Showing papers in "American Anthropologist in 1983"
TL;DR: In this paper, experimental evidence from the domain of color perception is presented for a version of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis that is considerably weaker than the version usually proposed, and it is shown that color perception can be improved.
Abstract: Experimental evidence from the domain of color perception is presented for a version of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis that is considerably weaker than the version usually proposed.
833 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors suggest that women contribute relatively less to agriculture when it becomes intensive because their domestic work and fertility have increased, and that most men contribute more to agriculture in societies cultivating intensively.
Abstract: This paper suggests why the intensification of agriculture is associated with a relative decline in women's participation in agriculture. The statistical evidence described here is consistent with the theory that women contribute relatively less to agriculture when it becomes intensive because their domestic work and fertility have increased. It is also argued that most men may be able to contribute more to agriculture in societies cultivating intensively because hunting, warfare, and trade are not so likely to pull them away from crop production [women's contribution to subsistence, agricultural intensification, time allocation, fertility, cross-cultural]
141 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that fertility transition in contemporary societies occurs when changes in the labor market and the opportunity structure produce a situation in which personal material well-being is determined more by formal education and skill training than personal relationships.
Abstract: This paper argues that fertility transition in contemporary societies occurs when changes in the labor market and the opportunity structure produce a situation in which personal material well-being is determined more by formal education and skill training than personal relationships. These changes have the effect of sharply limiting or eliminating the expected intergenerational income flows from or through children leading to limitations on family size. This modification and extension of Caldwells wealth flows model facilitates an analysis of historical regional and social class-specific differences in the onset and pace of the demographic transition and points to new macro-level socioeconomic indicators. Claims of a modified wealth flow theory are supported by data from the Caribbean where there have been significant changes in the moral economy of childbearing and family relationships. The authors modifications to wealth flow theory incorporate several new macro-level indicators: change in opportunity structure between time t-n and time t (defined as the percent of the labor force engaged in agriculture around 1980) the ability to use formal schooling to create and/or maintain acceptable material standards of living (defined as the product of the percentage change of proportion of the labor force in agriculture in 1960-80 and secondary school enrollment as a percent of age group) and a culturally relevant starting point (defined as the product of the crude birth rate in 1960 and the natural logarithm of the 1960 infant mortality rate). Future research needs to specify more rigorously the model using measures of real wage rates and agricultural mechanization as well as nonagricultural employment. Also needed specification is a model for fertility at the micro-level that includes an explicit linkage with macro-level variables. Such analyses may resolve puzzling discrepancies between fertility trends and trends in education infant mortality and family planning encountered by studies focused on aggregated data.
131 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a set of morphological boundary conditions are presented, correlating general parameters of ceramic form with general classes of vessel function, and the resulting parameters can be applied to archeological assemblages to produce new insights into settlement systems and economies.
Abstract: signed and made according to a specifiable set of morphological boundary conditions. Ethnographic data are presented, correlating general parameters of ceramicform with general classes of vessel function. We then illustrate how the resulting parameters can be applied to archeological assemblages to produce new insights into settlement systems and economies. Until recently, ethnographers have paid little attention to ceramic formal/functional analysis. A number of ethnographic studies have focused on ceramic technology and methods of manufacture (e.g., Foster 1948; Lothrop 1927; Mackay 1929; Machlachlan 1940; Rendon 1951; Stone 1951; Watson 1955; Raven-Hart 1962; Hankey 1968; Waldeman 1972; Rye 1976, 1981; and many others). These sources lack information relating vessel forms to usage patterns and thus are only indirectly useful in our study. Likewise, several excellent studies are available concerning the esthetic decisions and learning patterns within communities of potters (Bunzel 1929; Stanislawski and Stanislawski 1978; Friedrich 1970). Again, few data are presented correlating ceramic form and usage. Among the few functionally oriented studies, Linton (1944) assembled information on the structural features of cooking pots. Thompson (1958, esp. pp. 59-63) incorporated formal/ functional correlations into his study of modern Yucatecan Maya ceramics. More recently, Solheim (1965) and Matson (1974) provided unillustrated accounts of the functions of South-
128 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the ecological approach to state formation in its current form; to suggest how a greater emphasis on social components and their interactions can enhance our understanding of why and how states emerge.
