Showing papers in "Annual Review of Anthropology in 1983"

Biomedical Practice and Anthropological Theory: Frameworks and Directions

Abstract: The exploration of "Western" medicine-"Biomedicine"---extends a new frontier in medical anthropology. Anthropologists have returned from abroad to follow trails blazed by sociological pioneers (55, 135). The anthropological venture of self-examination has encountered resistance from our medicine itself (136a) as well as from the anthropological community (142), even its medical division (78). Such resistance attests to the powers of Biomedicine as a sociocultural system and to the epistemological difficulties of reflexive anthropology, in which one's own society provides at once the perspective and the subject of one's examination. By the name Biomedicine we refer to the predominant medical theory and practice of Euro-American societies, a medicine widely disseminated throughout the world (191). Each of its many denominations, "Western," "Cosmopolitan," "Modern," "Scientific," "Allopathic," and "Biomedicine" as well, captures ones of its characteristics, while misleading us in other ways. While Biomedicine may have its principal origins in Western civilization, and has even been a leading edge of modernism (117), it has incorporated and now penetrates other traditions as well (146, 191). Even though it is widespread, the exclusive erudition and catholicism connoted by "Cosmopolitan" (42a, 105a) is inaccurate. Biomedicine may have appeared more recently and changed more

Concepts of Time in Quaternary Prehistory

Abstract: Discussions of time in the archaeological literature have generally been dominated by problems of time measurement. Time concepts, however, have received little attention until recently (3, 11-13, 20, 38, 66, 72, 75, 80, 81, 93, 94, 97, 105, 114), even though they have been a longstanding source of interest to many other disciplines including philosophy, the natural and social sciences, history, and geography (1, 7, 15, 17, 18, 21, 33, 42, 43, 46, 48, 49, 52, 57, 87, 99, 110-112). To a large extent this is traceable to the difficulties of dating. It is only with the relatively recent development and widespread application of radiometric dating methods that archaeologists have begun to free themselves from technical preoccupations and to concentrate more fully on problems of process. Above all, new dating methods have demonstrated that human cultural history extends over a time span of at least two million years. This poses in a new way the issue of how we are to make use of knowledge about the past, what questions we should ask of it, and whether, by archaeological investigation of human activities over this time span, we can learn something new about human nature not available from other sources. I use the term quaternary prehistory here to emphasize an interest, in principle, in a time span of up to two million years. The effect of time concepts on archaeological interpretation can be considered from two points of view. The first examines their influence on the thinking of archaeologists in their interpretation of past behavior. The second examines their influence on the thinking and behavior of prehistoric people and hence on the patterns which contribute to the archaeological record. Contrasting notions of time are more or less implicit in archaeological thinking and have resulted in misguided rivalry between alternative approaches

Schemata in Cognitive Anthropology

Abstract: The aim of this review is to examine the "schema" concept being developed in cognitive science from the perspective of cognitive anthropology. Cognitive science is the inter-disciplipary field that was originally formed around the joint interests of cognitive psychology and computer science and now includes cognitive anthropology and cognitive linguistics as well. Schemata (the plural), which are knowledge structures that are "the building blocks of cognition," pervade theorizing about cognitive organization and function in cognitive science (173). "Schema" is the most widely used term for these knowledge structures (7, 22, 39-41, 51, 80, 95, 96, 102, 120, 121, 142, 144-149, 1 5 1-154, 1 70-175,205,209,212), but they are also referred to as "frames" (138,219), "scenes" (69), "scenarios" (69! 159), "scripts" (1, 2, 183-188), "gestalts" ( 1 1 7-1 1 9), "active structural networks" ( 174), and "memory organi­ zation packets" ( 1 85). "Schema" and these other terms, although they are conceptualized somewhat differently by different writers, depending on their particular aims and in­ terests, bear a striking family resemblance to each other. The emphasis here will not be on differentiating among these terms and concepts, but rather on assembling a composite conceptualization that incorporates the most important aspects of all these variants. Because "schema" is the most commonly occur­ ring term, it will be used for this composite concept, and the other terms will be reserved for distinguishing types of schemata and some of their interrela­ tionships. The schema notion and its importance ip cognitive research have been described and examined in numerous previous reviews. These have been reviews concerned either with cognitive science as a whole (21,94,144) or with work in cognitive psychology ( 100, 101, 142), cognitive social psycholo-

Analysis of Style in Artifacts

Abstract: An immense amount of information on patterns of stylistic variation in prehistoric artifacts has been produced by studies done throughout the history of archaeological research. The construction of space-time frameworks for most regions on the basis of such patterns has produced detailed information on stylistic sequences through time and stylistic distributions across space. Much of that critical information is encoded in complex sets of artifact types which have been developed. When questions concerning stylistic variation move beyond general patterns of variation across space and through time, however, the available information decreases drastically despite the decades of research on stylistic variation. However, significant improvements have been made during the last 20 years. Beginning at least as early as the innovative ceramic sociology studies of the 1960s (11, 27, 41-43, 65), when initial attempts were made to examine the relationship between stylistic variation and aspects of social organization, many new questions about stylistic variation began to be addressed. Can spatial clusters of stylistic attributes smaller than the previously defined culture areas be isolated that might be the result of residence groups, lineages, marriage networks, or clusters of communities cooperating in economic activities? Can studies of stylistic variation lead to more accurate and precise estimates of site occupation dates? Why do rates of stylistic change and degrees of stylistic variation fluctuate so much through time or across space? As the questions about the causes and nature of stylistic variation have increased, so have the number and types of studies. Within the last five years, for example, at least a dozen doctoral dissertations have been written that have focused almost exclusively on issues concerning stylistic variation. In addition, an increasing number of ethnographic studies of patterns of stylistic variation

Anthropologists view american culture

Abstract: Anthropologists, including Franz Boas (7), have written about American culture since the beginning of the discipline. The 1940s witnessed an explosion of interest, expressed well in the popular books by Margaret Mead (80) and Clyde Kluckhohn (60). An early issue of the American Anthropologist (2) was devoted entirely to American culture, and the works of Lloyd Warner (150, 151), John Dollard (20), Allison Davis (16), James West (152), and the Lynds (73, 74) stand today as solid examples of how anthropological concepts and methods of research can be applied to the study of communities in our own complex society. The works cited above were all published before the mid1950s. Various shifts in conceptual ordering and to a minor extent in the methods of research employed by anthropologists in studies both at home and abroad occurred at that time. These shifts include a movement away from the notion of community as a bounded, isolated, and self-sufficient place toward a concept of community as a dependent part of a larger system (59). Vidich and Bensman, for instance, clearly represent this move in their benchmark Small Town in Mass Society (145). A loss of interest in national character and related concepts and a turning to particularistic analyses of single contexts also occur­ red. Spradley and Mann's Cocktail Waitress is a good example (131). The longevity and discontinuity of anthropological approaches, as well as of certain continuities, make this review particularly difficult to write. An ade­ quate analysis would require an in-depth sociology of knowledge approach. Social scientists in general, and anthropologists more than most, seem to project the special disciplinary and intellectual dogmas of their times in their

Human Heat Tolerance: An Anthropological Perspective

Abstract: Joel M. HannaDepartments of Physiology and Anthropology, University of Hawaii at Manta,Honolulu,. Hawaii 96822Daniel E. BrownDepartment of Anthropology, University of Hawaii, Hilt, Hawaii 96720INTRODUCTIONWithin the complex of characteristics which we recognize as distinctly humanare usually listed bipedalism, hairlessness, a large brain, and a symboliclinguistic ability. Each of these characteristics is genetically coded and pro-bably represents a regponse to selective pressures at some time in the past. Ineach case we see a continuation and elaboration of adaptive patterns whichcharacterize the order Primates.Among our human adaptations we must also include the ability to tolerateheat. Human heat tolerance is the result of a series of adaptations which havebeen genetically encoded. All normal members of the species are born with ahighly specialized complex of thermoregulatory sweat glands and a sensitiveconlxol system. It is a plastic system whose response and efficiency becomesmore pronounced with prolonged and intense stimulation. The ability to re-spond to heat is seen in all extant human populations, regardless of theenvironment in which they now live or how many generations they have beenremoved from the heat (22). For those groups living in hot environments, theemployment of cultural mechanisms has served as a buffer mediating betweenthe hot macroenvironment and the organism. Still it is clear that physiologicaladaptations remain of paramount importance in daily survival (80). As is thecase with other human characteristics, we seem to have taken advantage of ourprimate heritage, and with the aid of selection, extended our capacity beyondthat of the other members of the order.2590066-4294/83/1015-0259502.00www.annualreviews.org/aronline Annual Reviews

