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American
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Balikci, Asen. Quarrels in a Balkan Village. American Anthropologist December, 1965 Vol. 67 (6):1456-1469. This paper begins
with a brief survey of the literature and anthropological theories
pertaining to quarrels in social systems. Balikci conducted field research,
more specifically an anthropological survey of social life, in the
Balkan village called Veliko Selo. Veliko Selo is located at the base
of the The most interesting part of this paper is its conclusion, where Balikci contrasts his work in Veliko Selo with Mosely’s (1940) analysis of zadruga dissolution patterns and various other studies of similar nature. Balikci stresses the crucial importance, within his framework, of emphasizing the ambivalent relations between married women. Balikci’s findings state that in Veliko Selo marriage has an epainogamic character making for structural instability of the zadruga. This paper shows that quarrels expressive of the negative behavioral complex did not prevent villagers from working together in vital areas when economic necessity demanded it. Balikci indicates several devices that the villagers used to control quarrels, jealousies and hostilities. CLARITY: 5 SIMON BUSTOW: .gif){kind=small} Balikci,
Asen. Quarrels in a Balkan
Village. American Anthropologist. September, 1965. Vol. 67(6):1456-1469. Balikci wrote this article in response to what he saw as the prevailing habit of ignoring negative behavioral traits or connecting them to economic facts. Specifically, he was arguing against George M. Foster’s claim taht negative behavioral traits are linked to harsh economic facts. This article is a functionalist argument exploring quarrels and cooperation, and how the two are related to economic issues. It shows that the majority of quarrels in Balikci’s research area were not for economic reasons, and that people formed cooperatives despite the negative behavior common to the village. The
author analyzes the conflict and control thereof in Veliko Selo,
a village in Balikci
analyzes the CLARITY
RANKING: 3 .gif){kind=small} Basehart, Harry W. And Hill, W.W. Leslie Spier 1893-1961. American Anthropologist 1965 Vol. 67:1258-1270 Leslie Spier was
born December 13, 1893 in Spier’s teaching
career extended from 1920 to 1955. He had a great influence on students of many
universities in the While Spier contributed
to all the fields of anthropology, he is best known for his ethnographic
work. Some of his well-known
works are the Sundance monograph (1921)
and Gila River and Lower Colorado
Tribes (1936). His fieldwork
included working with Native American Indian cultures such as the Zuni,
Havasupai, Kiowa, CLARITY: 4 THERESA
MALSON Bohannan, Paul and George Dalton. Polanyi, Karl. Obituary. American Anthropologist 1965 Vol. 67: 1508-1511 Karl Polanyi was a man who worked in many fields. He made contributions to both economic history and anthropology. A well published man, his work influenced many. Polanyi studied nineteenth century capitalism and his economic anthropology views were influenced by Bucher, Weber, Durkheim, Thurnwald, and Malinowski. He worked with “socio-economic principles of redistribution and reciprocity.” Born in 1886 to
an wealth engineer and a Russian mother who lost their money, Polanyi
lived through hard times. He
went to school at the Polanyi was best known for presenting the categories of market principle, redistribution and reciprocity. His work centered on studying the difference between capitalist and noncapitalist societies by combining the fields of anthropology and economics. His best known works are The Great Transformation and Trade and Market in the Early Empires. Karl Polanyi died from a stroke at the age of 77, on April 23, 1964. CLARITY 3 CORY SEDEY Bohannan, Paul and George Dalton. Karl Polanyi. Obituary. American Anthropologist December 1965 Vol.67(6):1508-1511. Karl Polanyi was a Hungarian intellectual born in 1886. His main contributions to anthropology were in the realms of economic anthropology and economic history. Polanyi first identified the principles of redistribution and reciprocity, and was influenced by Bücher, Weber, Durkheim, Thurnwald and Malinowski. He also showed how non-market economies were “embedded” in kinship and political organization, and how they expressed the moral and religious responsibilities of the society. Combining these three ideas, Polanyi also attempted to show how they are essential to the “institutionalization of the economy in any society.” In After his retirement, Polanyi worked on the Interdisciplinary Project on the Economic Aspects of Institutional Growth with Conrad M. Arensberg, out of which stemmed one of his most influential works, Trade and Market in the Early Empires. Another influential work of Polanyi’s, The Great Transformation, was written while he was on a fellowship from the Rockefeller Foundation. One of Polanyi’s last endeavors was to found the journal Co-Existence. Karl Polanyi died on April 23, 1964 at the age of 77 of a stroke. CLARITY: 4 STEPHANIE
WEST This article was
written in order to provide structure and function to the term ‘Old
Cordilleran’ so that it can be more clearly and specifically understood. The first section,
which gives a brief history and conception of Old Cordilleran culture,
stresses the importance of the Dalles region as one which holds significant
potential to help detail the region’s prehistory. The second section
of this article begins to speak to the ways in which excavations are
conducted and the logic that the archaeologist should follow. When
an excavation is conducted, the archaeologist should go in with no
preconceived notions, with no theory so that he or she can look at
the evidence without looking for anything. However, The third section of the paper describes the Old Cordilleran in Northwest prehistory. The culture arrived no more than 12,000 years ago, which was later modified by desert culture. Archaeological evidence, including blades and hunting and cutting tools have been found, reconstructing parts of the culture. In his concluding notes, Butler recommends that the abstract models that have so far defined the Old Cordilleran period and archaeology in general is not superior to a hypothetical model for archaeological cases and field work. CLARITY:3 B. Robert Butler’s
article refuted the critics of the Old Cordilleran culture concept
in archaeology. Butler first traces
the origins of the Old Cordilleran culture concept to salvage and amateur
research done in the Lower Columbia Valley, specifically the Dalles
Region in the mid-1950’s. In the second part
of Butler’s article he contends that archaeology is not just “data
gathering,” but at all times during the excavation process is associated
with a general theoretical perspective, which gives an archaeologist
clear ideas about what he or she will or will not find in a cultural
area. What is collected depends
on what is relevant to the current job. For this reason Finally, CLARITY RANKING: 2 LAURA COWLES Carpenter, Edmund. Robert Cannon 1909-1964. American Anthropologist Vol. 67 (2): 453-454 Robert Cannon was
a pioneer in both the As a faculty member at San Fernando Valley State College, Cannon worked on the film The Races of Man, by Benedict and Weltfish. Cannon used his expertise in photography and filmmaking to produce unique anthropological films. Cannon regularly encouraged anthropologists to use cinematography in their fieldwork. Carpenter uses a film on African dance as an example of how Cannon’s talent displayed an aspect of the dance that would have been otherwise unnoticed. Cannon nearly single-handedly changed how anthropological films were made. Cannon was involved in a sort of revolution in anthropological filmmaking by improving the technical quality of the films. Carpenter feels that Cannon’s work is mostly unacknowledged, but his influence will be greatly appreciated. CLARITY 3 KELLY WEIDENBACH Carpenter, Edmund. Robert Cannon 1909-1964. American Anthropologist 1965 Vol. 67 (2): 453-454 Robert “Bobe” Cannon
accomplished many great things and touched many lives in his fifty-five
year life. He had an illustrious career as both a documentary and a
commercial filmmaker, and he participated in many important projects.
Along with several co-workers the Disney Studios, in 1940, made a campaign
film for He believed in and lived for children. Along with Ted Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss, he adapted a character to film called Gerald McBoing-boing. Eventually, Cannon helped create a divine idiot, who blunders through life, better known as Mr. Magoo. Cannon, signing the contract a few days before his death, had long hoped to work with Picasso on Don Quixote. He also helped create Madeline. He joined the faculty at San Fernando Valley State College, and he held a succession of senior positions in the film industry. In his earlier days, he had filmed Benedict and Welfish’s The Race of Man so naturally he moved into the anthropology field. Cannon was very at home in this field making sure that there were senior positions appointed to people in the areas of the performing arts in which he loved to observe. He loved to observe things such as athletes, dancers, car racing, and any thing that involved graceful movement. He believed that still photos lacked the ability to let the viewer experience the artistic motion. His first anthropological film experiment combined animation, stop frame, stills, live action, multi-screen, time-lapse, and imagery with mime clown Lotte Goslar, creating a world totally free from the three-dimensional perspective. Cannon also worked on a film on Eskimo mobile masks. He was very concerned with the low technical standards of most anthropological films. He achieved eighteen synchronized camera shots by having top-cameramen on three 35mm cameras for a master-take and five playbacks, filming a number of African dances. Even though he was very dedicated to his films he intensely disliked narration in films. He insisted that viewers should explore with their own eyes. He re-edited footage used by Disney, added still shots, eliminated the narration and brought life back to a tribe. Robert Cannon died in 1964. CLARITY: 5 TOMMY
J. HELD JR. Chance, The purpose of this article is to show how three features of the acculturation process can be interrelated: self-identification, cross-cultural contact, and personality adjustment. The Barter Island Eskimos are used as an example of a group that went against the norm, in that they maintained what appears to be a very positive change in their contact with the outside world, and they were aided in so doing by how adaptability was a strong value in their culture. The Eskimos are a group that, despite outside conduct, were able to react very positively, still able to control their own affairs and able to take on the changes as a group so that all were aware and involved. The increased contact with Kaktovik Eskimos has caused them to adopt more and more traits of Western society. An outsider would say that they act more like whites than Eskimos, especially in the younger generations. Despite this, many values have gone unchanged. It is particularly valuable in Eskimo society to try a given tool and decide on its effectiveness, for instance, replacing the sail with the outboard motor, but not replacing the dog sled with the snowmobile. Additionally, many religious values have also not changed with the influence of Christianity. Chance goes further to discuss the ramifications for the psyche of Eskimos in contact with Western culture. He suggests that those Exkimos who want to adopt more Anglo-American practices than they understand will experience more distress than an Eskimo who is adopting values into the value system that already exists for him in his own society and show fewer symptoms of maladjustment. Within this article, the author created a questionnaire to explore cross-cultural health in the psychological adjustments of the Eskimos. As a result of the questionnaire, it was determined that women experience a much higher level of emotional disturbance resulting from the changes than do men. This may be a result of the loss of prestige women receive as a result of the adoption of Western practices, which men do not experience. It was also found that groups who identify the most with the West but have little contact with the west have higher emotional disturbance than those groups who have either equal contact and identification ranking or more contact than identification. The author also makes clear that this experiment was simply an exploration and that he is well aware that there are many other factors to be taken into account when exploring emotional health. CLARITY: 4 Chance, Norman A. Acculturation, Self Identification, and Personality Adjustment. American Anthropologist April, 1965 Vol. 67 (2): 372-393. In spite of recent interest in the phenomenon of acculturation, the effect of acculturation on self- identification and personality adjustment remains largely unknown. While some studies suggest that acculturation has positive effects on societies, many more indicate that acculturation results in cultural upheaval. In 1958, Norman Chance began a long-term study of the North Alaskan Eskimo in an attempt to provide insight into the nature of such changes. Focusing on the
Barter Island Eskimos from the small, geographically isolated Statistical analysis showed that Eskimo women tend to have higher emotional disturbance scores than Eskimo men. Chance believes this is probably due to loss of women's traditional roles and prestige, without adequate replacement. However, this interpretation cannot be supported statistically because of the small sample size. The Western Contact and Identification indices showed that when inter-cultural contact is lower than Western identification, symptoms of emotional disturbance were relatively high, compared to when Contact and Identification rank the same, or when Contact is higher than Western Identification. While Chance recognizes the somewhat tentative nature of his results due to potentially unaccounted for variables and sample issues, he nevertheless believes that his conclusions are interesting and important to the study of acculturation processes. He notes that while more Eskimo women show personality disturbances than the men, these disturbances are not severe. In general, he interprets the community as having adjusted so far successfully to rapid acculturation. The fact that the men are better adjusted than the women is a result of the greater Western contact and identification of the men. Whether or not these problems will be solved in the future, or whether new problems will surface among the men, remains uncertain. CLARITY RANKING: 4 Clark, Desmond
and B.M. Fagan. Charcoals, Sands, and Channel
Decorated Pottery from The article begins
with a description of Northern Rhodesia, The authors describe each site and their stratigraphy specifically. Within the Machili site there were different findings of pottery, fabrics, and little evidence of the types of construction used to create these different pieces. The authors delve deeper into descriptions of the different types of pottery, the decorations, and the materials within each type of discovered at the Machili site. Within the Lusu site there was a discovery of "20 body sherds", which are further described in detail by the authors. The authors also discuss some of the different problems that were encountered throughout the study. They complete the article with a brief summary of similar studies and those findings, as well as the differences that can be formed as a result of the findings from the Machili and Lusu sites. CLARITY: 2 JESSICA SAVAGE: Clark, J. Desmond
and B. M. Fagan. Charcoals, Sands, and Channel
Decorated Pottery From Although occupation
and radiation of Neolithic peoples throughout northern Africa had occurred
as much as 7000 years ago, the possession of Neolithic technology among
the populations of central and southern Specifically, Clark
and Fagan discuss the discovery, distribution, and significance of
channel decorated pottery from The earliest pottery
associated with metal working in southern Archaeological evidence
indicates that distribution of the earliest Iron Age pottery was widespread
across southern CLARITY RANKING: 4 Cohen, Ronald. Review Article. American Anthropologist August, 1965 Vol. 67 (4): 950-957. This article is
a review of the theoretical assumptions of British social anthropology
and Max Gluckman’s book, Order and Rebellion in Tribal Africa.
In the first chapter of his book, Gluckman expands on Fortes’ interpretation
of linage processes in Tale society. The structure of this society
is an outcome of the tensions between social units. Gluckman, and members
of his school of thought, assume that societal equilibrium takes place "as
a consequence of opposing forces." In chapter two, Gluckman uses
Bemba succession as an example of rivalry, reinforcing traditional
rules and creating balance within society. Rituals and ceremonies,
which express this societal tension, are explored in chapter three
of Gluckman’s book. He discusses the social conflicts represented in
the Nomkubuwana ceremony and the Swazi rituals. These social
phenomena exhibit the psychological impacts of societal conflicts.
The "laws" of a society are symbolized in socio-cultural
practices and can be induced through a logical and semantic analysis.
