carried
The data Ann and her research teams I felt that spirit as I traveled through it to completion at the request of Ann’s
collected during these years, combined Java’s limestone hills where we had worked daughter Maya.
growing poverty rates, and the collapse of local markets Ironically, although many millions are starving in some
caused by foreign imports. For example, in several sub- parts of the world, many millions of others are overeating—
Saharan African countries plagued by chronic civil strife, literally eating themselves to death. In fact, the number
it has been almost impossible to raise and harvest crops of overfed people now exceeds those who are under-
because hordes of hungry refugees, roaming militias, and fed. According to the World Health Organization, nearly
underpaid soldiers constantly raid the fields. 2 billion adults, 18 years and older, are now overweight
Beyond violent political, ethnic, or religious conflicts worldwide. Of these, about 600 million are obese but still
that uproot families from their traditional food sources, often malnourished in that their diets lack certain nutri-
famine is fueled by a global food production and distribu- ents (World Health Organization, 2015b) (Figure 16.13).
tion system geared to satisfy the demands of the world’s A key ingredient in obesity is the high sugar and fat
most powerful countries. For example, in Africa, Asia, and content of mass-marketed foods. Thus, in Japan, where
Latin America, millions of acres once devoted to subsis- food habits differ significantly from those in the United
tence farming have been given over to raising cash crops States, obesity plagues just over 3 percent of the popula-
for export. This has enriched members of elite social classes tion, compared to the U.S. rate of 35 percent among adults
in these parts of the world, while satisfying the appetites and 17 percent among those ages 2 to 19. In fact, U.S.
of people in developed countries for coffee, tea, chocolate, obesity figures have doubled over the past three decades,
bananas, and beef. Small-scale farmers who used to till the placing it at the top of the obesity chart among wealthy
land for their own food needs have been relocated—either industrialized countries. Obesity rates differ between men
to urban areas, where all too often there is no employment and women, higher and lower income groups, and vari-
for them, or to areas ecologically unsuited for farming. ous ethnic groups. The highest U.S. rate is among African
Marka/Raffaele meucci/Alamy
Alexander Joe/Getty Images

Figure 16.13 Structural Violence and Malnutrition
Today, some 800 million people in the world face chronic hunger. Meanwhile, nearly 2 billion
adults, 18 years and older, are overweight. About 600 million in the latter category are obese
but still malnourished because their diets lack certain essential nutrients. On the left is a
woman on the South Pacific island of Nauru, where about 80 percent of the 14,000 inhabitants
are classified as obese. Their small tropical paradise stripped bare by phosphate mining
companies, these indigenous peoples have become dependent upon imported junk food. Many
are now ill and dying from diabetes and other diseases historically uncommon among Oceanic
peoples. On the right, we see a starving child in the African country of Somalia. Poverty (often
compounded by political conflict) is the main cause of child hunger. Hundreds of millions of
children in developing countries, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, do not get enough protein or
calories and thereby are at high risk for stunted growth, illness, and early death.
American women, half of whom suffer from obesity the greatest producers and consumers of energy. Over the
(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2015). past 200 years, since the beginning of the Anthropocene,
The problem has become a serious concern even in global cultural development has relied on burning increas-
some developing countries, especially where people have ing quantities of fossil fuels (coal, oil, and gas), with dire
switched to a diet based on processed or fast food. The results: Massive deforestation and desertification—along
highest rates of obesity in the world can now be found with severe air, water, and soil pollution—now threaten all
among island nations in the Pacific Ocean, such as Nauru, life on earth.
Fiji, Samoa, and Tonga. Nauru, formerly known as Pleas- In addition, fossil fuel use has dramatically increased
ant Island, tops the list. carbon dioxide levels, trapping more heat in the earth’s
atmosphere. Most atmospheric scientists believe that
the efficiency of the atmosphere in retaining heat—the
Pollution and Global Warming greenhouse effect—is being enhanced by increased car-
Pollution is another key aspect of structural violence brought bon dioxide, methane, and other gases produced by
on by the world’s most powerful countries, which are also industrial and agricultural activities. The result, global
warming, threatens to dramatically alter climates in all Tragically, millions of peasants, herders, fishermen,
parts of the world. and other folk inhabiting the developing countries in
Rising temperatures are causing more and greater Africa (as well as those in Asia and Latin America) find
storms, droughts, and heat waves, devastating popula- themselves paying for the progress enjoyed by societies
tions in vulnerable areas. And if the massive meltdown that have reaped the benefits of industrialization for sev-
of Arctic ice continues, rising sea levels will inundate low eral generations. They now suffer from global-induced
coastal areas worldwide. Entire islands may soon disap- droughts and floods, but they lack the capital to effec-
pear, including thousands of villages and even large cities. tively deal with them.
Experts also predict that global warming will lead to an Today, global CO2 emissions stand at about 35.5 billion
expansion of the geographic ranges of tropical diseases metric tons per year. China has become the top emitter,
and increase the incidence of respiratory illnesses due to mainly due to dramatic and rapid economic growth—and
additional smog caused by warmer temperatures. Also, the fact that it is home to 20 percent of the world’s pop-
they expect an increase in deaths due to heat waves, ulation. There, since 2002, CO2 emissions have jumped
as witnessed in Europe (70,000 deaths in 2003), Russia 150 percent to 10.3 billion metric tons (29 percent of the
(55,000 deaths in 2010), and India (2,500 deaths in 2015) world total). In contrast, the United States, which com-
(IPCC, 2014; Samenow, 2015). prises less than 5 percent of the global population, annu-
Notably, the few wealthy countries (primarily in western ally emits 5.3 billion metric tons (15 percent of the global
Europe and North America) that reaped many economic total). The European Union is responsible for 10.5 percent
benefits from early industrialization and global trade of all emissions—3.7 billion metric tons. On average, each
were responsible for about two-thirds of the atmospheric person in the world adds 4.5 metric tons of CO2 a year to
buildup of carbon dioxide (CO2), the major cause of global the atmosphere. However, this figure varies greatly across
warming. By contrast, all of Africa—a continent about the the globe—from less than 2 tons on the African continent
size of Canada, Europe, and the United States, combined— to 7.3 in the European Union, 7.4 in China, and 16.6 in
was responsible for about 3 percent of global CO2 emissions the United States (Olivier et al., 2014; Sivak & Shoettle,
in the past hundred years (World Resources Institute, 2012). 2012) (Figure 16.14).
Figure 16.14 Global Energy Consumption

North Americans have long been among the world’s highest energy consumers, contributing
significantly to carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, the major cause of global warming. Today, their
consumption rate is more than 8 times higher than the average in Africa. The United States
alone accounts for 15 percent of CO2 emissions worldwide. Other top emitters are the European
Union (10.5 percent), India (6 percent), and Russia (5 percent). But all are topped by China,
which in recent years has soared to 29 percent (Olivier et al., 2014). (These figures and this
map do not take climate into account; for that, see Sivak & Schoettle, 2012.)
Environmental degradation has grown exponentially “students,” specifically of Islam) helped to force the Russian
since the industrial revolution. Much of this ruin is caused army out of their country and end the subsequent civil war.
by ever-increasing amounts of non-biodegradable waste Then, rising to power in the 1990s, they imposed a radical
and toxic emissions into the soil, water, and air. Until very version of traditional Islamic law (Shariah) in an effort to
recently, this pollution was officially tolerated for the sake create an Islamic republic based on strict religious values.
of maximizing profits that primarily benefit select individ- In the United States, there has been a similar, though
uals, groups, and societies. Today, industries in many parts less radical, reaction against modernity. “Born again” and
of the world are producing highly toxic waste at unprece- other fundamentalist citizens seek to shape or transform
dented rates. Pollutants such as various oxides of nitrogen not only their towns but also states and even the entire
or sulfur cause the development of acid precipitation, country by electing politicians committed to forging a
which damages soil, vegetation, and wildlife. Air pollution national culture based on what they see as American patri-
in the form of smog is often dangerous for human health. otism, English-only legislation, and traditional Christian
Finding their way into the world’s oceans, toxic sub- values (Harding, 2001).
stances also create hazards for seafood consumers. For
instance, Canada’s indigenous Inuit people face health
problems related to eating fish and sea mammals that feed
in waters contaminated by industrial chemical waste such Ethnic Minorities
as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) (see the Biocultural
Connection). Also of great concern are harmful chemi- and Indigenous Peoples:
cals in plastics used for water bottles, baby bottles, and
can linings. Environmental poisoning affects peoples all Struggles for Human Rights
across the globe.
Throughout this book, we have discussed a wide range of
Structural violence also manifests itself in the shifting
cultures all across the globe: some very large, like the Han in
of manufacturing and hazardous waste disposal from
China, others very small, like the Kapauku in West Papua,
developed to developing countries. In the late 1980s, a
New Guinea. Many of our examples involve peoples who see
tightening of environmental regulations in industrialized
themselves as members of distinct nations by virtue of their
countries led to a dramatic rise in the cost of hazardous
birth and their cultural and territorial heritage—nations over
waste disposal. Seeking cheaper ways to get rid of the
whom peoples of some other ethnic background have tried
wastes, “toxic traders” began shipping hazardous waste
to assert political control. An estimated 5,000 such national
to eastern Europe and especially to poor and underde-
groups exist in the world today, compared to just under
veloped countries in western Africa—thereby passing on
200 internationally recognized countries.
the health risks of poisonous cargo to the world’s poorest
Nearly all indigenous groups are relatively small na-
people (see the Globalscape).
tions, but some have populations exceeding that of many
countries. For instance, the Karen people of Myanmar
number between 4.5 to 5 million, and the Kurds—living
Reactions to Globalization in Iraq, Turkey, Syria, and Iran—number about 35 million.
Whatever their numbers, most ethnic minorities have
No matter how effectively a dominant state or corporation suffered repression or discrimination by more powerful
combines its hard and soft power, globalization does run groups that have dispossessed them, or control and gov-
into opposition. Pockets of resistance exist within the ern them. In the early 1970s, indigenous peoples began to
wealthy industrial and postindustrial states as well as else- organize self-determination movements, resisting cultural
where in the world. This resistance may be manifested in changes forced upon them and challenging violations of
the rise of traditionalism and revitalization movements— their human rights. Joining forces across international
efforts to return to life as it was (or how people think borders, many have joined the World Council of Indige-
it was) before the familiar order became unhinged and nous Peoples founded in 1975.
people became unsettled. Some of these reactionary move- In 2007, after many years of popular media campaigns,
ments may take the form of resurgent ethno-nationalism political lobbying, and diplomatic pressure by hundreds
or religious fundamentalist movements. Others may find of indigenous leaders and other activists all around the
expression in alternative grassroots movements—from globe, the UN General Assembly finally adopted the Decla-
radical environmental groups to peace groups to the more ration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (Figure 16.15).
recently formed ecotarian movement that focuses on se- This foundational document in the global human rights
lecting food based on the ecological impact of its produc- struggle contains some 150 articles urging respect for in-
tion and transportation. digenous cultural heritage, calling for official recognition
One striking case of a cultural reaction to globalization of indigenous land titles and rights of self-determination,
is the Taliban, a group of Muslim religious fundamen- and demanding an end to all forms of oppression and dis-
talists in Afghanistan. The Taliban (the Pashto word for crimination as a principle of international law.
Ethnic Minorities and Indigenous Peoples: Struggles for Human Rights 387
Toxic Breast Milk Threatens Arctic Culture

Asked to picture the Inuit people in- used widely over several decades for numer- The manufacture of PCBs is now
habiting the Arctic coasts of Canada, ous purposes, such as industrial lubricants, banned in many Western countries (includ-
Greenland, and Labrador, you are likely to insulating materials, and paint stabilizers. ing the United States), and PCB levels are
envision them dressed in fur parkas and Research shows a widespread presence of gradually declining worldwide. However,
moving across a pristine, snow-covered PCBs in the breast milk of women around because of their persistence (and wide-
landscape on dogsleds—perhaps coming the globe. But nowhere on earth is the con- spread presence in remnant industrial
home from hunting seal, walrus, or whale. centration higher than among the Inuit—on goods such as fluorescent lighting fixtures
Such imaginings are still true—except average seven times that of nursing moth- and electrical appliances), they are still the
for the pristine part. Although Inuit live ers in Canada’s biggest cities.a highest-concentration toxins in breast milk,
nearer to the North Pole than to any city, PCBs have been linked to a wide range even among mothers born after the ban.
factory, or farm, they are not isolated of health problems—from liver damage Furthermore, even as PCBs decline,
from the pollutants of modern society. to weakened immune systems to cancer. other commercial chemicals are finding
Chemicals originating in the cities and Studies of children exposed to PCBs in their way northward. To date, about 200
farms of North America, Europe, and Asia the womb and through breast milk show hazardous compounds originating in in-
travel thousands of miles to Inuit territo- impaired learning and memory functions. dustrialized regions have been detected
ries via winds, rivers, and ocean currents. Beyond having a destructive impact on in the bodies of Arctic peoples.d Global
These toxins have a long life in the Arctic, the health of humans (and other animal warming is fueling the problem, because
breaking down very slowly due to icy species), PCBs are impacting the econ- as glaciers and snow melt, long-stored
temperatures and low sunlight. Ingested omy, social organization, and psychological toxins are released.
by zooplankton, the chemicals spread well-being of Arctic peoples. Nowhere is
through the seafood chain as one species this truer than among the 450 Inuit living Biocultural Question
consumes another. The result is alarming on Broughton Island, near Canada’s Baffin Because corporations are able to profit
levels of pesticides, mercury, and indus- Island. Here, word of skyrocketing PCB lev- from large-scale and long-distance com-
trial chemicals in Arctic animals—and in els cost the community its valuable market mercial activities, we should not be sur-
the Inuit people who rely on fishing and for Arctic char fish. Other Inuit refer to prised that their operations may also
hunting for food. them as “PCB people,” and it is said that cause serious damage to fellow humans
Of particular note are toxic chemicals Inuit men now avoid marrying women from in remote natural environments. What do
known as PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls), the island.b you think of the profiteering of structural
Inuit people, who have violence?
no real alternatives for
affordable food, soundly
reject the suggestion a
Colborn, T., Dumanoski, D., & Myers, J. P.
that the answer to these (1997). Our stolen future (pp. 107–108).
problems is a change of New York: Plume/Penguin.
diet. Abandoning the con- b
Arctic Monitoring Assessment Project
sumption of traditional (AMAP). (2003). AMAP assessment 2002:
seafood would destroy Human health in the Arctic (pp. xii–xiii,
a 4,000-year-old culture 22–23). Oslo: AMAP.
based on hunting and fish- c
Ingmar Egede, quoted in Cone, M. (2005).
ing. Countless aspects of Silent snow: The slow poisoning of the Arctic
traditional Inuit culture— (p. 1). New York: Grove.
from worldview and social d
Johansen, B. E. (2002). The Inuit’s struggle
arrangements to vocab- with dioxins and other organic pollutants.
ularies and myths—are American Indian Quarterly 26 (3), 479–490;
© Lee Thomas/Alamy Stock Photo
linked to Arctic animals Natural Resources Defense Council. (2005,

and the skills it takes March 25). Healthy milk, healthy baby:
to rely on them for food Chemical pollution and mother’s milk. www
and so many other things. .NRDC.org/breastmilk/ (retrieved December
As one Inuit put it: “Our 16, 2015); Williams, F. (2005, January 9).
foods do more than nour- Toxic breast milk? New York Times Magazine.
ish our bodies. They feed http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/09
Can this Inuit woman trust her breast milk? our souls. When I eat Inuit /magazine/toxic-breast-milk.html (retrieved
foods, I know who I am.”c December 16, 2015)
GLOBALSCAPE
Arctic
Ocean
NORWAY
RUSSIA
UNITED
NORTH KINGDOM
AMERICA EUROPE ASIA
Amsterdam,
NETHERLANDS
CHINA
SWITZERLAND
Taizhou
GREECE
© Cengage Learning
AFRICA Pacific
Pacific Ocean
Ocean PANAMA
Abidjan, Chittagong,
CÔTE D’IVOIRE BANGLADESH
INDONESIA
SOUTH
AMERICA NIGERIA Indian
Ocean
Atlantic
Ocean AUSTRALIA
ISSOUF SANOGO/AFP/Getty Images