The Stone Age Prehistory of Southern Africa

Abstract: For more than three decades, between 1924 and 1959, our knowledge of the australopithecine phase of human evolution came entirely from southern Africa. In addition, southern Africa has a longer tradition of stone age studies than any other part of the continent. It was in fact on southern African materials that A. J. H. Goodwin based his now classic definition of Early, Middle, and Late Stone Age culture-stratigraphic stages (29). However, in recent years, both specialists and lay persons have looked increasingly to East Africa for basic insights into human origins and subsequent evolution. The reason is that, beginning at Olduvai Gorge in 1959, East Africa has been the scene of repeated and often spectactular discoveries of australopithecine and other early hominid fossils, and also of very early traces of human behavior. Unlike southern African sites, East African ones often contain volcanic extrusives from which the absolute ages of associated fossils and archeological finds may be estimated. As much or more than the actual discoveries, this has placed East Africa centerstage, while moving southern Africa to the sidelines. Yet paleoanthropological research has continued vigorously in southern Africa, and even today the southern African australopithecine sample remains larger than that from East Africa. Equally important, beginning in the mid1960s, intensive, multidisciplinary research on the later phases of human evolution in southern Africa has led to some unique discoveries of potential global significance. Perhaps chief among these is the possibility that anatomically modern people (Homo sapiens sapiens) appeared in southern Africa earlier than anywhere else in the world. In addition, there is some unparalleled evidence for Stone Age human ecology, including evidence for evolution in

Current Directions in West African Prehistory

Abstract: The tempo of prehistoric research in Africa has quickened remarkably during the past decade, necessitating important revisions in our understanding of the archaeological record. Africa's past in general is emerging as more complex, and more instructive from a comparative point of view, than earlier believed. With the more routine application of radiometric dating, old assumptions about chronology have fallen. Earlier it had seemed that Middle and Late Stone Age technologies appeared very late in sub-Saharan Africa compared with analo­ gous Middle and Upper Paleolithic industries in Europe. This apparent lag led Graham C. Clark to declare in 1971 (51, p. 181) that much of Africa during the Late Pleistocene "remained a kind of cultural museum in which archaic tradi­ tions continued ... without contributing to the main course of human prog­ ress." Recent dates demonstrate that technological innovations like flake tools produced on prepared cores, punch-struck blades, and burins appear in Africa at about the same time they did in Europe (20,28, 269). Far from remaining a "cultural backwater," as Clark further suggested (51, p. 67), it now appears possible that micro lithic technology, pottery, and cattle domestication were indigenous African developments. Improved chronological resolution has also revealed that the pattern of technological change in Africa was frequently mosaic in character. Just as stone-tool using hunter-gatherers continued to inhabit regions subject to settle­ ment by Iron Age farming groups up until this millennium in parts of Africa, so prepared core flake technology may have coexisted alongside backed micro­ lithic technology in the prehistoric past (191). This complex situation is quite different from the more homogeneous pattern of technological change familiar from Europe.

A Survey of Afro-American English

Abstract: The general field of research regarding Afro-American language is substantial, and I will examine a portion of the more productive trends here. This review is divided into four general sections: educational research, theoretical linguistic studies, anthropological research, and emerging topics. Those who are already familiar with the field will appreciate that these divisions are somewhat arbitrary, because several of the same scholars have produced research in more than one of these areas. This has, in actuality, been a source of interdisciplinary strength for Afro-American studies in general, and language related research in particular. Some additional background is necessary nevertheless, because of the controversial foundation of much of this literature, as well as rapid linguistic changes among Afro-American populations. It is essential to distinguish between Afro-American language, in the hemispheric sense of the term, and the dominance of studies on varieties of black American English, with primary emphasis on usage in the United States. In the first instance we find that Haitain French, dialects of Cuban Spanish, and select dialects of Brazilian Portuguese fall properly within the scope of Afro-American language. In the available space I will concentrate on the English-related studies, since they are the most substantial. The broader topic of Afro-American language is nevertheless quite interesting because the African slave trade has left unmistakable linguistic impressions on several languages and dialects throughout North and South America.

Anthropology of Eastern Europe

Abstract: This essay presents an overview of East Europeanist sociocultural anthropological research concentrating on the work of American anthropogists. Given the relatively late maturation of this field, most work has been published during the past decade. In recent years, the field has been marked by a great diversity in theoretical and methodological approaches. This survey concentrates on research by Americans and, with few exceptions, materials published in English in Western journals are considered. The contributions of East European ethnologists have been crucial to defining the field, and the works of a few selected scholars form an integral part of this survey. We define the region surveyed by this article as the Slavic states of Europe outside the U.S.S.R. and the geographically contiguous states of Albania, Hungary, and Romania, excluding East Germany for sociocultural historical reasons. National and even regional boundaries severely restrict work as they frequently tend to be self-conscious entities, often with strong feelings of ethnocentrism. Anthropological research, since it does tend to concentrate on locally defined cultural units, is particularly susceptible to these influences. Aspects of this situation are apparent in certain titles cited. For the most part,