Gluckman’s chapter on Mau Mau, a rebellion that he describes as "a
movement of despair," concludes that this is a product of continual
oppression. As Europe became the dominant power in The author of this article is critical of Gluckman and other social anthropologists for asserting that society operates under set rules and that equilibrium is the natural state of these social systems. Cohen remarks that these assumptions ignore a variety of oppositional forces, whose presence works to obscure this idea of equilibrium and social change. Also, Gluckman does not fully recognize issues of semantics that complicate objectivity and the understanding of the anthropologist. However, Gluckman’s work has been very beneficial to the field of anthropology, challenging the "organic analogy" and promoting statistical evidence. CLARITY: 3 Conant, Francis. Korok:
A Variable Init of Physical and Social Space among the Pokot of This article is
part of Walter Goldschmidt's Culture and Ecology in East Africa Project
and is designed to give the reader an understanding of aspects of cultural
and environmental adaptation among the Pokot of west central The unit of physical space that ‘korok’ defines is that of the terrain, more specifically, the shoulder or spur of a mountain. ‘Korok’ is a point of increase elevation, generally with waterway demarcation. For Pokot who live in the mountains a ‘korok’ is generally of a thousand feet or more, but for those who live in the plains, it need not be very high at all. The social unit of the ‘korok’ is used to designate and area of settlement. It defines where a person came from and where they are living. The living area usually bears a person’s name, coming from so-and-so’s korok. The term includes the settlement area, the local council, communal labor, and, quite important, inter-actions with others within the group. This paper was written to show the importance of the physical and social environment as divided into units of meaning as markers of cultural behavior. CLARITY: 3.5 Conant, Francis
P. Korok: A Variable Unit of Physical and
Social Space among the Pokot of Conant explores the relationship between concept of land and concept of self or community. Reviewing the community uses of the term "korok" among the Pokot of East Africa, Conant illustrates the relation among social organization, economic activity, and ideological aspects of landscape. The physical environment of Pokot is marked by abrupt transitions in elevation and economic potential. The term korok is widely used and the meaning-content is surprisingly consistent. There are three regular meanings for the term. The first refers to the human shinbone, the second to a unit of physical space, and the third to a unit of social space. Conant does not employ the first meaning in his analysis. Concerning the concept of physical space, korok delineates slope where "one end of an area is higher in altitude than the other." It is also used to indicate the lateral border of a waterway. Pokots orient themselves by demarcation, specifically by reference to slope. These same variables "represent changing environmental potentials" and are utilized in different economic ways. In mountainous areas, a korok is marked by steep variations in elevation, whereas on the plains gently canted or faintly elevated areas identify a korok. Corresponding environmental potential is implied. When referring to a social unit, korok designates an area of settlement and the relationship of an individual or community. An individual orients his activities by identifying koroks. A korok is named by its relationship to a well-known individual, one of its lateral streams, or a long-lived individual of the area. It is also used to simply confer place names. This concept is further employed to designate local councils, communal labor, and "interkorok relationships." The latter is of particular importance as mate choice (exogamous), reciprocal rights, and ritual activities are dictated by korok affiliation. An individual is considered "well-off" if married to someone from a korok that will harvest at a different time, or otherwise provision the couple during times when their own korok is less viable. Pastoralists in Pokot present an inconsistency and also reflect greater instability between personnel. Pastoralists engage in the meaning-content system of the korok while also arranging their activities by age-grades that "cut across affiliations with particular korok." Although herders and farmers live in close proximity, intermarry, exchange produce, and share rituals; profound differences occur regularly. Conant asserts that this dynamic further supports his conclusion; landscape determined subsistence technique is a considerable "intervening variable, conditioning much else in the cultural behavior of the Pokot." Through the interpretation of the landscape, Pokot people identify individual affiliations, economic activities, ethic unity, and ceremonial performances. When landscape change is sufficient, and a change in economic pursuit is indicated, the subsistence activity adopted becomes the intervening variable between "the environment and other aspects of man’s culture." CLARITY: 3 Coult, Allan D. and Richard R. Randolph. Computer Methods for Analyzing Genealogical Space American Anthropologist February, 1965 Vol. 67 (1): 21-29. Coult and Randolph examined genealogical relationships through a computer program. The program is designed to lay out the relations among different kinship systems. According to Coult and Randolph, it would work on any type of kinship system. The computer program would take less time than plotting out the relationships by hand. While trying to find out how spouses are genealogically related, they gave several key definitions in the program. They use the definitions to set up the links needed for the program to analyze. They choose a married male or female, they then give relatives a character letter based on the relationship and the sex of the relative. For example, "B" would be a male connected to the subject by a direct sibling link. There are a total of eight kin-types, which are laid out according to the number of links made. Primary links are the direct ones, such as brothers, sisters, mothers, and fathers. Secondary kin-types are connected through double primary links. This continues on through eight sets of links. The matrix that is a result of these links sometimes contains repeated links and some that are impossible, once they are removed, the entire genealogical relationship of the subject can be studied. If 100 married people are in a village, and each of them has just one primary relative, that would result in 100,000-400,000 kin-types. This would make a manual construction extremely time-consuming, and would not seem feasible. However, to use this program the anthropologist must know the individuals within the population, the primary relatives, and the primary links of the ancestors must also be known. Given this type of information, the computer can determine any persons’ relative living or deceased in the population. The article continues with the kin-types in societies that include stepfamilies and the problems of including these types of families into the program. The program has to be slightly altered to accept the new parameters of the step relationships. The programs could lead to massive genealogical studies of all societies, and can be applied to social roles, and genetics. It would also allow for cross-cultural kinship studies. CLARITY RANKING: 3 Coult, Allan D. & Richard R. Randolph. Computer Methods for Analyzing Genealogical Space. American Anthropologist February, 1965 Vol. 67 (1): 21-29 At the time of its publication, this article was absolutely groundbreaking in its approach to the study of genealogy. The authors of this article devised a formula for different systems of endogamic marriages, particularly those with some form of cousin marriage, through the use of the computer (of 1965). The authors present the matrix configurations that would need to be used to setup the data collected and the equations needed to the run the computations on the data. At the time of publication, the equation took approximately 45 minutes to trace relationships through ten links for a population of 500 persons. At the time, the equation was an estimated 100 times faster than what was previously available to them. CLARITY:1 DEVIN GINGRICH: Dalton, George. Primitive Money. American Anthropologist. February, 1965. Vol. 67 (1):44-65. Some requirements of primitive money that would denote uses in commercial exchange are portability, divisibility, and, in some situations, inflation. Money that is portable and divisible would be intended for purchasing everyday items of varying price. Inflation would occur with outside trade, when the "quantity of money-stuff was uncontrolled and increased rapidly in supply" (60). In summation Dalton states that "money has no definable essence apart from the uses money objects serve, and these depend upon the transactional modes that characterize each economy: as tangible item as well as abstract measure, ‘money is what money does’" (62). CLARITY RANKING: 4 Dalton, George. Primitive Money. American Anthropologist 1965 Vol.67(1):44-65. With the introduction of foreign monies into primitive economies it has become difficult for anthropologists to reveal the nature of the old money and the consequences of the new. Characteristics of modern money are too often used as a model for studying primitive money. Anthropologists have mistakenly been using the attributes of Western market economies to determine what is true money. When economies are organized differently, "money" takes on different characteristics. Market exchange is the dominant transaction mode in modern economies. However, market exchange plays only litter or no role in primitive economies. In such economies, non-commercial uses of money, such as redistribution and reciprocity, are the dominant transaction modes. In Western economies money is predominantly used for commercial exchange and all other uses of money are derived from the use of money as media of commercial exchange. But money does not function this way in primitive economies. They have no integrated market exchange and different monetary objects can be used to carry out reciprocal and redistributive functions. Anthropologists must be careful to distinguish between market exchange and reciprocal exchange. The case of CLARITY: 4 Downs, James F. The Social Consequences of a Dry Well. American Anthropologist 1965 Vol. 67: 1387-1416 In this article James F. Downs describes what happens when a Navajo extended family is faced with a “diminishing water supply,” on the Navajo Reservation at Pinon. He starts with background information about the general area and its residents, and then gives a detailed description of the extended family, their genealogy, individual relationships, who worked and owned livestock, and maps of the family homestead and range. In 1960, due to
lack of precipitation in the previous winter and spring, the water
supply fell, leaving widespread effects and conflicts between the family
and the community and within the family. The situation became worse the next year
and alternative water sources were sought, requiring more work from
the family. This resulted in
disagreements amongst family members and greater community conflict. Again, After discussing
these events on an external level, the family and the community, CLARITY: 3 KATIE STIENMETZ Downs,
James F. The Social Consequences of A Dry Well. American
Anthropologist August, 1965. Vol. 67(2):1387 -1416. This article focuses on one family, an extended family of seven nuclear families, and how they deal with a drought. The Broken Foot, which was the family/farm name, was notorious for always having visitors due to their abundance of water. When their water supply began to diminish and they could no longer be the great hosts they once were, other large families in the area began to compete for that honor. Although the article goes into great detail explaining how Broken Foot is changed by the drought, it also gives a perspective on how the entire community is dealing with the weather. The primary sources of water were fought over, for the first time now due to its scarcity, and the ownership of natural springs became a debate. Most of the water supplies of this community were considered public until the drought. A grazing committee chairman was asked to install pumps on a well, which could be expensive but would help provide water. The stresses of
having to find water elsewhere rather than where it was most convenient
may not pose the most harmful threat, but the author of this article
tries to explain what little inconveniences can lead to catastrophic
problems. Access to water has always been something of great
concern, and can only be understood and appreciated when water is not
readily accessible, and that is what happened to these Navajo. The
large extended family composed of seven nuclear families had to break
in half. The two sides of the family relieved a lot of stress
by parting, and this changed the demands for certain water supplies,
thus alleviating some of the tension. The family was not as close as
it once was and this was resulted in a drastic lifestyle change. Family,
neighbor and herding life were all directly effected. The ways
in which families define kin, live together and move together has all
been different since this drought in 1960.
Dumond, D.E. On Eskaleutian Linguistics, Archaeology, and Prehistory. American Anthropologist October, 1965 Vol.67 (5):1231-1257. Dumond classifies the Eskimoan branch of the Eskaleutian languages, and reviews the ethnic relationships implied by such classifications. The genetic classification of language is based on the idea that any group of related languages implies the former existence of a single language, which by accumulation of changes in different areas has diverged into separate, distinct languages. At the same time, the existence of social groups can also be approximated using such language styles and groups. For example, a group ancestral to all Inupik speakers can be assumed, also descended from an earlier common Yupik-Inupik ancestor. A hypothetical family tree exists from applying models of linguistic relationships, an example being that of the ancestors of the Yupik speakers. A group ancestral to Yupik speakers, descended from a common Yupik-Inupik ancestor, can be implied to relate to one group ancestral to Mainland and one ancestral to Nunivak, and descended from a group ancestral to Pacific on one hand and both Mainland and Nunivak on the other, and descended from a group ancestral to speakers of Siberian on one hand, and Mainland, Pacific, and Nunivak on the other, and descended from, and so on. Such a tree implies a degree of uniformity of parent language, and the clean splits of daughter languages. Geographic contingency promotes the retention and adoption of common elements- the ease with which people understand each other and the similarity in their speech habits result from the amount of talking between them, and this is in turn dependent on where they live, their geographic position. CLARITY: 3 Domond, D.E. Eskaleutian Linguistics, Archeolgy, and Prehistory. American Anthropologist October, 1965 Vol.67(5):1231-1254. The author has come to the conclusion that the lexicostatistical genetic classification of the Eskimoan branch of the Eskaleutian languages is substantiated by archeological data. Dumond maintains that the ethnic relationships ascertained through the lexicostatistical method are valid, even though the time scale produced though glottochronology can be called into question. He examines the linguistic data and compares these results to the available archeological record. Dumond surveys the
Eskaleutian linguistic data and finds two major divergences. First,
the peoples of the Aleutian Islands are linguistically separated from
the coastal Eskimos in both North America and The Archeological
data is also surveyed and Dumond finds that it supports the lexicostatistical
data. The Arctic Small Tool tradition is found in both Yupik and Inupik
sites. It is not found with the Aleut sites and the author predicts
that people with a shared language will also have common tool tradition.
After the Arctic Small tool tradition the Yupik sites have the Norton
and Norton-like assemblages in the west and about 1800 years ago the Dumond holds that the linguistic data is supported by the archeological assemblage using these two data sources he find that: Speakers of Proto-Eskaleutian were ancestral to both the Aleuts and the carriers of the Arctic Small Tool tradition, the carriers of this tradition spread across the arctic to Greenland by 2000 B.C., the Norton and Norton-like traditions are the linguistic and cultural ancestors of all modern Eskimos, the purveyors of the Thule culture are the linguistic and cultural ancestors of the Inupik speakers. Dumond demonstrates that the relationships found with lexicostatistical methods are in agreement with the current archeological data while the glottochronological data is not supported by the archeological assemblage. CLARITY: 4 GREG WILLSON The Edgerton, Robert. "Cultural" vs "Ecological" Factors in the Expression of Values, Attitudes, and Personality Characterization. American Anthropologist April, 1965 Vol. 67 (2): 442-447 Robert Edgerton
writes this paper as part of a larger study, the "Culture and
Ecology Project". The study examines four tribes in Three different psychological experiments were conducted on each tribe: standard questioning of the tribe members, Rorschach plates, values-pictures, and color slides. Interviews were conducted with one person at a time with an interpreter and in a strictly controlled experimental setting. Interviewees were then paid with a small gift of (usually) native beer. The results of the experiments showed that there are, in fact, several cultural and ecological distinctions that can be made. Men and women among the same tribe answered in very similar ways, demonstrating that culture was responsible for a large part of the values, attitudes, and personalities of individuals. Answers statistically fell along linguistic family lines, with the Kamba and the Hehe answering in similar ways, and the Pokot and the Sebei answering along the same lines. Answers were not as gendered as the interviewers expected, with answers between men and women differing only when it came to questions about the relationships between men and women. The study also tried to understand whether age and degree of acculturation would influence answers, with the result being that the culture of a respondent was more important overall than these specifics. Once the relationship between cultural influence and answers was shown, the next question became whether or not ecological variation within each tribe would also influence answers. Results were divided along occupation lines, with herders falling on one side and agriculturists falling on the other. While many of the results were not unequivocal, there were enough statistical similarities to show that the ecological differences, which led to differences in economic adjustment, did indeed influence the expression of values, attributes, and personality. The author concludes that these expressions along ecologically influenced lines can, in a limited sense, be considered both predictable and universal. CLARITY RANKING: 4 .gif){kind=small} Edgerton, Robert B. “Cultural” vs. “Ecological” factors in the Expression of Values, Attitudes, and Personality Characteristics. American Anthropologist, New Series, Vol.67, No.2 (Apr., 1965), 442-447. Edgerton’s main objective was to study the culture ecology among four different tribes from farming and herding communities in East Africa. The project to understand and deal with cultural differences based on a set of systematic, objectives including values, attitudes and personality. The research was also focused on the different of ecological setting the Sebei, Kamba, Hehe and Pokot tribes. The author dealt with a lot of complexity in developing the interview methods. The interview tactics were first pre-tested among the Sebei and Kamba and 85 questions were asked by trained project staff. At each site, 30 married men and 30 married women were interviewed for a total of 505 persons. The project staff used tribal members who spoke the language so that the interviews would go smoothly. The interviews were conducted privately over 60 to 90 minutes and informants were paid in beer. Of the tribal women and men who were interviewed, less than 5% responded differently and within the 8 communities well under 8% responded differently to all the interview questions. “Cultural Distinctiveness” was one category that showed the similarities and differences among the four tribes. The four tribes were divided into two categories not linguistically related to each other. The first category was the Bantu-speaking tribes (Kamba and Hehe) who valued land, sons, respected wealthy people, worried about sorcery-witchcraft, and whose women viewed old age as period of security. The second group was Kalenjin- speaking tribes (Pokot and Sebei), who were linguistically and geographically close to each other and valued both sons and daughters, cattle, gave more respect to prophets, and whose women worried about old age. The author expected the men and women of farming and herding tribes to have different values, beliefs, attitudes and personality characteristics. Of 10,000 responses, only 5% of the individuals in the four tribes showed some differences. For example, in the herding Pokot tribe men valued their cattle and having a good wife. Men in all four tribes of East Africa believed that women married men because of their wealth, while the women said they married for love. “Ecological differentiations” were categorized in term of residences, warfare, land shortage, competition of power and the importance of women. The eight communities were ranked for their intertribal conflicts. Bravery, the prestige of warriors, and dislike of their enemies were among the major problems the tribes had faced. Even though the author seems to have favored farming tribes over herding tribes, this journal article is good for anthropology and will be good for ages. CLARITY: 5 YIEN KONGDUONGDIIT University of Minnesota Duluth (Jennifer Jones) Fernandez, James W. Symbolic Consensus in a Fang Reformative Cult. American Anthropological August, 1965 Vol. 67 (4): 902-929. This article looks