AP Images/Christian Aslund
ANTARCTICA
Probo Koala’s Dirty Secrets? dump, Greenpeace and Amnesty International carried out a three-
One day in 2006, the Probo Koala unloaded a cargo of processed year investigation on the incident. Released in the fall of 2012,
fuel in Nigeria, West Africa. Then the tanker sailed to Amsterdam the report calls for Trafigura to face a criminal trial in the United
where a Dutch treatment plant was to process its 400 tons of left- Kingdom and criticizes the lack of international regulations for
over toxic sludge. Navigating the oceans under the Panamanian preventing and dealing with toxic dumping activities.
flag, this ship’s all-Russian crew served under a Greek captain. Meanwhile, Trafigura has paid nearly $500 million in legal and
Managed and operated by a Greek maritime company, the ship’s reparation costs, but there are indications that the authorities in
registered owner was based in Norway. For this journey, it was Côte d’Ivoire have failed to redistribute compensation to the victims
chartered by a Dutch subsidiary of Trafigura, a global multibillion- of the dumping. Greenpeace and Amnesty International are calling
dollar company headquartered in Switzerland that specializes in for freedom from toxic waste dumping to be a human right, which
transporting oil and mineral products. would allow victims of large- and small-scale dumping to seek legal
When port authorities in Amsterdam discovered that the Probo redress more easily, in national and international courts.a
Koala’s captain had underreported the poison levels in his cargo, the In 2011, the Probo Koala was sold for scrap and headed toward
cost of treating the waste jumped to $600,000. Unwilling to pay the the infamous ship-breaking beaches of Chittagong in Bangladesh.
higher fee, the captain ordered his ship back to West Africa in search Hearing this—and aware of the dangers of dismantling the toxic ship
of a cheap place to dispose of the waste. Finding unscrupulous there—environmentalists and labor rights organizations convinced the
businessmen and corrupt officials in Côte d’Ivoire, he negotiated a government of Bangladesh to turn the ship away. Renamed and re-
dumping fee of about $18,000. Deposited in open-air waste pits on sold, the ship operated between Indonesia and China, transporting ore
the edge of Abidjan (population 5 million), the substance gave off until 2013 when she entered a ship-breaking yard in Taizhou, China.b
toxic gas that burned lungs and skin and caused severe headaches
and vomiting—killing 17 people and injuring at least 30,000. Global Twister
The Probo Koala forms part of a profitable global business net- Although hazardous waste dumping by the Probo Koala resulted
work capitalizing on the more than 350 million tons of hazardous in the arrest of several African businessmen in Côte d’Ivoire,
waste generated annually, primarily by industrial societies. Although should the other participants in this global crime be judged and
most of this waste is now properly handled, some companies avoid punished? If so, under which laws?
environmental regulations and high treatment costs within Europe
and North America, seeking cheap (possibly illegal) options, includ- a
Harvey, F. (2012, September 25). Trafigura lessons have not been
ing dumping at sea. Many millions of tons of hazardous waste are learned, report warns. The Guardian. http://www.theguardian.com
transported across the oceans to underdeveloped countries. /environment/2012/sep/25/trafigura-lessons-toxic-waste-dumping
In a 2009 out-of-court settlement, Trafigura agreed to pay a (retrieved December 16, 2015)
total of $43,000 to cover all claims. Many saw settlement as a b
Des Bois, R. (2013, February 7). The end of the Probo Koala.
slap on the hand that in no way matched the gravity of the crime. http://www.robindesbois.org/english/probo_koala/the-end-of-the
Convinced that Trafigura knew the toxicity and illegality of the -probo-koala.html (retrieved December 15, 2015)
Anthropology’s Role in Meeting the Challenges of Globalization 389
Niu Xiaole/Xinhua/Landov
Figure 16.15 Worldwide Indigenous Peoples Conference
In 1982 the United Nations Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights
established a Working Group on Indigenous Populations (WGIP). Eleven years later WGIP completed
a draft of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, ratified in 2007. Here we see
delegates at the 2014 World Conference on Indigenous Peoples, held at UN headquarters in New
York. Many came in traditional dress, including the Trinidad and Tobago representative pictured here.
Anthropology’s Role and internal dynamics. Others have disappeared as a re-

sult of deadly epidemics, violent conflicts, acculturation,
in Meeting the Challenges ethnocide, or genocide. All too often, the only detailed
records we now possess of these altered and vanished cul-
of Globalization tures are those that some visiting anthropologist was able
to document before it was too late.
Globalization triggers worldwide changes, but different But anthropologists do much more than try to pre-
peoples and cultures are not necessarily changing in the serve precious information about distinctive peoples
same fashion or in the same direction. Worldwide, it and cultures, past and present. As chronicled in the
places some individuals, groups, or regions in a favorable pages of this book, they also attempt to explain why
position to take advantage of new opportunities, but it our bodies and cultures are similar or different, why
confronts others with pain and no gain. As repeatedly and how they did or did not change. Moreover, they
noted in this textbook, globalization is a complex and dy- try to identify the particular knowledge and insights
namic process with a vast range of national, regional, and that each culture holds concerning the human condi-
even local cultural reactions and adjustments. tion—including contrasting views about the place of
Today, many of the cultures studied by the earliest human beings in the world, how natural resources are
anthropologists more than a century ago have changed used and treated, and how one relates to fellow humans
profoundly in response to powerful outside influences and other species.
Paul Farmer (b. 1959)
U.S. medical anthropologist Paul Farmer—

doctor, Harvard professor, world-renowned
infectious disease specialist, and recipient
of a MacArthur “genius grant”—grew up
in a trailer park in Florida without running
water.a Admitted to Duke University on
scholarship, he majored in anthropology
and labored alongside poor Haitian farm-
workers in North Carolina’s tobacco fields.
After getting his BA in 1982, he spent a
year in Haiti and found his life’s calling: to
diagnose and cure infectious diseases and
transform healthcare on a global scale by
focusing on the world’s poorest communi-
ties. Returning to the United States, Farmer
earned both an MD and a PhD in anthropol-
ogy from Harvard in 1990.
While still a graduate student, Farmer
Mark Rosenberg 8-2001

returned frequently to Haiti and became
increasingly involved in health issues in
the area of Cange, a remote village in the
destitute Central Plateau region. There,
he formed a group called Zanmi Lasante
Medical anthropologist Paul Farmer with patients in Haiti.
(Haitian Kreyol for “Partners In Health”). A
handful of other American activists joined
him in the endeavor, including his fellow anthropologist and expanded its reach to include Lesotho, Malawi, and Rwanda in
Harvard Medical School friend, Jim Yong Kim, who became Africa, as well as Peru, Mexico, Russia, and the United States.
president of the World Bank three decades later. The foundation’s reach continues to grow, fueled by Farmer’s pas-
In 1985, the Zanmi Lasante group established a clinic with fi- sionate conviction that health is a human right.
nancial support from a Boston philanthropist. Two years later they In concert with his active and extensive work with PIH around
founded the Boston-based Partners In Health (PIH) foundation to the globe, Farmer is a professor of medical anthropology at Har-
support their growing endeavor to help the poorest of the poor vard University where he chairs the Department of Global Health
deal with infectious diseases, especially AIDS and tuberculosis. and Social Medicine. He also maintains an active practice in
The endeavor includes research (ethnographic as well as med- infectious diseases and is chief of the Division of Social Medi-
ical) needed to carry the work forward with a clear vision. As an cine and Health Inequalities at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in
applied anthropologist aiming to ease human suffering, Farmer Boston. Among numerous honors, he has received the Margaret
bases his activism on holistic and interpretive ethnographic anal- Mead Award from the American Anthropological Association and
ysis that includes “a historical understanding of the large-scale is the subject of the Pulitzer Prize–winning book by Tracy Kidder.
social and economic structures in which affliction is embedded.”b
Issues of structural violence are fundamental in his research a
This profile draws from numerous sources, including: Kidder, T.
and practice. Noting that social and economic inequalities “have (2003). Mountains beyond mountains: The quest of Dr. Paul Farmer,
powerfully sculpted not only the [demographic] distribution of in- a man who would cure the world. New York: Random House; Vine, D.
fectious diseases but also the course of health outcomes among (2013, May 23). Tracing Paul Farmer’s influence. Washington,
the afflicted,” he concludes, “inequality itself constitutes our DC: American University, College of Arts & Sciences. http://www
modern plague.”c .american.edu/cas/news/paul-farmer-influence-in-anthropology.cfm
Since its founding, Zanmi Lasante has expanded its one-room (retrieved January 20, 2016)
clinic to a multiservice health complex that includes a primary b
Farmer, P. (2004, June). An anthropology of structural violence.
school, an infirmary, a surgery wing, a training program for health Current Anthropology 45 (3), 305–325; see also Farmer, P. (1996).
outreach workers, a 104-bed hospital, a women’s clinic, and a On suffering and structural violence: A view from below. Daedalus
pediatric care facility. Moreover, it has pioneered the treatment 125 (1), 261–283.
of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis and HIV in Haiti. Partners c
Farmer, P. (2001). Infections and inequalities: The modern plagues
In Health, now funded by a wide range of organizations, has (p. 15). Berkeley: University of California Press.
Anthropology’s Role in Meeting the Challenges of Globalization 391
And, importantly, there have always been anthropol- record of contributing important knowledge about our own
ogists who reach beyond studying different cultures to as- species and all its stunning complexity and amazing variety.
sist besieged groups struggling to survive in today’s rapidly Anthropology’s distinct holistic approach has helped to
changing world. In so doing, they put into practice their solve practical problems on local and global levels—and
own knowledge about humankind—knowledge deepened continues to do so today. More relevant than ever, it offers
through the comparative perspective of anthropology, vital insight toward a cross-cultural understanding of
which is cross-culturally, historically, and biologically globalization and its highly diverse local impact.
informed. Counted among these applied anthropologists Most of the individuals drawn to this discipline are
are Ann Dunham, profiled earlier in this chapter, and Paul inspired by the old but still valid idea that anthropology
Farmer, a world-renowned medical doctor, anthropolo- must aim to live up to its longstanding ideal as the
gist, and human rights activist (see the Anthropologist of most liberating of the sciences. As stated by the famous
Note feature). anthropologist Margaret Mead, “Never doubt that a small
An interdisciplinary profession straddling the arts, group of committed people can change the world; indeed
sciences, and humanities, anthropology has a remarkable it is the only thing that ever has.”
Chapter Check list
What does our world look like today? is an official public policy of mutual respect and
tolerance for cultural differences.
✓✓In the Anthropocene, beginning with the industrial
revolution 200 years ago, modern technology has ✓✓An example of long-established multiculturalism may
radically increased production, transportation, and be seen in states such as Switzerland, where people
communication worldwide, and the human population speaking German, French, Italian, and Romansh
has grown to more than 7 billion—half living and coexist under the same government.
working in urban areas.
Is fragmentation common in pluralistic
✓✓The growing interconnectedness of our species
facilitated by modern mass transportation and
societies?
telecommunications media has resulted in many ✓✓Pluralistic societies, in virtually all parts of the world,
external similarities across cultures, spawning show a tendency to fragment, usually along major
speculation that humanity’s future will feature linguistic, religious, or ethno-nationalist divisions.
a single homogenous global culture. This is
✓✓Especially when state territories are extensive and lack
sometimes referred to as the “McDonaldization”
adequate transportation and communication networks,
of societies.
as well as major unifying cultural forces such as a
✓✓Beyond the worldwide flow of commodities and common religion or national language, separatist
ideas (food, film, fashion, music, and so on), global intentions may be realized.
integrative processes include NGOs, media, and sports,
✓✓Throughout history, challenges such as famine,
as well as humanitarian aid organizations.
poverty, and violent threats by dangerous neighbors
✓✓Anthropologists are skeptical that a global culture or have forced people to move—often scattering members
political system is emerging; comparative historical of an ethnic group.
and cross-cultural research shows the persistence of
✓✓Migration—voluntary or involuntary—is temporary
distinctive worldviews, and the tendency of large
or permanent change from a usual place of residence.
multi-ethnic states to come apart.
It may be internal (within the boundaries of one’s
country) or external (from one country to another).
What are pluralistic societies ✓✓Every year several million people migrate to wealthy
and multiculturalism? countries in search of wage labor and a better future.
In addition 45 million refugees can be found in almost
✓✓In pluralistic societies two or more ethnic groups or
half of the world’s countries.
nationalities are politically organized into one
territorial state. Ethnic tension is common in such ✓✓Migrants moving to areas traditionally inhabited by
states and sometimes turns violent, which can lead to other ethnic groups may face xenophobia—fear or
formal separation. hatred of strangers.
✓✓To manage cultural diversity within such societies, ✓✓Most migrants begin their new lives in expanding
some countries have adopted multiculturalism, which urban areas. Today, 1 billion people live in slums.
What is structural power? psychological harm (including repression, cultural and