Abstract: It has become increasingly difficult to account for state formation solely in terms of ecological variables. It is suggested that consideration of prestate political structure and the interplay of ecological variables and political dynamics (political ecology) would enhance our understanding of why and how states emerge. The Aztecs provide a case for examination. [Aztecs, ecology, political competition, state origins] THE STATE IS A POWERFUL, COMPLEX, PERMANENTLY INSTITUTED SYSTEM Of centralized political administration. It exercises sovereignty in carrying out basic political functions (maintaining territorial rights, maintaining internal order, making and executing decisions regarding group action), and its authority in these matters is buttressed by sovereignty in the use of force within its jurisdiction (Keesing 1976:348; Sahlins 1968:4-7; Yoffee 1979:14-17). States are characterized by administrative complexity; administrative personnel are hierarchically ordered and specialized by administrative tasks (Johnson 1973:1-4; Wright 1978:49-68). The numerous attempts to explain why states emerge in some times and places but not others have been dominated by two contrasting approaches: the ecological and the structural. The first, based on the work of Julian Steward, relates state formation to the problems and/or opportunities presented to a human population by its environmental setting. In this approach, population growth and its resulting pressures provide the dynamic for state formation, and at least the initial stages are said to be promoted by the ecological benefits that the state confers on its general population. The second approach, growing out of the Marx-Engels tradition, regards state formation as a process generated by particular sociocultural orders. Certain types of societies (stratified societies, for example) are said to possess an internal dynamic that exerts pressure for state formation even when the relationship between the human population and its environment is stable. In this approach, the focus is less on a human population as a whole and more on social components and their interactions. Of these two approaches, the first has received a greater share of attention and has been elaborated more fully. As a result, some of its difficulties are now evident. The structural approach has been less thoroughly explored. This paper has three objectives: to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the ecological approach to state formation in its current form; to suggest how a greater em
120 citations
TL;DR: The nature of institutions is nothing but their coming into being (nascimento) at certain times and in certain guises as discussed by the authors, such and not otherwise are the institutions that come into being.
Abstract: The nature of institutions is nothing but their coming into being (nascimento) at certain times and in certain guises. Whenever the time and guise are thus and so, such and not otherwise are the institutions that come into being—Vico, The New Science.
107 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a preliminary study of FBD marriage in Lebanon reveals similar support for Westermarck's theory, and the Lebanese patrilateral parallel cousin marriages examined produced significantly fewer children and more divorces than nonpaternal first cousin unions.
Abstract: In the past decade, several reports, including data from Taiwan on the sim-pua form of marriage, have provided evidence for the Westermarck Hypothesis, a heretofore unpopular explanation of the incest taboo. This theory states that intimate childhood association breeds sexual disinterest. A preliminary study of FBD marriage in Lebanon reveals similar support for Westermarck's theory. The Lebanese patrilateral parallel cousin marriages examined produced significantly fewer children and more divorces than nonpaternal first cousin unions. Given the quite disparate cultures from which this evidence comes, serious reconsideration of Westermarck's Hypothesis is suggested. [incest taboo, FBD marriage, Lebanon, Middle Eastern sexuality]
90 citations
TL;DR: The economics and technology of maritime subsistence of coastal Peru are more complex than previously thought, and the nutritional values of terrestrial versus maritime foods are debatable as mentioned in this paper, and the dynamics of El Nino events are complex.
Abstract: Recent arguments stating that marine resources were relatively unimportant in cultural developments on the coast of Peru during the Preceramic Period are incorrect on several counts. It is shown that the economics and technology of maritime subsistence of coastal Peru are more complex than previously thought, that the nutritional values of terrestrial versus maritime foods are debatable, that the dynamics of El Nino events are complex, and that maritime resources must still be seen as important for Preceramic Period economies. [Central Andes, coastal adaptations, ecological anthropology, origins of complex societies]
84 citations
TL;DR: Brent Berlin's proposed “general principles of classification and nomenclature” are examined as they apply to folk biology in Ndumba, a Papua New Guinea highlands society.