at the reformative Bwiti cult of the Fang people of northern The ritual creates integration and interaction on a social level as it allows for repetition in an activity regardless of one’s cultural consensus with others; so, symbolic consensus definitely contributes to the solidarity of a group. Social consensus asks for the agreement to orient actions towards one another, which also asks for acceptance of a set of signals, and signs that given direction. Last, cultural consensus asks for an understanding that holds symbolic meaning as common. But it is symbolic consensus that creates the individual, their activity, and their ongoing interaction with others because the individual is what he or she does. CLARITY: 4 Fischer, J.L. The Stylistic Significance in Consonantal Sandi in Trukese and Ponapean. American Anthropologist December, 1965 Vol.67 (6):1495-1502. J. L. Fischer’s article entitled the Stylistic Significance of Consonantal Sandi in Trukese and Ponapean examines the differences between Trukese and Ponapean languages. Specifically Fischer investigates the Sandi rules, which are changes in the number of phonemes or the replacement of phonemes within the two languages, and also the cultural significance of Sandi. In an attempt to further outline the differences between Ponapean and Trukese languages Fischer presents the cultural attitudes towards speech from Trukese and Ponapean speakers. Fischer discusses differences between the languages in fluency versus precision, overt expressions of emotion, joking and lying, and finally etiquette. In sum Fischer discovered that the Ponapean speakers had stricter formal etiquette which influenced the precision and quality of their speech. On the other hand, Trukese did not place a great amount of emphasis on formal speech. Instead they valued fluency and quality above all. Therefore Trukese are more informal in their speech and Ponapean have stricter formal speech. A third aspect of Micronesian languages that Fischer investigated is the variation in uses of consonant clusters between Trukese and Ponapean languages. After looking at words and morphemes in both languages Fischer discovered the primary difference is in the kind of fricative present. For example, one is more likely to notice a fricative or a one stop in Trukese, and in Ponapean, the same word would have a nasal-fricative or nasal stop. In Fischer’s opinion social structure highly influences stylistic variation in words and morphemes. This article would attract individuals interested in cultural variations, Micronesian languages, phonology, linguistic anthropology, and cultural anthropology. CLARITY: 4 Fischer, J. L. The Stylistic Significance of Consonantal Sandhi in Trukese and Ponapean. American Anthropologist. December, 1965 Vol.67 (6):1495-1502. This article studies and compares the stylistic difference of two Micronesian languages, namely Trukese and Ponapean. While noting some of the structural differences between these two languages, Fischer discusses the implications of these stylistic preferences to the "underlying cultural attitude toward speech" (1495). Fischer provides a detailed discussion of the construction of these languages, which includes a discussion of such things as "consonantal rules" and "phonetic accommodations", among other structural linguistic issues. Fischer notes the underlying significance of the fact that that "in some cases the kind of consonant cluster which is the preferred result in one language is precisely the kind which is eliminated in sandhi in the other language" (1496). By connecting the stylistic and structural differences in these two languages to their cultural differences, Fischer employs Hymes’ theory of the "relativity of role or function of language in societies" (1497). In employing this theory, Fischer asserts that language can function in many different ways. He specifically discusses differences such as the expression of emotion through words, level of joking and lying acceptable in a society, how words relate to etiquette and contribute to power distinctions among people, and "fluency versus precision in speaking" (1497). An example of the type of distinctions that Fischer makes is illustrated with an example he provides. He discusses how a young boy can address a Trukese chief with an abbreviated version of his personal name. However, in Ponape, this would never occur, and even those closest to the chief, such as his wife or brother, would address the chief with his formal title, even in situations considered more informal. This serves as an example of the type of cultural difference that Fischer notes, and then relates back to the stylistic and structural significance of the language. Although this article makes interesting conclusions, it would be significantly more understandable for someone with a background in linguistic studies. Lacking such a background creates difficulty in understanding the full potential of this article. CLARITY: 3 Foster, George M. Peasant Society and the Image of Limited Good. American Anthropologist April, 1965 Vol. 67 (2): 293-315 George Foster develops a theory that he and several others have called "Limited Good." Although he looks at other classes of people throughout his paper, he is more interested with peasant lifestyle. One of the most interesting points that Foster raises is the idea that there is a finite amount of "good" things available to a peasant. By this, Foster means that no matter how hard a peasant might work, there is only so much food/land/money that can be earned by not only him, but also the entire group. This limitation is not something that is necessarily present in material terms, but it is something that the people of the society put in place to maintain balance and stability. If a person gains more than another, or is able to amass more money, then that person has taken something away from another in the society. By so doing, they have unbalanced the entire intertwined group. Foster also brings up the idea of a need to achieve something. For the average peasant, there is no need to achieve anything more that what he or she already has. If they were able to earn more than that, they would no longer be maintaining the balance of the group. Foster hints at the chaos that would ensue, and has ensued in several societies, in which the fragile balance is broken. Once one person is able to realize that they could make more, and the only thing holding them back was themselves, then everyone attempts to break out of the pattern. Foster suggests that it would be possible for a peasant society to make gains in wealth and technology, but it would need to be made on a slow growth type of model. CLARITY: 4 DEVIN GINGRICH: Foster, George M. Peasant society and the image of limited good. American Anthropologist April, 1965 Vol.67(2):293-315. Foster describes irrational economic behavior as tied to outmoded cognitive orientations. He is concerned with how this behavior limits peasant society from engaging the "economic growth of the country." He approaches peasant society as a "closed system" limiting personal achievement and as an "open system" with potential to expand personal success. Much like the phonemic organization of patterned regularities in speech, an individual may not easily identify his own cognitive orientation to the universe. However, this configuration offers "unconscious but, determinative backgrounds" that are expressed in economic pursuit. Foster proposes a model to guide research in analyzing the worldview perspective of a people. Two levels are addressed. The first requires attention to how the community outlook influences what can be known; what is "psychologically real" for the members of the collective. The second requires the anthropologist work toward identifying the "economical representation of this cognitive orientation." The implicit premises guiding culture can be explored through this observable behavior. Behavior that appears irrational in the changing conditions of peasant society is "highly rational in the context of the cognition that determines it." Peasant societies are dominated by a concept of limitation. This concept originates in the cultural assessment of environment and resources as finite. Because the immediate environment limits "good," an individual improves his station only at the expense of the common good. Institutionalized behavior works to neutralize achieved imbalance. In order to function within this paradigm, individual achievement must be either concealed and denied or admitted and neutralized through ritual expenditure thereby guaranteeing that personal achievement has not threatened common good. Foster provides
this Limited Good model of cognitive orientation to evaluate peasant
behavior. He reviews data from peasant communities in Of great importance is the emic definition of fate and fortune. By luck an individual might stumble upon outside sources of good. If he succeeds in procuring wealth from this avenue (ie: migrant work, modern lottery), resources belonging to the community are not threatened. Such wealth can be openly displayed without threat to the community and without the individual fearing retaliation. His fortune took nothing away from the common good. "If fate is the only way in which success can be obtained, the prudent … man … seeks ways in which to maximize his luck-position." Under such rubric, gambling is honorable whereas hard work (keeping resources meant for the whole community for oneself) is seen as unproductive. Fortune is a result of chance and not hard work. By applying the Limited Good model, peasant behavior is easily understood. Astute development projects must assess their plan in relation to this cognitive orientation. The peasants’ view of his "social and economic universe" must be changed from "an Image of Limited Good toward that of expanding opportunity in an open system so that he can feel safe in displaying initiative." CLARITY: 4 Goldschmidt, Walter. Introduction. American Anthropologist April, 1965 Vol. 67 (2):400-401. Walter Goldschmidt’s Introduction serves as a preface for the material presented at the symposium titled Variation and Adaptability of Culture held during the Sixty-Third Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association. He begins his Introduction by explaining the goal of the Cultural and Ecology project as an effort toward a controlled comparison of culture. The purpose of the symposium is to elicit critical comments in order to improve the analyses presented. Specifically, Goldschmidt hopes for a public discussion of theories and methods. The purpose of the introduction is to serve as a general reference for the project, explaining that the comparisons made during the project deal with the internal diversity among a group of tribes. Goldschmidt gives brief summaries of the papers presented at the symposium. The paper presented by Porter explores geographical variation and economic risk as potential factors in cultural diversity. Oliver looks at the degree of flexibility in the cultural orientation of the Kamba. The instability of the social context, as shown by the analysis of the Hehe, is discussed by Winans. Goldschmidt explains the research program deals with problems of microadaptation, and thus, the analysis is focused on four tribes, each of which is partly pastoral and partly farming. Though the tribes were close in historical association and contemporary daily relationships, Conant’s work with the Pokot communities illustrates there is abundant small-scale diversity in social patterns. The data collected differ from that of most ethnographic investigations, namely socio-cultural norms, in that the attitudes and personality attributes of the personnel are also a factor. Edgerton’s paper deals with some of these aspects among several tribes. The preliminary data from his analysis indicates that neither sex nor acculturation are relevant factors. Instead, certain attitudes and behavioral characteristics seem to be consistent within tribes and cultural affiliation. Other factors appear to vary according to the ecological factors, which are the primary subject of the investigation. Goldschmidt concludes his Introduction by stating that the presented conclusions are tentative and asking for critical examinations of the methods used. Such criticisms will be used to gain sophistication in the final analyses. CLARITY RANKING: 5 Goldschmidt, Walter. Theory and Strategy in the Study of Cultural Adaptability. American Anthropologist April, 1965 Vol. 67 (2):402-408. This article is one of six articles from a symposium on the Culture and Ecology project, which tries to do controlled comparisons of cultures. The articles specifically deal with different issues stemming from a controlled comparison of internal diversity among four tribes: Sebei, Pokot, Kamba, and Hehe. The study also looks at cultural adaptation, environmental influences, and economic issues and how they integrate with and influence social processes and behaviors. Goldschmidt focuses upon ecological adaptation in his component of the project. There are two main economic "life-modes" examined: hoe farming and cattle pastoralism. Goldschmidt uses these patterns to test two different theories or models. Functional theory is the first theory under assessment. It asserts that within a society the institutions are integrated wholes and any changes in one area affect the whole system. The other "logical" model being tested conjectures that fundamental aspects of a system ("life-mode" in this instance) determine the behavioral characteristics and institutions of the practicing people. Goldschmidt lays out the attributes of an "ideal" pastoralist based upon functional theory and the "logical" model. A pastoralist, according to Goldschmidt, is militaristic, patriarchal, and independent. Pastoralists are contrasted with farmers, as Goldschmidt assigns temperaments to both groups. After laying out a model, Goldschmidt turns to the research strategy employed by he and his colleagues. An ethnographer studied each of the tribes, collecting ethnographic, demographic, and psychological information. One major problem the ethnographers faced was acculturation—they had wished to study "aboriginal" adjustments in farming and pastoral communities, not "modern" adjustments. Also, treating environmental conditions as an independent variable, Goldschmidt recognizes its significance on the tribes. Although conclusions are not discussed completely, the project was an attempt to compare cultures and practices using theoretical models. For Goldschmidt, it is theory and its implications that are the focus of study, not necessarily the cultures, in and of themselves. Through the study of cultural malleability, Goldschmidt and his colleagues explore the associations between a society, its institutions, and the attitudes and behaviors of the people. CLARITY: 3 Goldschmidt, Walter. Theory and Strategy in the Study of Cultural Adaptability. American Anthropologist 1965 67(2): 402-408. Goldschmidt is setting
out the overall theoretical and strategic basis for a study of cultural
adaptation in sub-Saharan The goal is to test the functional assumption "that institutions of a society are integrated wholes, that changes in one sector requires adjustments in other sectors of the social system." They chose to focus on pastoral societies because of this lifestyle's specific set of sociological requirements and its closer unity of institutional forms. To test their theoretical model they examined four tribes: the Sebei and Pokot (Kalenjin language family) and the Kamba and Hehe (Bantu language family). Several problems must be overcome in this study. First, they are not dealing with societies practicing "pure" pastoralism or "pure" farming, but with societies that practice varying degrees of each. Secondly, they are attempting to analyze "aboriginal" adjustments in the context of societies in 1961-62. In addition, the processes of adaptation take place within the broader social context of the community of societies in which a people live, thus complicating the environment (the independent variable) under which institutional patterns of a society develop. Finally, they are not dealing with independent villages but with interdependent sectors of a larger whole. All of these things complicate the study that has been undertaken. The study is designed not only to find patterns and uniformities of ecological adjustments in the four tribes examined, but also to deal with the broader theoretical questions of the malleability of culture and the relation between institutional patterns and attitudes. CLARITY: 4 Golkind, Victor. Social Stratification in the Peasant Community: Redfield’s Chan Kom Reinterpreted. American Anthropologist 1965 Vol. 67 (4):863-884. The purpose of this
article is to analyze Robert Redfield’s description of a "non-primitive
village community" (863). The community that Redfield studied
was the Yucatecan Maya In order to understand the reasoning behind values and beliefs, one needs to depict why community members act in a particular manner. Another limitation to Redfield’s depiction is the absence of information about material and social conditions of Chan Kom. Redfield characterizes culture as "conventional understandings" (Redfield in Goldkind 1965: 882), and he concluded that Chan Kom was a classless homogenous community. Goldkind questions this conclusion because of over-simplification of cultures. Throughout this article, Goldkind reintroduced and examined several critics who have opposing views of Redfield. CLARITY: 2 KELLY GILFEATHER: Hainline, Jane. Culture and Biological Adaptation. American Anthropologist. October, 1965. Vol. 67 (5):1174-1197. Hainline draws in
part from her Ph.D. dissertation to present the proposal that "culture
is biological adaptation, as measured by the criterion of the relative
abundance of organisms" (1174). She centers her research in Hainline states
that "a study of human ecology recognized: (1) the physical environment;
(2) the biotic environment; (3) the cultural environment; (4) the individual
human biological or physiological environment" (1175). Using a
primarily quantitative approach, Hainline statistically analyzes the
Micronesian data and comes up with suggestive relationships between
environment and population. These relationships include disease as
a "major determinant of the population increase, of Micronesian
peoples" (1185). The subsistence of food is another possible relationship
to population size; however, according to her research, the "availability
of food does not now appear to be a major population depressant in Her findings "suggest that careful consideration must be given to the proposition that culture is biological adaptation" (1190). She concludes that further investigation is needed before this view can be legitimated. CLARITY RANKING: 4 Hainline, Jane. Cultural and Biological Adaptation. American Anthropologist 1965 Vol. 67 (1): 1174-1192 In this article, Hainline uses a statistical analysis of Micronesian island populations in relation to other ecological variants to discuss the proposition that “culture is biological adaptation.” She uses statistics to determine the degree of correlation between environment and biological adaptations. Hainline further demonstrates that social stratification present in the Micronesian populations is not the result of beneficial biological adaptations, as suggested by current ecological anthropological theory, but that social stratification actually appears to be inversely related to population size. Hainline uses Simpson’s (1953) environmental categories to evaluate possible correlations between biological adaptations and Micronesian population size. These categories include “the physical environment,” “the biotic environment,” “the cultural environment,” and “the individual human biological or physiological environment.” She tested a variety of variables of these environments in relation to population size to see if any significant correlations could be identified. Hainline suggests that environmental variables such as land area of volcanic or coral composition, altitude, precipitation, lagoon resources, population density, and sociocultural factors affect population size. Hainline takes a number of factors into consideration to determine accurate population size. The factors include birth rates, death rates and survival rates of these Micronesian populations. She identifies the major determinant of current population size as the past population size. To analyze this correlation further she discusses how subsistence (availability of food and sociocultural factors shaping human exploitation of resources), disease, and “interspecies relationships” (conflict, abortion, contraception, and loss of life at sea) would affect the population size of the past and the present. The statistical analyses also show other correlations between environment and Micronesian population size. She points out that while there is a correlation between food availability and population density, the correlation is not simple. She suggests that variations in population size are more accurate for volcanic islands rather than coral islands. Her statistical data also suggests that population size is inversely related to extensive social stratification. For example, she asserts that there is a correlation between low population density, a beneficient environment, and sociocultural complexity; or there is a correlation between a greater population density, a restricted environment, and reduced sociocultural complexity. Thus, her analysis shows correlations between biological adaptations and cultural characteristics. However, Hainline suggests that population density may not be a good indicator to analyze biological adaptation, and she further cautions researchers to give “careful consideration to the proposition that culture is biological adaptation.” CLARITY RANKING:
2 TERESA
MALSON Heiser, Charles
B. Jr. Cultivated Plants and Cultural Diffusion
in Nuclear The overall concern
of the article addresses the issue of cultural diffusion, or the spreading
and borrowing of culture. Heiser looks at this process specifically
through plant evidence in Heiser intends to show the relationship between cultivated plant patterns in different geographic regions and patterns of cultural diffusion. However, he finds that there is not enough evidence, based upon cultivated plants, to support extensive cultural diffusion. In the discussion, Heiser explores other ways in which plants may have been spread from region to region. For example, he looks at the possibility of seeds being carried by water or wind. In this way, his analysis is very complete and cautious in regards to making causal connections between cultivated plant patterns and how the plant life spread. Heiser also discusses other limitations to his study, such as necessary preconditions for the acceptance of new plants into a given region. He believes that certain obstacles exist for the introduction of a new plant. The plant would have to compete with the established food system, it would have to adapt to the soil and climate, and the plants would have to be carried in a condition that was protective to assure its ability to last and reproduce in the new location. A very small number of plants were shared between regions, but the study concludes that this is not an indication of larger cultural diffusion patterns. CLARITY: 4 Heiser,