environmental destruction, poverty, hunger and
✓✓Structural power refers to the macro-level power that obesity, illness, and premature death) caused by
manages or restructures political and economic relations impersonal, exploitative, and unjust social, political,
within and among societies while simultaneously and economic systems.
shaping or changing ideology (ideas, beliefs, and
values). It has two components: hard power (which is ✓✓Reactions against the structural violence of
coercive and is backed up by military force and/or globalization include the rise of traditionalism and
financial pressure) and soft power (which coopts or revitalization movements—efforts to return to life
manipulates through ideological persuasion). as it was (or how people think it was) before the
familiar order became unhinged and people became
✓✓The most powerful country in the world today remains unsettled. These may take the form of resurgent
the United States, home to more global corporations ethno-nationalism or religious fundamentalist
than any other country and responsible for over 34 movements.
percent of the world’s $1.78 trillion military expenditures.
✓✓Cutting across international boundaries, global How might anthropological know-how help
corporations are a powerful force for worldwide
integration. Their power and wealth often exceed that counter structural violence?
of national governments. ✓✓Some dramatic changes in cultural values and
✓✓Competing states and corporations utilize the ideological motivations, as well as in social institutions and the
persuasion of soft power (as transmitted through types of technologies we employ, are required if
electronic and digital media, communication satellites, humans are going to realize a sustainable future for
and other information technology) to sell the general idea generations to come. The shortsighted emphasis on
of globalization as something positive and to frame or consumerism and individual self-interest characteristic
brand anything that opposes capitalism in negative terms. of the world’s affluent countries needs to be
abandoned in favor of a more balanced social and
✓✓While providing megaprofits for large corporations, environmental ethic.
globalization often wreaks havoc in many traditional
cultures and disrupts long-established social ✓✓Anthropologists have a contribution to make in
organization. This engenders worldwide resistance bringing about this shift. They are well versed in the
against superpower domination—and with that an dangers of culture-bound thinking, and they bring a
emerging world system that is inherently unstable, holistic biocultural and comparative historical
vulnerable, and unpredictable. perspective to the challenge of understanding and
balancing the needs and desires of local communities
in the age of globalization.
How has the globalization of structural
power led to an increase in structural ✓✓Inspired by human rights ideals, there have always
been “applied” anthropologists who reach beyond
violence?
studying different cultures to assist besieged groups
✓✓One result of globalization is the expansion and struggling to survive in today’s rapidly changing
intensification of structural violence—physical and/or world.
1. Since the launching of the first satellites into orbit 3. Considering the relationship between structural power
and the start of the Internet, the telecommunications and structural violence, does your own lifestyle—
revolution has changed how humans interact, work, in terms of the clothing and food you buy, the
entertain, and even make and maintain friendships. Can transportation you use, and so on—reflect or have an
you imagine a world in which cyberspace and social effect on structural violence in the globalization process?
media are supervised and censored by the government? 4. The World Health Organization, UNESCO, Oxfam,
How would you and your friends adjust to that new and Amnesty International are global institutions
media environment? What steps would you take if you concerned with checking structural violence and
felt impelled to help prevent or reverse such control? human rights violations. Confronted with genocidal
2. Reflecting on the human condition before and after conflicts, famines, epidemics, and torture of political
the start of the Anthropocene epoch that began with prisoners, activists in these organizations try to improve
the industrial revolution two centuries ago, how do the human condition. Do you think an anthropological
the pre-Anthropocene challenges our species faced perspective might be of practical use in solving such
compare to those of today? worldwide problems? Can you think of an example?
393
How Are You Wired?
Since the late 20th century, our species has become each of them uses. Do the same for yourself.
“wired.” Humans now communicate across great Through interviews and observation, distinguish
distances by means of an intercontinental network whether these devices are shared or individually
of fiber-optic lines and dozens of communications used over the course of one random day. Note
satellites that orbit the earth. This technology how often, how long, and for what purpose each
changes all cultures, including yours. With this is used and also whether the user was alone
in mind, select three individuals from different or among other people (besides yourself) when
generations in your own family or community. using the device(s). Finally, compare, analyze, and
Make a list of the telecommunications devices summarize your findings from this mini fieldwork.
Glossary
accommodation In anthropology, refers to an adaptation Australopithecus The genus including several species of early
process by which a people resists assimilation by modifying bipeds from Africa living between about 1 and 4.2 million
its traditional culture in response to pressures by a dominant years ago, one of whom was directly ancestral to humans.
society in order to preserve its distinctive ethnic identity. authority Claiming and exercising power as justified by law or
acculturation The massive cultural change that occurs in a custom of tradition.
society when it experiences intensive firsthand contact with a
more powerful society. balanced reciprocity A mode of exchange in which the
adaptation A series of beneficial adjustments to a particular giving and the receiving are specific as to the value of the
environment. goods or services and the time of their delivery.
advocacy anthropology Research that is community based band A relatively small and loosely organized kin-ordered
and politically involved. group that inhabits a specific territory and that may split pe-
affinal kin People related through marriage. riodically into smaller extended family groups that are politi-
age class A formally established group of people born during cally and economically independent.
a certain timespan who move together through the series of bilateral descent Descent traced equally through father and
age-grade categories; sometimes called age set. mother’s ancestors; associating each individual with blood
age grade An organized category of people based on age; every relatives on both sides of the family.
individual passes through a series of such categories over his bioarchaeology The archaeological study of human remains—
or her lifetime. bones, skulls, teeth, and sometimes hair, dried skin, or other
age set A formally established group of people born during a tissue—to determine the influences of culture and environ-
certain timespan who move together through the series of ment on human biological variation.
age-grade categories; sometimes called age class. biocultural An approach that focuses on the interaction of
agriculture Intensive crop cultivation, employing plows, fer- biology and culture.
tilizers, and/or irrigation. biological anthropology The systematic study of humans as
alphabet A series of symbols representing the sounds of a lan- biological organisms; also known as physical anthropology.
guage arranged in a traditional order. bipedalism “Two-footed”—walking upright on both hind
ambilocal residence A residence pattern in which a married legs—a characteristic of humans and their ancestors.
couple may choose either matrilocal or patrilocal residence. bride-price The money or valuable goods paid by the groom
animatism The belief that nature is enlivened or energized by or his family to the bride’s family upon marriage; also called
an impersonal spiritual force or supernatural energy, which bridewealth.
may make itself manifest in any special place, thing, or living bride service A designated period of time when the groom
creature. works for the bride’s family.
animism The belief that nature is enlivened or energized by bridewealth The money or valuable goods paid by the groom
distinct personalized spirit beings separable from bodies. or his family to the bride’s family upon marriage; also called
Anthropocene A geological epoch defined by massive envi- bride-price.
ronmental changes brought on by humans since the indus-
trial revolution. cargo cult A spiritual movement (especially noted in
anthropology The study of humankind in all times and Melanesia) in reaction to disruptive contact with Western
places. capitalism, promising resurrection of deceased relatives,
applied anthropology The use of anthropological knowledge destruction or enslavement of white foreigners, and the
and methods to solve practical problems, often for a specific magical arrival of utopian riches.
client. carrying capacity The number of people that the avail-
archaeology The study of cultures through the recovery and able resources can support at a given level of food-getting
analysis of material remains and environmental data. techniques.
archaic admixture model Theoretical model of human evo- cartography The craft of making maps of remote regions.
lution that modern Homo sapiens derive from limited inter- caste A closed social class in a stratified society in which mem-
breeding between anatomically modern humans, as evolved bership is determined by birth and fixed for life.
in Africa, and members of archaic human populations. Based chiefdom A politically organized society in which several
on genetic evidence of introgression, it is a synthesis of the neighboring communities inhabiting a territory are united
recent African origins hypothesis and the multiregional under a single ruler.
hypothesis. clan An extended unilineal kin-group, often consisting of sev-
art The creative use of the human imagination to aesthetically eral lineages, whose members claim common descent from a
interpret, express, and engage life, modifying experienced re- remote ancestor, usually legendary or mythological.
ality in the process. code switching The practice of changing from one mode of
assimilation Cultural absorption of an ethnic minority by a speech to another as the situation demands, whether from one
dominant society. language to another or from one dialect of a language to another.
394
Glossary 395
coercion Imposition of obedience or submission by force or descent group Any kin-group whose members share a direct
intimidation. line of descent from a real (historical) or fictional common
colonialism System by which a dominant society politically ancestor.
claims and controls a foreign territory primarily for purposes desecration Ideologically inspired violation of a sacred site in-
of settling and economic exploitation. tended to inflict harm, if only symbolically, on people judged
co-marriage A marriage form in which several men and to have impure, false, or even evil beliefs and ritual practices.
women have sexual access to one another; also called group dialect The varying form of a language that reflects a par-
marriage. ticular region, occupation, or social class and that is similar
common-interest association An association that results enough to be mutually intelligible.
from the act of joining, based on sharing particular activities, diffusion The spread of certain ideas, customs, or practices
objectives, values, or beliefs, sometimes rooted in common from one culture to another.
ethnic, religious, or regional background. digital ethnography An ethnographic study of social net-
conjugal family A family established through marriage. works, communicative practices, and other cultural expres-
consanguineal family A family of blood relatives, consisting sions in cyberspace by means of digital visual and audio
of related women, their brothers, and the women’s offspring. technologies; also called cyberethnography or netnography.
consanguineal kin Biologically related relatives, commonly displacement A term referring to things and events removed
referred to as blood relatives. in time and space.
conspicuous consumption A showy display of wealth for divination A magical procedure or spiritual ritual designed to
social prestige. discern what is not knowable by ordinary means, such as fore-
contagious magic Magic based on the principle that things telling the future by interpreting omens.
or persons once in contact can influence each other after the DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) The store of genetic informa-
contact is broken. tion used in the development and functioning of all living
convergent evolution In cultural evolution, the develop- organisms, including our own species.
ment of similar cultural adaptations to similar environmen- doctrine An assertion of opinion or belief formally handed
tal conditions by different peoples with different ancestral down by an authority as true and indisputable.
cultures. dowry A payment at the time of a woman’s marriage that comes
core value A value especially promoted by a particular culture. from her inheritance, made to either her or her husband.
cross cousin The child of a mother’s brother or a father’s
sister. economic system An organized arrangement for producing,
cultural adaptation A complex of ideas, technologies, and distributing, and consuming goods.
activities that enables people to survive and even thrive in ecosystem A system, or a functioning whole, composed of
their environment. both the natural environment and all the organisms living
cultural anthropology The study of patterns in human within it.
behavior, thought, and emotions, focusing on humans as egalitarian society A society in which people have about the
culture-producing and culture-reproducing creatures. Also same rank and share equally in the basic resources that sup-
known as social or sociocultural anthropology. port income, status, and power.
cultural control Control through beliefs and values deeply EGO In kinship studies, the central person from whom the de-
internalized in the minds of individuals. gree of each kinship relationship is traced.
cultural evolution Cultural change over time—not to be eliciting device An activity or object that encourages indi-
confused with progress. viduals to recall and share information.
cultural loss The abandonment of an existing practice or empirical An approach based on observations of the world
trait. rather than on intuition or faith.
cultural relativism The idea that one must suspend judg- enculturation The process by which a society’s culture is
ment of other people’s practices in order to understand them passed on from one generation to the next and individuals
in their own cultural terms. become members of their society.
cultural resource management A branch of archaeology endogamy Marriage within a particular group or category of
concerned with survey and/or excavation of archaeological individuals.
and historical remains that might be threatened by construc- epic A long, dramatic narrative, recounting the celebrated
tion or development; also involved with policy surrounding deeds of a historic or legendary hero, often sung or recited in
protection of cultural resources. poetic language.
culture A society’s shared and socially transmitted ideas, val- Eskimo system Kinship reckoning in which the nuclear
ues, and perceptions, which are used to make sense of experi- family is emphasized by specifically identifying the mother,
ence and generate behavior and are reflected in that behavior. father, brother, and sister, while lumping together all other
culture area A geographic region in which a number of soci- relatives into broad categories such as uncle, aunt, and cousin;
eties follow similar patterns of life. also known as the lineal system.
culture-bound A perspective that produces theories about the ethnic group People who collectively and publicly identify
world and reality that are based on the assumptions and val- themselves as a distinct group based on shared cultural fea-
ues from the researcher’s own culture. tures such as common origin, language, customs, and tradi-
culture-bound syndrome A mental disorder specific to a tional beliefs.
particular ethnic group; also known as ethnic psychosis. ethnicity The expression for the set of cultural ideas held by
culture shock In fieldwork, the anthropologist’s personal dis- an ethnic group.
orientation and anxiety, which may result in depression. ethnic psychosis A mental disorder specific to a particular
cyberethnography An ethnographic study of social networks, ethnic group; also known as culture-bound syndrome.
communicative practices, and other cultural expressions in ethnocentrism The belief that the ways of one’s own culture
cyberspace by means of digital visual and audio technologies; are the only proper ones.
also called digital ethnography and netnography. ethnocide The violent eradication of an ethnic group’s collec-
tive cultural identity as a distinctive people; occurs when a
Denisovan A recently discovered archaic human sister group dominant society deliberately sets out to destroy another soci-
of Neandertal in eastern Eurasia, dating to about 30,000 to ety’s cultural heritage.
300,000 years ago. ethnographic fieldwork Extended on-location research to
dependence training Childrearing practices that foster com- gather detailed and in-depth information on a society’s cus-
pliance in the performance of assigned tasks and dependence tomary ideas, values, and practices through participation in
on the domestic group, rather than reliance on oneself. its collective social life.
396 Glossary
ethnography A detailed description of a particular culture pri- grammar The entire formal structure of a language, including
marily based on fieldwork. morphology and syntax.
ethnolinguistics A branch of linguistics that studies the rela- group marriage A marriage form in which several men and
tionships between language and culture and how they mutu- women have sexual access to one another; also called co-marriage.
ally influence and inform each other.
ethnology The study and analysis of different cultures from a hard power Macro-level power that manages or restructures
comparative or historical point of view, utilizing ethnographic economic and political relations and coerces by military force
accounts and developing anthropological theories that help and/or financial pressure.
explain why certain important differences or similarities occur Hawaiian system Kinship reckoning in which all relatives of
among groups. the same sex and generation are referred to by the same term;
ethnomusicology The study of a society’s music in terms of also known as the generational system.
its cultural setting. historical archaeology The archaeological study of places for
Eve hypothesis An evolutionary hypothesis that modern which written records exist.
humans are all derived from one single population of archaic holistic perspective A fundamental principle of anthropol-
Homo sapiens who migrated out of Africa after 100,000 years ogy: The various parts of human culture and biology must
ago, replacing all other archaic forms due to their superior cul- be viewed in the broadest possible context in order to under-
tural capabilities; also known as the out of Africa hypothesis or stand their interconnections and interdependence.
the recent African origins hypothesis. hominin Subfamily or “tribe” consisting of humans and their
evolution Changes in the genetic makeup of a population immediate ancestors, as well as extinct human species.
over generations. hominoid The broad-shouldered tailless group of primates that
exogamy Marriage outside a particular group or category of includes all living and extinct apes and humans.
individuals. Homo erectus “Upright human.” A species within the genus
extended family Two or more closely related nuclear families Homo first appearing just after 2 million years ago in Africa
clustered together into a large domestic group. and ultimately spreading throughout the Old World.
Homo habilis “Handy human.” The earliest members of the
family Two or more people related by blood, marriage, or genus Homo appearing about 2.5 million years ago, with larger
adoption. The family may take many forms, ranging from a brains and smaller faces than australopithecines.
single parent with one or more children, to a married couple horticulture The cultivation of crops in food gardens,
or polygamous spouses with or without offspring, to several carried out with simple hand tools such as digging sticks
generations of parents and their children. and hoes.
fictive marriage A marriage form in which a proxy is used as household A domestic unit of one or more persons living in
a symbol of someone not physically present to establish the the same residence. Other than family members, a household
social status of a spouse and heirs. may include nonrelatives, such as servants.
fieldwork The term anthropologists use for on-location research. hypothesis A tentative explanation of the relationships be-
fission In kinship studies, the splitting of a descent group into tween certain phenomena.
two or more new descent groups.
folklore A term coined by 19th-century scholars studying the idealist perspective A theoretical approach stressing the
unwritten stories and other artistic traditions of rural peoples primacy of superstructure in cultural research and analysis;
to distinguish between “folk art” and the “fine art” of the also known as the mentalist perspective.
literate elite. imitative magic Magic based on the principle that like pro-
food foraging A mode of subsistence involving some combi- duces like; sometimes called sympathetic magic.
nation of hunting, fishing, and gathering of wild plant foods. incest taboo The prohibition of sexual relations between
forensic anthropology The analysis of human biological and closely related individuals.
cultural remains for legal purposes. incorporation In a rite of passage, reincorporation of a tem-
formal interview A structured question-and-answer session, porarily removed individual into society in his or her new
carefully annotated as it occurs and based on prepared questions. status.
independence training Childrearing practices that promote
gender The cultural elaborations and meanings assigned to the independence, self-reliance, and personal achievement.
biological differentiation between the sexes. industrial food production Large-scale businesses involved
gendered speech Distinct male and female speech patterns in mass food production, processing, and marketing, which
that vary across social and cultural settings. primarily rely on laborsaving machines.
gene flow The movement of the genes from one population industrial society A society in which human labor, hand
to another. tools, and animal power are largely replaced by machines,
generalized reciprocity A mode of exchange in which the with an economy primarily based on big factories.
value of the gift is not calculated, nor is the time of repay- informal economy A network of producing and circulating
ment specified. marketable commodities, labor, and services that for various
generational system Kinship reckoning in which all relatives reasons escape government control.
of the same sex and generation are referred to by the same informal interview An unstructured, open-ended conversa-
term; also known as the Hawaiian system. tion in everyday life.
genes The basic physical units of heredity that specify the bio- informant A member of the society being studied who pro-
logical traits and characteristics of each organism. vides information that helps researchers understand the
genetic drift Chance fluctuations of allele (gene variant) fre- meaning of what they observe. Early anthropologists referred
quencies in the gene pool of a population. to such an individual as a key consultant.
genocide The physical extermination of one people by an- informed consent A formal recorded agreement between the
other, either as a deliberate act or as the accidental outcome subject and the researcher to participate in the research.
of activities carried out by one people with little regard for infrastructure The economic foundation of a society, includ-
their impact on others. ing its subsistence practices and the tools and other material
genome The genetic design of a species with its complete set equipment used to make a living.
of DNA. insurgency An organized armed resistance or violent upris-
gesture A facial expression and body posture and motion that ing to an established government or authority in power; also
convey an intended as well as a subconscious message. known as rebellion.
globalization Worldwide interconnectedness, evidenced in rapid intersexual A person born with reproductive organs, genita-
global movement of natural resources, trade goods, human labor, lia, and/or sex chromosomes that are not exclusively male or
finance capital, information, and infectious diseases. female.
Glossary 397
Iroquois system Kinship reckoning in which a father and marriage A culturally sanctioned union between two or more
a father’s brother are referred to by a single term, as are people that establishes certain rights and obligations between
a mother and a mother’s sister, but a father’s sister and a the people, between them and their children, and between
mother’s brother are given separate terms. Parallel cousins are them and their in-laws. Such marriage rights and obligations
classified with brothers and sisters, whereas cross cousins are most often include, but are not limited to, sex, labor, prop-
classified separately but not equated with relatives of some erty, childrearing, exchange, and status.
other generation. materialist perspective A theoretical approach stressing the
primacy of infrastructure (material conditions) in cultural re-
key consultant A member of the society being studied who search and analysis.
provides information that helps researchers understand the matrilineal descent Descent traced exclusively through the
meaning of what they observe. Early anthropologists referred female line of ancestry to establish group membership.
to such an individual as an informant. matrilocal residence A residence pattern in which a married
kindred A grouping of blood relatives based on bilateral de- couple lives in the wife’s mother’s place of residence.
scent; includes all relatives with whom EGO shares at least mediation The settlement of a dispute through negotiation as-
one grandparent, great-grandparent, or even great-great- sisted by an unbiased third party.
grandparent on his or her father’s and mother’s side. medical anthropology A specialization in anthropology that
kinesics The study of nonverbal signals in body language in- brings theoretical and applied approaches from cultural and bio-
cluding facial expressions and bodily postures and motions. logical anthropology to the study of human health and disease.
kinship A network of relatives into which individuals are born mentalist perspective A theoretical approach stressing the
and married, and with whom they cooperate based on cus- primacy of superstructure in cultural research and analysis;
tomarily prescribed rights and obligations. also known as the idealist perspective.
Kula ring A mode of balanced reciprocity that reinforces trade migration Mobility in geographic space, involving temporary
and social relations among the seafaring Melanesians who in- or permanent change in usual place of residence. Internal mi-
habit a large ring of islands in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. gration is movement within countries; external migration is
movement to a foreign country.
language A system of communication using symbolic sounds, modal personality Character traits that occur with the high-
gestures, or marks that are put together according to certain est frequency in a social group and are therefore the most
rules, resulting in meanings that are intelligible to all who representative of its culture.
share that language. modernization The process of political and socioeconomic
language family A group of languages descended from a change, whereby developing societies acquire some of the cul-
single ancestral language. tural characteristics of Western industrial societies.
law Formal rules of conduct that, when violated, effectuate moiety A group, usually consisting of several clans, which results
negative sanctions. from a division of a society into two halves on the basis of descent.
legend A story about a memorable event or figure handed molecular anthropology The anthropological study of genes
down by tradition and told as true but without historical and genetic relationships, which contributes significantly to our
evidence. understanding of human evolution, adaptation, and diversity.
legitimacy In politics, the right of political leaders to gov- molecular clock The hypothesis that dates of divergences
ern—to hold, use, and allocate power—based on the values a among related species can be calculated through an exami-
particular society embraces. nation of the genetic mutations that have accrued since the
letter A written character or grapheme. divergence.
leveling mechanism A cultural obligation compelling pros- money A means of exchange used to make payments for other
perous members of a community to give away goods, host goods and services as well as to measure their value.
public feasts, provide free service, or otherwise demonstrate monogamy A marriage form in which both partners have just
generosity so that no person permanently accumulates signifi- one spouse.
cantly more wealth than anyone else. monotheism The belief in only one supremely powerful divin-
lineage A unilineal kin-group descended from a common an- ity as creator and master of the universe.
cestor or founder who lived four to six generations ago and in morpheme The smallest unit of sound that carries a meaning
which relationships among members can be exactly stated in in language. It is distinct from a phoneme, which can alter
genealogical terms. meaning but has no meaning by itself.
lineal system Kinship reckoning in which the nuclear family morphology The study of the patterns or rules of word forma-
is emphasized by specifically identifying the mother, father, tion in a language, including the guidelines for verb tense,
brother, and sister, while lumping together all other relatives pluralization, and compound words.
into broad categories such as uncle, aunt, and cousin; also motif An underlying theme around which a work of art is
known as the Eskimo system. composed.
linguistic anthropology The study of human languages— Mousterian tool tradition The tool industry found among
looking at their structure, history, and relation to social and Neandertals in Eurasia, and their human contemporaries in
cultural contexts. northern Africa, during the Middle Paleolithic, generally dat-
linguistic divergence The development of different lan- ing from about 40,000 to 300,000 years ago.
guages from a single ancestral language. multiculturalism The public policy for managing cultural
linguistic nationalism The attempt by ethnic minorities and diversity in a multi-ethnic society, officially stressing mutual
even countries to proclaim independence by purging their respect and tolerance for cultural differences within a coun-
language of foreign terms. try’s borders.
linguistic relativity The idea that language to some extent multiregional hypothesis An evolutionary hypothesis that
shapes the way in which people perceive and think about the modern humans originated through a process of simultaneous
world. local transition from Homo erectus to Homo sapiens throughout
linguistics The systematic study of all aspects of language. the inhabited world.
Lower Paleolithic The first part of the Old Stone Age, span- multi-sited ethnography The investigation and documenta-
ning from about 300,000 to 2.6 million years ago. tion of peoples and cultures embedded in the larger structures
of a globalizing world, utilizing a range of methods in various
magic Specific formulas and actions used to compel super locations of time and space.
natural powers to act in certain ways for good or evil music Broadly speaking, an art form whose medium is sound
purposes. and silence; a form of communication that includes a non-
market exchange The buying and selling of goods and ser- verbal auditory component with elements of tonality, pitch,
vices, with prices set by rules of supply and demand. rhythm, and timbre.
398 Glossary
mutation An abrupt change in the DNA that alters the genetic pastoralism The breeding and managing of migratory herds
message carried by that cell. of domesticated grazing animals, such as goats, sheep, cattle,
myth A sacred narrative that explains the fundamentals of hu- llamas, and camels.
man existence—where we and everything in our world came patrilineal descent Descent traced exclusively through the
from, why we are here, and where we are going. male line of ancestry to establish group membership.
patrilocal residence A residence pattern in which a married
naming ceremony A special event or ritual to mark the couple lives in the husband’s father’s place of residence.
naming of a child. peasant A small-scale producer of crops or livestock living on
nation A people who share a collective identity based on a land that is self-owned or rented in exchange for labor, crops,
common culture, language, territorial base, and history. or money; often exploited by more powerful groups in a com-
natural selection The principle or mechanism by which plex society.
individuals having biological characteristics best suited to a performance art A creatively expressed promotion of ideas
particular environment survive and reproduce with greater by artful means dramatically staged to challenge opinion and/
frequency than individuals without those characteristics. or provoke purposeful action.
Neandertal An archaic human population that ranged through personality The distinctive way a person thinks, feels, and
western Eurasia from about 30,000 to 300,000 years ago. behaves.
negative reciprocity A mode of exchange in which the aim phoneme The smallest unit of sound that makes a difference
is to get something for as little as possible. Neither fair nor in meaning in a language but has no meaning by itself.
balanced, it may involve hard bargaining, manipulation, out- phonetics The systematic identification and description of dis-
right cheating, or theft. tinctive speech sounds in a language.
negotiation The use of direct argument and compromise by phonology The study of language sounds.
the parties to a dispute to arrive voluntarily at a mutually sat- phratry A unilineal descent group composed of at least two
isfactory agreement. clans that supposedly share a common ancestry, whether or
Neolithic The New Stone Age; a prehistoric period beginning not they really do.
about 10,000 years ago in which peoples possessed stone- physical anthropology The systematic study of humans as
based technologies and depended on domesticated plants biological organisms; also known as biological anthropology.
and/or animals for subsistence. pilgrimage A devotion in motion; traveling, often on foot, to
Neolithic revolution The domestication of plants and animals a sacred or holy site to reach for enlightenment, prove devo-
by peoples with stone-based technologies beginning about tion, and/or experience a miracle.
10,000 years ago and leading to radical transformations in cul- pluralistic society A complex society in which two or more
tural systems; sometimes referred to as the Neolithic transition. ethnic groups or nationalities are politically organized into
neolocal residence A residence pattern in which a married one territorial state but maintain their cultural differences.
couple establishes its household in a location apart from ei- political organization The way power, as the capacity to do
ther the husband’s or the wife’s relatives. something, is accumulated, arranged, executed, and structur-
netnography An ethnographic study of social networks, com- ally embedded in society; the means through which a society
municative practices, and other cultural expressions in cyber- creates and maintains social order and reduces social disorder.
space by means of digital visual and audio technologies; also politics The process determining who gets what, when, and
called digital ethnography and cyberethnography. how.
new reproductive technology (NRT) An alternative means polyandry A marriage form in which a woman is married to
of reproduction, such as in vitro fertilization. two or more men at the same time; a form of polygamy.
nuclear family A group consisting of one or two parents and polygamy A marriage form in which one individual has mul-
dependent offspring, which may include a stepparent, step tiple spouses at the same time.
siblings, and adopted children. Until recently this term re- polygyny A marriage form in which a man is married to two
ferred only to the mother, father, and child(ren) unit. or more women at the same time; a form of polygamy.
polytheism The belief in multiple gods and/or goddesses.
Oldowan tool tradition The first stone tool industry, postindustrial society A society with an economy based on
beginning between 2.5 and 2.6 million years ago at the start research and development of new knowledge and technolo-
of the Lower Paleolithic. gies, as well as providing information, services, and finance
out of Africa hypothesis An evolutionary hypothesis that capital on a global scale.
modern humans are all derived from one single population of potlatch On the Northwest Coast of North America, an indig-
archaic Homo sapiens who migrated out of Africa after 100,000 enous ceremonial event in which a village chief publicly gives
years ago, replacing all other archaic forms due to their supe- away stockpiled food and other goods that signify wealth.
rior cultural capabilities; also known as the Eve hypothesis or power The ability of individuals or groups to impose their will
the recent African origins hypothesis. upon others and make them do things even against their own
wants or wishes.
paleoanthropology The anthropological study of biological prestige economy The creation of a surplus for the express
changes through time (evolution) to understand the origins purpose of displaying wealth and giving it away to raise one’s
and predecessors of the present human species. status.
pantheon A collective of gods and goddesses worshiped in a priest or priestess A full-time religious specialist formally
society. recognized for his or her role in guiding the religious practices
paralanguage The voice effects that accompany language and of others and for contacting and influencing supernatural
convey meaning, including vocalizations such as giggling, powers.
groaning, or sighing, as well as voice qualities such as pitch primary innovation The creation, invention, or chance dis-
and tempo. covery of a completely new idea, method, or device.
parallel cousin The child of a father’s brother or a mother’s primate A subgroup of mammals that includes humans, apes,
sister. monkeys, tarsiers, lorises, and lemurs.
parallel evolution In cultural evolution, the development of primatology The study of living and fossil primates.
similar cultural adaptations to similar environmental condi- progress In anthropology, a relative concept signifying that a
tions by peoples whose ancestral cultures are already some- society or country is moving forward to a better, more advanced
what alike. stage in its cultural development toward greater perfection.
participant observation In ethnography, the technique of projection In cartography, refers to the system of intersecting
learning a people’s culture through social participation and lines (of longitude and latitude) by which part or all of the
personal observation within the community being studied, as globe is represented on a flat surface.
well as interviews and discussion with individual members of proxemics The cross-cultural study of people’s perception and
the group over an extended period of time. use of space.
Glossary 399
qualitative data Nonstatistical information such as personal slash-and-burn cultivation An extensive form of horticul-
life stories and customary beliefs and practices. ture in which the natural vegetation is cut, the slash is subse-
quantitative data Statistical or measurable information, quently burned, and crops are then planted among the ashes;
such as demographic composition, the types and quantities of also known as swidden farming.
crops grown, or the ratio of spouses born and raised within or social or sociocultural anthropology The study of patterns
outside the community. in human behavior, thought, and emotions, focusing on hu-
mans as culture-producing and culture-reproducing creatures.
race In biology, the taxonomic category of a subspecies that Also known as cultural anthropology.
is not applicable to humans because the division of humans social class A category of individuals in a stratified society
into discrete types does not represent the true nature of who enjoy equal or nearly equal prestige according to the hi-
human biological variation. In some societies, race is an erarchical system of evaluation.
important social category. social control External control through open coercion.
rebellion Organized armed resistance to an established govern- social mobility An upward or downward change in one’s so-
ment or authority in power; also known as insurgency. cial class position in a stratified society.
recent African origins hypothesis An evolutionary hy- social structure The rule-governed relationships—with all
pothesis that modern humans are all derived from one single their rights and obligations—that hold members of a society
population of archaic Homo sapiens who migrated out of Af- together. This includes households, families, associations, and
rica after 100,000 years ago, replacing all other archaic forms power relations, including politics.
due to their superior cultural capabilities; also known as the society An organized group or groups of interdependent people
Eve hypothesis or the out of Africa hypothesis. who generally share a common territory, language, and culture
reciprocity The exchange of goods and services, of approximately and who act together for collective survival and well-being.
equal value, between two parties. sociolinguistics The study of the relationship between language
redistribution A mode of exchange in which goods flow and society through examining how social categories—such
into a central place, where they are sorted, counted, and as age, gender, ethnicity, religion, occupation, and class—
reallocated. influence the use and significance of distinctive styles of
religion An organized system of ideas about the spiritual speech.
sphere or the supernatural, along with associated ceremonial soft power Macro-level power that coopts or manipulates,
practices by which people try to interpret and/or influence as- skillfully pressing people through attraction and persuasion to
pects of the universe otherwise beyond their control. shape or change their ideology (ideas, beliefs, and values).
revitalization movement A social movement for radical cul- species The smallest working units in biological classificatory
tural reform in response to widespread social disruption and systems; reproductively isolated populations or groups of pop-
collective feelings of great stress and despair. ulations capable of interbreeding to produce fertile offspring.
revolution Radical change in a society or culture. In the politi- spirituality Concern with the sacred, as distinguished from
cal arena, it involves the forced overthrow of an existing gov- material matters. In contrast to religion, spirituality is often
ernment and establishment of a completely new one. individual rather than collective and does not require a dis-
rite of intensification A ritual that takes place during a tinctive format or traditional organization.
crisis in the life of the group and serves to bind individuals spiritual lineage A principle of leadership in which divine
together. authority is passed down from a spiritual founding figure,
rite of passage A ritual that marks an important ceremonial such as a prophet or saint, to a chain of successors.
moment when members of a society move from one distinc- state A political institution established to manage and defend
tive social stage in life to another, such as birth, marriage, a complex, socially stratified society occupying a defined
and death. It features three phases: separation, transition, and territory.
incorporation. stratified society A society in which people are hierarchi-
rite of purification A symbolic act carried out by an indi- cally divided and ranked into social strata, or layers, and do
vidual or a group to establish or restore purity when someone not share equally in the basic resources that support income,
has violated a taboo or is otherwise unclean. status, and power.
ritual A culturally prescribed symbolic act or procedure de- structural power Macro-level power that manages or re-
signed to guide members of a community in an orderly way structures political and economic relations within and among
through personal and collective transitions. societies while simultaneously shaping or changing people’s
ideology (ideas, beliefs, and values); a compound of hard
salvage ethnography Ethnographic research that documents power and soft power.
endangered cultures; also known as urgent anthropology. structural violence Physical and/or psychological harm (in-
sanction An externalized social control designed to encourage cluding repression, environmental destruction, poverty, hunger,
conformity to social norms. illness, and premature death) caused by impersonal, exploit-
secondary innovation The deliberate application or modifi- ative, and unjust social, political, and economic systems.
cation of an existing idea, method, or device. subculture A distinctive set of ideas, values, and behavior pat-
secularization A process of cultural change in which a popu- terns by which a group within a larger society operates, while
lation tends toward a nonreligious worldview, ignoring or still sharing common standards with that larger society.
rejecting institutionalized spiritual beliefs and rituals. superstructure A society’s shared sense of identity and
self-awareness The ability to identify oneself as an individual, worldview. The collective body of ideas, beliefs, and values
to reflect on oneself, and to evaluate oneself. by which members of a society make sense of the world—its
self-control A person’s capacity to manage her or his sponta- shape, challenges, and opportunities—and understand their
neous feelings, restraining impulsive behavior. place in it. This includes religion and national ideology.
separation In a rite of passage, the temporary ritual removal swidden farming An extensive form of horticulture in which
of the individual from society. the natural vegetation is cut, the slash is subsequently burned,
serial monogamy A marriage form in which an individual and crops are then planted among the ashes; also known as
marries or lives with a series of partners in succession. slash-and-burn cultivation.
shaman A person who enters an altered state of consciousness symbol A sound, gesture, mark, or other sign that is arbitrarily
to contact and utilize an ordinarily hidden reality in order to linked to something else and represents it in a meaningful way.
acquire knowledge, power, and to help others. sympathetic magic Magic based on the principle that like
signal An instinctive sound or gesture that has a natural or produces like; also known as imitative magic.
self-evident meaning. syncretism The creative blending of indigenous and foreign
silent trade A mode of exchange of goods between mutu- beliefs and practices into new cultural forms.
ally distrusting ethnic groups so as to avoid direct personal syntax The patterns or rules by which words are arranged into
contact. phrases and sentences.
400 Glossary
taboo Culturally prescribed avoidances involving ritual unilineal descent Descent traced exclusively through either
prohibitions, which, if not observed, lead to supernatural the male or the female line of ancestry to establish group
punishment. membership; sometimes called unilateral descent.
tale A creative narrative that is recognized as fiction for enter- Upper Paleolithic The last part (10,000 to 40,000 years ago)
tainment but may also draw a moral or teach a practical lesson. of the Old Stone Age, featuring tool industries characterized
technology Tools and other material equipment, together by long, slim blades and an explosion of creative symbolic
with the knowledge of how to make and use them. forms.
theory A coherent statement that provides an explanatory urgent anthropology Ethnographic research that documents
framework for understanding; an explanation or interpreta- endangered cultures; also known as salvage ethnography.
tion supported by a reliable body of data.
tonal language A language in which the sound pitch of a spoken verbal art Creative word use on display that includes stories,
word is an essential part of its pronunciation and meaning. myths, legends, tales, poetry, metaphor, rhyme, chants,
totemism The belief that people are related to particular ani- rap, drama, cant, proverbs, jokes, puns, riddles, and tongue
mals, plants, or natural objects by virtue of descent from com- twisters.
mon ancestral spirits. visual art Art created primarily for visual perception, ranging
tradition Customary ideas and practices passed on from gen- from etchings and paintings on various surfaces (including
eration to generation, which in a modernizing society may the human body) to sculptures and weavings made with an
form an obstacle to new ways of doing things. array of materials.
transgender A person who identifies with or expresses a gen-
der identity that differs from the one that matches the per- whistled speech An exchange of whistled words using a
son’s sex at birth. phonetic emulation of the sounds produced in spoken voice.
transition In a rite of passage, temporary isolation of the in- witchcraft Magical rituals intended to cause misfortune or
dividual following separation and prior to incorporation into inflict harm.
society. worldview The collective body of ideas members of a culture
treaty A contract or formally binding agreement between two generally share concerning the ultimate shape and substance
or more groups that are independent and self-governing po- of their reality.
litical groups such as tribes, chiefdoms, and states. writing system A set of visible or tactile signs used to represent
tribe In anthropology, the term for a range of kin-ordered groups units of language in a systematic way.
that are politically integrated by some unifying factor and
whose members share a common ancestry, identity, culture, xenophobia Fear or hatred of strangers or anything foreign.
language, and territory.
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Index
Note: Italic page numbers indicate Africa, 255, 255, 310 land bridge from Siberia to, 101
charts, figures, and maps. age grouping in, 255–256, 255 See also North America; South America
childrearing in, 140–144, 141, 143 Amish subculture, 32–33, 33
Abenaki culture, 333, 333 energy consumption per country, 385 Amnesty International, 372
accommodation, 356, 361–363, 362 income inequality, 381 ancestral spirits, 301–302
acculturation, 48–50, 50, 352 Nile Valley, 171 Anderson, Greg, 9
defined, 49, 352 polygyny in, 213, 213 animal domestication, 101, 165
protesting, 353 recent African origins hypothesis, 80, animatism, 302
Aché culture, 353 98, 106 animism, 302, 303
Acheulean tool tradition, 91 rock art, 330–331, 331 anorexia nervosa, 153
Acholi culture, 289, 290 slums, 377 Anthropocene, 369, 391
adaptation, 156–160, 177 woman–woman marriage in, 219 Anthropologists of Note, boxed features
culture and, 27–30 See also specific countries Gregory Bateson, 62, 62
defined, 27, 80, 157 African Burial Ground Project, New Ruth Fulton Benedict, 142, 142
evolution through, 80–86 York City, 17, 265, 265 Franz Boas, 14, 14
adaptation (biological) age Paul Farmer, 390, 390
defined, 157 coming-of-age ceremonies, 255, 255 Jane Goodall, 82, 82
primate anatomical adaptation, 81 grouping by, 254–256, 255, 268 Michael Harner, 307, 307
primate behavioral adaptation, 83–86 labor division by, 185–186 Claude Lévi-Strauss, 212, 212
See also physiological adaptation age grade, 254–255, 255, 275 Bronislaw Malinowski, 39, 39
adaptation (cultural), 27–30, 44, 86, age set, 255, 275 Margaret Mead, 62, 62
177 agriculture, 167–169, 171–172, 178, 361 Laura Nader, 279, 279
agriculture, 167–169, 171–172 anthropologists and, 168, 168 Svante Pääbo, 82, 82
convergent evolution, 175 in Arabian Desert, 29 Matilda Coxe Stevenson, 14, 14
cultural evolution, 173–177 defined, 167 Eric R. Wolf, 349, 349
culture areas, 158–160, 160 family farms, vs. industrial-scale, Rosita Worl, 198, 198
defined, 27, 157, 177 172–173 See also specific anthropologists
environment and, 158, 176–177, 176 genetically modified crops, 197, 197 anthropology, 3–25, 142
food-foraging societies, 160–164 intensive, 171–172, 178 advocacy, 52–53, 53
horticulture, 165–167 irrigation and, 29, 29, 167, 168, 168 applied, 5–6, 6, 49–50
industrial food production, 172–173, See also farming; food production archaeology and, 6, 10–12
173, 174 Ali, Muhammad, 138 biological, 6, 12–13
intensive agriculture, 171–172 alphabet, 130 cultural, 6–9, 6
migration/nomads, 26, 26 altiplano, 159, 159 economic, 181–183
modes of subsistence, 160, 178 altitude ethics of, 20–21, 24, 68–70, 72
parallel evolution, 175–176 adaptation to, 13, 159, 159 fieldwork, 15–20, 24
pastoralism, 169–171, 170 Mount Kailash, Tibet, 314, 314 forensic, 13, 16–17, 16
Upper Paleolithic, 98–100 Amazonia four fields of, 5–13, 6, 24
adaptation (developmental), 13 decimation of forests, 353–354 globalization and, 21–23, 24,
adaptation (physiological). See gender-based groups in, 254, 254 389–391
physiological adaptation Shuar cattle farming in, 362–363 linguistic, 6, 9–10
adoption, 226, 227, 247–248, 248 ambilocal residence, 225 medical, 6, 390
advocacy anthropology, 52–53, 53 American Anthropological Association molecular, 12
Afar nomads, 187, 187 (AAA), 20 paleoanthropology, 12
affinal kin, 208 American Sign Language (ASL), 86, 111 science and humanities and, 14–15,
Afghanistan, 26, 26, 252, 252, 275 Americas 24
Taliban, 386 domestication in, 350 social context of, 71
414
Index 415
theoretical perspectives, 67–68, 72 in protests, 324, 325, 338–340 marriage prohibitions in the United
urgent, 48, 49 symbols in, 327–328, 327, 328, 328 States, 211
Anthropology Applied, boxed features tattoos, 329–330, 330 new diseases, 365
agricultural development and threats to traditional, 340–341 Paleolithic prescriptions for diseases
anthropologists, 168, 168 totem pole, 240, 242 of today, 90
anthropologists and social impact trance state and, 330–331 pesticides, 8
assessment, 261 Upper Paleolithic, 99, 100 peyote art among the Huichol, 332,
Apache Indians, new houses for, 34 verbal, 331–335, 343 332
bringing back past (Penobscot chief’s visual, 328–331, 343 pig lovers and pig haters, 69
collar), 342, 342 Ashanti culture, 257, 257 psychosomatic symptoms and mental
development anthropology and Asia, energy consumption per country, health, 152
dams, 364, 364 385 toxic breast milk, 387, 387
dispute resolution and assimilation, 355–356 biological anthropology, 6, 12–13, 24,
anthropologists, 293 atlatls (spear-throwers), 99, 100, 348 265
Dunham, S. Ann, mother of U.S. Australia, 74 biological variation, human, 101–105,
president, 382, 382, 389 energy consumption, 385 107–108
ecotourism and indigenous culture in Australian Aborigines, 74, 74, 98, 240 biomolecular archaeology, 11, 11
Bolivia, 188 Australopithecus, 88, 88 bipedalism, 86, 87–88
forensic anthropology: voices for the authority, 278, 294 Blakey, Michael, 16–17, 265
dead, 16–17, 16 Awlad ‘Ali Bedouins, 335–336 Blumenbach, Johann, 104
indigenous languages, preserving, ayatollah, 280, 280 Boas, Franz, 12–13, 14, 14
120–121 Aymara culture/language, 122, 122, body modifications, 41, 41
Native American tribal membership 123, 137, 169, 357, 358 Bolivia, 188, 188
dispute, 241, 241 Ayoreo culture, 49 Evo Morales in, 357, 358
Apache culture, 34 Azande culture, 282 Qullasuyu, 357–358, 358
apartheid, 264 Aztec culture, 196 See also Aymara culture/language
apes, 76, 83–86, 127 Christianity merged with, 315 bonobos, 83–86, 84, 87
African perspective on, 76 bow and arrow, 164
European classification of, 77, 77 bagpipes, 349, 350 brain, 196
evolution and relationships, 86–87, 87 Bakhtiari culture, 170–171, 170 brain death, 5
vocal organs, 129, 129 balanced reciprocity, 189, 201 brain size, 89, 91, 107
See also primates band, 272, 273–274, 273, 294 Brazil, 324, 325
applied anthropology, 5–6, 6, 7, 49–50 barrel model of cultural system, 37, 37, breast-feeding, 162, 387, 387
challenges of, 355, 392 45, 297 bridewealth, 219–220, 221
See also Anthropology Applied; Barrow, Alaska, 18–20, 18 Brill, David, 88
forensic anthropology barter and trade, 190–191, 191, 201 Britain. See Great Britain
Arapaho language, 120–121 Bateson, Gregory, 62, 62 British Petroleum, 379
archaeology, 6, 10–12, 24 Bedouin culture, 335, 336 Buddhism, 298, 300
archaic admixture model, 98, 106 behavioral adaptation, primate, 83–86 Taiwanese, 304, 304
archaic humans, 94–97, 98 Beltrán, Gonzalo Aguirre, 50, 50 Tibetan, 296, 296, 305, 306, 314
Arctic peoples, 302, 303, 362, 362, 384 Benedict, Ruth Fulton, 142, 142 Bugis culture, 148
toxic breast milk, 387, 387 Bengali Muslims, 376, 376 bulimia nervosa, 153
Ardipithecus ramidus, 87, 107 Beng culture, 143–144, 143 bungee jumping, 76
Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team Bessire, Lucas, 46, 46 burial: African Burial Ground Project,
(EAAF), 17 Besteman, Catherine, 54 New York City, 17, 265, 265
Armenia/Armenians, 290 Bhutan, 296, 296, 349, 350 burin, 99
Aroostook Band of Micmac culture, Big Man, Melanesia, 274–275, 275 Burma. See Myanmar
241, 241 bilateral descent, 237, 243–244 Bush, George H. W., 174
arranged marriage, 216–217 binomial nomenclature, 77 Bushmen, Kalahari Desert, 161, 161,
art, 74, 325–344 bioarchaeology, 11, 11 330–331, 331
anthropological study of, 326–328, 343 biocultural approach, 12 See also Ju/’hoansi culture
cave or rock art, 74, 74, 99, 100, Biocultural Connection, boxed features
330–331, 331 African Burial Ground Project, New cacao, 196, 196
defined, 325, 343 York City, 265, 265 camels, 351–352, 352
functional, 326 Aymara adaptation to high altitude, Canela culture, 243
functions of, 337–340, 343 159, 159 cannibalism, 96
Ga funerary (coffins), 339, 339 biology of human speech, 129, 129 capitalism, 195–198
globalization, cultural survival and, body modification, 41, 41 corporations, 199
340–341, 341 cacao: love bean in the money tree, GDPs, 379
graffiti, 338, 340, 341 196 global, local economies and, 195–198,
musical, 335–337, 337, 343 karma, monks, and changing sex, 201
Neandertal, 97 304 global, sacred law and, 316–318,
performance, 325, 343 Maori origins and genetics, 232–233, 317
peyote art, 332, 332 232 merchant, 195
416 Index
carbon dioxide emissions, 384–385, 385 pilgrimages, 314 Crocker, William, 60–61, 61
cargo cults, 357 Virgin Mary, 315, 315 cross-cultural comparisons, 7, 140–141
carrying capacity, 161 chromosomes (X and Y), 147 cultural adaptation. See adaptation
castes, 261–264 cities, 361 (cultural)
traditional Hindu system, 262–263, elite groups, 171–172 cultural anthropology, 6–9, 6, 24
262, 263, 264, 266 emergence of, 101, 171 See also ethnography; ethnology
castration, 149–150, 150 growth of (recent), 376–377 cultural change, 40–42, 347–372
cell phones, 21, 260, 260 immigrant populations in, 376–377, 377 accommodation, 356, 361–363, 362
Central America, 160 intensive agriculture and, 171–172 acculturation, 352
See also Maya culture slums, 377, 377 assimilation, 355–356
centralized government, 275–278 civilization, 68 cultural loss and, 351–352
Chagnon, Napoleon, 55–56 earliest, 171 diffusion, 349–351
change. See cultural change clans, 230, 230, 234, 240–242, 242, 294 directed change, 355, 366
Chantek (orangutan), 112–113, 112 classification, 77–78, 77, 104, 106 ethnocide, 352–353
Chauvet Cave, France, 99, 100 climate change, 95–96, 101 globalization and, 363–366, 369–372,
Chepstow-Lusty, Alex, 168 code of ethics, 20–21, 24, 72 389
Cheyenne culture, 175 code switching, 122 innovation, 348
chicken industry, 172–173, 174, 174 coercion, 278 mechanisms of, 348–352, 366
chiefdoms, 272, 275–276, 283, 294 cohabitation, 146, 224 modernization, 361–366
kingdoms vs., 276 colonialism, 48, 49, 105, 359–360 obstacles to, 348
child labor, 186, 186 internal colonies, 48–49, 373 progress and, 348, 366
childrearing, 140–144, 141, 154 language suppression, 119 radical changes, 347, 363, 365, 370
children, “wild”/feral, 136 coltan, 21 reactions to change, 71, 355–358,
Chile, 12, 13 Columbus, Christopher, 370 366–367
chimpanzees, 76, 77, 83–86, 87 Comanche culture, 173–175, 175 rebellion and revolution, 358–361,
behavior, 83–85, 84 coming-of-age ceremonies, 255, 255 367
diet and hunting, 85–86 common-interest associations, 256–260, repressive change, 352–355, 366
Goodall’s studies of, 13, 82, 82 256–259 revitalization movements, 356–358,
HIV and, 365 sports, 267, 267 367
toolmaking and use, 85–86, 86 communication, 111–133 syncretism, 356, 357
China, 171, 234, 378 Chantek (orangutan), 112–113, 112 cultural controls, 281–283, 294
communist revolution in, 360 digital, 226, 260, 260 cultural evolution, 173–177, 178
consanguineal families in, 222 kinesics, 124 cultural loss, 351–352
core values in, 145 nonverbal, 124–126, 124, 133 cultural materialism, 68
cyber café in, 368, 368 See also language; telecommunication cultural relativism, 42–44, 45, 68,
energy consumption, 385 Condon, Richard, 63 152–153
ethnolinguistic groups, 35 conflict, armed, 22, 270, 290–291 cultural resource management, 12
feng shui, 267, 312 conflict resolution, 273–275, 283–284, cultural revolutions, 369–372
gunpowder, 349–350 291–293, 295 culture, 27–45
Han patrilineal descent, 35, 54, 105, in primates, 83–85, 84 adaptation and, 27–30, 44
234–235, 235, 386 conjugal family, 222 barrel model of, 37, 37, 45
income disparity in, 381 consanguineal family, 222 breakdown, symptoms of, 43, 43
migrant workforce in, 226, 226 consanguineal kin, 208–209 change and, 40–42, 42, 347
military spending, 378 conspicuous consumption, 192, 201 characteristics of, 30–38, 44
Mosuo matrilineal descent, 236, 236 contagious magic, 311 defined, 30
patriarchal society, 234–235, 360 contract archaeology, 12 as dynamic, 38, 316
“Peking Man,” 92 control, maintenance of, 281–283 enculturation, 30, 136–139
racial ideology in, 105 convergent evolution, 175 ethnocentrism and cultural
rock art, 340, 341 cooperative labor, 186–187 relativism, 42–44, 43
Three Gorges Dam, 364 Copernicus, Nicolaus, 348 functions of, 38–39
trading empire, 110, 110, 194, 194 core values, 145–146, 145 global, 371–372, 371
traditional religions, 298, 300 corn. See maize individual, society and, 39–40, 44
Uyghur minority in, 36 corporations, 199, 277 as integrated, 36–38
wet-rice cultivation, 156, 156 global/mega-, 379–380, 379, 380, 392 as learned, 30, 31
women’s life in, 360–361, 360 co-sleeping, 4, 5 multiculturalism, 373, 391
writing system, origin, 128 cosmetic surgery, 41, 41 as shared, 31–35
Zhoukoudian cave, 91, 92 Côte d’Ivoire, Africa, 143–144, 143, society and, 31
China National Petroleum, 379 267, 388 studied at a distance, 50, 62
Chinese languages, 120, 126 soccer team, 267, 267 subcultures, 32–33
chocolate, 196, 196 cousin marriage, 209–210, 210, 211, 218 symbols as basis of, 35–36
Christianity, 248, 298, 348 Crane, Hillary, 304 See also cultural change; specific cultures
fundamentalism, 386 creation stories, 332, 332 culture areas, 158–160, 160, 177
global distribution of, 300 crime, 43 culture-bound syndrome, 153, 155
holy war in Uganda, 289–290, 290 punishing, 283–284 culture-bound theories, 4
Index 417
culture contact, 48 displacement, 127–128 eliciting device, 58

