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Andrews, Daniel Marshall. DeSoto’s Route from Cofitachequi, in Georgia, to Cosa, in Alabama. American Anthropologist, 1917. Vol.19:55-67. In “DeSoto’s Route from Cofitachequi, in Andrews identifies the places discussed by the chroniclers and tries to relate them to their present day locations. He bases much of his argument on Ranjel, a chronicler on the expedition whose account of the expedition was in print for ten or fifteen years prior to DeSoto’s publishing of the article. Previous discussions on DeSoto’s route were based on other chroniclers whose accounts were not as informative and accurate as Ranjel’s. Andrews presents evidence for his argument through maps, charts, and first hand accounts. He boasts personal geographic and topographical knowledge of the region DeSoto traversed, thus making his account of the route insightful and believable. By comparing Ranjel’s accounts of distances traveled, as well as topographic and geographic features found on current maps of the region, Andrews has been able to plot out DeSoto’s route with greater accuracy. For instance, in one example he was able to identify a river they crossed based on the fact that he had forded the same river and had encountered the same rough bottom and swift current as Ranjel. Andrews makes other first hand observations of places discussed in Ranjel’s account that further serve to make his discussion of the route verifiable. CLARITY: 4 BILL NESS .gif){kind=small} Barbeau, C.M. Iroquoian Clans and Phratries. American Anthropologist March-June, 1917 19(3):392-402 The author of this article steps up to the challenge of labeling the many different clans in the Iroquois nation and also examining the relationship between the clans and the phratries, which seem to have been a political unit, not common to all tribes of the Iroquois. The Iroquois covered an area from the From here, Barbeau lists the many different tribes, along with trying to identify all of their different clans. All of the clans personify animals with the name of their clan, the most popular ones being wolf, deer, bear, turtle, etc. It seems that the wolf clan was the most important among the Iroquois, as well as the Algonkian, Siouan, and other eastern, southern and central nations. Bear and Deer clans also are very important, while the turtle clans were limited to mostly eastern clans. These clans were federated into larger, exogamous bodies, now called phratries. They served as political units and also as a way to distribute power evenly among the tribes and clans. Of the eight Iroquois nations, however, only four were part of a phratry. Most believe that these phratries were based on the kinship of the clans but this has been widely argued. There is a lack of uniformity in the arrangement of clans in the phratries that hint at a sense of arbitrariness in their purpose. Also, the totemic qualities of the clans were altogether absent in the phratries. Furthermore, it may be noted that only a minority of the Iroquois were in a phratry, while it was essential to be in a clan. The continued inactivity of the phratries proved to be a cause of their eventual extinction. In general, the phratries did not have the influence or personality that they were intended for. CLARITY RANKING: 4 ALAN THIES Southern
Barbeau, C. M. Iroquoian
Clans and Phratries. American
Anthropologist, 1917:392-402.
This article concerns the Iroquoian who at the time of contact
was numbering between 80-100,000 divided into the nations of Cherokee,
Five Nations or Iroquois Proper, Tuscarora, Huron-Wyandot, Neutral and With about 2000 per village the clans of the Iroquoian sometimes lived very far apart and even spoke different languages. These villages experienced some local political autonomy but belonged to a larger, more centralized political system. However, from one nation to another there wasn’t always coherence as to which clans existed and how they were ranked. They all belonged to a Totemic clan but that is the final agreement in this article. The Iroquoian and Algonkian nations were widely scattered kinship units practicing exonomy, matralineality including adoption and supernatural guardian systems beliefs. Limited information on the names if the individual kin groups within the tribes were available to Barbeau. Hewitt who studied the Iroquoian roughly defines the Tuscarora in ranking order as the Bear tribe, Wolf, Turtle, Deer, Eel, Beaver and Snipe yet Morgan (another researcher) defines them differently according to his research. Morgan first divides the group into two phratries separated by ranking order as follow 1) Bear, Beaver, Great Turtle, Eel and 2) Gray Wolf, Yellow Wolf, Little Turtle, and Snipe. Deer becoming extinct before the time of contact. The other clans like Mohawk, Wyandot, A manuscript from 1666 was cited by Barbeau to separate the Iroquoian Nation into two original bands called Gueyniotitshesgue and Ouichiniotiteshesque made of four and five families respectively. These two were divided into bands, which include some cited from Hewitt and Morgan. Some confusion is seen in dividing these clans. Conolly, for example
noted five Turtle clans in a single nation. Nothing is known of the Neutral
or the Some corollaries do stand out among the entire nation from the Iroquoian, Algonkian, Siouan and more such as the use of the Wolf clan name and rank near the top. The Bear clan name is also a much-used name by others than the Iroquoian. Yet other names like Beaver are very rarely utilized. Phratries were political exogamous bodies, which were distributed, widely
in recent times. Few nations had phratries but the relation between clan
and phratry is not clearly stated here. It can only be said to be a derived
practice rather than an original one. Morgan in 1877 explained the growth
of phratry division, as a clan break based on kinship. This was the accepted
hypothesis for other studies by Lang and Goldenweiser also cited by Barbeau.
