Showing papers in "Annual Review of Anthropology in 1985"

Dental Evidence for the Diet of Australopithecus

Abstract: Explaining human structure in functional and adaptive terms and constructing a picture of behavioral changes in the course of human evolution are among the goals of evolutionary studies. Over the years many attempts have been made to interpret the behavior and ecology of Australopithecus, the earliest undoubted member of the human family. Such attempts have used information about environments offossil deposition, the nature of the death assemblages, cultural associations, and the animals and plants with which australopithecines are found. One of the most important sources of information about australopithe­ cine diets has been the anatomy of the animals themselves, especially the teeth . It is this last source that is examined critically here. The basis for most reconstruction of the behavior of extinct animals is the analogical argument. We observe a pattern of behavior in a living species and note that such behavior is associated with an anatomical specialization. When a similar specialization is observed in an extinct species, that animal is inferred to have behaved in a similar way. By building up a catalog of such behavioral inferences, the broad patterns of behavior and ecology of a paleospecies emerge. Of course, this commonsense approach has difficulties, many of which are reviewed and debated in recent literature (3, 31, 58) . Many theories have been advanced about the dietary adaptations of Australo­ pithecus and early Homo. Some of these theories have utilized the evidence of australopithecine dental structure. J . T. Robinson (46) proposed that diets differed in the two species of Australopithecus then known. The larger species, A. robustus. was primarily a vegetarian whereas the smaller species, A . africanus. ate meat as well as vegetable foods. Largely in agreement with Robinson, Jolly (25) envisioned primitive Australopithecus. as exemplified by

Mining: anthropological perspectives

Abstract: Despite his antiquity, the miner, like Geertz's peasant, was recently discovered by anthropologists. This discovery, not fortuitously, came when the energy and environmental crisis made us all aware of the finite supply of nonrenewable natural resources and the limits of industrial growth. If interest in mining came late, systematic studies of mining have yet to arrive. Paraphrasing Geertz, one is not likely to find ideas, much less a coherent system of ideas, in anthropological studies of mining. The aims of this essay are: (a) to review the anthropological literature on mining, drawing attention to the contributions of neighboring disciplines, and (b) to identify promising avenues for future research. The review deals with hard, nonfuel minerals. Oil, gas, coal, and uranium are dealt with only incidentally. Stress is placed on the extractive and not on the processing or marketing stages for the sake of coherence and brevity. The review is divided into three sections. The first deals with mineral economics; the second contains a discussion of the demographic, social, and political characteristics of mining communities; the final section involves mining rituals, beliefs, and ideology. Implicit in this tripartite division is a view of mining consisting of an economic base and a derivative sociopolitical and ideological superstructure.

Sustenance and Symbol: Anthropological Studies of Domesticated Animals

Abstract: For nearly as long as anything can be inferred about human cognition, paleoan­ thropologists and archaeologists believe humans have thought carefully about animals, about the "predominant characteristic" of each animal, and about those "contradictory elements" that make up humankind. This careful thought has had many outcomes, some scientific, others not . Among the scientific outcomes in the 19th century was evolutionary thinking about the causes and consequences of domestication, including Charles Dar­ win's study (32) of the mechanics of human (artificial) selection of domesti­ cated animal and plant population characteristics. In the 20th century, theoreti­ cal refinements and the painstaking collection of empirical data have led to studies of such disparate phenomena as the physical consequences of keeping pets (12); the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria as a result of feeding antibiotics to livestock (117); and the evolutionary consequences of milk­ drinking (99). Speculation about the origins of human-animal interaction is not the exclu­ sive province of scientists: religions and storytellers alike customarily try to account for the beginnings of human-animal interaction . Genesis does so