culture shock, 60 dispute resolution, 273–275, 283–284, Elizabeth II (queen), 280, 281
cyber cafés, 368, 368 291–293, 293, 295 empirical, 15
cyberethnography, 55 diversity. See human variation enculturation, 30, 136–139, 154, 281
divination, 312, 312, 322 endangered culture, 48, 49
Dalai Lama, 305, 306 divorce, 220–221 endogamy, 209–210
Dalits (Untouchables), 262–263, 262, Dmanisi site, Georgia, 90 energy consumption, per country, 385
263 DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid), 76, 79, England. See Great Britain
Gulabi Gang (“pink vigilantes”), 79, 80, 106 English language, 115–116, 117
266–267, 266 Denisovan, 82, 97 entoptic phenomena, 331
dams, 324, 325, 364, 364 sequencing, 80, 81, 82, 106 environment
Dances With Wolves (movie), 121 Doctors Without Borders, 372 collapse: Easter Island, 176–177, 176
Darwin, Charles, 78–79, 78, 102, 106 doctrine, 15 cultural adaptation and, 158
data gathering, 56–60, 72 domestication, 101, 164, 165 degradation of, 364, 386
interviewing, 58 animal, 101, 165 global warming and, 384–386
mapping, 58–60 plant, 101, 165, 350 transformation by technology, 370
surveys, 57–58, 57 Doretti, Mercedes, 16–17 See also physiological adaptation
debt, 316–317 dowry, 220, 221 epic, 334, 338
Declaration for the Rights of Indigenous Drogba, Didier, 267, 267 eruv (Jewish), 258–259, 258
Peoples (UN), 358, 386, 389 drones, 288 Esber, George S., 34
DeMello, Margo, 329–330 drought, 30, 42 Eskimo culture, 245–246, 245, 246
democracy, 278 Druids, 318, 319 See also Inuit culture
Democratic Republic of the Congo, drums/drumming, 126, 338 Eskimo system—kinship terminology,
164, 291, 365 Dunham, S. Ann, 382, 382, 389 245–246, 245, 246
Denisovans, 82, 97, 107 Duranti, Alessandro, 114 ethics, 20–21, 24, 68–70
dependence training, 141–142 Ethiopia, 87, 97, 187, 187
descent, 231–250 earth, first full-view photo of, 370–371, ethnic groups, 32, 373
ambilineal, 237 370 ethnicity, 32, 62
bilateral, 237, 243–244 Easter Island, 176–177, 176 ethnic minorities, 386–388
clan, 240 Ebola hemorrhagic fever, 365 ethnic psychoses, 153
defined, 231 ecocide, 364 ethnocentrism, 3, 34–37, 42–44, 43,
descent groups, 231–239, 242, 249 economic anthropology, 181–183 103
double, 237 economic hard power, 379–380, 379 ethnocide, 352–355
within larger cultural system, economic systems, 181–202, 272 ethnographic fieldwork, 6, 47, 55–60,
237–243, 249 cacao, 196, 196 71
from lineage to clan, 240–242 debt and, 316–317 building theories, 66–67
matrilineal, 233, 235–237, 235 defined, 181, 201 challenges of, 60–65, 71–72
moiety, 242–243, 242, 243 diasporic communities and, 376 comparative method and, 68
patrilineal, 233–235, 234 distribution and exchange, 189–195, data gathering, 56–60
phratry, 242–243, 242 201 distrust and political tension, 61
totemism and, 240–242, 242 ecotourism, 188 ethical responsibilities in, 68–70
unilineal, 233–237 “free trade,” 199, 378 gender, age, ideology, and ethnicity,
See also kinship GDPs and global corporation 62
descriptive linguistics, 9, 114–116 revenues, 379 participant observation, 56, 56
desecration, 315–316 globalization and, 195–198, 363 photographing and filming, 60, 66,
development, 361 informal economy, 199 66
developmental adaptation, 13 local economies and global physical danger in, 62–63, 63
development anthropology, 364 capitalism, 195–198, 201 preparatory research, 55–56
de Waal, Frans, 83–85 market exchange, 194–195, 194, 201, site selection and research question,
dialects, 120–122 348 55
See also language money as means of exchange, 195 social acceptance, 60–62, 61
diaspora, 53, 238, 374–376 production and resources, 183–188, subjectivity, reflexivity, and
diasporic populations, 53, 54, 376 183, 185, 201 validation, 63–65
diffusion, 349–351, 351 redistribution, 192–193, 193, 201 ethnographic research, 47–73
digital communication, 260, 260, 369 sustainable development, 198 current methods, 55–60, 71
digital ethnography, 55 technology resources, 184 history and uses, 48–55
diplomacy, 291, 294 tribute system, 184, 192 ethnography, 6–7, 47, 55–60
directed change, 355, 366 ecosystem, 158, 177 completion of, 65–67, 72
disease ecotourism, 188 ethnohistories, 67
global warming and, 385 Ecuador, 362–363, 363 ethnolinguistics, 122–123
Native Americans and, 354 egalitarian societies, 162–163, ethnology, 6, 7, 24, 47, 72
new diseases, 365 261, 272 HRAF and comparative method, 67
Paleolithic prescriptions for, 90 EGO, 243–244, 244 ethnomusicology, 336
See also health Egyptian hieroglyphs, 130, 130 eunuchs, or castrati, 149–150, 150
418 Index
Europe, 373 filming, 60, 66, 66 in Trobriand culture, 64–65, 65