Barbeau believes clans are the only universal kin division among the
Iroquoian and he uses five points to illustrate this idea. I.The geographic
distribution of the clans and phratries in CLARITY RATING 4 Barbeau, C. M. Parallel Between
the The author of this article examines the problem regarding the West Coast
and the Barbeau found that although the Northwest Cost and Iroquoian families,
clans, and phratries have a different type of culture they both share
a close similarity in relation to their village communities. They both
welcomed different exogamous groups whether they were families, clans,
or phratries. An important fundamental factor in their social organization
is the kinship ties between relations living in different villages. This
is the result of the bond that village communal life can create. When
the families, clans, and phratries of the In conclusion, Barbeau compared two different areas and their phratries,
the West Coast and the CLARITY RANKING: 3 REBECCA KULAGA Southern .gif){kind=small} Barbeau, C. M. Parallel Between
the In the article "Parallel Between the Northwest Coast and Iroquoian
Clans and Phratries," C. M. Barbeau argues that although the culture
of these peoples were different, their village communities were alike
insofar as they were more or less permanent complexes of kinsmen and
mutually unrelated people. In other words, they embraced members of different
exogamous groups—that is, families, clans, or phratries. Thus, the kinship
ties between relations living in different villages always remained the
fundamental factor in their social organization. Barbeau points out that when we compare the families, clans and phratries
of the The cause of this radical difference, Barbeau argues, is that the first
grew around a clan nucleus, both through the differentiation of its parts
and the numerous gradual outside accession; the second were due to the
arbitrary and sudden federation of hitherto unrelated clans into an evenly
balanced political body. As a consequence, while the Iroquoian phratries
were operative chiefly in tribal or national councils and feasts, those
of the West Coast invaded every phase of domestic life. CLARITY: 2 Beckwith, Martha Warren. Hawaiian Shark Aumakua. American Anthropologist October, 1917 Vol.19(4):504-517. While in Because of her coastal location, Beckwith found that sharks were a popular amakua.
The shark is considered to be a fairly powerful aumakua, having
the ability to ensure that its family is always well fed and will never
drown. The sharks that are considered to be godly can be either male
or female. They are recognizable as aumakua because they will
approach their mother as she goes to bathe. In order to expalin the devotion
of a family to their aumakua, the family identifies the shark aumakua’s
legend as either a dreaded enemy or as a war hero. Either scenario ensures
that one would want to be allied with a shark aumakua. CLARITY RANKING: 4 TERA CREMEENS Southern Beckwith, Martha Warren. Hawaiian Shark Aumakua. American Anthropologist October, 1917 Vol.19(4):503-517. While in Aumakua may take the form of a few different animals or even
plants or rocks. Aumakua can
be friendly or evil spirits. Because
these people of CLARITY: 3 JOHN RANDAZZO Booy, Theodoor. Certain Archaeological
Investigations in Trinidad, In this article De Booy talks about his excavations of the St. Bernard
shell deposits. These shell middens cover an area of six to eight acres
of land on the east coast of Two burials were discovered in a layer of sea sand. Above and below this burial layer were layers of shell and ash. The remains were too brittle and fragmented to be preserved. The author notes however that the skull had been "artificially flattened", and that the teeth were ground down and showed no signs of decay. De Booy's primary focus in this article is the descriptive analysis of the pottery sherds obtained from the excavation. He lists a main type of vessel which is the simplest form found at St. Bernard. This vessel is a shallow bowl with a broad angular rim. Seventy-five percent of the pottery remains indicate that they came from this basic type of vessel. Many different decorations were added to this vessel type, including incised lines, paint, loop handles, and nodes or lugs. Often the nodes were representative of "highly conventionalized heads" (479). The basic type of vessel, regardless of decorations, ranged in size from a height of one inch to five inches, and an outside diameter of three inches to sixteen and one half inches. De Booy concludes the discussion with the unusual types of vessels recovered, including pottery human heads and monkey heads, as well as shell pendants and pottery rests. CLARITY RANKING: 2 KELLY EILEEN JONES Southern De Booy, Theodoor. Certain
Archaeological Investigations in Trinidad, De Booy discusses his archaeological findings on the The deposits were found in two distinct levels—a shell
layer and an ash layer. The shell layer was
relatively clean as it was not mixed with soil. Two
different types of shells composed these shell layers. The other layer was a dirty ash layer which
was a mixture of ashes, charcoal, and bone fragments. Several bones of fishes and small mammals
were found here. In addition to
St. Bernard two other sites were examined, but the deposits were not
deep enough at these sites to warrant excavation. De Booy analyzes the results of the excavation. The majority of the containers found were
shallow bowls with a wide rim. The
bases of these bowls were very flat. Several
variations of this bowl were found over time. The first change was that incised lines were
added to the rim of the simple bowl. In
addition to these lines, nodes and lugs were added to the rims, as well
as different types of handles. De
Booy considered these to be the most developed and highly decorated of