Text and Discourse

Abstract: Speaking, listening, writing, and reading are integral aspects of what we seek to convey by such notions as culture, symbolism, identity, and community when we examine human daily life across its folk-taxonomic "savage" and "domesticated" manifestations (15). The creation, analysis, storage, and growth of knowledge presuppose cognitive and linguistic processes for their sociocultural production and understanding. Knowledge is both a topic and a resource for the construction and understanding of human life, providing us with a framework for tracing changes in what often are called "traditional" and "modern" forms of social structure. This chapter builds on several types of research, including an earlier paper by the author (7), and especially on the discussion by Goody (15) that writing, particularly alphabetic literacy, altered communication as a face-to-face activity, augmented our critical abilities and activities, and facilitated the accumulation of abstract knowledge. The reflexive or contemplative study of different textual materials, including those which were initially presented orally, made literacy a powerful resource for the reconstruction of history as well as giving us a better understanding of change and invariant conditions of knowledge accumulation and communication in preliterate and literate groups. In his discussion of Robin Horton's (22) work comparing the relationship between African traditional thought and Western science, Goody distinguishes (a) comparisons of the religious thought of simple societies and the scientific thought of complex groups, from (b) the study of thought found in the development of contemporary science and the technical thinking found in traditional societies. The present chapter parallels Goody's concern by looking at the interaction of common sense and applied scientific reasoning in a contemporary medical setting. I first present a review of some recent work on the study of literacy, thought, and meaning within a context of oral and written communication. This research

Mayan Linguistics: Where Are We Now?

Abstract: In the last ten years the study of Mayan languages has seen both tremendous advances and setbacks. Lamentable political events in Central America. parti­ cularly in Guatemala . have stalled some Mayan specialists who launcbed their investigations in the 197Os, while others have reoriented their reseaIcl1 to Mayan groups in Mexico. Our pmpose in this paper is to survey recent developments in Mayan linguistics, both to update and characterize the field. Specifically. we consider the following: descriptive work.. classification, Pro­ to-Mayan (PM) reconstruction (both phonology and syntax), proposed distant genetic connections, diffus ion, linguistic prehistory, Mayan hieroglyphic writ­ ing, and litecature.

Status and style in language

Abstract: This paper reviews recent literature on the linguistic expression of social status, particularly those studies relating forms of language use (social dialectology and style of speaking) to forms of social stratification. To place that literature in cross-cultural perspective, the principal question orienting the review is this: to what extent do the findings of sociolinguistic research on this topic in North America-notably the urban dialectology that has flourished in the past two decades-resemble or contrast with results for the rest of the world, especially the non-Western world? In other words, have studies of sociolinguistic patterns in American cities identified processes that occur in any or all societies exhibiting distinctions of social status, or have they identified processes that pertain only to a society of a certain kind (urban, industrial, class-based, speaking an Indo-European language)? I first summarize the relevant American work, then outline some of the problems in comparing these studies with studies of other settings; then I review some of the major forms of the linguistic expression of social status that have been discussed for the non-Western world: social dialects, language levels, and systems of honorifics. While language levels and honorifics may seem to pertain more to language structure than to language use per se, the relation between structure and use is one of the problems this literature raises.

Human Genetic Distance Studies: Present Status and Future Prospects

Abstract: Genetic distance methodologies have been reviewed extensively (27, 42, 72, 73, 76, 81, 84, 93, 100, 157, 175). This review does not attempt to duplicate these efforts, several of which are comprehensive. Rather, the basic families of genetic distances and display techniques are treated briefly, an update of several recent developments in the theory and methodology of genetic distances are given, some interesting new applications of genetic distances are discussed, and the potential for new developments via molecular genetic technology is addressed. Coverage is restricted primarily to monogenic traits. A review of distance studies based on polygenic traits has recently been published (159).

The Interface of Nursing and Anthropology

Abstract: Nursing in the Western world developed mainly as an applied field, and has contributed to social-cultural theory only in the past 30 years. The purpose of this presentation is to document (a) the contributions of nursing to medical anthropology, (b) the influence anthropology has had on nursing, (c) the differences between the interface of nursing and anthropology and that of medicine and anthropology, and (d) reasons that these differences have not been a focus in medical anthropology. We mean to draw attention to the special characteristics and aims of the nursing process and profession as they relate to the anthropological enterprise, but first we must describe the nature of nursing and how it differs from medicine. THE NATURE OF NURSING The interface of nursing and anthropology has a different focus than the interface of medicine and anthropology. While there are some similar areas of concern, there are also major and significant areas of divergence. That nursing is not subsumed by medicine is a point not widely understood in anthropology. In Medical Anthropology, Foster & Anderson (77) classically illustrated this point by titling a chapter "Professionalism in Medicine: Nursing." The term "health care" subsumes both nursing and medicine; unfortunately, anthropologists have frequently equated health care only with medicine. Several factors account for the erroneous categorization of nursing as a part of medicine. First, there is considerable overlap in the contribution of each profession to client health, because all health professionals are generally concerned with the mental and physical well-being of clients. Second, anthropologists may be most familiar with nursing in university hospitals where the

Context and Chronology of Early Man in the Americas

Abstract: Unfortunately, the superstition to which Trigger refers is not being dispelled in the special field of Early Man studies, where authority may masquerade as a reasoned conclusion, boldly stated opinion may pass for authority, and intransigence may stand either for conservatism or for radical innovation (67). It is ironic that this field, which is so overwhelmingly dependent on results obtained by means of the "hard sciences," should be so beset with disagreement as to what really are the empirical data. This betrays the fact, perhaps at once our strength and our weakness, that we must somehow practice both as scientists and as humanists. Failure to recognize this may be responsible for some of the confusion that surrounds us and for the astonishing range of opinion that now exists on the time of arrival of the first humans to reach the Western Hemisphere. In any event, this essay deals with that range of opinion. I advocate a holistic approach to the study of Early Man as the best way to deal with this dilemma. I present here three widely differing points of view on the subject, with what I deem their merits and faults, and by way of illustration I shall peremptorily ascribe them to certain colleagues. Lest I myself become guilty of masquerading, I will accept membership in what I will call Position III-"very early first arrival,"-and acknowledge that those in Position II-"fairly early first arrival"-have much to contribute. Those in Position I-"Clovis was first"-

The Social Anthropology of West Africa

Abstract: Since World War II, West Africa has been the source of consistently innovative work, much of it relevant to the field of anthropology in general. British structural-functionalist ethnography, particularly the Cambridge school of Fortes and Goody, set theoretical and empirical standards which have rarely been matched anywhere. Again, briefly in the 1970s, anglophone social anthropology was almost overwhelmed by a school of French structuralist Marxists' with its base in West African research. Moreover, the region has been a crucible for the emergent synthesis of anthropology and history; economic anthropology, the study of urbanization and economic development, and the politics of decolonization have all been prominent there; and West Africa's independent women have attracted the attention of numerous feminist anthro­ pologists. For these and many other reasons, developments in the social anthropology of West Africa are of more than parochial interest. This paper is an introduction to the best regional literature of the last four decades, paying most attention to the period since 1970. It cites many more books than articles. The subject matter is social anthropology, which means that much cultural anthropology and archaeology has been omitted. The bias in materials selected is toward anglophone writings. The majority of texts are introduced with only a few words each. The paper is therefore a discursive means of entry for interested outsiders rather than a critical addition to profes­ sional knowledge of the region. The presentation is divided into three main sections. The first of these covers the late colonial period (ca 1940-1960); the second addresses the immediate postcolonial decade (roughly the 1960s); and the third seeks to identify the trends of the last 15 years or so. The periods refer to date of pUblication, not to the time of original research, thereby lending a

Peasant ideologies in the third world

Abstract: In this re view of recent work 1 by anthro pologists, sociolog ists, and historians on peasant ideologies in the Third World , I argue that while a rela tivel y wide range of foci and theories are manif est in the literature appearing in the last five or six years, it may be possible to discern a general tendency, which might be described as the "discove ry" of peasant ideology. To make the point somewhat less dramatica lly, we might suggest that Western schola rship has increa singly tended to stress the positive features of peasantries in general and pea sant ideologies, worldviews, and cultures in part icula r. In fact , this is not a discov­ ery at all but a red iscovery , sin ce these tendencies par allel in impor tant ways in tellec tua l trends manifes t in earlier periods in the history of Western thinking on the agr arian que st ion. Having argued that a dis covery of pea sant ideology marks recent academic writing on the Third World, I must add that the term itself is a ra ther vague one. At one le vel it re fers simply to the id eology held by or att ributed to pea sant s­ ideology being understood as "the sys tem of meaning s thro ugh which peoples int erpret and understand the worl d," to quote one recent cont ribut or (41, p.

Bioanthropological Research in Developing Countries

Abstract: In recent years the number of biological anthropologists involved in research in developing countries has increased. This upsurge of interest can be traced in part to an increased awareness of the problems faced by populations in these countries and to an increased realization that anthropologists are well equipped to address those problems. Though the problems themselves are not new, the emphasis on short-term adaptation is new. Physical anthropology's traditional emphasis on long-term adaptation in racial studies, skeletal anatomy, and genetic adaptation involved a relative neglect of short-term biological problems and responses. The current shift in emphasis from prehistoric and modern industrialized populations to those of the Third World acknowledges the importance of short-term problems in understanding human adaptation.

Anthropology, Evolution, and "Scientific Creationism"

Abstract: According to a Gallup Poll reported 29 August 1982 (150, p. 21), 44% of the population in the United States does not accept an evolutionary origin for the human species, 9% are uncertain, and only 47% appear to be committed to a belief in human evolution, although most of those who believe in human evolution also expressed some theistic beliefs. G. Evelyn Hutchinson warned in 1983: ". . . [T]he contemporary attacks on evolutionary theory . .. are terrifying, for they question the whole of the unity of knowledge and of the living world . . ." (85). While a candidate, President Ronald Reagan stated at a meeting of Christian fundamentalists in Dallas on 22 August 1980 (83, p. 1214) that he supported the teaching of the biblical story of creation in the public schools and that he thought there were great flaws in the theory of evolution. In 1976 President Jimmy Carter wrote (25, p. 2) in support of the separation of church and state and the importance of a well-rounded background in science, including the biological theory of evolution, for the development of young persons. This review stresses publications during the years 1978-1984, but important works from earlier times are included. It does not present a full review of current facts and theories on evolution as such; rather it considers selected aspects of the ongoing controversy between the science of evolution and religious creationism, with special reference to those facts and theories that lead most scientists, many religious persons who are not fundamentalists insisting on a literal interpretation of the Bible, and the high courts to reject "scientific creationism" as a part of anthropological and other involved sciences. For those who want a quick overview of the controversy, six works are recommended: Education Committee of the American Society of Zoologists,

The Use of Statistics in Sociocultural Anthropology

Abstract: Sociocultural anthropologists have never used statistics as much as their colleagues in other social sciences. When sociologists (92), political scientists (33), and economists (98) were urging the increased use of statistics in their disciplines in the 1920s, Boas (7, p. 120) was asserting that the success of attempts to apply statistics to ethnographic phenomena was "more than doubtful." Kluckhohn (73, p. 350) wrote a decade later that the professional folklore included an a priori resistance to any use of statistics; and even as recently as the 1950s, Driver (28, p. 54) stated that anthropologists avoided mathematics and statistics "like the mother-in-law." Early statistical analyses, moreover, were largely restricted to cross-cultural comparisons (e.g. 29, 58, 90). Although quantitative data were sometimes collected in field work, analyses of such data rarely went beyond tabular presentations and calculations of means and medians. In the 1 950s and 1960s the use of mathematics in sociocultural anthropology increased dramatically (66; 123, pp. 2-5) and statistical analyses of field data became common. While new theoretical and methodological orientations in anthropology (see 62, 91, 96, 97) obviously influenced this increased emphasis on quantification, the changing nature of field work was also important. Whereas most ethnographers in the earlier part of the century tried to provide holistic descriptions of many aspects of culture, by the 1950s research tended to be problem-oriented, emphasizing intensive examinations of particular topics. Since problem-oriented studies often involved the systematic collection of quantitative data, the need for statistical methods of description and inference became apparent. The statistics used in the 1950s and 1960s, however, tended to be rather simple bivariate tests of significance and measures of association rather than the multivariate methods increasingly employed by psychologists

Modular Theories of Grammar

Abstract: The theories of grammar discussed in this paper are based on the hypothesis that language is modular. A language (a "linguistic system") is construed as a system of rules and representations factorable into independent but interacting subsystems. Such theories conform to what Pylyshyn (30, p. 121) characterizes as "an extremely general scientific maxim, namely, that a central goal of explanatory theories is to factor a set of phenomena, a problem, or a system into the most general and perspicuous components, principles, or subsystems." The modular theories of grammar presented here are Government and Binding (GB) theory (6, 7), Modular Grammer (MG) (9), and Lexical Functional Grammar (LFG) (2). One interesting defense of various hypotheses about grammatical structure is based on anaphora phenomena, specifically intuitions about coreference and disjoint reference of referring expressions (e.g. John, Mary, the man, etc), pronouns, and anaphors (e.g. himself, each other).' Each of the three theories cited above offers partial answers to the question of how the linguistic system helps auditors to recognize the speaker's intents to refer. GB, MG, and LFG all offer a way of factoring the problem-i.e. of apportioning rules and principles to various components of the grammar. I here endeavor to acquaint the reader with these theories by showing how each treats reference. The discussion is not primarily critical, but it does confront several interesting questions. I first present a concise overview and critique of GB theory, since many of the problems discussed in the literature today were first defined in GB theory and its two predecessors, Standard Theory (3) and Extended Standard Theory