Adaptation to High Altitude

Abstract: The high altitude environment poses a severe challenge for human adaptation. The availability of our most vital nutrient, oxygen, is reduced at high altitudes. Human beings cannot live without oxygen for more than a few minutes, yet its supply is reduced by one-half at the highest altitudes at which human populations live. Most human beings live today and have lived in the past at sea level. However, approximately 20 to 30 million people live and successfully reproduce at elevations over 2500 m (2). How has adaptation to high altitude been achieved? Are problems encountered for adaptation to high altitudes in contemporary populations? By what mechanism(s) does high altitude adaptation take place? This article reviews recent studies of the effects of high altitude which pose problems for human adaptation. "Recent" is considered to mean published within the past 6 years, although exception is made for a few pre-1978 reports where no more recent publication has appeared. "High altitude" is arbitrarily defined as elevations above 2500 m. The problems of adaptation are discussed in the integrating framework of the human life cycle. Emphasis is placed throughout the article on the role played by the physiological system of oxygen transport for mediating effects of high altitude and identifying mechanisms by which adaptation may occur.

Evolution of a Teacher

Abstract: my family. Here was a mixture of biological evolution, archaeology, and cultural anthropology which appealed to me. At that time I had been consider­ ing majoring in zoology and, possibly, going to medical school, but I quickly changed the plan to a major in anthropology with the idea of choosing a career later on. I never went back to the earlier plans. During vacations from school I had done volunteer work in the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology for which eventually I was paid 25 cents an hour. This was the depth of the Great Depression, and any pay was appr eciated. Although my major was anthropology, friends in the MCZ were very important in my life. Glover Allen, then Curator of Mammals, not only supervised my first job and advised me over many years, but finally served on my oral examinations. I took his course on mammals and wrote my undergraduate honors thesis in his department. Barbara Lawrence, Allen's assistant and later successor, was a great help, guiding me through the problems of classification. The Director of the MCZ, Thomas Barbour, was an encouraging friend, and Harold Coolidge helped me and later included me in his research plans. I stress this network of old friends in the Museum because over a number of years they provided guidance and escape from a number of anthropological errors which were common at that time. The late E. A. Hooton was my principal professor and his teaching strongly influenced my interests. Up From the Ape was the bible for physical anthropo­ logists for a number of years, and that, plus the one-year laboratory course, formed the basis of the physical anthropology program. Peop le have often asked me about Hooton and about the reasons for his success as a teacher. Hooton was enthusiastic, imaginative, and helpful. These qualities, plus his sense of humor, came across very clearly in the introductory course. The

Variation in Prehistoric Agricultural Systems of The New World

Abstract: In this paper we present a brief summary of prehistoric agricultural develop­ ments as they are presently understood in the New World. Constraints prevent detailed evaluation of all of the cultural areas defined in the New World. Emphasis is placed, therefore, on Mesoamerica and the Central Andes, where aboriginal high cultures were found. The American Southwest, Midwest, Southeast, and Eastern Woodlands are not treated even though agriculture was an important part of cultural development in those areas. The fact that many important cultigens now shared by the world came from the Mesoamerican and Central Andean areas places a priority on understanding something about food production of the American past. Within these cultural areas we attempt to show research trends that have occurred over the past two decades. Since more intensive work has been done in Mesoamerica, it receives the greatest attention. The central question for Mesoamerica and the Central Andes has been the relationship of food produc­ tion to the rise and fall of the state ( 15, 57, 73, 108, 1 17). Over the past decade the question has been redefined in terms of a significant increase in information obtained from an extensive amount of fieldwork.

A Decade of Morphology and Word Formation

Abstract: to the internal structure of words. This article will comprise a review of that work. My review pretends neither to complete­ ness nor to impartiality. I have tried instead to take what seem to me to be the important developments and form them into a reasonably coherent picture of the field as it stands. Those I have omitted may enjoy the revenge of history. Morphology is one of the oldest concerns of linguistics. The term morpholo­ gy was coined in the early nineteenth century to refer generally to any science whose main object is form; the first specifically linguistic use dates from this early period and unlike many other terms its meaning has not changed signifi­ cantly in the interval since. Morphology was central to nineteenth century linguistics for two reasons. First, traditional gramm ar, out of which modern linguistics grew, had been morphologically based, as all of us know too well who have learned their Latin declensions and conjugations. Second, the comparative method of historical linguistics, which provided the most spectacular successes of nineteenth cen­ tury linguistics, which indeed made linguistics into a respectable modern