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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 li |
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