appearance of domesticates in, 165 fire making, 93–94, 95 violence and, 286, 287
energy consumption per country, 385 fishing, 98–99 See also sexual behavior; women
immigrant populations, 375 fission, 240, 274 gendered speech, 119–120, 121
income distribution, 381 folklore, 332 gender-neutral terms, 148
Indo-European language subgroups food, cooking of, 95 gender identity, 146–150, 150, 154
in, 116 food foraging, 160–164, 161, 178, 201 karma, monasticism, and changing,
military spending, 378 contemporary, 160 304
nuclear weapon capabilities, 378 egalitarianism, 162–163 gender roles, 64–65, 140–141
stratified societies, 263–264 by Ju/’hoansi, 140–141, 161–162, 163 General Electric, 379
Eve hypothesis. See recent African rarity of warfare, 163 generalized reciprocity, 189, 189
origins hypothesis technology and, 164 genes, 79–80, 98
evolution, 75–108 transition to food production, 164, defined, 81
archaic admixture model, 98, 106 169, 178 gene flow, 80, 81, 90, 98, 102, 106
convergent, 175 food production, 164–173, 178 mutation of, 80, 81, 106
of culture (cultural), 173–177, 178 agriculture, 167–169, 171–172, 178 polygenic traits, 80, 102
Darwin and, 78–79, 78, 106 cash crops for export, 383 genetically modified organisms
defined, 80, 106 characteristics of societies, 167–173 (GMOs), 197, 197
microscopic perspective on, 79, 79 domestication and, 164 genetic drift, 81, 90, 106
molecular basis of, 106 Fertile Crescent, 164 genetic mapping, 80, 81
natural selection, 78–79, 90, 106 horticulture, 165–167, 178 genetics, 79
parallel, 175–176 industrial, 172–173, 173, 174, 178 genetic differences, 13
primates, 75–78, 81–86 mixed farming (crops and animals), inbreeding and, 209
research on, 78–80 169, 178 paleogenetics, 82
species, definition of, 75–76 pastoralism (herding grazing genital–genital (G–G) rubbing, 83, 84
through adaptation, 80–86 animals), 169–171 genocide, 290, 295
See also human origins slash-and-burn-cultivation, 165 genome, 76, 79, 80, 98
evolutionary forces, 80–81, 106 See also agriculture; horticulture geographic information system (GIS),
evolutionary medicine, 90 forensic anthropology, 13, 16–17, 16 60
excavation, 15 forest gardeners (Mekranoti Kayapo), geomancy, 267, 312
exchange, 189–195 166–167, 166 Germanic languages, 116–117
exogamy, 209–210, 240 formal interviews, 58 Germany, 373, 378, 378
extended family, 223–224 Fossey, Dian, 82 Turk migration to, 375
ExxonMobil, 379 fossils in World War II, 290
australopithecine, 88, 88 gesture–call system, 124–126, 132
Facebook, 260, 380 Homo erectus, 90–92, 91, 92 G–G rubbing, 83, 84
family, 221–224, 228 reconstruction of fossil specimens, 88 Ghana
defined, 221 fragmentation of societies, 373–377, Asanteman Association, 257, 257
extended, 223–224 391 Ashanti immigrants in New York City,
household vs., 222, 222 France, 373, 375, 378, 378 257, 257
nuclear, 223, 223, 224, 245–246 French language, 118–119 coffins, artistic, 339, 339
famine, 383 Fulani culture, 280 “Father, Son, and Donkey” tale,
Farmer, Paul, 389, 390, 390 fundamentalism, 386 334–335, 335
farming, 167–169 ghinnáwas (Bedouin songs), 335, 336
cattle farming, 362–363 Galdikas, Biruté, 82 gift exchanges, 190–191, 190, 191
child labor, 186 Galileo Galilei, 348 Gini income inequality index, 381, 381
family farms vs. industrial-scale, Gandhi, Mohandas, 291–292 Girl Scouts/Girl Guides, 259
172–173 garbage: Garbage Project, 11 global challenges, 369–393
irrigation, 29, 29, 168, 168 gardening. See horticulture anthropology’s role in meeting,
mixed (crops and animals), 169, 178 gasoline, 370 389–391, 392
shift to, 164, 169 Geertz, Clifford, 67–68 diasporas and xenophobia, 374–376,
use of farmland for other purposes, gender, 32, 135, 146–150, 155 376
30 childrearing and, 140–141, 141, 154 economic hard power, 379–380, 379
See also agriculture; food production defined, 32 ethnic groups, pluralistic societies,
Fausto-Sterling, Anne, 147–148 division of labor by, 161–162, 163, and multiculturalism, 373–377, 391
Fedigan, Linda, 287 184–185, 185, 237–238 ethnic minorities and indigenous
female genital mutilation/cutting, 41, ethnographic fieldwork and, 62 peoples, 386–388
310 gods and goddesses, 300–301, 301 global migrations, 373–377, 391
feng shui, 267, 312 grouping by, 253–254, 254 human rights struggles, 386–388
Fertile Crescent, 164 karma and, 304 hunger, obesity, and malnutrition,
fetish, 311, 311 language and, 115–116, 119–120, 121 382–383, 384
fictive marriage, 215 obesity and, 383 income inequality, 381–382, 381
fieldwork, 6, 15–20, 24, 47 personality and, 140–141 media environment, 380, 380
See also ethnographic fieldwork politics and, 280–281 military hard power, 378, 378
Index 419
pollution and global warming, Queen Victoria, 280–281 hominoid ancestors of, 87–88, 87, 88
384–386 Stonehenge, 319 Neandertals and, 92–93, 94–97, 94
poverty, 381–382 Greymorning, S. Neyooxet, 119, physical and behavioral
reactions to globalization, 386, 392 120–121, 120 characteristics, 107
structural power, 377–380, 391–392 gross domestic product (GDP), 379 spread from Africa into Eurasia,
structural violence, 380–386, 392 group marriage, 214–215 89–92, 91
urbanization and slums, 376–377, group personality, 144–146, 144 See also Homo sapiens; human origins
377 groups, 253–261, 268 Homo erectus, 89–92, 107
global corporations, 379–380, 379, 392 by age, 254–256, 268 fire, use of, 93–94
global energy consumption, 385 common interest, 256–260, 256–259, fossil sites, 91
global integration processes, 372 268 Lake Turkana fossils, 92
globalization, 21–23, 24, 297, 363–366, culture areas and, 158–160 “Peking Man,” 92
369–393 descent groups, 231–239, 242, 249 transition to Neandertals, 92–93
art, cultural survival and, 340–341, by gender, 253–254, 254 Homo habilis, 89, 107
341 by social status, 260–268 Homo sapiens, 12, 75, 77, 106, 107
cultural reactions to, 386 Guatemala, 180, 180 archaic admixture model, 98, 106
defined, 21, 363 Guatemalan Foundation for Forensic cultural adaptations, vs. apes, 86
earth, first full-view photo of, Anthropology, 16 DNA comparisons, 76, 82
370–371, 370 Guillette, Elizabeth, 8 global expansion of, 97–98
financial support from diasporic Gulabi Gang, India, 266–267, 266 and primate evolution, 87, 106
workers, 376 gunpowder, 349–350 See also human origins
global transnational culture, 372 homosexuality, 206, 207
impact on traditional cultures, 386, Haiti, 319, 320, 390 honor killings, 238–239
392 hajj (Muslim pilgrimage), 314 Hopi culture, 236–237, 236, 240
marriage, family, and households Hall, Edward, 125–126 Horowitz, Michael M., 364
and, 226–228, 226, 229 hallucinogens, 307 horticulture, 165–167, 178, 253
megacorporations, 379–380 hantavirus, 365 defined, 165
multi-sited ethnography, 53–55, 54 hard power, 378–380, 378, 379 Mekranoti Kayapo, 166–167, 166
personal identity and mental health, Harner, Michael, 306, 307, 307 Patacancha Valley terracing and
153–154 Harris, Marvin, 68, 69 irrigation, 168, 168
reactions to, 386, 392 Hausa culture, 280 household, 221–224, 225, 228
trade, 194–195, 194 Hawaiian system—kinship terminology, defined, 222
See also global challenges 246–247, 246 family vs., 222, 222, 228
global mass media, 380, 380 healing among Nayar people, 208–209
global positioning system (GPS), 59, 59 Doctors Without Borders, 372 nontraditional/nonfamily, 224, 225
Globalscape, boxed features shamanic, 306–308, 308 residence patterns, 224–225
chicken industry, 174, 174 See also disease; mental health technology and globalization impact
Ghanaian coffins, 339, 339 health, 6, 90 on, 226–228, 226
Jamaican farmhands in U.S., 200, 200 diseases, 354, 365, 385 housing, 224–225
Probo Koala’s toxic cargo, 388, 388 Heckenberger, Michael, 59 Hsu, Francis, 145
safe harbor (Rohingya Muslim Hedlund, Anna, 63, 63 Huichol culture, 332, 332
refugees), 23, 23 heliocentric worldview, 348 human body modification, 41, 41
soccer for pay and for peace, 267, 267 herding. See pastoralism castration, 149–150, 150
Somali piracy, 285, 285 Hernández Castillo, Rosalva Aída, female genital mutilation, 41, 310
transnational child exchange, 227, 52–53, 53 human evolution. See human origins
227 hierarchy, 268 human genome, 76, 79, 80, 81
global warming, 384–386 high altitude. See altitude human growth, 12–13
goat-grabbing, 252, 252 Hinduism, 262, 298, 314, 314 human origins, 75–108
godparents, 248, 248 sadhus, 150–152, 151, 152–153 anatomically modern humans,
gods and goddesses, 300–301, 301 traditional caste system, 262–263, 97–100
Goodall, Jane, 12, 13, 82, 82 262, 263, 264 archaic admixture model, 98, 106
Google, 369, 371, 380 historical archaeology, 10–11 archaic humans, 94–97, 98
gossip, social role of, 273–274 historical linguistics, 9, 116–119 Australopithecus, 88, 88
government, 272, 355 Hitler, Adolf, 104–105, 349 biological variation and race concept,
centralized, 275–278 HIV/AIDS, 365 101–105, 107–108
graffiti, 338, 340, 341 holistic perspective, 3 bipedalism and, 86, 87–88
grammar, 115–116 hominins, 86, 87–89 classification systems, 77–78, 77, 106
Gran Dolina, Spain, 92 hominoids, 86, 87 cultural adaptations, 98–100
grapheme, 130 Homo (genus), 75, 89–94, 107 Denisovans, 82, 97, 107
Great Britain, 378 brain size and, 89, 91, 107 diet and, 89, 94, 95
British Pakistanis, cousin marriage diet and, 89, 94, 95 DNA and genome, 76, 79, 79, 80, 80,
among, 209–210, 210 distinguished from other animals, 74 82
politics and religion, 280 early Homo, 89–94 domestication and, 101
Queen Elizabeth II, 280, 281 evolution of, 107 early Homo, 89–94
420 Index
human origins (Continued) incest taboo, 209 Jacobs, Sue Ellen, 261
evolution through adaptation, 80–86 income inequality, 381–382, 381 Jamaican farmhands, 200, 200
fire making and, 93–94, 95 independence training, 142–143 Japan, 313, 378, 378
Homo erectus and spread of genus India, 28, 171, 197, 262 Jean, Julia, 56
Homo, 89–92, 91, 107 arranging marriage in, 216–217, 217 Jefferson, Thomas, 102
Homo sapiens, global expansion of, Bengali Muslims, 376, 376 Jenkins, Carol, 365
97–98, 107 energy consumption, 385 Jenner, Bruce (now Caitlyn), 149
human ancestors, 86–94, 87, 88 Gandhi, Mohandas, 291–292 Jensen, Anne, 17, 18–20
migrations from Siberia to America, Gulabi Gang (“pink vigilantes”), Jewish culture, 257–259, 279–280, 300,
101 266–267, 266 305
multiregional hypothesis, 80, 98, 106 hijras, 150, 150 bar/bat mitzvah, 255
Neandertals, 92–93, 94–97, 94, 107 Hindu caste system, 262–263, 262, See also Israel
primates and, 75–78, 76, 81–86, 106 263, 264 jihad, 286, 286
recent African origins hypothesis, 80, nonviolent resistance movement, Jívaro culture, 307, 362
98, 106 291–292 Joe, Paa, 339, 339
reconstruction of fossil specimens, 88 railways in, 346, 346 Johnson, Norris Brock, 62
research on evolution and genetics, sadhus, 150–152, 151, 152–153 Judaism. See Israel; Jewish culture
78–80, 79 witch hunts in, 283 Ju/’hoansi culture, 140–141, 140,
theories of, 80, 98, 106 indigenous peoples, 386–388 160–162, 286
toolmaking and use, 89, 89, 91–92, 91 See also Native Americans band leadership, 273, 273
Upper Paleolithic peoples, 98–100, 107 individualism, 146 childrearing, 140–141, 141, 162
See also Homo (genus); modern individual, society and, 39–40, 44 diet and fertility, 162
humans Indo-European languages, 116 division of labor, 161–162, 163,
Human Relations Area Files (HRAF), 68 industrial food production, 172–173, 185–186
human remains 173, 174, 178 economic system, 189, 189
Inupiat Eskimo, 18–20 industrialization, modernization and, land and water resources, 183–184,
repatriation of, 12 361, 370 183
human rights industrial revolution, 172, 347 return to homeland, 355
abuses, 16, 16, 381 industrial society, 172 shaman healer in trance dance, 308,
UN Declaration for the Rights of informal economy, 199 308
Indigenous Peoples, 358, 386, 389 informal interviews, 58 Tsumkwe reservation in Namibia,
human terrain system (HTS), 70 infrastructure, 37 355, 355
human variation, 101–105, 107–108 innovation, 348
human vocal organs, 129, 129 insurgency, 358, 359–360, 367 Kapauku culture, 37–38, 38, 386
hunger, 382–383, 384 intensive agriculture, 171–172 karma, 304
hunter-gatherers. See food foraging interdependence training, 143–144, See also Hinduism
hunting 143 Kayapo culture, 324, 324, 340
artistic portrayal of, 330–331, 331 International Monetary Fund, 372 Keiser, Lincoln, 61
atlatls (spear-throwers), 99, 100, 348 international organizations, 372 Kendall, Ann, 168
bow and arrow, 99, 164 Internet, 368, 368, 371 Kenya
Mbuti Pygmies, 164 language use on, 119, 119 Camel Mobile Library, 352
Neandertal, 96, 96 interpretive anthropology, 67–68 Dadaab refugee camp, 375
net, 98 intersexuality, 146–148, 150 GDP, 379
by nonhuman primates, 85–86 introgression, 98 key consultants, 56
Upper Paleolithic peoples, 98–100, Inuit culture, 302, 303, 326, 387, 387 Khanty culture, 134, 134
99, 100 Eskimo kinship system, 245–246 Khoisan click languages, 117, 118
Hutus, Rwanda, 290 nuclear family, 223, 224 kindred, 243–244, 244
hypothesis, 15 song duel, 283, 284 kinesics, 124
hypoxia, 159 Inupiat Eskimos, 17, 18–20, 214–215 kingdoms, 276, 278
hysteria, 153 Iran, 280, 280 Kingeekuk, Elaine, 127
Kurd nation and, 277–278, 277 kinship, 231–250
Ice Age, 90, 96 Zagros Mountains, 170–171, 170 affinal, 208
identity Iraq bilateral, 243–244
cultural, ethnocide and, 352–353 GDP, 379 clans, 230, 230, 234, 240–242
gender, 146–150 Zagros Mountains, 170–171, 170 consanguineal, 208–209
personal, and mental health, 153– Iroquois system—kinship terminology, defined, 231, 249
154, 155 247, 247 descent groups, 231–239, 242
personality, 139–146, 150–153 irrigation, 29, 29, 167 Eskimo system, 245–246, 245,
religion and, 297 terracing and, 168, 168 246
social identity, 135–139 Islam, 298, 300 fictive kin by adoption, 247–248,
Igbo culture, 281 banking and, 317–318, 317 248
immigrant populations, 238–239, See also Muslims generational system, 246–247, 246
374–377 Islamic State militants, 286, 286 Hawaiian system, 246–247, 246
Inca civilization, 168, 192 Israel, 222, 270, 279, 378 Iroquois system, 247, 247
Index 421
kindred and, 243–244, 244 preservation of, 9, 9 mapping, 58–60