all the discovered containers. Another
kind of vessel found was a turtle bowl. The
head of the turtle was attached but the tail was missing. A rectangular-shaped container was also found. One
vessel was found that was only two inches tall, and De Booy concluded
that this container was not used for storage. Finally,
several fragments from pottery heads were found. These
were painted and highly decorated. De Booy was particularly interested in these
fragments because none of them were able to be reconstructed completely. He
concludes, then, that these pieces were broken up by the aborigines and
intentionally distributed over a large range. CLARITY RANKING: 3 Haeberlin, Herman K. Some
Archaeological Work In In this article, Herman Haeberlin reviews archaeological excavations in the limestone mountains in Porto Rico. He focuses his attention on two sites: a ball court, or juego de bola, and Cueva de la Seiba, a cave site. Dr. Fewkes, who originally reported on the ball court, concluded that the area known as the ball court was a dance court where mortuary dances were held. He based these conclusions on the presence of what he considered to be burial mounds beyond the boundaries of the ball court. Haeberlin points out that during his own excavations, he found no traces of these mounds whatsoever. Although he does not argue against Fewkes, Haeberlin makes it clear that he found no evidence of human burials. Haeberlin is shy to stress his belief that the area was actually used by natives to play ball. He refers to them as ball courts because the local population believes them to be. The author presents a stone ball that Dr. Fewkes does not consider to be an implement used to play a game. He also presents a stone ball that was brought to him by peasants of the area. Haeberlin fails to give us his own opinion as to what the artifacts may have been used for. The author then focuses on a cave about one mile west of the ball court. Here, he presents evidence of human activity such as rock carvings, pottery, and soil behavior. He compares the pottery here compared to that found at the ball court and found them to be two distinct types. Before this discovery, only one type of pottery was known to Porto Rico. Haeberlin ends his article with artifact descriptions from other sites of the region, and an appendix containing artifacts purchased by Dr. Alden Mason and Franz Boas in Porto Rico. The Author gives us a good understanding of the archaeological material, but he fails to provide us with his own conclusions as to what this material can tell us about the native culture of Porto Rico. CLARITY RATING: 2 Haeberlin, Herman K. Some Archaeological Work in In this article, Herman Haeberlin details the findings of his excavations
in Haeberlin remarks that enclosures such as the one he excavated are popularly known as ball-courts because it is believed that the native Islanders once used them for playing ball. This particular juego was situated in a location common for these enclosures: at the bottom of a small valley, near a river. The author found the juego to be rectangular in shape. The long sides of the rectangle were delineated by two parallel rows of upright stones that ran from east to west, and the shorter sides were left open. Two layers of sediment were present within the enclosure, between which all finds were discovered. According to Haeberlin, this implies that the lower layer of yellow clay was the original surface of the juego, while the dark surface layer was a relatively new deposit. There was no evidence for house sites, but various artifacts, consisting mostly of potsherds, were discovered. The Cueva de la Seiba is a cave located about sixty feet above the bottom of a small valley. The cave has three main chambers, all of which yielded finds. These included stone tools, various other stones, shells, and animal bones. Large quantities of pottery sherds were also uncovered, but Haeberlin states these are of a different type than those found at the juego. The team also discovered a number of faces carved onto the ends of stalactites. A detailed description of the soil composition of each of the chambers is provided by the author as well. Finally, Haeberlin describes miscellaneous artifacts from the same region
of CLARITY: 4 CHRISTINA NOETZEL Hagar, Stansbury The American Zodiac. American Anthropologist October-December, 1917 Vol.19(4):518-532. This article by Hagar is, essentially, a rebuttal of
Dr. Herbert J. Spindens’ criticisms of Hagar’s earlier papers on the
existence of a zodiac, native to the American continents. Dr. Spinden
states his opinion
thus, that while the idea of a native zodiac in the Hagar starts his defense by stating that it has been his opinion that
there is a zodiac native to the He starts with Spinden’s first statement, wherein he
concludes that no first-rate authorities on Spinden’s next argument is that in the Mexican and Central American calendar systems, the months fell behind the seasons at the rate of about twenty-four days every century. This is due to the imperfect way in which the calendar system handled "leap years". With these facts he concluded that the months could not maintain a close time relation with the zodiac signs. Hagar does not deny this. He does, however, challenge the assumption that the months had to keep a close relation with zodiacal signs. He asserts that it is his belief that the zodiac of the Native Americas served a divinatory rather than calendrical purpose. I feel that Hagar writes this article in a very articulate manner, and has done a more than adequate job in defending his position against Dr. Herbert J. Spinden. CLARITY RANK: 5 BRANDON A. HALE Southern Hagar, Stansbury. The American Zodiac. American Anthropologist 1917: 518-532. Stansbury Hagar wrote this interesting refute to Dr.
Herbert Spinden’s
article in 1917. Dr. Spinden believed
that there was not enough evidence to support the existence of the native
zodiac in Hagar welcomed criticism from others, such as Spinden, because he felt that it would help him to establish a reality behind the origin of the zodiac. In order to explain how the zodiac came to be, Hagar gives an overview of how it works. The existence of the zodiac is based on a continuous sequence structure that was probably discovered through various forms of art and ceremony. The sequence is a very confusing and complex process, which is why Hagar thought it was very unlikely that the zodiac was a fallacy. He felt that something so complex could not be created by accident, but was more likely designed by a human being. According to Hagar, the purpose of the zodiacal signs was to bring the faultlessness of space down to earth from the heavens. CLARITY: 3 JESSICA ROBERTS Hawkes, E.W. and Linton, Ralph. A
Pre-Lenape Culture in In this article, Hawkes and Linton gave their report on the search for
proof of existence of a culture older than the historic Lenape in In the soil, Hawkes and Linton found four distinct levels of material.
Other than the recent artifacts, they did find proof of inhabitance that
was much older than the recent societies were known to be around. Both
Masonville and Among their findings were some firepit refuse piles. Included in the pits were the remains of the animals hunted and eaten by the ancients, the overused or broken spear tips, and discarded bannerstones that had been broken from use. The researchers also found a few caches of tools from the ancient culture, and made a detailed catalog of descriptions and photos. The tools were distinct from the Lenape society in their shape and use, furthermore assisting Hawkes and Linton in verifying the existence of a Pre-Lenape culture. CLARITY RANKING: 3 Hawkes, E. W., and Linton, R. A
Pre-Lenape Culture in American Anthropologist 1917 Vol.19:487-494 In this article, researchers E. W. Hawkes and Ralph Linton attempt to
confirm the existence of a pre-Lenape culture in what is now central
and southern Both The authors support their claim that the artifacts are indicative of a distinct culture by analyzing ten specific stone tools found in the post-glacial strata and conclude that the composition, structure, and function of the tools are fundamentally different from what is understood about Lenape tools. Pottery found at the lower levels of strata was also analyzed and found to be quite different from traditional Lenape work. The authors assert that the pottery found in lower strata points to the existence of an advanced culture at the sites, albeit one not as highly advanced as the Lenape. Hawkes and Linton conclude by stating that they are awaiting more evidence
from corresponding strata at other sites in the region to determine if
the artifacts found at CLARITY:3 BRENDAN PRENDERGAST Hough, Walter. The Sio Shalako
at the First This report was a first-hand account of a Zuni tribal Indian ceremony
performed in 1916 by the Hopi of East Mesa. Hough witnessed the event
and took many detailed notes. The ceremony was an important icon amongst
them, and they wished to teach the knowledge to other members of tribes
in the hope of continuing the tradition. From an anthropological standpoint,
these tribes were trading and comparing ceremonies, then conglomerating
them into a whole new phenomenon. The host CLARITY RANKING: 3 Hough, Walter. The Sio Shalako
at the First In this article, Walter Hough describes some of the observations
he made while attending a Katcina ceremony. He believes "that shortly
many Hopi ceremonies will cease, due to the increasing rapidity with
which the influence of the white man is progressing" (410). Walter
Hough outlines the history of the adoption of The Sichomovi Sio Shalako,
which is a Zuni ceremony, by the Indians of Sichomovi, a village on the For this ceremony many extensive preparations are required including
the construction of long rooms and elaborate costumes. The performers
in the ceremony are divided up into four Shalako parties and a progression
is undertaken across the valley to the mesa while engaged in song. The
author describes the many members of the procession, their costume and
masks, the goods they bring, and their reception by priests. The women
serve a feast, which is followed by smoking, and then dancing to the
beat of a big drum, which continues throughout the night. "Dr. J. Walter Fewkes has pointed out the desire of the Hopi to
adopt new Katcinas efficacious in bring blessings" (412). The songs
in the ceremony are a composite of Zuni songs, and of the Hopi Shalako,
and some invented for the occasion. The Zuni Shalako had six songs of
which the Hopi "adopted four in accordance with their quaternary
scheme" (413). In the article, Dr. Fewkes gives a commentary in response
to Walter Hough’s observations. He believes that "the ceremony has lost much
and gained nothing" (413). In the ceremony he witnessed in 1894
the dancers and personators were Zuni in character and name. Dr. Fewkes
remembers the ceremony to be more elaborate than the one described by
Walter Hough, and believes it has lost some of its social significance. CLARITY: 2 Judd, M. Neil. Evidence Of
Circular Kivas In The author of this article was looking for the origin and distribution
of the ancient Finding the presence of the circular kivas in western In 1916 another circular room or kiva was excavated south of CLARITY RANKING: 4 MEGAN WILSON Southern Judd, Neil M. Evidence of Circular Kivas in This article briefly describes two types of prehistoric
habitations observed during archaeological reconnaissance in A notable difference was that the observed building did not have support posts as did the buildings in the other excavations. To Judd, this provided a possible explanation for the ultimate collapse of the roof, as successive layers eventually proved to weighty for the thin walls. Finally, as the huts provided very few remains
that would be expected from a habitation, Judd concludes that they
were likely ceremonial chambers. Evidence
in the form of stone tablets, or platforms, and unusual relationship
between them and adjacent rooms support this conclusion. He
also suggests that, although the excavation is still incomplete, that
these huts are the precursors of those in the Clarity: 4 CARRIE CHANNELL Northeastern Kidder, A. V. and M. A. Notes
On The Pottery Of The authors of this article examine the excavation of pottery in the
Pueblos of Pecos located in San Miguel County, New Mexico. They wrote
this article based on the investigations of the pottery and its fragments
found by N.C. Nelson and Dr. Kroeber, two American anthropologists. They
studied large mounds or heaps of sand, ash, and silt where they believed
the wares (or pottery) existed. These two anthropologists investigated
the order in which the vessels were made and introduced to The authors based their article on three main points of the pottery given by N.C. Nelson and Kroeber: 1) classification and description of the pottery at Pecos; 2) stratigraphical data to reach a chronological order of the wares based on equal divisions of earth compounds; and 3) the types of pottery found based on description such as color, bowl size, and types of finish used given by the anthropologists. Nelson discovered the first or earliest pieces were called black on
white indicating the use of dull paint finish, which was found in very
small quantity and died out suddenly. The second ware to be introduced
was the glazed. The glazed had two-color finish as well as three-color
finish that underwent transition. Finally, the third stage in uncovering
the pottery of CLARITY RANKING: 3 MEGAN WILSON Southern Kidder, M. A. and A. V. Notes
on the Pottery of Notes on the Pottery of Pecos deals
with the value of relative placement of pottery sherds (fragments) in
stratified rubbish heaps in the A. V. Kidder led major advances in American archaeology
by developing a typology for southwestern American Indian pottery. The layers of pottery sherds were classified
according to rim shapes and surface finish. Then the Kidder’s set about evaluating the
stratigraphy to determine the chronological order of the artifacts. Their fieldwork and research shows three
main stages in the ceramic history of CLARITY RANKING: 5 ANJANEEN M. CAMPBELL Northeastern Kroeber, A. L. The Superorganic. American Anthropologist April-June, 1917 Vol.19(2):163-213. A.L. Kroeber’s article, "The Superorganic," represents one of the few works that was theoretically driven in American anthropology in the early 20th century. This was a time marked by much description and documentation of the way people lived due largely to Franz Boas, the father of American anthropology. It was the Boasian tradition-a focus on linguistics, biological and social studies-that chronicled every aspect of living peoples, the most famous of which is work with Native Americans. However, Kroeber’s work in "The Superorganic" gets away from specific descriptions of civilizations in particular, and concentrates on what civilization is. To make his argument, Kroeber begins with the topic of what is organic and what is social in the world of human beings. Do we do what we do because of heredity or tradition? He first states that the two cannot be separated and to focus on one or the other exclusively causes as much confusion as not dealing with either. To demonstrate his point he goes through biological and psychological examples that prove neither view to be all encompassing nor dominate of the other. But the real crux of his argument lies in the question of how civilization is formed and what are its constituents. For such a question, Kroeber looks at the ways in which great ideas that have influenced civilization have come about. He demonstrates that civilization is more than the sum of its parts by showing how many of the world’s great ideas and inventions have been simultaneously created by more than one person. For Kroeber, this means that despite a particular individual, civilization would have played out similarly, in any event, despite a single individual. This is one of many points Kroeber makes for civilization having a larger role than what appears on the surface, which is the main point of the superorganic: civilization transcends the mind and the body (p.212). It is more than the people who make it up, as well as more than what is handed down from generation to generation. CLARITY: 3 T.M. KEY Southern Kroeber, A.L. The Superorganic. American Anthropologist April-June, 1917 Vol. 19: 163-213. Kroeber sets out to distinguish between the "purely