Abstract: Brent Berlin's proposed “general principles of classification and nomenclature” are examined as they apply to folk biology in Ndumba, a Papua New Guinea highlands society. Focusing on Ndumba folk zoology, supplemented with a previous analysis of their folk botany, Berlin's analytical schema for ethnobiological classification is supported, but principles of nomenclature in ethnobiology appear to be in need of reconsideration. [ethnosemantics, folk biology, language universals, Papua New Guinea]
75 citations
TL;DR: Sharer, Robert J., and Arlen F. Chase 1976 New Town Ceramic Complex. In Prehistoric Pottery Analysis and the Ceramics of Barton Ramie..
Abstract: Sharer, Robert J., and Arlen F. Chase 1976 New Town Ceramic Complex. In Prehistoric Pottery Analysis and the Ceramics of Barton Ramie. Peabody Museum Memoirs, Vol. 18. Cambridge: Harvard University. Smith, Robert E. 1971 The Pottery of Mayapan. Papers of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Vol. 66. Thompson, J. Eric S. 1970 Maya History and Religion. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. 1981 The Itza of Tayasal, Peten. In Ancient Mesoamerica, Selected Readings. J. A. Graham, ed. pp. 297-303. Palo Alto, Calif.: Peek Publications. (Orig. 1951.) VonDaniken, Erich 1974 Chariots of the Gods? New York:
74 citations
TL;DR: The A.A. presente des donnees reunies a Oaxaca (Mexico) montrant que la classification des systemes humoraux (produits alimentaires) est organisee selon le contexte, de telle facon que la valeur assignee a ses elements varie selon l but a atteindre.
Abstract: L'A. presente des donnees reunies a Oaxaca (Mexique) montrant que la classification des systemes humoraux (produits alimentaires) est organisee selon le contexte, de telle facon que la valeur assignee a ses elements varie selon le but a atteindre. Un certain nombre de structures cognitives gouvernent ce processus fournissant aux individus differents outils de classification.
TL;DR: The theory of plate tectonics contends that the continental plates occupied by humanity are in motion as mentioned in this paper, which can induce ground slope change and modify land-to-sea level relationships, thereby altering the distribution of surface and subsurface runoff, leading to abandonment of agricultural land.
Abstract: The theory of plate tectonics contends that the continental plates occupied by humanity are in motion. The hypothesis of agrarian collapse (HA C) holds that gradual, as well as seismic, earth movement can induce ground slope change and modify land-to-sea level relationships, thereby altering the distribution of surface and subsurface runoff, which can lead to abandonment of agricultural land. Mechanical principles underlying ongoing abandonment are detailed for large-scale irrigation systems of the Andean Cordillera ATegra. These principles are compatible with a historical scenario integrating urban development at pre-Hispaic Chan Chan, capital of the Chimor polity, with expansion, reform, and collapse of the city's agricultural hinterland. The applicability of the mechanics of agrarian collapse to two other centers of past civilization is briefly considered. [agriculture, complex society, applied archeology, Peru]
TL;DR: It is demonstrated that all high altitude Himalayan populations for which published data exist exhibit moderately high fertility and fecundity, and do not differ significantly in their fertility levels, and it is argued that the claims for a statistically significant difference in fertility between high, moderate, and low altitude Himalaya populations are groundless.
Abstract: This paper presents new demographic findings for a high altitude Himalayan population residing in Ladakh, India, and reviews problematic issues regarding the hypothesized relationship between fertility/fecundity and altitude in the Himalayas in light of these findings. It concludes that the low completed fertility ratio reported for the Sherpas of Khumbu, Nepal, is not caused by hypoxia-induced low fecundity, but is the product of cultural factors affecting the exposure of females to the risk of intercourse, a critical confounding factor that has not received adequate consideration in previous studies. Contrary to earlier reports, the present study demonstrates that all high altitude Himalayan populations for which published data exist exhibit moderately high fertility and fecundity, and do not differ significantly in their fertility levels. Furthermore, it argues that the claims for a statistically significant difference in fertility between high, moderate, and low altitude Himalayan populations are groundless, and suggests that a parallel reevaluation of Andean findings is required. [fertility, fecundity, hypoxia, Himalayas, Andes]
TL;DR: In this article, Winterhalter and Smith present an analysis of the Hunter-Gatherer Foraging Strategies: Ethnographic and Archeological Analyses. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1981.