Lévi-Strauss’ studies of, 212 primate capacity for, 86, 112–113, marine archaeology, 11
lineage, 234 127–128, 129 market exchange, 194–195, 194, 201,
making relatives, 247–249 social and cultural settings, 10, 348
new reproductive technology and, 119–123 marketplace, traditional, 180, 180, 194
249 from speech to writing, 128–130, 132 marriage, 146, 205, 206–221, 228
patrilineal kinship organization, 234 talking drums, 126 adultery, 207
relationship diagram, 218 telecommunication, 130–131, 131, arranged, 216–217
Scottish clans, 230, 230, 240 132 bridewealth, 219–220, 221
symbolism in art, 328, 328 tonal, 126 choice of spouse, 215–219
terminology and groups, 244–247, versatility of, 123–124 cousin marriage, 209–210, 210, 218
250 vocal organs, 129, 129 defined, 208
See also descent whistled speech, 126–127, 127 divorce and, 220–221
Knox, Robert, 104 See also linguistics economic exchange, 219–220
Kohistani community, Pakistan, 61 The Last Supper, 327, 327 endogamy and exogamy, 209–210,
Kony, Joseph, 289, 290 Lauren, Ralph, 138 240
Kopenawa, Davi, 354–355, 354 law, defined, 282, 294 fictive, 215
Kpelle culture, 276, 276, 283 Lees, Susan, 258–259 forms of, 211–215
Kuikuro culture, 59 legend, 334, 343 ghost marriages, 215
Kula ring, Trobriands, 190–191, 190, letter, 130 in globalized and technologized
191 leveling mechanism, 193 world, 226–228, 229
Kuper, Adam, 209–210 Lévi-Strauss, Claude, 67, 210, 212, 212 group marriage, 214–215
Kurds, 34, 277–278, 277, 278, 290, 373, Liberia, 276, 276 incest taboo, 209
386 lie detector, 284 Lévi-Strauss’ studies of, 212
Kwakiutl culture, 142 lineage, 234, 240–242 mating vs., 210
spiritual, 304–305 Nayar culture, 208–209, 210
labor, 184–188, 201 lineage exogamy, 240 parallel cousin, 218, 218
child labor, 186, 186 linguistic anthropology, 6, 9–10, 24, regulation of sexual relations and,
division by age, 185–186 132 206–207
division by gender, 161–162, 163, linguistic divergence, 116–117, 117 residence patterns and, 224–225
184–185, 185, 237–238 linguistic nationalism, 118–119 restrictions on, 209–210, 211, 264
task specialization, 187–188, 187 linguistic relativity, 10, 122, 123 rights and benefits transferred with,
Lakwena, Alice, 289–290, 290 linguistics, 114–122, 114 215, 218
land bridge from Siberia to America, descriptive, 9, 114–116, 132 same-sex, 218–219, 220
101 ethnolinguistics, 122–123 wedding rituals, 204, 204
land ownership, 183, 184 historical, 9, 116–119, 132 Mary (Saint), 315, 315
land resources, 183–184, 183 socio-, 119–122, 132 materialist perspective, 68
See also water/land resources Linnaeus, Carolus, 77–78, 78, 103, 104, matrilineal cross-cousin marriage, 218
language, 111–133 106 matrilineal descent, 233, 235–237, 235,
Accelerated Second Language Linton, Ralph, 349 236
Acquisition (ASLA), 121 literacy, 128–131, 131 matrilocal residence, 225
American Sign Language (ASL), 86, little songs (ghinnáwas), 335, 336 Maya culture, 180, 180, 373
111 living bridge, 28, 28 Zapatistas, 52–53, 53, 358, 359
bilingualism, 123–124 llamas, 159, 159, 169 Mbuti Pygmy culture, 163, 164, 190,
click languages, 117, 118 Locke, John, 135 286
colonial suppression of, 119 Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), 289–290, Ota Benga, 104, 105
defined, 111, 131 290 McDonald’s/McDonaldization, 371,
displacement, 127–128 Louie, Andrea, 54 371, 391
divergence of, 116–117, 117 Lower Paleolithic, 89 McGovern, Patrick, 11
ethnolinguistics, 122–123 Lucy (fossil specimen), 88 Mead, Margaret, 62, 62, 140, 391
family, 116 Lucy’s baby, 88 measles, 354
gender in, 115–116, 119–120, 121 Lyme disease, 365 Mecca, Saudi Arabia, 314
gesture–call system, 124–126, 132 media environment, 380, 380
Internet, use on, 119, 119 Maasai culture, 255, 255, 310 mediation, 83–84
literacy, 130–131 magic, 311–313, 322 medical anthropology, 6, 390
loss and revival of, 117–119, 118, 132 witchcraft, 282, 283, 313, 322 Meghalaya, India, 28
morphology, syntax, and grammar, maize, 350–351, 351 mehndi (henna hand/body art), 204,
115–116 malaria, 2 204
nature of, 114 Malinowski, Bronislaw, 38, 39, 39, Mekranoti Kayapo culture, 166–167,
nonverbal communication, 124–126, 64–65, 190 166
124, 133 malnutrition, 364 menarche, 161
origins of, 127–128, 128, 132 Manantali Dam, Mali, 364 Mendel, Gregor, 79
paralanguage, 126 Manila, Philippines, 377, 377 men’s associations, 259
phonology, 115 Maori culture, 232–233, 233 mental disorders, 152–153
422 Index
mental health, 152–155 Mousterian tool tradition, 95, 99 Navajo skin-walkers, 313, 313
mentalist perspective, 67–68 multiculturalism, 373, 391 potlatch, 192–193, 193
Mesoamerica, 171 multiregional hypothesis, 80, 98, 106 reservations as internal colonies,
wheel-and-axle technology, 348 multi-sited ethnography, 53–55, 54 48–49
Mesopotamia, 171 Mundurucu culture, 253, 254 tribal membership dispute, resolving,
metric system, 351 musical art, 335–337, 337, 343 241, 241
Mexico, 196, 350, 360, 373 defined, 336 U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), 50
acculturation in, 50, 50 ethnomusicology, 336 windigo psychosis, 153
Beltrán’s work in, 50, 50 functions of, 338–340, 338 See also specific tribes and cultures
Zapatista Maya insurgency, 52–53, 53, self-identification of minorities and, natural selection, 78–79, 90, 106
358, 359 340 Nauru Island, 384
middens, 11, 25 singing as verbal art, 335, 336 Navajo culture, 313, 313
Middle East, 385 musical instrument Nayar people, 208–209, 208, 210, 222
migrant workforce, 200, 200, 226–228, bagpipes, 349, 350 Nazis, 104–105, 290
226, 374, 374, 376 drums, 126, 338 Neandertals, 92–93, 94–97, 107
migration, 373–377, 391 sacred trumpets, Amazonia, 254, 254 adaptation and climate change,
defined, 373 Muslims, 298 95–96
global, 373–374 adultery, consequences for, 207 appearance of, 94–95, 95
immigrant populations, 238–239, banking and capitalism, 316–318, 317 art, 97
374–377 Bengali, in India, 376, 376 defined, 94
internal vs. external, 373–374 brides/marriages, 204, 204, 210 dress and dwellings, 96–97, 96
of nomads, 26, 26 cousin, in Arabic language, 218 range and migrations of, 94
poverty, urbanization, and slums, fundamentalist, 386 technology and tools, 95, 99
376–377, 377 hajj, 314 negative reciprocity, 190
for work, 374, 374, 376 honor killings, 238–239 negotiation, 294
Mi’kmaq culture, 241, 241 Islamic banking, 317–318, 317 neo-evolutionism, 68
military, 378, 378 Islamic State militants, 286, 286 Neolithic, 164
human terrain system (HTS), 70 jihad, 286, 286 Neolithic revolution, 101, 164
militarizing anthropology, 70 Kurds, 277, 277 defined, 164
technology, 288, 288, 293 regulation of sexual activity, 207 plant and animal domestication, 101,
See also warfare Shariah law, 207, 280, 316–318, 317 164, 165
mobile banking, 131 Sufis, 305, 310 neolocal residence, 225
mobile phones. See cell phones Taliban, 386 Neptune, Jennifer, 342, 342
mobility xenophobia and, 376, 376 Netherlands, 238–239
of food-foraging societies, 160–161 mutation, 80, 81, 106 netnography, 55
of pastoralists, 26, 26, 170–171, 171 Myanmar, 22, 23, 292, 373, 386 new reproductive technology (NRT),
seasonal (transhumance), 169, 169 Rohingya Muslim refugees, 23, 23 226, 249
social, 266–268, 268 Suu Kyi, Aung San, 292, 292 Nigeria, 377
modal personality, 144, 144 myth, 299–300, 321, 332–334, 343 Igbo culture, 281, 281
modern humans, 97–100 creation stories, 332, 332 Nile Valley, Northeast Africa, 171
impact on traditional cultures, 386, defined, 299, 332, 343 nomads, 26, 26, 40, 187, 187
392 nonverbal communication, 124–126,
modernization, 361–366, 367 Nader, Laura, 53, 279, 279 124, 133
burden on women, 363–365 Nader, Ralph, 279 gesture call—system, 124–126, 132
defined, 361 names, personal, 137–138, 138 kinesics, 124
five subprocesses of, 361 Nanda, Serena, 216–217, 217 proxemics, 125, 125
indigenous accommodation to, Nandi culture, 219, 219 nonviolent resistance, 291–292, 292,
361–363, 362 Nash, June, 61 295
reaction against, 386 nation, 22, 34, 277 North America
moiety, 242–243, 242, 243 national character, 50–51, 144–145, 154 core values, 145
molecular anthropology, 12 nationalism, 42–44, 43 culture areas, 160
molecular clock, 80, 106 linguistic, 118–119 energy consumption per country, 385
monarchy, 278 Native American Graves Protection and migrations from Siberia to, 101
money, defined, 195 Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), 12 plants domesticated in, 350
monogamy, 211 Native Americans, 34, 334 North Korean core values, 145, 145
monotheism, 301 bison hunts, 173–175, 175 nuclear family, 223, 223, 224, 245–246
Morales, Evo, 357, 358 Dances With Wolves (movie), 121 nuclear power, 370
Mormons, 214, 322 disease and, 354 nuclear weapons, 288, 370, 378
morphemes, 115–116 gender alternatives, 146–147, 148
morphology, 115–116 gendered speech, 120, 121 Obama, Barack, mother of, 382, 382
Mother Earth, 358, 358 hunting and food provision, 169 obesity, 383, 384
motif, 334–335, 335 languages, preserving and reviving, object orientation, 139
Mount Fuji, Japan, 313 119, 120–121 Oldowan tool tradition, 89, 89
Mount Kailash, Tibet, 314, 314 names/naming, 137 Olympic Games, 372, 372
Index 423
opposable thumb/toe, 81 Patterns of Culture (Benedict), 142 political organization, 272–278, 272, 294
orangutans, 77, 86–87, 87 peacemaking, 291–293 authority, maintenance in, 278,
Chantek, 112–113, 112 peasants, 51–52, 52, 171–172, 349 281–283, 294
Orangutan Sign Language (OSL), defined, 172 centralized, 275–278
112–113 Zapatista Maya revolutionary dispute resolution, trials,
organ transplantation, 4–5, 7 movement, 52–53, 53, 358, 359 punishments, 273–275, 283–284,
orientation, 139, 139 See also serfs 291–293, 295
Original Study, boxed features “Peking Man,” 92 state as, 271, 272, 276–277
arranging marriage in India, 216–217, Penobscot chief’s collar, 342, 342 uncentralized, 272–275
217 pentatonic system, 336–337 politics, 271
blessed curse: intersexed children, performance art, 296, 296, 325, 343 gender and, 280–281
146–147 personal identity, 30, 136–139, religion and, 278–279, 280
Chantek talking in codes, 112–113, 154, 297 pollution, 8, 384–386
112 mental health and, 153–154, 155 polyandry, 214, 215
honor killings in the Netherlands, personality, 139–146, 150–153 polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), 386,
238–239 childrearing and, 140–144, 141, 387
Jewish eruv, 258–259, 258 154 polygamy, 213–214
Mekranoti Kayapo gardens, 166–167, core values, 145–146, 145 polygenic traits, 80, 102
166 cross-cultural perspective, 140–141 polygenism, 104
modern tattoo community, 329–330, cultural relativity and abnormality, polygyny, 213–214, 213
330 152–153 polytheism, 301
reconciliation in primates, 83–85, 84 defined, 140 pope (Roman Catholic), 305
sacred law in global capitalism, 316– dependence training, 141–142 population, 177, 381
318, 317 group personality, 144–146, 144 potatoes, 158
Trobriand women, 64–65, 65 independence training, 142–143 potlatch, 192–193, 193
whispers from the ice, 18–20 interdependence training, 143–144, poverty, 381–382, 384
Ota Benga, 104, 105 143 slums, 377, 377
Ottenheimer, Martin, 211 modal personality, 144, 144 Powdermaker, Hortense, 51
overpopulation, 381 national character, 144–145, 154 power, 271, 272, 275, 278, 294
normal and abnormal, 150–153 defined, 271, 377–378
Pääbo, Svante, 82, 82, 97 sex, gender and, 140–141, 150 hard power, 378–380, 378, 379
Pacific Islands, obesity in, 383, 384 social context of, 150–153 soft power, 378, 380
Paiute culture, North America, 164 See also identity structural power, 377–380
Pakistan, 275, 379 personal names, 137–138, 138 priests and priestesses, 303–304
paleoanthropology, 12 Peru, 168, 168, 171, 259, 259 primary innovation, 348
Paleolithic. See Lower Paleolithic; Upper GDP, 379 primates, 12, 75–78, 76, 81–86
Paleolithic pesticides, 8, 360 anatomical adaptation, 81
Paleolithic prescriptions for diseases of peyote art, 332, 332 behavioral adaptation, 83–86
today, 90 Philippines, 377, 377 culture, 12
Palestine, 270 phonemes, 115 defined, 76
Palestinian refugees, 270, 291 phonetics, 115 evolution and relationships, 86–87,
pantheon, 301 phonology, 115 87, 106
Papua, New Guinea (PNG), 158, 282, photography, 60 humans and, 75–78, 76, 106
365 phratry, 236–237, 242–243, 242 intelligence of, 86
Mead’s studies in, 140 physical anthropology, 12–13 language capacities, 86, 112–113,
Tsembaga culture, 158 physiological adaptation, 13, 159 127–128, 129
Wape hunters in, 282 pigments, 97 learning and tool use, 85–86, 86
witch hunts in, 282 pigs, 158 living species, 76
paralanguage, 126 religious prohibition on, 69 reconciliation in, 83–85, 84
parallel cousin, 218, 218 pilgrimages, 313–315, 314, 322 sexual behavior, 83–84, 84
parallel evolution, 175–176 “pink vigilantes,” 266–267, 266 See also human origins
participant observation, 6, 7, 56, 56 piracy, 285, 285 primatology, 12
Pashtun culture, 275 placebo effect, 308 Probo Koala’s toxic cargo, 388, 388
passive bilingualism, 123 Plains Indian cultures, 173–175, 175 progress, 68, 173
pastoralism, 169–171, 178 plant domestication, 101, 165, 350 defined, 173
Bakhtiari herders, Zagros Mountains, Pleistocene epoch, 90 limits of, 177
170–171, 170 pluralistic society, 33–35, 154, 270, 277, relativity of, 348, 366
Kuchi herders, Afghanistan, 26, 26 373, 391 protests, 324, 325, 338–340, 353
Patacancha Valley, Peru, 168, 168 fragmentation and, 373–377, 391 proxemics, 125, 125
patriarchy, 234–235, 287, 360 global migrations, 373–374 psychosomatic symptoms, 152
patrilineal descent, 233–235, 234 poetry, 331, 335, 338 punishment, 283–284
patrilineal parallel-cousin marriage, polenta, 351 purification rites, 309
218 political ecology, 68 Pussy Riot, 340
patrilocal residence, 224–225 political economy perspective, 68 Pygmies. See Mbuti Pygmy culture
424 Index
qualitative data, 57 secularization and, 319–321, 322, 361 Seck, Saliou (“Zale”), 337
quantitative data, 56–57 specialists in, 303–308, 321 secondary innovation, 348
Quechua culture, 357, 358 syncretism and, 318–319, 322 secularization, 319–321, 322, 361
Quechua language, 116, 123, 357 as worldview, 297, 299–300 self-awareness, 136–137, 136
questions/questionnaires, 58 See also rituals; spirituality; behavioral environment and, 139, 139
Qullasuyu, Bolivia, 357–358, 358 supernatural self-control, 281–282
repressive change, 352–355, 366 self-determination, 367, 386
race, 101–105, 107 reproductive technologies, 226, 249 Self-Employed Women’s Association
Aryan, 104–105 republic, 278 (SEWA), 260
biological concept of, 101–102 residence patterns, 224–225, 229 Senegal River Basin Monitoring
Caucasians, 104 revitalization movements, 318, 319, Activity, 364
defined, 101, 107 322, 356–358, 367 serfs, 263–264
East Asian perspective on, 105 cargo cults, 357 serial monogamy, 211
skin color, 102–104, 107 Qullasuyu, Bolivia, 357–358, 358 sex-based division of labor, 223
social construction of, 103–105, 103, sequence in, 356–357 See also gender
108 revolution, 358–361, 367 sexual behavior, 205–210, 229
“superior” races, idea of, 104–105 cultural, 369–372 attracting sexual partners, 205, 206
Thomas Jefferson’s family, 102 Sámi snowmobile revolution, 362, cultural regulation of, 40, 150, 206,
racial segregation, 264 362 228
racism, 104–105 rites of intensification, 310–311 incest taboo, 209
challenging, 105 rites of passage, 309–310 marriage and regulation of, 206–207
institutionalized, 264 rites of purification, 309 in Nayar culture, 208–209, 208
“one drop rule,” 104 rituals, 309–313, 321–322 primate, 83–84, 84
scientific, 102 adoption, 247–248, 248 same-sex sexual acts, 150, 206, 207
white superiority complex, 104–105, defined, 309 in Trobriand culture, 205–206, 206
105 divination, 267, 312, 312, 322 See also marriage
Radcliffe-Brown, Alfred, 240 intensification rites, 310–311 shaman(s), 305–308
railways in India, 346, 346 magical, 311–313 among Bugis, 148
Rapanui culture, 176–177, 176 passage, rites of, 309–310 defined, 306
rapping, 337 purification and cleansing, 309 Y˛anomami, 354–355, 354
recent African origins hypothesis, 80, taboos, 309 shamanic complex, 308, 308
98, 106 wedding, 204, 204 shamanic experience, 306, 307
reciprocity, 189–191, 189, 201 Rivers, Joan, 138 shamanic healing, 306–308, 308
reconciliation, 83–85, 84 rock or cave art, 74, 74, 99, 100, 330– Shariah (sacred law), 207, 280, 316–318,
redistribution, 192–193, 193, 201 331, 331, 340, 341 317
refugees, 23, 23, 270, 270, 291 Rohingya, 22, 23, 23 Shay, Charles, 342, 342
global migrations, 374, 374 Roman Catholic Church, 305, 348 Shell Corporation, 379, 379
Palestinians, 270, 291 Roosevelt, Theodore, 103 shell necklaces, 190–191, 191
Rohingya Muslims, 23, 23 Rosaldo, Michelle, 62 Shriners, 256
Syrian, 270, 270, 291, 375 Rosetta Stone, 130 Shuar culture, 307, 362–363
world’s largest refugee camp, 375 Russia/Russians, 340, 373, 378, 385 Siberia, 97, 134, 134
reindeer herders, 134, 134, 362, 362 Rwanda, 290 migrations to America from, 101
relatives. See kinship signal, 111
religion, 278–279, 297–323 sacred sites, 313–316, 322 Sign Language
anthropological approach to, 299 desecration of, 315–316 American (ASL), 86, 111
change and, 316–321 sadhus, 150–152, 151, 152–153 Orangutan (OSL), 112–113
defined, 299, 321 saints, 314–315, 315 silent trade, 190
fundamentalist, 386 salt mining, 187, 187 Sima de los Huesos, Spain, 92, 93
leadership/lineage in, 304–305 salvage ethnography, 48, 49, 342 Simpson, Sherry, 18–20
major religions of world, 298, 300 same-sex actions, 150, 206, 207, 207 singing, 335, 336
monotheism, polytheism, and same-sex marriage, 218–219, 220 sites
pantheon, 301 Sámi reindeer herders, 116, 361–362, sacred, 313–316, 322
nonreligious people, 297, 298 362 site selection, 55
as obstacle to change, 348 Samoan culture, 114, 237 six degrees of separation, 22, 22
pilgrimages, 313–315, 314, 322 sanction, 282 skin color, 102–104, 107
pluralism of, 319–321 Sanday, Peggy Reeves, 67 racial segregation and, 264
politics and, 278–279, 280 Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, 123 vitamin D and, 95, 102–103
priests and priestesses, 303–304 satellites, 368, 370, 371 slash-and-burn cultivation, 165
prohibition on eating pigs, 69 Saudi Arabia, McDonald’s in, 371 sleeping habits, 4, 5
revitalization movements, 318, 319, savannah, 87 slums, 377, 377
322 Scheper-Hughes, Nancy, 7 Snow, Clyde C., 16–17
roles of, 298–299, 298 science, anthropology and, 14–15, 24 snowmobile revolution, 362, 362
sacred sites, 313–316 Scotland, 349 soccer, 267, 267
sadhus, 150–153, 151 Scottish clans, 230, 230, 240 social class, 261–264
Index 425
social controls, 282 structural violence, 380–386 Tiriki culture, 255–256

social dialects, 120–122 studying up, 53 Tiwanaku, Bolivia, 357–358
social hierarchy, 268 subculture, 32–33 tonal languages, 126
social identity, 135–139 subsistence, 157–203 toolmaking
social impact assessments, 261 food foraging, 160–164, 161 Acheulean tool tradition, 91
social media, 226, 260 food production, 164–173 atlatls (spear-throwers), 99, 100, 348
social mobility, 266–268, 268 modes of, 160, 178 burin, 99
social networking, 260 pastoralism, 169–171, 178 Mousterian tool tradition, 95, 99
social networks, 230, 252 Sufism, 305, 310 Oldowan tool tradition, 89, 89
social status, 260–268 suicide, 360–361 Upper Paleolithic, 98–100, 99, 100,
indicators of, 264 Sundaland, 97–98 107
sports winners and, 267, 267 supernatural, 283, 296, 300–302, 301, tool use, 91–92, 91, 184
social stratification, 260–268, 272 303, 321 by primates, 85–86, 86
See also stratified societies Vodou (Voodoo), 318–319, 320 totemism, 240–242, 242
social structure, 37 See also magic; shaman(s) Tower of Babel, 128
society, 31–32, 39–40, 260–261, 272 superstructure, 37, 297, 316–321 toxic breast milk, 387, 387
fragmentation, 373–377, 391 surveys, 57–58, 57 toxic cargo, 388, 388
pluralistic, 33–35, 154, 270, 277, 373, sustainable development, 198 toxic waste, 360, 360, 386, 388
391 Suu Kyi, Aung San, 292, 292 Toyota, 379, 379
See also stratified societies sweet potatoes, 158 trade and barter, 190–191, 191, 201
sociolinguistics, 119–122, 132 symbols/symbolism, 35–36 tradition/traditionalism, 356, 386, 392
soft power, 378, 380 in art, 327–328, 327, 328, 328 Trafigura, 388
Somalia, 375, 384 nonhuman use of, 112–113 trance state, 306, 308, 308, 330–331
Somali pirates, 285, 285 syncretic religions, 318–319, 322 transgender, 148, 149, 150
song duel, 283, 284 syncretism, 319, 322, 356, 357 transhumance, 169, 169
South Africa, racial segregation in, 264 syntax, 115–116 transnationals, 374
South America, 159, 159, 165, 385 Syria, conflict in, 290–291, 375 treaty, 291
Inca civilization in, 168, 192 Syrian refugees, 270, 270, 291, 375 trials, 283–284
See also specific countries tribe, 272, 274–275, 275, 294
soy production, 195–197 taboos, 69, 209, 309 tribute, 184, 192
space, social, 125, 125 tabula rasa theory, 135 Trobriand culture, 64–65, 64, 181–183,
spatial orientation, 139, 139 Tai-Li, Hu, 66, 66 182, 237
spear-throwers, 99, 100, 348 Taiwan, 304 cricket in, 356, 357
species, 75–76, 77–78, 106 Taiwanese Buddhists, 304, 304 gender roles, 64–65, 65
branching in primate evolution, 87 tale, 334–335, 335, 343 sexuality, 205–206, 206
defined, 75 Taliban, 386 yam complex, 181–183, 182, 356
speech. See language Talking Circle, 284 Tsamkxao, Toma, 273, 273
spirituality, 297–323 talking drums, 126 Tsembaga culture, 158
anthropological approach to, 299 task specialization, 187–188, 187 Tsimshian culture, 240, 242
change and, 316–321 tattoos, 329–330, 330 Tuareg culture, 138, 138
defined, 299, 321 taxes, 192 Turkish immigrants, 238–239, 375
roles of, 298–299, 298 tea, 194, 194 Tutsis, Rwanda, 290
sacred worldview, 299–300 technology, 184, 226–229, 361 Twitter, 260
spiritual forces, 300–302 defined, 184 Tyson, Edward, 77
spiritual lineage, 304–305 military, 288, 288, 293
See also religion; supernatural reproductive, 226, 249 Uganda, 289–290, 289, 290
sports, 252, 257, 267, 267 See also toolmaking Ulysse, Gina Athena, 4
states, 22, 51, 276–277 telecommunication, 130–131, 131, 132, UN Declaration for the Rights of
as political organization, 271, 272, 340, 361, 368, 368, 369, 393 Indigenous Peoples, 358, 386, 389
276–277, 294 diasporic communities and, 376 underwater archaeology, 11
religion and, 299 interconnectedness, 391 unilineal descent, 233–237
vs. nation, 277 satellites for, 368, 370, 371 unilinear cultural evolution, 68
Stevenson, Matilda Coxe, 14, 14 temporal orientation, 139 United States (US)
Stonehenge, England, 319 terra incognita, 369–370 acculturation in, 352
stone tools. See toolmaking Thailand, 23, 379 African Burial Ground Project, New
stratified societies, 260–268 Thanksgiving Day, legend of, 334 York City, 17, 265, 265
defined, 260 theoretical perspectives, 67–68, 72 Ashanti in New York City, 257, 257
indicators of social status, 264 materialist perspective, 68 “born again” and fundamentalist
maintaining, 264 mentalist perspective, 67–68 citizens, 386
social mobility within, 266–268, 268 theory, 15, 66 chicken production in, 172–173
state and, 276–277 Three Gorges Dam, China, 364 cohabitation rate, 146
structuralism, 67 Tibet, Mount Kailash in, 314, 314 core values in, 146
structural power, 377–380, 391–392 Tibetan Buddhism, 296, 296, 314 cosmetic procedures, 41
defined, 378, 391 Dalai Lama, 305, 306 Declaration of Independence, 264
426 Index
United States (Continued) Virgin of Guadalupe, Mexico, 315, 315 women, 280–281, 363–365
divorce rates, 221 viruses, new, 365 Dalit women’s movement (“Gulabi
energy consumption, 385 visual art, 328–331, 343 Gang”), 266–267, 266
household change in, 225 vitamin D, 95, 102–103 division of labor and, 161–162, 163,
immigrants in, 374–375 Vodou (Voodoo), 318–319, 320 184–185, 185
income inequality, 381 Volkswagen, 379 female saints, 314–315, 315
Jamaican farmhands in, 200, 200 goddesses, 301, 301
marriage prohibitions, 210, 211, 264 Walmart, 379 in political leadership, 280–281,
military spending, 378 warfare, 284–291, 294–295 280
nuclear family, 223 child soldiers, 291 polygyny, 213–214, 213
polygyny in, 214 Christian holy war in Uganda, in Trobriand culture, 64–65, 65
power of, 392 289–290, 290 widowhood, 220
racial segregation in, 264 current armed conflicts, 290–291 woman–woman marriage, 219
reconnaissance satellites, 371 cycle of fighting and feasting, 158 See also gender
religion and, 278–279 drone aircraft, 288 women’s associations, 259–260, 259
same-sex marriage, 220 evolution of, 287–288, 294–295 work, migrating for, 200, 200, 226–228,
Shriners, 256 gender and, 286, 287 226, 374, 374
single-parent households, 224 genocide, 290, 295 World Bank, 372
structural power use by, 378 ideologies of aggression, 288–290 World Council of Indigenous Peoples,
Walmart revenues, 379 Igbo system, 281 386, 389
See also Obama, Barack Islamic State militants, 286, 286 World Health Organization (WHO), 372
Untouchables. See Dalits jihad, 286, 286 worldview, 282, 297, 299–300, 348
Upper Paleolithic, 98–100, 107 motives for, 284–286, 288–289 Worldwide Indigenous Peoples
anatomically modern peoples in, peacemaking and, 291–293 Conference (1982), 386, 389
98–100 rarity in food-foraging societies, 163 Worl, Rosita, 198, 198
art, 99, 100 societies without warfare, 286 Wrangham, Richard, 287
defined, 98, 107 technology and, 288, 288 writing systems, 128–130, 132
toolmaking, 98–100, 99, 100, 107 weapons of mass destruction, alphabet, 130
urban centers. See cities 287–288 birthplaces of, 128
urgent anthropology, 48, 49 See also violence defined, 128
Ury, William L., 293 waste, hazardous/toxic, 360, 360, 386, hieroglyphs, 130, 130
Uyghur culture, 36 388
water/land resources, 183–184, 183 xenophobia, 376, 376
values, core, 145–146, 145 availability of, 161
van Eck, Clementine, 238–239 habitat disturbance/destruction, 386 yams, 181–183, 182, 356
verbal art, 331–335, 343 land ownership, 183, 184 Y˛anomami culture, 55–56, 144, 144,
Victoria (Queen), 280–281 pollution of, 384–386 354
violence, 270, 284–291, 294–295, weapons of mass destruction, 287–288 ethnocide of, 353–355
380–386 wedding rituals, 204, 204 protection and health care, 354–355,
genocide, 290 Weiner, Annette, 64–65, 181–183 354
honor killings, 238–239 Werner, Dennis, 166–167 shaman and political activist,
insurgency, 358, 359–360, 367 West Papua, New Guinea Island, 386 354–355, 354
Islamic State militants, 286, 286 Big Man in, 274–275, 275 Yaqui culture, 8
level of, 286 wheel-and-axle technology, 348 Yupik culture, 63
nonviolent resistance, 291–292, 295 whirling dervishes, 310
piracy, 285, 285 whistled speech, 126–127, 127 Zagros Mountains, Iran, Iraq, and
sex, gender, and, 287 Williamson, Rhonda K., 146–147 Turkey, 170–171, 170
structural, 380–386, 392 windigo psychosis, 153 Zapatista Maya insurgency, 52–53, 53,
xenophobia and, 376, 376 wireless communication, 369 358, 359
in Y˛anomami culture, 55–56 witchcraft, 282, 283, 313, 322 Zhoukoudian cave, China, 91, 92
See also warfare Wolf, Eric R., 348, 349, 349 zooarchaeology, 11