organic," or biological viewpoint of human development and that of civilization as transcendent, beyond the merely organic. He begins by establishing the history of similar distinctions, such as body and soul, and mental and physical. From there he goes on to describe how the nature of human mental capacity, as evidenced by the development of civilization-style society, differs fundamentally from "lower" animals. Essentially, he establishes that not only the physical attributes, but the behavioral ones as well of lower animals are inherited, and cannot change regardless of external influence (i.e., a puppy fostered by a cat will not meow or claw an attacker). Next, he goes on to explain how civilization can cause or aid progress without a change in the genetic code. Birds can fly because at some point in their biological ancestry certain genes mutated to develop the attributes that allow them to fly. Humans, on the other hand, can fly because of technical advances, which can be shared by the entire species without the necessity of inheriting flight genes. Human speech is also indicated as a key element of external teaching, although Kroeber does allow that some quantity of verbal and physical "language" is ingrained and not learned. Kroeber does acknowledge that individuals have certain abilities beyond
what simple teaching might produce, and that all individuals in a civilization
might not necessarily be equal or equivalent in ability. He insists,
however, that great ability will likely come to naught if it appears
in the wrong civilizational context. In other words, if Bach had been
born and lived in 17th century central His conclusion is that mind and body are simply two different parts of the same organic whole, but that civilization is nonorganic and transcendent. Clarity: 3 CARRIE CHANNELL Northeastern Laufer, Berthold. Origin of the Word Shaman. American Anthropologist July, August, September, 1917 Vol.19(3):361-371. In this article Laufer investigated the history of the word shaman, bringing to light new data that supports J. Nemeth’s theory that the term is an ancient constituent of the Turkish-Tungusian languages. Laufer pointed out that anthropologists have taken the word shaman for granted, knowing neither its origin nor its original definition, as it has become another "part and parcel of anthropological nomenclature" (p.361). The author first introduced the word as having come from tribes in northern Laufer points out, however, that the Buddhist meaning of the word shaman and the Tungusian definition are radically different, and was quick to criticize that when two words in "geographically remote languages are physically alike or similar, but fundamentally diverse in meaning, it is safe to assume that the face resemblance is purely accidental" (p.365). The Buddhist meaning defines their religion as one of "peace and quiet, and fighting and slaying is prohibited" whereas the Tungusian meaning is one of a worshipper of idols. Conversely J. Nemeth counters this claim by pointing out interesting correspondences between the Turkish and Mongol linguistic families, giving examples of the advances of phonetic sounds, concluding that phonetic alternation of sounds and thus meaning can account for the disputed definition. Although the technicality of this article can at times be overwhelming, the author presented multiple views on the origin of the word shaman and provided new data and arguments confirming J. Nemeth’s theory while also investigating the criticisms of his work and their validity. CLARITY RANKING: 3 BETHANY J. MYERS Southern Laufer, Berthold. Origin of the Word Shaman. American Anthropologist July, August, September, 1917 Vol.19(3):361-371. According to Laufer, the word shaman has been taken for granted by anthropologists. He claims that they have no ideas about the origin of the word, or its original definition. Laufer also proves J. Nemeth’s theory that the origins of this word are from the of the Turkish-Tungusian peoples. The author shapes his article by describing the physical history of
the word as it traveled from tribe to tribe in northern Laufer and Nemeth disagree about the origins of shaman. Nemeth claims that the origin of the word is definitely from the Turkish-Tungusian languages, and uses his abilities as a phonetician to establish correspondences between the two languages. There are indeed very similar phonetic utterances of this word in both of these languages, and that it is “property of the Turkish-Mongol languages” (pg 367). Laufer describes the definition of these two words as completely different, and claims that their similarities are can only be accidental, as they are separated by a larger geographical distance. This article is poorly written for the layperson to understand. It contains a large amount of technical explanations about etymology, and phonetics. Even some of the descriptions Laufer makes about how words have evolved can be difficult to understand in not reread multiple times. It is difficult and uninteresting article that requires much patience to read and interpret. CLARITY RANKING: 2 CHRIS O’BOYNICK Lowie, Robert. Edward B. Tylor. American Anthropologist. Vol. 19. 1917:262- This article, an obituary for Edward B.Tylor, does a
very good job of recounting the life and accomplishments of the nineteenth
century thinker.