Charles B., Jr. Cultivated Plants and Cultural Diffusion in
Nuclear The
purpose of this article is to explore the cultivation of plants in
central Heiser
begins with evidence for the origins and diffusion of different plants. Maize
and the cucurbits (squashes, pumpkins and gourds) have been researched
most extensively and are represented in the archaeological record
most frequently. Heiser concludes that there is not a strong
case for extensive cultural diffusion from South American into Even
though Heiser believes that the evidence for cultural diffusion based
on cultivated plants is not strong, he still feels that the exchange
of plants was likely between the two areas. There is some evidence that beans and maize
originated in Meso-America and went to South America, but in a certain
case with maize there are signs that a specific type could have come
from This
article would be suitable for those interested in the history of
agriculture and the domestication of plants, especially the plants
of the CLARITY
RANKING: 3 Hoijer, Harry. Jane Orstan Bright 1940-1964 American Anthropologist 1965. Vol 67:452-. Jane Orstan Bright’s
untimely death from a car accident happened on July 31, 1964. Her
husband, William O. Bright, associate professor of anthropology at
the Her numerous published
works included various abstracts of publications written in French,
and reviews of various literatures written on the Navajo. An
article written in conjunction with her husband on the semantic structures
in Jane will be remembered for her bright, cheerful personality and her considerable promise in the field of anthropology. CLARITY: 4 Hoijer, Harry. Obituary: Jane Orstan Bright. American Anthropologist, 1965. Vol.67 (2): 452-453. Harry Hoijer from
the She received her
A.B. in French in 1961 and her M.A. in linguistics from the CLARITY: 5 KATHY
GLEDITSCH Hsu, Francis L.K. The Effect of Dominant Kinship Relationships on Kin and Non-Kin Behavior: A Hypothesis. American Anthropologist. June, 1965 Vol.67(3):638-661. Francis Hsu wrote this article in order to give the readers a better look into relationships and attributes in kinship. Radcliffe-Brown was the first to explain ideas on kinship extension. The author wishes to elaborate, as well as go beyond his ideas. The hypothesis was designed with four goals in mind. Hsu wishes to (1) show how influences on kinship relationships can extend to other relationships to ultimately shape the entire kinship system, (2) dispute many researchers’ idea that effector relationships change into secondary versions of the affector relationship, (3) link the interaction between patterns in a kinship system with traditional behavior in greater society that the kinship system is a part of, and (4) distinguish the attributes of kinship relationships. To begin, the author defined four fundamental terms: relationship and attribute, and dominant relationship and dominant attribute. While defining these terms, the eight most common family relationships were also given: father-son, mother-son, father-daughter, mother-daughter, husband-wife, brother-brother, sister-sister, and brother-sister. Hsu approaches the hypothesis in three parts: (1) an in-depth look at four basic kinship relationships as well as their attributes; (2) a description of how dominant relationships affect other kinship relationships within the same kinship system; (3) the effect of dominant relationships on other non-kin relationships. Freud also tends to have an underlying influence on the author. This is exemplified by the way the hypothesis was built upon the idea that the early experiences of an individual have a major influence on shaping the way one relates to the rest of the world. Where the hypothesis strays from Freudian thought in is the role of the parent-child triad. Instead, the emphasis is placed on the social system. It considers other relationships, rather than the parent, that may have central importance. The article concludes with a description of data that supports the hypothesis. CLARITY: 3 Hsu, Francis L. K. The Effect of Dominant Kinship Relationships on Kin and Non-Kin Behavior: A Hypothesis. American Anthropologist June, 1965 Vol. 67(3): 638-661. Hsu argues that dominant kinship relationships and dominant attributes affect the behavioral patterns in a kinship system and in the larger society of which that kinship system is a part. Within the nuclear family, there are eight basic relationships: father-son, mother-son, father-daughter, mother-daughter, husband-wife, brother-brother, sister-sister, and brother-sister. The attributes of each relationship are the basic ingredients for the patterns of interaction between the people involved in that relationship. Hsu argues that no nuclear family gives equal attention to all eight of its basic relationships. Within each nuclear family, one or more of these relationships takes precedence over the others. Hsu designates such a relationship as the dominant relationship and the others as recessive relationships. Hsu describes the attributes that are associated with the dominant relationship dominant attributes and the attributes that are associated with non-dominant relationships as recessive attributes. Hsu develops a hypothesis to show the relationship between the dominant kinship relationship and kin and non-kin behavior: "the dominant attributes of the dominant relationship in a given kinship system tend to determine the attitudes and action patterns which the individual in such a system develops towards other relationships in this system as well as towards his relationships outside of the system." To prove this hypothesis, Hsu closely examines the basic attributes of four of the eight basic relationships. The husband-wife dominated kinship system structurally favors monogamy. The father-son dominated kinship system structurally favors polygyny. The mother-son dominated kinship system structurally favors multiple spouses in different combinations. The brother-brother dominated kinship relationship is similar to the mother-son dominated kinship system, but to a lesser extent. Upon examination of each of these relationships, Hsu turns to examine the effect dominant kinship relationships on other kinship relationships. Hsu argues that the recessive relationships are not changed under the influence of the dominant relationship. The recessive attributes are so influenced by the dominant attributes that the interaction of the recessive relationship in that system is very different from the interaction of that relationship if the dominant relationship was not dominant. Hsu moves to the examination of the effect of dominant kinship relationships on non-kin behavior. Hsu concentrates on the attribute of authority. Hsu reviews the four basic relationships mentioned in depth above and concludes that the problem of authority is less problematic in father-son and mother-son dominated kinship systems. Authority is more problematic in husband-wife and brother-brother dominated kinship systems. In the father-son dominated kinship system, authority is the major attribute. Hsu claims that both Freud and Parsons influenced the hypothesis, but he deviates from both of their theories. Freud stresses the importance of the parent-child triad relationship, whereas Hsu stresses that the most influential relationship may be one other than that triad and that the dominant relationship could seriously alter the nature of the triad. Hsu identifies with Parson’s universal elements of the nuclear family, but Hsu further suggests that depending upon the nuclear family’s dominant relationship and attributes, parental roles vary greatly from one kinship system to another. CLARITY RANKING: 2 SHANNA COX: This article discusses
treponematosis, an infectious disease that carries with it four different
syndromes. Venereal syphilis, nonvenereal syphilis, yaws, and pinta
are all caused by the treponeme parasite and belong to the same species.
However, many believe that these syndromes are parasitic mutations. CLARITY: 4 In
this article E.H. Hudson presents his theory that the diseases known
as venereal syphilis, nonvenereal syphilis, yaws, and pinta are actually
syndromes of one disease, treponematosis, which is caused by the
parasite Treponema pallidum. He puts the understanding of this disease
in an evolutionary and historical context. While
these are often seen as separate diseases, In
hunting and gathering societies and small villages, non-venereal
syphilis or yaws would be common diseases. Children would be exposed through normal
everyday contact, thereby gaining immunity or passing into a latent
stage of infection. If villagers
were immune by adulthood, treponematosis would not be transmitted
sexually because everyone engaging in sex would be immune. It
is not until people begin to live in towns that sexual transmission
of treponematosis occurs. The author rejects
the “Columbian” theory that the origin of venereal syphilis was in
the CLARITY
RANKING: 4 Hymes, Dell. Some The focus of this
essay is "upon texts from the Indian cultures of the "Our heritage of American Indian poetry must be reanalyzed and valuated, and from a linguistic basis, if its contributions to American culture and to an anthropological science of culture is to be achieved with anything like the validity expected of responsible disciplines" (Hymes 1965: 317). Hymes further analyses
and discusses six poems from the CLARITY: 3 Hymes, Dell. Some North Pacific Poems: a Problem in Anthropological Philology. American Anthropologist April, 1965 Vol. 65 (2):316-340. Dell Hymes’ focus
is on texts from the Native American cultures of the Hymes’ thesis is twofold. He calls for Native American poetry to be reanalyzed and reevaluated from a linguistic basis, if its contribution to American culture and to an anthropological science of culture is to be achieved with anything like the validity expected of responsible disciplines. Also this analysis and evaluation should concern several intersecting activities, those of folklorists, anthropologists, linguists, literary scholars, and poets, with each of these in turn having something to contribute. Hymes analyzes six Hymes offers two approaches to translation. The first states that even minimal knowledge of verbal meaning requires that the original texts are available in published form, with interlinear translations, and some sort of usable grammar and dictionary, as a check on interlinear translation and on alternative renderings. Second, an anthropological philology must provide analysis not only on the linguistic levels, but also on the level of metrics, or poetics. This formal structure set forth is as necessary as grammar and dictionary to the recognition of the verbal meaning of the original, for it is intrinsic to what in fact happens in the poem, to what there is to be felt in the verbal meaning. It is Hymes hope that the renewed joining of interests that he calls for may help to integrate the study of Native American languages and the values of Native American texts more fully, proceeding on the conviction that the study of languages is too important to be left solely to linguistics, the texts too valuable to be interpreted by any who ignore linguistics. CLARITY RANKING: 3 JOHN P. LAUGHLIN: The Kaplan, David. The Superorganic: Science or Metaphysics? American Anthropologist August, 1965 Vol. 67 (4):958-976. Kaplan sets out in this paper to demonstrate that there are no logical or scientific reasons why culture cannot be explained in terms of culture itself. He argues that the methodology of doing so not only makes sense, but also is more successful than previous theoretical approaches. According to Kaplan, the superorganic position is no more or less conclusive than any other scientific procedure. Anthropologists, who engage in the methodological study of culture as an autonomous entity, assert assumptions from the standpoint that cultural events can be explained in terms of other cultural events, and that the role of the individual is not relevant in answering certain cultural questions. Kaplan reviewed an extensive amount of literature before writing this paper and found that a large portion of material debating the creation of a naturalistic and autonomous science of culture was based in metaphysical terms. By this Kaplan means that theoretical discussions about the concept of culture have usually ended up as discussions about the ontological nature of culture. Kaplan suggests that anthropologists can forgo the answer to such questions and focus their attention on the scientific explanations of culture, for example how it came about and how it functions. The article attempts to reexamine the superorganic conception of culture in light of scientific methodology. Kaplan aims to shift the dialogue concerning culture from the realm of metaphysics to the arena of scientific methodology, where he feels the subject of culture can best be explored. CLARITY: 3 Kaplan, David. The Superorganic: Science of Metaphysics? American Anthropologist 1965 67(4):958-976. Kaplan attempts to separate the superorganic view of culture from metaphysical conceptions of the ontological status of culture. The crux of the argument is that culture can be explained in terms of culture without having to resort to psychological explanations. This is not to deny the interrelatedness of psychological phenomena and cultural phenomena, but rather, to assert that there are anthropological questions best answered by treating culture as if it were a closed system. Two common critiques are leveled against the superorganic conception of culture. One rejects the possibility of explaining cultural phenomena in terms of themselves because such phenomena are always associated with psychological phenomena. The other critique, based on a moralistic stance, holds that explaining cultural phenomena in terms of themselves requires a determinism which leaves humanity with no agency - no control over cultural forms. Kaplan Argues against Bidney, who thinks that the interdependence of levels of reality makes it hard for the sciences, especially anthropology, to isolate a particular segment of reality for study. Kaplan says that anthropology has a set of cultural questions that are best asked using the theoretical structures and the modes of questioning of anthropology. Further, the body of anthropological concepts and theoretical statements is not reducible to psychological explanations. This is the basis for Kaplan's assertion that cultural phenomena can be explained in terms of themselves. The other common critique charges that superorganic cultural models are deterministic and would strip anthropology of its "warmth and purpose, its concern with humanity." Kaplan counters that it is only by understanding how cultural systems work that humanity can control the cultural environment. Superorganism should not be confused with some brand of metaphysical fatalism. While some events may not be explainable in strictly causal terms, determinism, as a heuristic device, is at the heart of scientific explanation. Kaplan tries to demonstrate that there are no logical or scientific reasons why a science of culture cannot be established. It makes good sense to answer certain kinds of questions by explaining culture in terms of culture. Anthropologists need not await an answer as to the ontological status of the culture before getting down to the scientific business of the discipline. CLARITY: 4 Kay, Paul. A Generalization of the Cross/Parallel Distinction. American Anthropologist February, 1965 Vol. 67 (1): 30-43 Paul Kay develops a definition of the cross/parallel distinction throughout this entire paper. The definition of exactly what types of relationships will be dealt with in this article are explained within the first few pages. Kay then moves into analyzing several different types of kinship systems and their relation to understanding cross cousin marriages. Kay presents the reader with several charts and diagrams to illustrate his often complex equations and/or descriptions of example relationships. CLARITY: 2 DEVIN GINGRICH: Kay, Paul. A Generalization of the Cross/Parallel Distinction. American Anthropologist February, 1965 Vol.67(1):30-43. Paul Kay attempts to develop a definition of cross/parallel distinction that applies to a total range of consanguineal relations. His hope is that the definition will prove useful in the analysis of both descent-marriage and kinship terminology systems. In his analysis only systems of the former kind are explicitly considered. Kay offers three desiderata for a general definition of the cross/parallel distinction. The first is that the cross/parallel distinction should apply to all consanguineal relations. Secondly, the cross/parallel distinction should partition the set of consanguineal relations. That is, it should divide the set of consanguineal relations into subsets that are mutually exclusive and exhaustive. Lastly, the cross/parallel distinction should conform to the intuition that parallel relatives are structurally similar in ego and that cross relatives are structurally opposed. Many cases are considered in this attempt to develop a definition. From this Kay defines six theorems. He also defines consanguineal relations as "strings", which are composed of a kinship notation developed by A. Kimball Romney. These "strings" are numbered four through fourteen in this article. The definition of "string" number 10 proves to be the most useful. Kay states that definition (10) may be of use in the study of kinship terminologies generally, particularly in societies that have one or both of the unilineal biases in important or cognitive behavioral areas. This approach yields results allowing precise specification of notions such as "two section" and "Kariera type" kinship terminologies, as well as suggesting possible numerical indices for measuring deviations from the ideal types. CLARITY RANKING: 3 JOHN P. LAUGHLIN: The Mandelbaum, David G. Obituary of Verrier Elwin (1902-1964) American Anthropologist April, 1965, Vol. 65(2): 448-452 Verrier Elwin started
his career as an ordained priest in the Anglican Church. His
religious searching led him to Much of his work
is centered on reclaiming rights the indigenous populations of He contributed fourteen
monographs on CLARITY: 4 Mandelbaum, David G. Verrier Elwin (1902-1964). American Anthropologist. April 1965 Vol.67(2):448-449. Anthropologist Verrier
Elwin was known to have led “an unusually varied and productive
life.” (Mandelbaum, 1965) Born in 1902, his father was an Anglican
bishop who died young and influenced his young son’s life, as
Elwin also became an Anglican priest at Upon his return, he opened a school and a dispensary in a remote village of the Gond tribe. Throughout his work with these tribal people, he became very close to them. Eventually, his life’s work led him to work with other tribal people and make them known as real people to the outside world. Through his work with these people, he became uncomfortable with being a clergyman and renounced his membership in the Church of England. He continued to live on his own in the same manner as the people that he studied. In 1946, the Anthropological
Survey of India was established and Elwin joined the organization serving
for a few years as Deputy Director. In 1953, he moved to Shillong and
became the Advisor for Tribal Affairs to the administration of Verrier Elwin died in 1964 at the age of sixty-two. CLARITY: 4 GARY M. NORMAN Mason,
J. Alden. H. Newell Wardle. American Anthropologist
September 1965 Vol. 67(6):1512-1515 Mason
honored Harriet Newell Wardle (1875-1964) in an obituary for her
lifelong dedication to anthropology. She was one fo the founding members of the
American Anthropological Association, joining in the 1902 inauguration
at just twenty-seven years old. She
began her scientific career at the Academy of Natural Sciences of
Philadelphia, where she developed her interests in archaeology and
anthropology. She became Assistant Curator of the Department
of Archaeology in 1920, taking pride in caring for the “Mound Builder” collection
of Clarence B. Moore. The
Academy disposed of its anthropology section in 1929, and after protesting
this loss Wardle left the Academy. She moved to the Harriet
Wardle was interested in the technology and material culture left
by other cultures, especially Ameircan Indians. Her
last research project involved Peruvian archaeology, and ideas for
a report of wooden objects from CLARITY:
5 KETURA TALBOT McGinn, Noel
F., Ernest Harburg, and Gerald P. Ginsburg. Responses
to Interpersonal Conflict by Middle Class Males in "The main purpose of this report is to describe an attempt to measure cross-cultural differences in the resolution of interpersonal conflict." The authors of this article used middle-class males as their research subjects. They propose that the "core of the Mexican male’s self-concept is more deeply based on emotional relations than his American counterpart. In part, this is expressed through friendship relations." They feel that the American concept relies upon material achievements. The authors refer to Gillin’s discussion of "personalism" as "a unifying value in middle-class Mexican life". Drawing on many sources, Gillin asserts that the middle-class Mexican requires "strong personal intimacy in his social relations; trust is only extended to persons with whom such a relation exists." Americans, in contrast, can enter trusting relationships without intimacy, which is unknown to Mexicans. "Personalism" can also be seen as Mexican friendliness, which is exemplified in the idea of a promise. A Mexican may say "yes" to anything, but then not comply later. "The reason according to such authors as Ramírez (1961) and Reyes Nevárez (1952) is that it would be rude to say ‘no’ and endanger the possibility of making a friend or lead to losing one. As Mexicans know this, they are not upset when the promise is not kept, but such an experience is culturally defined by Americans to produce disturbance." "Summing up,
[North American] students report more disturbance in their relation
with their best friend as a result of a disagreement and a subsequent
tendency to break their friendship rather than change their position.