Cultural Anthropology - The Human Challenge

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Cultural

Australia ● Brazil ● Mexico ● Singapore ● United Kingdom ● United States

Cover Image: Chinese women fan dancing

Printed in the United States of America

Dedicated to Na’imah Musawwir Khalil, a bright and beautiful African

knowledge about humanity in its sometimes-bewildering variety—guide your generation in

seeking peace and happiness for all.

Although all humans we know about are capable of

GUATEMALA HONDURAS SENEGAL

COLOMBIA CÔTE D’IVOIRE

1 The Essence of Anthropology 3

7 Patterns of Subsistence 157

Anthropologists of Note The Biology of Human Speech 129

Anthropology Applied Globalscape

Preface xxv Culture Is Integrated 36

The Anthropological Perspective 3 Anthropologist of Note: Bronislaw Malinowski

Participant Observation: Ethnographic Tools The First Bipeds 87

From Speech to Writing 128 Chapter 7

Anthropology Applied: When Bambi Spoke Arapaho: Adaptation 157

Chapter Checklist 154

Chapter 8 Family and Household 221

Chapter 11 Violent Conflict and Warfare 284

Revitalization Movements 318 Chapter 15

Vodou in Haiti 318

Chapter Checklist 366

The Arts 325

Glossary as You Go Anthropologists of Note

A section titled “Cultural Revolutions: From Terra Incog-

States. A staunch supporter of indigenous rights, he

Courtesy of the authors

ways their beliefs and actions might be shaping their research—anthropologists

as for one investigat-

Today, transplants between unrelated individuals are

specialization appear in many of the Biocultural Connection

R anthropology) is the study of patterns of human behavior,

G mitted ideas, values, and perceptions, which are used to

e p scious) standards by which societies—structured groups of

Figure 1.4 Fieldwork

BIOC U LT U R A L CON N E C T ION

106 (6), 347–353. Courtesy of Dr. Elizabeth A. Guillette.

60-month-old 71-month-old 71-month-old 71-month-old

Figure 1.5 Preserving

Living Tongues Institute

Linguistic Anthropology Descriptive Linguistics

Language in Its Social and Cultural Settings Applied Linguistic Anthropology

fishers, laborers, or slaves, and therefore they include

University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Philadelphia

Biological Anthropology Primatology

the heights of immigrants who spent

adapt to their environment, biolog-

Such developmental ad- Pacific

Franz Boas (1858–1942) ● Matilda Coxe Stephenson (1849–1915)

© National Anthropological Archives Smithsonian Museum 1895 Neg 02871000

A N T H ROPOL OGY A PPL I E D

Forensic Anthropology: Voices for the Dead

“We decided we needed

Questions of Ethics decide what changes should, or should not, be introduced

Figure 1.8 A Coltan Miner

The powerful forces driving globalization are technolog-

Based on an illustration created by Laurens van Lieshout

© 2015 Cengage Learning

Jonathan Saruk/Getty Images News/Getty Images

What is anthropology? paleoanthropological survey and excavation, to living