Citing Tylor’s definition of culture, Lowie looks at how Tylor’s work
distinguished him from his contemporaries. Entering the field of anthropology
while the discipline itself was still in its infancy, Tylor approached
the study of other cultures with a greater emphasis on the scientific
integrity of his research. Lowie scans the many contributions Tylor made,
focusing on important points such as his socially Darwinist evolutionary
theory. Other influential ideas include the concept of survivals (a term
coined by Tylor that refers to the traits and customs of specific groups
that Tylor considers to be remnant of earliest culture.) and the method
of adhesions (the application of statistics to the data of ethnography).
Especially with regard to the latter contribution, Lowie also takes time
to review the objections or criticisms others had of Tylor’s work. The
overall tone, however, remains very admiring of Tylor. The article is
very informative and provides an extensive survey of Edward Tylor’s life
and work. This article would be of particular use to anyone interested
in Tylor or related topics. CLARITY: 5 Lowie, Robert H. Obituary of Edward B. Tylor. 1917. 262-268. Edward B. Tylor, born on October 2, 1832 and died on January 2, 1917, was a pioneer in the field of ethnology. Lowie shows how Tylor’s work shifted the field from a crudely-biased European ethnographic technique to a more scientific and holistic approach to culture. Before Tylor’s time, ethnography was clouded by second-hand sources and preconceptions. Tylor avoided this problem by looking at culture in terms of its history and evolution. He took ethnographic accounts and tried to rid them of their religiously-biased grounds. Furthermore, he used statistical methods to determine if observed social phenomena were chance combinations or “organic correlations”. This fusion of the objective and the subjective makes Tylor’s contribution to anthropology both unique and equally astounding. This obituary begins with a short biography and extends into the nature of his work. The works of other ethnographers are used to contrast Tylor’s approach to cultural exploration. Tylor’s discussion of the “Malagasy iron technique”, for instance, is used to explain his use of historical connection within cultures. Lowie criticizes the way Tylor classified cultural traits, but these criticisms are largely cast aside since his classifications were not chance-based, which would have made them less scientific. Lowie uses several of Tylor’s papers to show how his revolutionary methods
were implemented. These ethnographic papers describe cultures in a scientific
manner. Lowie uses these published writings to elaborate the significance
of Tylor’s accomplishments—Tylor never graduated from college but was
nevertheless granted tenure at CLARITY: 4 MacCurdy, George The Problem of Man’s
Antiquity at Before the advent of radio-carbon dating, archaeologists had to rely
primarily on provenience in order to determine the age of a site. Here
at Vero, archaeologists have found both human remains, cultural remains
(such as bone implements), as well as animal remains. Though the human
bones are like those found at other sites in Although the human remains and the cultural remains are believed to
be the same age, MacCurdy does not believe that they are in any way similar
to Pleistocene artifacts that at the time had been found elsewhere in
the world. It is the belief of MacCurdy that the human and cultural remains
at Vero date to around three to four thousand years old. According to
MacCurdy, the cultural remains are a much more accurate measurement of
age than the animal remains. The cultural remains are at least almost
identical to those that have been found at other CLARITY RANKING: 5 LISA PORTER Southern MacCurdy, George Grant The
Problem of Man’s Antiquity at In this argumentative article from 1917, Dr.Sellard’s
extensive research in Rollin T.Chamberlin, O.P Hay, A.Hrdlicka, T.Wayland Vaughan aided Dr.Sellards in the paper he wrote on the subject and compiled everyone’s research into a symposium with a diversity of views, which Sellards contributes to differing observation standards of the researchers. Three deposits representing three time eras were studied in total at Vero. The lower level, “no. I” is composed of marine shell marl. The area was thought to be a flood plain and has been disrupted by canal activity according to Chamberlin causing confusion between his findings and Sellards. The second deposit, “no. I” lying just above the shell
marl with erosion defining its borders contains flora and fauna remains.