It is possible that the CLARITY: 4 JONATHAN VAN
BALEN McGinn, Noel
F. Harburg, Ernest. and Ginsburg,
Gerald P. Responses to
Interpersonal Conflict by Middle Class Males in This article is
an attempt to measure cross-cultural differences in the resolution
of interpersonal conflict. The
study compares groups of college-aged students from The authors first give a background description of studies done between Texan and Mexican youth. They assume based on past studies that Mexican youth tend to base their self-concepts on positive interpersonal relations, and that a threatened break in friendship would lead to efforts to preserve the friendship. In contrast they assume that North Americans have other means to maintain a positive self-image, and might be willing to sacrifice friendships in order to maintain self-respect based upon external achievements. The bulk of this article deals with responses to imbalanced social situations called defensive coping mechanisms. The authors use two general categories of coping mechanisms. The first is defined as associative or yielding to others, and the second is defined as dissociative or withdrawing from others. The study attempts to outline the differences in Mexican and North American associative coping responses to imbalanced A-B-X situations. The system is labeled “A-B-X” where the perceiver A, is emotionally oriented to a person B, and an object X. The system is considered balanced when both A and B have the same attitude towards X. The students were given hypothetical situations that stressed the relationship between their friends B and an object X. The technique employed to do the actual testing is called the Semantic Differential, including scales chosen to measure opposing reactions in a two-person situation conflict. The author attempts
to show that the situations demonstrate differences between the two
sub-cultures sampled. In their
conclusion the authors report the CLARITY RANKING 3 JAYSON
BYERS Moerman, Michael. Ethnic Identification in a Complex Civilization: Who Are the Lue. American Anthropologist October, 1965 Vol. 67 (5): 1215- 1230. The author of this
article focuses on the Lue ethnic group in Moerman argues that the ethnic categorization carried out by ethnographers must go beyond demarcating according to the traditional criteria. In the past ethnographies have labeled ethnicities according to language, religion, politics, location, community structures, and "trait distribution". While these categories are important for understanding ethnicities, researchers must also discover what ethnic labels people use to define themselves and other groups. Self-identification is less ambiguous than objective categorization. People compose their identity in relation to those around them. Therefore, it is essential to understand a "social entity" which we wish to describe in terms of the larger system of which it is a part. However, ethnic self-identification cannot be used to assume the entire "blueprint for living" of an ethnic group. Ethnographers must recognize that people outside an ethnic group may use ethnic terms differently. This indicates that other ethnic groups recognize different features as being important to ethnic classification. In addition, members of the same ethnic group may not always use the same terms to describe themselves. CLARITY RANKING: 4 Nader, Laura. Choices in Legal Procedure: Shia Moslem and Mexican Zapotec. American Anthropologist April, 1965 Vol.67 (2):394-399. This article’s general
concern is with what factors influence people’s decisions to settle
disputes within a court structure or otherwise. More specifically the
author is interested in the relationships between social groupings
and legal procedures. In this particular study Nader compares the formal
conflict-settling procedures in two villages. The two villages, Libaya
and Ralu’a, have the same subsistence level, but differing social and
religious contexts. Nader provides a background and discussion of each
community. Her data was gathered on two different field trips. The
first trip was to Libaya is a Shia Moslem community. The social organization is divided between two opposing groups. Problems and disputes exist within and between these two social groups. There is a lack of village government in Libaya and no court structure exists. However, wastas, are specialists, who solve disputes. Cases are often arranged outside the village. In Ralu’a many different social ties exist; kinship, political, work groups, and religious groups, in contrast to the system in Libaya. Ralu’a has a village government with elected officials and conflicts are solved by the court. Nader’s findings report that a social system, such as the dual organization of Libaya, is not conducive to solving conflict in court settings. The reverse is also found to be true, where village court systems develop, so will secondary social groupings, such as those in Ralu’a. CLARITY: 5 Nader,
Laura. Choices in Legal Procedure: Shia Moslem and
Mexican Zapotec. American Anthropologist Feb.-June 1965 Vol
67 (2):394-399 In 1960, Clyde Kluckhohn’s
article on “The Use of Typology in Anthropological Theory” called for
more exploratory studies into typologies of relations. Laura
Nader starts her article by stating that studies concerning comparative
law are minimal, even though substantial data has been acquired on
legal procedures; therefore a construction of typologies for variation
in legal procedures is possible. The
purpose of this article is to study the legal procedures in relation
to the type of social grouping, specifically analyzing certain villages
with similar subsistence strategies, but contrasting legal procedures. Nader
used a Shia Moslem village called Libaya, located in the southern Nader
follows this introduction with a description fo each village, followed
by an example of how each deals with conflict. The
Shia Moslem village is homogenous in religion and divided into two
endogamous groups. It does not have secondary groups not based
on kinship or strong alliance to one another, and there is no viable
village government. If there
is a conflict within one of the halves it is settled by intermediaries;
in contrast, if a conflict arises between halves or one half and
an outsider then the conflict will go to an appeals court in a larger
town and people known as “wasta-makers” act as intermediaries
between villager and judge. The
Zapotec village has many groups that serve to link the town citizens
and there is a proliferation of secondary groups that are not based
on kinship. Conflicts in this
village are settled publicly by the use of a court system. The
conclusion from the data suggests that those villages with dual organization
are incompatible with a village court or council system. Also,
wherever village court systems occur secondary groups linking the
town citizens will appear. Those
villages with secondary groups, like Ralu’a, provide settings for
councils or courts of adjudication. Nader
also concludes that for the village Libaya there were two units that
served as the basis for feuding, and that before this village became
linked to the Lebanese national scene feuds were
probably settled by institutional feuding. Nader
states that she could have compared the court system of the Zapotec,
which consists of elected peers, to that of the civil court system
used by the Shia Moslem village that consists of politically appointed
judges, but that her goal was to study the village units as a whole. CLARITY:
4 Nutini, Hugo
G. Some Considerations on the Nature of Social
Structure and Hugo G. Nutini has two primary concerns in this article. First, he sets out the major tenets of Claude Levi-Strauss' sociological and anthropological theory. Secondly, he compares the theory of Levi-Strauss to other social thinkers, particularly the theory of Edmund Leach. His "reference point" for his argument concerning the contribution of Levi-Strauss is the work of Professor A. R. Radcliffe Brown, whose conceptual model is generally regarded as one of the most influential and dominant approaches of his time. Nutini uses Radcliffe-Brown's theory of social structure to highlight the significance of theories that have followed Radcliffe-Brown's work. Nutini argues that Levi-Strauss has rescued the "narrow and provincial conception" of social structure theory from its previous understanding, to which Radcliffe-Brown contributed. Nutini pays particular attention to the arguments concerning social structures within these theories. Nutini's thesis is that Levi-Strauss has contributed significantly to the field of anthropology with his unique and improved study of social structures. Referring to the theories of Levi-Strauss and Leach, He states, "I contend that they have presented anthropologists with the first genuine and original contribution to the theory and study of social structure since Radcliffe-Brown" (712). However, while Nutini argues for the strength and importance of Levi-Strauss' contribution to the field of anthropology, he also voices his own criticisms of his theory. This article has many strengths and is therefore helpful in understanding the theory of social structures. First, Nutini clearly sets out the basic tenets of Levi-Strauss’ theory. His discussion addresses several key facets, such as conscious and unconscious models and mechanical models versus statistical models. Secondly, he includes a rather comprehensive comparison of Levi-Strauss' theory to other theories. His discussion of this comparison furthers the reader’s understanding of these relevant theories. Finally, Nutini's own criticisms of these theories are helpful in that they encourage critical thinking on the part of the reader. The sources that Nutini uses for this article are essays and articles written by these social thinkers. Several articles by Levi-Strauss are explicitly discussed and analyzed in this article. CLARITY RANKING: 5 Nutini, Hugo
G. Some Considerations on the Nature of Social
Structure and Hugo Nutini clarifies and criticizes the assumptions of Claude Lévi-Strauss and Edmund Leach regarding their ideas of social structure, which have to do with the relationship of empirical phenomena to the models built from it. Lévi-Strauss’ ideas are taken from his 1953 article Social Structure. Leach is considered to be in general agreement with Lévi-Strauss, with some important differences. In the first part of his article, Nutini describes Lévi-Strauss’ distinction between ‘social relations’ and ‘social structure’ and Lévi-Strauss’ assertion that the value of structural studies lies in the comparability of models. Leach agrees with this, and Nutini criticizes the denial of the empirical reality of social structure that follows its distinction from social relations. Nutini claims that Lévi-Strauss and Leach both deny, without clear explanation, that models constructed from social structure lack empirical reality, and that this is an untenable position. In part two, Lévi-Strauss’ model-building is lauded as a prescient approach to understanding "social structures as objects independent from the awareness that men have of them", and describes Lévi-Strauss’ distinctions between conscious and unconscious models. The conscious model is the "natives’ theories" of social organization as opposed to the real functioning of their society. Nutini states that the conscious model is not a model at all, though it has value in that it can make known true societal function. Leach and Lévi-Strauss are compared in part three on the issue of mechanical and statistical models. Nutini uses Leach’s description of the character of custom to illustrate a difference in value of mechanical and statistical models under varying circumstances: statistical models, constructed from actual behavior, are the ideal models at the descriptive/observational level; mechanical models, constructed from ideal behavior, are best at the experimental level. Both models are needed when neither alone adequately explains the questioned phenomenon. Part four revisits the criticism in part one: the denial of the reality of models. Nutini agrees with Lévi-Strauss and Leach on the division between models and phenomena, but states that models are empirically real in that they do correlate to certain sets of social facts. Models and what they explain are different entities: one is empirical, the other supra-empirical. They do not represent "two different levels of abstraction of the same phenomenon" and are, therefore, both empirically real. CLARITY RATING: 3 Oberg, Kalervo. The
Marginal Peasant in Rural Oberg defines the
marginal peasant in The lack of development
in Brazilian agriculture results from the system of large estates owned
by absentee landlords and the emphasis on the production of export
crops at the expense of domestic needs. Oberg also attributes the patterns
of agriculture in CLARITY: 3 Oliver, Symmes C. Individuality, Freedom of Choice, and Cultural Flexibility of the Kamba. American Anthropologist April, 1965 Vol.67 (2):421-428. Symmes Oliver took
an in-depth look into the Kamba tribe in The author describes the Kamba as having three characteristics. The Kamba have a "loose" structural orientation. They show a lack of cultural commitment to other individuals. This tribe also adapts to the changing culture with great ease. An emphasis is placed on individualism and freedom of choice within this culture. The major goal of nearly all Kamba is wealth in land and/or cattle. The power structure is placed at the local community level. There are no chiefs with formal authority, nor any governmental units. This loose structural orientation has advantages and disadvantages. Many argue that culture is in part flexibility and ability to adapt readily. If this is the case then, cultures analogous to the Kamba are far more widespread and have much to offer to the theory of culture. CLARITY: 2 Oliver, Symmes C. Individuality, Freedom of Choice, and Cultural Flexibility of the Kamba. American Anthropologist April, 1965 Vol.67(2): 421-428. Symmes Oliver argues that there has been a tendency in anthropology to think of cultures in terms of fixed designs for living, with stable blueprints for behavior, and relatively rigid guidelines for conduct. Although anthropologists know that all cultures are in a process of constant change, their interpretations of cultural transmission sometimes suggest that this is a simple matter of passing intact models from generation to generation. Along the cultural continuum, some cultures fit at either end, with others clearly occupying a middle ground. The cultures that are loosely structured and susceptible to change may not have been given sufficient recognition. Oliver looks at cultures as differing significantly with respect to the tightness of organization, flexibility, and capacity and readiness for change. The Bantu-speaking Kamba of Kenya was chosen for this study because of their lack of a central political structure and their emphasis on self-governing local communities. This project is based on the assumption that cultures can and do adapt. Communities studied were chosen based on differences between them, and whether they emphasized farming or herding. A number of fundamental questions were asked. How much flexibility is there in the cultural system as a whole? If the communities have in fact adapted to differing circumstances, what have they retained in common? Is there a relationship between the general characteristics of the cultural system and the amount of variation that exists in the communities? Oliver’s impression of Kamba culture is that it is extremely elastic. His thesis argues that the Kamba represent a case of, (1) a looseness of basic structural orientation, (2) a shallow cultural commitment on the part of the individuals, and (3) a relatively high degree of cultural adaptability. Also the Kamba show a strong emphasis on individualism and freedom of choice within broadly defined limits. Oliver’s attempt to characterize Kamba culture leads to several conclusions. Kamba culture has advantages in terms of ready flexibility, and disadvantages, in terms of the real danger that the many divergent points of view may serve to inhibit effective social action. The essence of culture involves flexibility and the capacity to adapt readily to changing conditions, which, if true, suggests that cultures analogous to the Kamba are more widespread than has been assumed, and can make important contributions to the general theory of culture. CLARITY RANKING: 3 JOHN P. LAUGHLIN: The Otterbein, Keith
F. Keith Otterbein
approaches the topic of female-headed households in this article. The
author tested his hypotheses with a comparative analysis of twenty
communities. His study concluded that After explaining how this culture functions, he then explains how the economic-demographic factors influences household headship and mating relationships. For example, he uses Edith Clark’s study to show that, "the greater the economic well-being of an area the higher the percentage of marriages and conversely, the greater the poverty of an area the higher the percentage of consensual unions" (69). Therefore, it is not unusual to find a higher percentage of marriages, as opposed to consensual unions, in an area of vast migrant wage labor. This form of male absenteeism makes it hard for women to find a partner, thus she must travel to another area or mate extra-residentially with married men. CLARITY: 4 LISA BAER: Otterbein, Keith and Charlotte Otterbein. An Eye for an Eye, A Tooth for a Tooth: A Cross-Cultural Study of Feuding. American Anthropologist December, 1965 Vol. 67 (6):1470-1481. This cross-cultural study focuses on a prominent, and perhaps the oldest, topic in the realm of anthropological theory known as ‘blood revenge’ or ‘feuding’. This paper reports on a cross-cultural study of feuding in which three well-known hypotheses are tested using a sample of fifty societies drawn from the Human Relations Area Files (HRAF). The first hypothesis comes from Richard Cherry (1890), that the higher the level of political complexity in a society, the less frequently feuding is found. The second hypothesis, which derives from Hoebel (1954), is used by van Velzen and van Wetering (1960) and states that societies with fraternal interest groups are more likely to have feuding than societies without fraternal interest groups. The third hypothesis indicates that societies which frequently engage in war have more internal cohesion, and hence a lower likelihood of feuding than societies which have peaceful external relations. Methodologically, this cross-cultural study uses ‘feuding’ as its dependent variable which is measured on a three point scale: frequent, infrequent, or absent. This cross-cultural study uses three independent variables: the presence of fraternal interest groups, the existence of a supra-community jurisdictional authority, and the presence of war. The first two of these independent variables are seen as two political variables, which might control feuding. This paper briefly addresses and can be used as an example of the importance of examining coder bias. The independent variables are categorized into two groups, social structural variables and political variables, which are then analyzed for results of the hypotheses. This study demonstrates the importance of using an inter-societal relations approach in conjunction with evolutionary and functional approaches. The results of this study show ethnological problems on inter-societal relations approaches must not be neglected. CLARITY: 4 SIMON BUSTOW: Otterbein,