Abstract: Hunter-Gatherer Foraging Strategies: Ethnographic and Archeological Analyses. Bruce Winterhalter and Eric Alden Smith, eds. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1981. x + 268 pp. $18.00 (cloth), $7.50 (paper).
TL;DR: In this article, a competitive marketplace in St. Louis, Missouri is analyzed in a multiple regression to test for the existence of reciprocal equilibrating relationships between merchants and consumers, and the interpretation of variables representing each firm's price level and consistency of stock reveals that economic custom is important even in this competitive marketplace.
Abstract: Dyadic, reciprocal equilibrating relationships, such as trading partnerships in agrarian markets, have been reported from many societies. Data from a competitive marketplace in St. Louis, Missouri is analyzed in a multiple regression to test for the existence of such relationships between merchants and consumers. The interpretation of variables representing each firm's price level and consistency of stock reveals that economic custom is important even in this competitive marketplace. [economic behavior, industrialized marketplaces, U.S. economy]
TL;DR: In this article, the authors consider the significance of the fact that one may know and use a word without being able to recognize its empirical referent, and present some data collected from urban American college students concerning kinds of trees.
Abstract: Most every day, I have occasion to indulge in loose talk. I tell someone about something I have never seen and could not recognize were I to bump into it. On the other hand, some portions of my world are quite familiar, but I am hard pressed to talk about them for lack of their names. Considering the number of named categories I cannot recognize and the number of familiar objects I cannot properly name, it is almost a surprise to find that I routinely name and recognize a vast portion of my world. Not everything I say is loose talk. Yet, it is clear that the ability to talk about and the ability to recognize are independent skills. This paper considers the significance of the fact that one may know and use a word without being able to recognize its empirical referent. The first section presents some data collected from urban American college students concerning kinds of trees. At least within this limited domain, the average American knows the names for more kinds of trees than he or she is
TL;DR: In this paper, an explanatory model is presented that accounts for 65% of the observed variability in aboriginal horse herd size(s) and explains variability in horse numbers and horse-to-person ratios.
Abstract: Considerable attention has been given by anthropologists, including ethnohistorians, to the impact of domesticated horse use on aboriginal societies in western North America. The spatial and temporal distribution of horses, as well as variation in herd size, has traditionally been explained within a cultural diffusionist or historical particularist paradigm. It is argued here that not only has such an approach failed to account for the distribution and abundance of horses, but it also has proven to be an unproductive research strategy. An ecologically based explanatory model is presented that accounts for 65% of the observed variability in aboriginal horse herd size(s). An explanation of variability in horse numbers and horse-to-person ratios is essential if anthropologists seek to better understand equestrian adaptations. [equestrian adaptations, horse ecology, Plains-Basin-Plateau ethnology]
TL;DR: Using multidimensional methods, the authors compare two domains: (1) individual cognitive "maps" from disease terms and (2) hand-drawn maps, both with one another and with an official topographic map.
Abstract: Disease and geography are related domains for Tojolabal-Maya. Using multidimensional methods, we compare two domains: (1) individual cognitive "maps"from disease terms and (2) hand-drawn maps, both with one another and with an official topographic map. Multivariate study of individual informant data demonstrates correspondence of the axes of maps. Least squares fitting of dimensional representations using a method specifically modified for ethnosemantic data allows meaningful comparisons both among and within informants, and with an aggregate from a related survey of 33 informants as well. These multivariate operations help integrate individual data, sampled simultaneously for several domains, tasks, and occasions, with aggregate data. For semantic domains, we achieved rapprochement between psychological and anthropological approaches. [disease, folk theories, ethnosemantics, cognition, multivariate, Tojolabal-Maya] DISEASE AND GEOGRAPHY ARE RELATED DOMAINS for the Tojolabal, a Mayan Indian group of about 30,000 living in the southern part of Chiapas, Mexico.' Using multidimensional scaling, we study the two domains. We compare individual cognitive "maps" from disease terms and hand-drawn geographic maps, both with one another and with an official topographic map. In studying the cognition of disease among the Tojolabal, our concern has been to learn the meanings of disease terms to the native. This problem holds both practical and theoretical interest: practical because modern health care delivery systems are now being extended to the Tojolabal zone, and their acceptance is sometimes problematic; theoretical because this work bears on a classic strand of investigation in cognitive anthropology, testing for psychological reality.