Human remains
in the form of bone fragments found in levels II and III did not differ
from Indian skeletal remains of the Pottery was found only on level III showing it to be a more recent introduction. No decoration or pain was found in association with or on the pottery vessels, which were thought to be cooking vessel due to the accumulated soot on the bottom of the pots. Dr.Sellards believes there is no more than 3-4,ooo yrs interval between the second and third levels of deposits and is backed up by Prof. Edwards W.Berry of John’s Hopkins University. The fauna found at Vero differs greatly from what existed in the area at the time of excavation yet the human remains are the same. These remains are not from the Pleistocene epoch but there does seem to be remains of extinct animals like Elephas columbi, Mastodon (Mammut) americanum, Chlamydotherium. From this Sellards proposes the fauna persisted longer than was previously thought. The correlation is not a perfect one however according to MacCurdy. CLARITY RATING: 3 Mead, C. W. Juan B. Ambrosetti. American Anthropologist July-September, 1917 Vol.19 (4):533-541. This article by Mead is actually just a short obituary of Dr. Juan B.
Ambrosetti, who died May 28, 1917 at the age of fifty-two. At the time
of his departure from us he was the director of the Some of his most valuable contributions to archaeology were the work
he provided for the region of his own country, the Calchaqui. Through
the expeditions, which he financed himself, came writings of natural
beauty and style. In December 1915-1916, Dr. Ambrosetti was an official
delegate of the Argentine government to the Second Pan American Congress
at This short article is straightforward and easy to read. It provides us with important information about Dr. Juan B. Ambrosetti, one of our discipline’s greatest scientific men. Through his obituary we as a reader are able to see how valuable Dr. Ambrosetti was as an anthropologist of his generation. CLARITY RANKING: 5 REBECCA KULAGA Southern Mead, C. W. Obituary of Juan B. Ambrosetti. American Anthropologist 1917 v: 19, p. 533-541 C.W. Mead speaks highly of Juan Ambrosetti as he describes
his ability to poetically write about his findings and the area of
his travels. He
clearly states all of Ambrosetti’s great achievements as one of the top
anthropologists of his time. His achievements include being part of the
International Congress of Americanists and being an official delegate
of the Argentine Government to the Second Pan American Congress at Ambrosetti was the president of the first session of the congress and
the late director of the He is described as a hard indefatigable worker alongside the portrayal
of his wealth. He took charge of the ethnographical museum where all
of its materials were bronzes collected by Dr. Indalecio Gomez and to
date had a collection reaching 20,000 catalogue numbers. Ambrosetti also
helped collect much of the materials. His main region of study was Calchaqui,
a region in his own country, and his studies there had the most valuable
archaeological contributions of his work. He also financed his own expeditions. Juan B. Ambrosetti’s death on May 28, 1917 at age 52
was deemed a loss to science. CLARITY: 5 Morris, Earl H. The Place of Coiled Ware in Southwestern Pottery. American Anthropologist January, 1917 Vol.19(1):24-29. The author states that coiled ware cannot be the oldest variety of Southwestern pottery. Morris has found that coiled ware reveals a multiplicity of patterns, beautiful designs, and requires a masterly technique, suggesting the requirement of greater skill to produce such a complex vessel. A person shaping the sides of a smooth jar can use the polishing stone to obscure any irregularities on the surface, and can simply scrape off or add a bit of clay to equalize unevenness. The coiled ware requires the mastery skills of producing spiral upon spiral in uniform thickness. Important data has been found in the valley of the Morris says there is the possibility that coiled ware originated during the pre-Pueblo period and reached its peak during the late black-on-white period. All evidence indicates that smooth ware was in fact the first type of pottery made in the Southwest. The variety of coiled ware among Southwestern pottery is the product of culmination of an elaborate technique. CLARITY RANKING: 5 AMY CREASY Southern Morris, Earl H. The Place of Coiled Ware in Southwestern Pottery. American Anthropologist 1917 Vol. 19: 24-29. Morris challenges the accepted theory that Southwestern American coiled ware pottery evolved directly from basketry. He establishes four key, albeit superficial points, regarding the appearance of the pottery, then goes on to explain the nature of the vessels and their uses. Additionally, he breaks down the nature of their “coils” and the level of artistry involved in their design and execution. Next, he describes an evolution of the coiled pots based on a stratigraphic breakdown. What emerges from this layout of evidence is that the more artistic, basketlike pots appear in higher strata, indicating later production and use. In other words, the pots least like woven or coiled baskets appear much earlier, when the peoples using them were likely using basket vessels simultaneously. The pots that mimic the appearance of baskets most effectively appear only when these peoples had been making and using clay vessels for a very long time. Thus does Morris establish that the “proofs” for Southwestern pottery being a direct outgrowth of basket weaving don’t stand up, and that new arguments need to be brought forth in order to substantiate the theory. Clarity: 4 CARRIE CHANNELL Northeastern |
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