Keith F. and Otterbein, Charlotte Swanson. An Eye for an Eye, a Tooth for a
Tooth: A Cross-Cultural Study of Feuding. American Anthropologist, 1965 Vol. 67:1470-1482 In this article the authors do a cross-cultural comparison in order to test three different hypotheses about feuding within a culture. The first hypothesis addresses the idea that, the higher the level of complexity within the society, the less the frequency of feuding occurs. The second hypothesis states that societies with more fraternal interests are likely to have more feuding than societies with fewer fraternal interests. The last hypothesis is that the inter-societal relations are influential on the feuding with the society. Societies that are engaged in constant warfare are less likely to feud among themselves. Otterbein and Otterbein found this topic of importance in order to understand the influences of social relationships on the internal dynamics of society, and also they argue that simple evaluations of functional explanations are inadequate. Otterbein
and Otterbein used the Human Relations Area Files (HRAF) to select
fifty different societies. The social structural variables compared
included whether the society was matrilineal or patrilineal, and
matrilocal or patrilocal. The
political structures of each society were also considered. The information was then tabulated in order
to analyze the different categories to investigate patterns of feuding. The
results of this study concluded that societies with more fraternal
interest groups tended to be more aggressive in comparison with societies
with less fraternal interest. Therefore the matrilocal societies were more
peaceful than patrilocal societies due to the fact that the related
males were more scattered. The
second finding in this study showed no support for the hypothesis
that a higher level of political complexity resulted in less feuding
with the society. A strong relationship between war and lower
levels of feuding were found in more politically complex societies. Otterbein and Otterbein found a correlation
between fraternal interest groups that were patrilocal and polygynous
societies comparison to the matrilineal and complex societies. CLARITY:
5 Owen, Roger C. The Patrilocal Band: A Linguistically and Culturally Hybrid Social Unity. American Anthropologist. June, 1965 Vol. 67 (3): 675-690. Owen challenges several anthropological assumptions, primarily the view that Neolithic societies are homogeneous and monolingual. He provides several examples of "primitive" societies that are multilingual and multicultural. He associates this diversity with the marriage practices of patrilocal bands, which are described as small hunting and gathering groups with little specialization or technological development. In particular, he uses Baja California Indians and other patrilocal bands to explore the hybrid nature of "simple" societies. Patrilocal bands typically have societal regulations that prevent them from marrying relatives. Therefore, men are incapable of finding wives within their own groups or nearby groups because of kinship connections. This factor, along with the low population density of these areas, are responsible for marriages between people of two different cultures and who speak two different languages. After marriage a woman goes to live with her husband’s group, taking with her a different language and culture. As the parent primarily responsible for the linguistic training and enculturation of children, women pass on their language and culture to the next generation. Therefore, because of extra-tribal marriages. each band goes through a process of hybridization. Owen includes a discussion of diffusion theory to illustrate the confined growth of patrilocal bands. This cultural conservatism is due primarily to the fact that married females leave their bands and take with them active symbols, which are out of place in their new environments. The intense male initiation rituals of some patrilocal bands assert the cultural meanings of adolescent males’ band, while devaluing the "foreign" cultural knowledge of their mothers. Increased population density leads to inter-group marriage, which creates linguistic and cultural homogeneity. It is the absence of this homogeneity that stifles the cultural advancement of patrilocal societies. CLARITY 3 Owen, Roger C. The Patrilocal Band: A Linguistic and Culturally Hybrid Social Unit. American Anthropologist Vol.67 1965:675-688. Roger C. Owen questions theories of linguistic and cultural homogeneity of simple societies as proposed by Service and others. He proposes that the patrilocal band is a cultural and linguistic hybrid group created through exogamous marriage patterns and virilocal residence. His contention is that with population densities less than one person per square mile extra-linguistic group marriage results in social groups with heterogeneous cultural and linguistic components. This process has been a force in culture change especially following European contact. Owen reports on
patrilocal band societies from CLARITY: 5 JEREMY MOSS: Porter, Philip. Environmental Potentials and Economic Opportunities--A Background for Cultural Adaptation. American Anthropologist April, 1965 Vol. 67 (2):409-420. In this article,
Porter is looking at the potentials the environment holds for people.
The environment is viewed as able to be exploited by man and potentially
able to shape culture. First, he looks at Porter begins by
relating to the reader different environmental parameters, particularly
those of In the next section of the article, Porter goes on to describe specific environmental gradients in Pokot and Kamba. Essentially, he is explaining how different zones, valley bottoms, steep lower hill slopes, and a higher bench, can support different crops. Each zone consists of different temperatures, elevations, and precipitation patterns that can support different kinds of crops and animals. Porter continues to address the role of humans in the environment, that man is a "causative agent of environmental change." CLARITY: 3 Porter, Philip W. Environmental Potentials and Economic Opportunities: A Background for Cultural Adaptation. American Anthropologist April, 1965 Vol.67(2):409-420. Porter evaluates
the functionality of activities related to environmental parameters
and resource potential. In two areas of This gradient is used in analyzing economic potential. Some areas exhibit abrupt elevation changes, while others are less severe. The activities of people inhabiting abrupt zones can be expected to differ from activities employed by people in uniform areas. All subsistence economies run risks. An economy might suffer from drought, crop failure, and livestock disorders. Communities adjust this risk through their institutions and technologies. "Sharing out" risk decreases the danger endured by the individual. Porter found in Pokotland, a zone of extreme variability, social and economic structure differed greatly from three sites in the environmentally uniform Wakamba zone. In Pokotland subsistence adaptations are explicit. Communal effort and constant movement between micro-zones guarantees consistent workload. Porter reports inconsistency in the organization of work; any members might be working different fields at different times. In addition, 3 out of 4 fields lay fallow; the fortunes and risks of an individual are permanently twined with the community. Within walking distance, the land is not fit for agriculture, but supports livestock. Two sectors of Pokot society have resulted and trade has flourished. In the Wakamba zone a gentle gradient predominates three districts. At Ngelani, agriculture and technology is at its highest. Crop variety is low and yields are high. There is little concern for drought. Population density is increased. Land is private and inherited. Transactions often employ litigation. The southeast Wamunyu landscape is uniform and of medium potential. Crop variety is higher. Livestock becomes important; their products are shared within the family. Porter notes most farmers do not employ conservative moisture practices to ensure high yields. They plant crops that require less attention, but are less dependable and require more of the soil’s nutrients. Overgrazing has denuded the vegetation and contributed to erosion. The area has experienced severe drought and famine. In Kilungu, gradient is still gentle, but rain is less reliable. Population density has decreased and a pastoral lifestyle predominates. Although land is privately owned, it is not inherited. Each generation degrades the resource irreparably. Cultivation is highly variable. Many quick-maturing, hardy crops are planted in mosaics. As a risk management activity, Porter describes it as insufficient. Little care is taken to plant during the more favorable seasons. The people are more involved with livestock and consider themselves "herders." Some hunting and gathering is employed. In all of Wakamba, environmental parameters are not clear-cut and there is little consistency in land-use. Zones of extreme variability promote risk sharing activities, diverse subsistence patterns, and "specialized reciprocal economies." Semi-arid zones promote pastoralism, as well as disregard for environmental health or sustainability. Areas of high agricultural potential support high populations, private ownership, and litigation. Risk sharing is not practiced and the predicament for the individual is more severe. This article examines the role of environmental parameters in social and economic organization. CLARITY: 3 Prost, J.H. A Definitional System for the Classification of Primate Locomotion. American Anthropologist October, 1965 Vol.67 (5):1198-1214. Prost opens this paper with the discussion of the uncertainty and disorder of the primate locomotor classification system. Prost explains that there are a vast number of differences among primatologists in how they observe, define, and record the locomotion of primates. Prost suggests that these disagreements arise from nothing more than a lack of standardized definitions as well as a lack of field observations. The first thing Prost addresses is the variety of definitions for the word locomotion, which is central to the discussion of primate locomotor classification. He explains that such a term that is central to the discussion of this topic must have a standard definition. He defines locomotion as "the intra-body activity occurring during the act of moving from place to place." Methodologically, the author approaches the subject by attending to the operations, such as recording procedures, essential to the account and analysis of primate locomotion. The observer must be aware of the operations that precede the descriptions and conceptualizations made during analysis of primate locomotion. Prost continues on to address the nature of locomotion and posture, locomotor and postural behavior, the attributes of a positional performance, physiological attributes of positional behavior, the physical environment and positional behavior, and habits and positional behavior. Underlying in the discussion of each of these topics is the patterns of physiological activity and environmental relationships. Prost concludes the paper by explaining that the discussion is less an establishment of a definitive and systematic classificatory scheme than it is an acknowledgement of the difficulties in approaching the analysis of primate locomotion. CLARITY: 4 Prost,
J.H. A Definitional System for the Classification
of Primate Locomotion. American Anthropologist 1965 Vol. 67:1198-1213 The author’s objective in this article is to construct a classification of how primates move. He first describes how primatologists describe locomotion. Primatologists have used different terms for primate locomotion. The author suggests that these disagreements seem to arise from nothing more than a lack of standardized definitions and extensive field observations. He feels that the problem is more fundamental than that. He thinks that primatologists have never specified what locomotion is or how it should be studied. Because of this, none of the non-human primate locomotor types have been the subject of systematic study. The author feels it is the intra-body activity occurring during the act of moving that defines locomotion. Prost
proposes that the study of spatial relation between an animal’s body
and its environment is the study of “positional behavior”, which
includes both locomotion (environment) and posture (a state of relatively
little movement). The author
describes various forms of primate locomotion and posture in detail. For
example, the inclusion of “flexed” hanging must be explained, since
some investigators would not consider it a postural state. Flexed
hanging is when a primate is hanging on the side of its cage with
its hip, knee, shoulder and elbow joints flexed; it is in a flexed
hanging posture. When the amount of energy expended in a postural
or locomotor sequence is low, then the category can be defined as
relaxation. Posture is a state
of rest but not necessarily a state of relaxation. The
author believes that posture should never be thought of as a passive
state. He believes that posture
should be viewed as a dynamic, equilibrium state for which energy
expenditure varies from values approaching or in some cases exceeding
those of less vigorous locomotor actions. The
article goes to explain more of these examples of how primate movement
is described, but the descriptions do not fully explain the movements
that were observed. The system that the author uses for classification
is in the description of the environment that the primates live in,
includes how the animal travels and the substrate. Substrate is the landscape which animals
contact for support, for example an animal living in the trees and
only using the larger limb of the trees to navigate. The article
is “aimed less at the establishment of a definitive and systematic
classification than at the appreciation of the difficulties inherent
in topical approaches to the analysis of locomotor phenomena”. CLARITY
RANKING: 3 ERIN SMITH Rainey, Froelich. J. Louis Giddings (1909-1964). American Anthropologist December, 1965 Vol. 67 (6): 1503-1507. J. Louis Giddings
(1909-1964) was an explorer and naturalist turned archaeologist. Giddings
obtained his Ph.D. from the As a professional
archaeologist, Giddings made a series of discoveries in Arctic Alaska
and Canada including the ancient culture at Cape Denbigh, now known
as the Denbigh Flint Complex; a series of cultures at Cape Krusenstern
which he was able to relate to old beach lines, and thus order chronologically;
and a very deep and stratified site at Onion Portage on the Kobuk River
in north Alaska. Giddings’s
Denbigh discovery initiated the search for ancient cultures in the
Arctic and led many other investigators to find such sites across the
Arctic from J. Louis Giddings’s
career of discoveries marked a turning point in the archaeology of
the CLARITY RANKING: 5 NEIL MAXWELL SHAH University of Wyoming (Dr. Lin Poyer). Rainey, Froelich. J. Louis Giddings (1909-1964). American Anthropologist 1965 Vol. (67):1503-1506. J. Louis Giddings,
born on April 10, 1909, was a man who loved nature and studied in Starting out as
an explorer and naturalist, he was introduced to archaeology at Gidding’s
death resulted from a motor accident in CLARITY: 5 NICOLE
YUNK Reynolds, V. Some Behavior Comparisons between the Chimpanzee and the Mountain Gorilla in the Wild. American Anthropologist June, 1965 Vol.67 (3): 691-705. The purpose of this
article is to compare the behavioral patterns between chimpanzees (Pan
troglodytes schweinfurthii) and mountain gorillas (Gorilla gorilla
beringei). Reynolds gathered data from Schaller, who observed gorillas,
and an author located in the Although chimpanzees and gorillas both recoup to their nests at night, the nesting behavior of the two species is different. Chimpanzees prefer to raise their nests between thirty and ninety feet, while gorillas are more likely to dwell closer to the ground. Furthermore, at dawn, chimpanzees rise from their sleep. For gorillas, daylight does not bother their resting patters. They have the ability to continue their sleep for a few hours longer. Another attribute of the two species is that gorillas are more aggressive creatures. While the chimpanzee, "may lie down along the branch with his back to the observer" (700). Although there are apparent differences between the two species, the contrasting behavioral characteristics are subtle. Reynolds concludes that these differences stem from many areas, such as the social organization of chimpanzees being rooted in their distinct food distributions. All of these variables contribute to the unique species. CLARITY: 3 KELLY GILFEATHER: Reynolds,
V. Some Behavioral Characteristics of Chimpanzees
and the Mountain Gorilla. American Anthropologist June 1965 Vol. 67(3):692-701 In this article
Reynolds discusses some of the main features of behavior among mountain
gorillas and chimpanzees in The
locomotion of these two species is different as well, in that chimpanzees
spent a far greater part of their time in trees than gorillas. The
author did observe young and infant gorillas climbing trees. Reynolds
suggests that the population of mountain gorillas at this time falls
somewhere between 5,000 and 1,500. At
the time of publication, there was not sufficient information available
on the population of chimpanzees. However
the author felt that the population of chimpanzees is far greater
than that of mountain gorillas. The
author also discusses how the population dynamics of the two species
differ. The gorilla lives
in permanent groups that are guarded by large males. The chimpanzee lives in groups that are less
stable and individuals often roam far away from the main group in
search for food. In
this article the author organized the data in such a way that it
was relatively easy to understand the main points. The writing that the author used for this
paper is easy to understand by someone who is not an expert in the
field of primates. All of
the points that the author madein this paper were clear and backed
up by evidence gathered in the field. CLARITY:
4 Romano V., Octavio Ignacio. Charismatic Medicine, Folk Healing and Folk-Sainthood. American Anthropologist. October, 1965 Vol. 67 (5): 1151-1173. Romano’s study is
set among the Mexican-American population in Romano describes charismatic medicine as the interplay between two factors: the role of the healer and the healer’s individual personality. It is the relation between these two that "successfully" affects the patients or clientele. His study is presented in three parts. First is ‘an outline of an empirical model consisting of those traditional behavioral directives which govern the life of the South Texas Mexican-American (Communality vs. the Atomistic Social Order), and under which the role of healer is generically defined." Second, he discusses the relative social positions associated with differential healing achievement (The Healing Hierarchy). Third, he uses the example of Don Pedrito Jaramillo to illustrate the rise through the healing hierarchy, which can result in folk-sainthood. Communality and the atomistic social order are two orientations, which are mutually exclusive. A male can gain respect from the community by avoiding close associations with those to whom he is not related. If one is to be a healer, however, he cannot afford to seek personal autonomy and independence, as the profession directs him to be "at the service of the public" to assist those in need. The highest position in the healing hierarchy is that of a formal saint, recognized by the Catholic Church, such as Our Lady of Guadalupe or Our Lady of Lourdes. By being accessible to the public and having much success as healer, Jaramillo secured a following that, upon his death, continues to insure him the role of a folk-saint. CLARITY: 4 JONATHAN VAN
BALEN Denison University (Bahram Tavakolian) Romano, Octavio Ignacio V. Charismatic Medicine, Folk-Healing, and Folk-Sainthood. American Anthropologist. 1965. Vol. 67 (No. 5-6): 1151-1173. Romano’s article
describes the details of folk medicine in the Southwestern region of
the The healer’s role in these societies is complex. To become a healer, a person must have been “given” a gift of healing by divine intervention. A healer also tends to possess greater charisma, holiness, unselfishness, community orientation, intuition, and attentiveness to the social climate. Each healer is usually set apart by his or her specific healing style. One may use herbs in his curing while another uses coffee. Romano focuses more on male healers than female healers, but a healer can be either male of female. The healer must have complete cooperation with the community and hold it above himself and his family. Romano explains the hierarchy of folk-healers, and how they differ in status, sex, and ability. He discusses how the healer progresses in levels from a local to a state or national level based on their success. He presents a biography of a very famous folk-healer of the early 1900’s, Don Pedrito Jaramillo (1829-1907), who has attained folk-sainthood for ministering to the sick and needy. Romano offers an in-depth look at the style and healing power of Don Pedrito and how he forsook his own life to heal those in need. The final section of the article talks of the importance of charisma in obtaining the status of folk-healer and eventually folk-sainthood. Romano uses Max Weber’s ideas about charismatic leaders, and emphasizes that to be a successful folk-healer, one must be accepted by the ruling social class, deny oneself, and renounce the autonomous sphere in favor of the multiple roles of the community. Romano’s purpose in this article was to open up a new avenue for researchers in the Southwest by using social theory to study healers, and to propose the theory of the healing hierarchy. Romano’s theory states that folk healers’ influence is determined by geography, success in healing, and their number of followers. Romano emphasizes that these hierarchal positions are fixed, but the membership of people is fluid. A healer can move up or down along the positions during the span of their career. CLARITY RANKING: 4 SARAH E. WICKSTROM Rowe, John Howland. The Renaissance Foundations of Anthropology. American Anthropologist February, 1965 Vol.67 (1):1-19. In this article John Howland Rowe sets out to prove that the Italian Renaissance of the 14th and 15th centuries was the origin of the anthropological tradition of interest in the differences among men. More specifically, Rowe discusses how Renaissance archaeology was the source of this intellectual movement. It was the studies of Classical antiquity in the Renaissance that inspired this interest in the differences among men and provided models for doing such analysis. In order to argue his thesis, Rowe recognizes the importance in first proving that there was not a "continuous anthropological tradition of comparative studies stretching back through the Middle Ages to Classical antiquity" (1). Secondly, Rowe asserts that he will illustrate the importance of writings from voyages of discovery in that they focused on differences in customs and languages of different regions. These writings contribute to the essence of the Italian Renaissance in that they contributed to a fundamental change in men’s attitude concerning Classical antiquity. Rowe also discusses how Herodotus and Arab writers contributed to the Italian Renaissance. In noting these early writers and thinkers, Rowe discusses their strengths, weaknesses, and the reasons that their writings had limited influence. Rowe also discusses specific geopolitical efforts and how related discovery voyages affected the spread of this anthropological tradition. In this discussion he notes how different regions were, or were not, influenced by each writer or intellectual advancement. For example, after discussing the various reasons and factors, Rowe asserts that "the intellectual climate of Europe was not favorable to a native development of anthropology either in Classical antiquity or in the Middle ages, and the European tradition successfully resisted Persian and Mongol influence in this direction" (8). Rowe uses these factors and issues to frame his argument. He ultimately asserts that the Renaissance provided a perspective that made anthropological work focusing on differences in culture and men an acceptable topic of study. Further, the "enthusiasm of the Renaissance for Classical antiquity" was also integral in breaking through ethnocentric assumptions that had previously isolated Western intellectuals and hindered the spread of true anthropological study (14). CLARITY: 4 Rowe, John H. Renaissance Foundations of Anthropology. American Anthropologist. 1965 Vol. 67: 1-14. John Rowe dedicates this article to the study of the influence of Classical and Medieval thought on the Renaissance scholarship. Rowe discusses specific intellectuals, such as Herodotus and Tacitus, who described “barbarian” peoples. He examines the veracity of their ethnographic information, and pinpoints the earliest historical foundations of anthropology. Rowe uses the writings
of antiquity as evidence to prove that the field of anthropology was
born not in Classical or Medieval times, but in the Renaissance. He argues that the study of other cultures
originated in the observations of the differences between ancient Rowe defends his arguments by comparing and contrasting the writings of Classical/Medieval writers with those of Renaissance scholars. He uses historical and autobiographical data to describe the achievements that laid the foundations of early anthropology. Rowe begins by describing the methods and goals of Classical and Medieval writers. He argues that there were a small number of individual writers in both periods interested in cultural differences. However, the work of these writers did not signify a continuous anthropological tradition of comparative studies. Greek writers did not consider foreign cultures and customs as significant for study. Roman writers sought to identify themselves as closely as possible with the Greeks in order to avoid the implications of barbarism that accompanied all those who were not Greek. The intellectual climate of the Middle Ages was also not favorable to comparative studies. Cultural differences were of little importance. Instead, differences in character and morality of individuals were stressed. However, there was some description of foreign cultures, much of it precipitated by political and military need. It was the discovery of Classical writings in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries that allowed for the development of comparative studies. Rowe explains how the discovery of ancient Greek and Latin literature opened the door to comparison of the present to the past. He also showed how modern scholarship developed, focusing on the efforts of three men. Ciriaco de’ Pizzicolli (1391-1452) was credited with founding the discipline of archaeology. He studied archaeological monuments, believing they could provide more direct testimony than literary tradition alone. Lorenzo Valla (1406-1457) founded the Renaissance tradition of linguistics, and stimulated interest in cultural differences by translating Herodotus into Latin. Biondo Flavio (1392-1463) was the first to undertake a systematic study of ancient Roman culture. Finally, Rowe discusses the impact of the European voyages of discovery on ethnographic research. He concludes this article by reiterating the significance of the Renaissance invention of perspective distance. He lauds the Renaissance scholars, and credits them with “cracking the shell of ethnocentric prejudice” that had long been the tradition in Western thought. Overall, I found Rowe’s arguments articulate and persuasive. CLARITY: 5 SONNI HOPE Shelton, Austin J. The Meaning and Method of Afa Divination among the Northern Nsukka Ibo. American Anthropologist December, 1965 Vol. 67 (6): 1441-1455. Afa divination is, " the
determination of that which is not empirically ascertainable and the
decisions of that correct course of action among alternative possibilities,
which cannot be logically selected." The afa are a set of four
chains with four shells attached, and are stored in a tortoise shell
with pieces of sacred wood, both of which are used as methods of making
sure that the truth is being told. The people of Nsukka Ibo seek the
afa when searching for the meaning of illness or ailment and direction
when one is trying to decide the steps that he/she may need to take
in any given situation. When in need to have the afa read to them,
the individual or family will go to the caster and ask to have the
ceremony performed. The method of reading the afa is one of rhetoric,
repetition, and precision. The strings must be thrown out one at a
time first by the caster, then by the individual seeking guidance,
and is then followed by more sequential steps such as hold the correct
numbered string in the correct hand and speaking in a secret type of
language that is not understood by the individual seeking guidance.
A individual can become an afa caster if they are able to obtain the
needed objects; trying to prove yourself and your sincerity and then
purchasing the needed objects do this. CLARITY: 3 According to CLARITY RANKING: 4 DIANA L. HARMAN: Spicer,
Edward H. William R. Holland. American Anthropologist
1965 Vol. 65a(1):80-82 This
is a brief biography of Dr. William R. Holland who was born in He
became proficient in Spanish by working as an insurance salesman
and working closely with the Mexican-American population. In
1953 he was awarded his masters degree in sociology. The
title of his thesis was “Crime and Social Conditions in the In
1962 Dr. Holland received his Ph.D. in anthropology from the CLARITY:
4 JASON GARBER Spicer, Edward H. William R. Holland. Obituary 1928-1964. American Anthropologist 1965 Vol. 65a(1):80-82 The obituary of
William R. Holland, written by Edward H. Spicer, tells of CLARITY: 5 NICHOLAS M. RAMIREZ Spiro, Melford. A Typology of Social Structure and the Patterning of Social Institutions: A Cross-Cultural Study. American Anthropologist. October, 1965. Vol. 67 (5):1097-1119. Spiro attempts to (1) construct an empirically-based typology of social structure, (2) demonstrate its usefulness as well as the method used to create it, and (3) explore some principles of structural patterning and change. He explains that anthropology is a comparative science and that groups or classes must be formed in order for comparisons and contrasts to be made between them. "But the classification of this heterogeneous universe requires, in turn, a classificatory scheme, i.e., a typology, by means of which societies may be classified" (1097). He states that in an inclusive sense, societal classification would be based on social structure, culture, and personality. He admits that this would be an enormous task and only tackles social structure within this study. Spiro begins with sixty societies and begins to cluster them based on eight institutional variables that were selected concerning their society (e.g., economy, settlement pattern, family, etc,). He classifies the sixty societies within these categories and continues to break them down into polar cluster types and basic types until the structural typology consisted of "four basic types, the remaining types representing variants of these" (1106). Spiro favors this grouping because it "classifies societies on the basis of their total social structures, and not merely on the basis of one structural variable. Second, it classifies them according to the degree of similarity rather than on mutually exclusive criteria" (11070. Finally, he takes on a very difficult task of putting the structure of this kind of typology into words. Oftentimes he illustrates the levels of division through charts and graphs of his data. The article reads very much like a manual of how to classify societal structures and would be a good reference for one conducting this type of research. CLARITY RANKING: 1 Spiro, Melford. A Typology of Social Structure and the Patterning of Social Institutions: A Cross-Cultural Study. American Anthropologist October, 1965 Vol. 67(5):1097-1119. Spiro has three goals. First he tries to establish and "empirically based typology of social structure". He attempts to show the value of this typology and the usefulness of the cross-cultural statistical method for comparative cultural analysis. Spiro’s final goal is to examine elements of "structural change". Spiro explains that institutions combine to form social structures. In order to build a structural typology one must first create types for each institution, which form a social structure. Each social structure represents a configuration of "satisfied institutional variables". Every configuration consists of one value from the possible values that describe each institution. Spiro contends that each logically probable configuration of an institutional type is a logical type. The combined set of logical types represents a logical typology of social structure. In turn empirical social structures are "phenomenal manifestations" of logical types. Each empirical social structure represents an empirical type and these combine to form an empirical typology of social structure. On the basis of these assumptions Spiro selected eight institutional variables as the basis for the logical typology of social structure. The eight variables are economy, settlement pattern, family, household, marriage, descent, social stratification and government. Spiro then assigns each variable two values. Examples of the two values that Spiro uses in this article are food-producing and food-gathering for the institutional variable economy. Spiro selects 60 societies from Murdock’s culture areas. He uses selected societies to determine how many logical types are exemplified in empirical social structures. For each of the 60 societies comprising the sample the eight institutions representing the logical typology were classified according to the dichotomous institutional types chosen by Spiro. In order to learn the empirical typology of social structure Spiro uses cluster analysis. The initial step in the cluster analysis is the construction of a matrix containing 60 2 X 2 tables. Spiro establishes phi coefficients for each table and contends the "resulting correlation matrix" form a cluster of four highly inter-correlated variables. These variables consist of settlement pattern, government, descent and economy. On the basis of the four inter-correlated variables Spiro constructs further classifications. In turn these resulting classifications of cluster types are divided into two types, which are polar opposites of each other. Spiro contends that the four types of typology he determined through statistical analysis represent four basic patterns of social structure and represent evolutionary trends in social structure. CLARITY RANKING: 3 DIANA L. HARMAN: Sweet, Louise. Camel Raiding of North Arabian Bedouin: A Mechanism of Ecological Adaptation. American Anthropologist October, 1965 Vol. 67 (5):1132-1149. Sweet’s topic is
the Bedouin camel breeding peoples of CLARITY: 5 SIMON BUSTOW: Sweet, Louise E. Camel Raiding of North Arabian Bedouin: A Mechanism of Ecological Adaptation. American Anthropologist. October, 1965 Vol. 67, Number 5, Part 1: 1132-115. This article takes an ecological, ethnographic approach to the camel raiding practices of the Bedouin of Northern Arabia, specifically, to the adaptive function of camel raiding as a major factor of subsistence of the culture. The article states that the raiding consists of five features. (1) Raids are a continual practice; (2) Raids are prosecuted mutually among the tribes, as well as, against settled communities and caravans; (3) Raids are predominantly for camels and avoid destruction of any other property; (4) Raids circulate camels through the tribes; and (5) Raids are necessary to the Bedouin economy, as well as to the survival of the Bedouin. The article has
a long section on the background of the area and the kinship relationships
of the Bedouin. Each Bedouin
tribal chiefdom is comprised of patrilineally related clans. The
raiding is a method of redistribution through kinship mechanisms and
camels are never bought and sold. These
Bedouin are part of a noble class; but this is not an aristocratic
class, supported by the productive labor force. Rather
they remain as independent camel breeding societies. Their status, power, and prestige depend
on their ability to keep their camel herd at full strength. Between tribes of equal status, raiding of
camels is an acknowledgment of status as well as a good mechanism for
the upkeep of the reproductive health of the camels themselves. The raiding of lower status, more socially
distant communities reinforces the differences between the specialized
camel herding Bedouin and the otherwise specialized communities (i.e.
farmers, shepherds, etc.) Both
of these raiding practices are adaptive in that they both bring in
goods that are useful economically. The
reciprocal raiding is a more efficient mechanism energetically. The
number of camels correlate with the status of a clan and their ability
to keep the camels healthy. The
major problem with animal husbandry in the desert is access to pasturage
and water required by the camels. The
reciprocal raiding serves to recover the losses of all the Bedouin
due to ecological and cultural issues. BENJAMIN V. EBERT Tyler, Stephen. Koya Language Morphology and Patterns of Kinship Behavior American Anthropologist December, 1965 Vol. 67 (6): 1428-1440. This article is
the first in a series by Tyler who wants to outline the linguistic
morphology and behavior in the Gommu Koyas of Bhadrachallam Taluq, The Koyas are divided into four distinct subgroups. The Gommu Koyas, the subject of this article, are primary agriculturists with regular supplements gained by hunting and gathering. The family, with its patrilineal descent, is responsible for most of the aspects of social organization. There is not a dominant political force, therefore all twenty-five villages are ruled only by a headsman and a couple of ministers. With the background and basic information given, he then gives the core terms used in the kinship system. All of the terms refer to the first person, and all follow the same basic pattern. All of the core terms are listed with the corresponding English words. The terms are given in association with the behaviors that are expected by the Koya. For example, the behavior between "FaFa" (Father’s Father) and a relative is given. This is an informal relationship between a child and non-nuclear relative. As the child gets older the informal relationship starts to become more formal. The twenty relationships and the corresponding core terms are explained with examples. CLARITY RANKING: 3 Tyler, Stephen A. Koya Language Morphology and Patterns of Kinship Behavior. American Anthopologist December, 1965 Vol.67 (6):1428-1439. The Koya tribe,
geographically, culturally, and linguistically, is divided into recognized
subgroups. They are the Gommu Koyas, Gutta Kovas, Dorla Koyas, and
Lingu Koyas; however, this article only discusses the Gommu Koyas and
their kinship patterns and language. There are approximately 75,000
individuals in this tribe who inhabit the central There is no overall political institution or authority that unites the entire tribe, although the largest political group, the samutu, is a juridical unit consisting of 25 villages under a headman and two ministers. The family is the property holding unit and the major cooperative, production, and consumption unit, also responsible for most aspects of socialization. Authority in the family is held by the father or eldest male; descent, inheritance, and succession are also strictly patrilineal. Inheritance is equally apportioned among the surviving male descendants, and succession to office passes to the eldest male offspring unless he is unfit. Patterns of behavior in the family rely upon a respect-intimacy continuum between kinsmen. For example, although fathers and sons are far from intimate, since fathers maintain a role of disciplinarian who spends relatively little time with his son after the child is five, fathers are often quite affectionate with daughters. He is usually less stern with her, and may be very indulgent at times; the daughter always behaves toward her father with respect, and this extends to her father’s brothers as well. The mother is a warm, supportive figure in her son’s life until he is about two years old, and then the relationship changes drastically. After this time, the mother becomes a disciplinarian who often gives hard beatings and slaps; the relationship of the daughter and mother is similar, but the daughter takes on more household responsibilities and duties, and the mother may become indulgent with her if she is well-behaved. The language of this society corresponds to these patterns, involving different titles and suffixes, which indicate the type of relationship: respect, reserve, informal, or intimate. CLARITY: 4 Vogt, Evon Z. Structural and Conceptual Replication in Zinacantan Culture. American Anthropologist April, 1965 Vol. 67 (2):342-353. Vogt explores the
principle of replication as he has observed it in the Zinacantan culture. "It
is as if the Zinacantecos have constructed a model for ritual behavior
and for conceptualization of the natural and cultural world which functions
like a kind of computer that prints out rules for appropriate behavior
at each organizational level of society and for the appropriate conceptualizing
of phenomena in the different domains of the culture." After providing
a brief description of the municipio, or In his description of structural replication, Vogt uses the ritual meal to illustrate this principle. The ritual meal, or ve?el ta mesha, "follows carefully prescribed etiquette." He lays out the most important basic rules, and gives a wonderful description of the hierarchy and the rituals involved in the ritual meal. "What is done in a small thatched house of individual families is replicated in ever increasing scale for the lineage, for the waterhole group, for the paraje, and for the whole municipio in the ceremonial center." Vogt’s analysis shows that the rules of the ritual meal are the same no matter how many people participate, or what the occasion is. "These ritual patterns have important symbolic connections with the Zinanteco view of the world and the relation of the social system to it." What these men and women are doing during the ve?el ta mesha is what they believe their ancestral deities are doing inside the sacred mountains that surround the community. The principle concept Vogt discusses in his description of conceptual replication is "embracing." One of the most important duties of parents in Zinacantan culture is to embrace their children so that they do not lose their souls (chu’lel). The godparents of a child during the baptismal ceremony hold the child so that the soul is not lost so easily. "Embracing" is also an important part of the wedding ceremony. This concept is derived form the belief that every Zinacanteco has a chanul, or an animal that serves as an alter ego, that lives in a corral in the sacred mountains. The ancestral deities care for them, "embracing" them, much as family members embrace each other. "In a word, in the socialization process within the family, in the ritual life of the baptismal, wedding, and curing ceremonies, and in the supernatural world inside the mountain, ‘fathers’ and ‘mothers’ are ‘embracing’ their children." Vogt also talks about the contrast between the older and younger brother in the culture, and how it serves as a way to rank members of the society based on age. Vogt suggests "that these data have implications not only for our understanding of the integration of contemporary Zinacanteco culture, but also for the study of one of the probable processes of Maya cultural development over time." CLARITY: 5 JONATHAN VAN
BALEN Denison University (Bahram Tavakolian) Vogt, Evon Z. Structural and Conceptual Replication in Zinacantan Culture. American Anthropologist 1965 Vol. 67 (2): 342-353 In this article, Vogt uses ideas from both structuralism (as defined by Lévi-Strauss) and ethnoscience to describe aspects of Zinacantan social configuration and culture. Vogt applies the idea of domains to show that some patterns are seen both vertically and horizontally within the Zinacantan culture. Here, Vogt characterizes various levels of social structure as the domains of this culture. The Zinacantecos categorize all aspects of their world into these domains. Vogt shows that most aspects of Zinacantan culture have patterns that are replicated from the smallest social level to the highest social level, and he demonstrates this by giving detailed examples of this “replication” at the social or “structural” level and at the religious or “conceptual” level. To demonstrate the replication of Zinacantan cultural patterns, Vogt gives two extended examples. First, he presents the example of the ritual meal. By outlining the important rules for this occasion, the author shows how these rules are applied to all social levels, no matter what size the gathering. The second example is the ritual of ceremonial “embracing.” Here, Vogt indicates how Zinacantan culture applies the ritual of embracing to all segments of its society, even to its immortal ancestors. “Embracing” is a component of many different domains in Zinacantan culture including “the socialization process of the family,” “the baptismal ceremonies,” “the wedding ceremonies,” “the curing ceremonies,” and “the activities of ancestral gods inside the mountain.” Vogt goes on to discuss how these patterns and symbols are analogous to Levi-Strauss’ idea of “codes.” He also points out that age ranking represents the basic principle of binary contrasts within the domains. Vogt suggests that understanding these codes and domains are critical in understanding all aspects of the culture as a whole. These domains and codes are the way that Zinacantecos consistently categorize and make sense of their world; these domains and codes are part of their worldview. Vogt also suggests that these patterns may not only have relevance in comprehending present Zinacantan culture, but they might also shed light on the development of the ancient Mayan culture. Overall, this article is a very clear example of a structural analysis of ethnographic data. CLARITY RANKING: 5 KELLY WEIDENBACH White, Leslie A. Anthropology 1964: Retrospect and Prospect American Anthropologist June, 1965 Vol.67 (3):629-637. White’s larger concern in this article is with the state of the field of cultural anthropology. He addresses cultural anthropology in the past as well as the future prospects of the field. The main question he asks is, can cultural anthropology do anything more valuable and significant, and should it try to do so? His basic argument is that much of cultural anthropology to this point (1964) has been focused on preliterate cultures. He believes that anthropology should extend its studies beyond these cultures to include literate cultures of the Bronze and Iron ages. White’s article is actually the presidential address at an American Anthropological Association meeting in 1964. He uses articles in previous issues of the American Anthropologist as a basis for his argument about the past and future of cultural anthropology. White argues for
more reflexivity and discussion, rather than description for description
sake. He does not deny the importance of describing certain cultural
practices; however, he wonders why anthropologists are doing so when
they cannot answer the simplest of questions. He suggests that we are
so ignorant of our own culture, that perhaps we should start exploring
our own culture from an anthropological perspective. He cites a couple
of examples in which White strongly believes that the "Science of Culture" can make significant contributions to the understandings of our cultures and societies. He encourages the field of cultural anthropology to extend its knowledge and expertise beyond the past and into the present and future. CLARITY: 5 White, Leslie A. Anthropology 1964: Retrospect and Prospect. American Anthropologist June, 1965 Vol. 67 (3 ): 629-637 In this article, Leslie White, a major figure in the development of a general evolutionary theory of culture, outlined an overview of biological and cultural anthropology as it was in 1964. The beginning of White’s article includes a quote from Lewis Henry Morgan’s Ancient Society. Morgan discusses the rapid decay of the remains of Indian arts, language and institutions under the influence of American civilization. Ninety years after Morgan’s article was published, White sees the “prophecy” as being fulfilled. He poses the question, “What will the ethnographer do when his preliterate tribes and cultures are gone?” After World War II, enculturation increased at a more rapid pace and White maintains that no societies live in complete isolation. The “advancing tide of Western culture” is headed their way, leaving little for the ethnographer to discover. He sees the archaeological situation as somewhat the same, questioning the “trivialities” of archaeological writings such as “An Unusual Prayer stick from Acoma Pueblo.” Although White maintains he does not mean to dismiss objects such as the prayer stick, and suggests the studies are worthwhile, he does ask whether anthropology can do anything more significant, and should it try? Criticizing works such as Ralph Linton’s The Tree of Culture, White notes that cultural anthropologists have restricted themselves to studying “preliterate” cultures. If the scale was enlarged, he asks, could cultural anthropology undertake a study of such grand proportions? White asserts his
point in a variety of examples, ranging from polygamy to professional
baseball to golf. He uses According to White, “For the first time in history culture possesses the ability to destroy itself.” Although to date culture has not imploded, White points out some major questions in the contemporary study of culture. His overall belief is that anthropology should concentrate on major institutions within larger nations. Through this essay he poses many questions, bringing the reader closer to asking, directly and indirectly, what anthropology is or should be doing. CLARITY 3 ANNA
NOLEN Winans, Edgar
V. The Political Context of Economic Adaptation
in the Southern Highlands of Winans’ research
is concerned with the shifting ecological adjustment of the Hehe, a
Bantu-speaking people who live in the Southern Highlands of CLARITY RANKING: 5 Winans, Edgar. The
Political Context of Economic Adaptation in the Southern Highlands
of Edgar Winans writes
about the various ecological and political adaptations that the Hehe
people of The environmental conditions within which the Hehe live vary considerably. Winans shows how the well watered uplands allows for sedentary agriculture to flourish, while on the arid plains, people live in tightly nucleated, mobile communities that herd cattle. The cattle convert the inedible grasses into meat for the plains Hehe, allowing them to inhabit a previously inhospitable environment. Winans shows how these ecological factors – rainfall, elevation, amount of available water – influence the lifestyles of these peoples. Winans believes, however, that these ecological factors, while explaining much, do not tell the whole story. He believes that to properly explain the behavior of the Hehe, the larger context of historical and political factors needs to be combined with the ecological factors. He tells of how, in the 1800’s, when German colonial administrators began moving into the region, they found no agriculture at all. Instead, the Hehe were militaristic herders, constantly moving and fighting, concerned only with taking people and stock captive, and then burning the rest. In this context, agriculture would be a disadvantage, while those who moved with their cattle, consuming other people’s land and possessions, would be able to obtain political power in the area. He then discusses the conquest of the Hehe in 1894, and the subsequent pacification of the area by the Germans. He shows how the population increased and agriculture became more prevalent in the uplands, while, with the easing of violence on the plains, herding continued to flourish. Winans concludes that utilization of the environment was not just due to ecological adaptation, but that military tactics and responses to neighboring groups played a prominent role as well. CLARITY RANKING: 4 Yarnell, Richard
A. Implications of Distinctive Flora on This article is
an investigation of flora patterns on prehistoric In the discussion Yarnell cites previous explanations for associations of certain flora and Indian occupation: favorable soil, introduction by non-human forces and introduction by human forces. The twenty-one species seem to have been introduced relatively recently since they occur in environments that have been disturbed naturally or artificially. Three criteria are used as a measurement of significance of flora. The first is the degree of occurrence and confinement to ruins. The second is the extent of the relationship with Pueblo Indians and the third is other considerations, such as ecology and range. Only three plant species met the criteria for significance of individual analysis. Yarnell argues that a symbiotic relationship existed between these plant species and Indian occupants. Plants benefited in having a wider range of maintenance and Indians benefited from continual availability of certain plant species. Yarnell suggests that given an agricultural people, the subsistence value of these plants was low, but the nonetheless important, especially in times of low crop output. The results of the
article are that certain plants seldom occur in surrounding areas,
but on CLARITY: 3 Yarnell,
Richard. Implications of Distinctive Flora on In this article
Richard Yarnell describes the flora that can be found growing on pueblo
ruins in the southwestern As
Yarnell points out, there are many different plant species found
growing on pueblos in the southwest. The author recorded 21 species in his survey
and ranked these species as frequent, absent, or rare. These findings are displayed in tables. Yarnell
offers several explanations for the appearance of certain plants
in certain areas, including favorable soil, introduction by non-human
forces, and introduction by humans. This
last reason is especially interesting to the author because some
of these plants could have been planted deliberately by the people
who lived in these areas, who might have used them for medicinal
or other purposes. I
felt that this article was well written and utilized the scientific
method as well as coming to conclusions about the effects of Pueblo
Indians of pre-Spanish times on the composition of flora on former
habitation sites. The author
used a great amount of data to support his claims about how plants
came to live on these ruins. The
author also wrote clearly and in a way that was easy to understand. CLARITY:
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