Journal Article•
TL;DR: Wissler receives scant notice today although he was a major figure in American anthropology as discussed by the authors, during the decades when the historical particularism of Franz Boas dominated American cultural anthropology, Wissler's theories provided a nomothetic alternative.
Abstract: Wissler receives scant notice today although he was a major figure in American anthropology. During the decades when the historical particularism of Franz Boas dominated American cultural anthropology, Wissler's theories provided a nomothetic alternative. His theories are in current use in various guises. The importance of Wissler has been obscured to some extent because he is often misclassified as a Boasian. However, he consciously worked outside of Boas's influence.
TL;DR: Les sites Maya de la zone des lacs du Peten central (Guatemala) and the representation du serpent dans la decoration de la poterie post-classique as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Les sites Maya de la zone des lacs du Peten central (Guatemala) et la representation du serpent dans la decoration de la poterie post-classique. Le serpent Maya est une partie d'une creature reptilienne composite incorporant des elements de la tete et du corps de serpents, lezards, iguanes, alligators/caimans. Etude des symboles et des styles.
TL;DR: The concept of implicit culture refers to the psychological dispositions, perceptions, and motivations which are shared by people with similar backgrounds and experiences and which lend organization and direction to overt behavior as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: awareness is implicit, in contrast with the explicit and easily observable behavior readily described by thousands of anthropological studies. Implicit culture has been here all the time, like the dark side of the moon, but we have had neither the interest nor the research capabilities for its exploration. The concept of implicit culture refers to the psychological dispositions, perceptions, and motivations which are shared by people with similar backgrounds and experiences and which lend organization and direction to overt behavior. Its powerful influence and the hidden nature of this influence make
TL;DR: In fact, it might be fair to say that Margaret Mead has once again had a hand in giving anthropology public direction, both as prop for Freeman's high view and through her continued presence as scholar, writer, friend, and mentor in the debates over her work as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: intrinsic value in that. But the image of Freeman feeding an intellectual granary still leaves the story short. Freeman's approach to criticizing Mead has been less domestic than military. His call to battle has forced a fight over thought about Samoa and fieldwork, comparative ethnography, historical continuity and culture change, proper analytic language in ethnographic reports, anthropology's public image, and much more. Through it all, one cannot help but notice that he has made his call from a higher horizon by climbing on the back of a popular giant. In fact, it might be fair to say that Margaret Mead has once again had a hand in giving anthropology public direction, both as prop for Freeman's high view and through her continued presence as scholar, writer, friend, and mentor in the debates over her work.
TL;DR: The definition of "encoding" and "basic color term" is useful in that it is explicit and conceptually equivalent to the "breakdown" definition; to break down a composite implies a simultaneous naming of its primaries.
Abstract: Berlin and Kay (ibid.) and Kay and McDaniel (1978) for discussions concerning the naming of the "universal inventory of eleven color categories," including "primary," "derived," and "composite" types. We need to carefully define "encoding" and "basic color term." Normally in the literature the process of basic color term addition to a language is defined vaguely as the breakdown of composite categories into their component primaries and the subsequent naming of derived categories. Here, "to encode" means "to assign a basic color term to a noncomposite category, such that a one-to-one correspondence exists between category and name." The definition is useful in that it is explicit and conceptually equivalent to the "breakdown" definition; to break down a composite implies a simultaneous naming of its primaries. In addition, the definition allows the possibility of recognizing derived color categories in basic color
TL;DR: Harner ( 1977) and Harris (1977) propose a cultural materialist explanation for the large number of sacrifices carried out by the Aztecs by stating that these provided raw material for cannibalism.
Abstract: Harner (1977) and Harris (1977) propose a cultural materialist explanation for the large number of sacrifices carried out by the Aztecs by stating that these provided raw material for cannibalism. Cannibalism, in turn, was needed to provide the protein missing in Aztec diets. The magnitude of these sacrifices was given at 15,000 annually in Tenochtitlan and 250,000 in Central Mexico. Harner argues that the overwhelming majority of the victims were eaten. He describes the sacrificial ritual as follows: