bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Secondary Marriage and Tribal Solidarity in Irigwe, Nigeria1
Authors: SANGREE WALTER H.
Published: November 2004

This paper endeavors to do two things. The first section describes how co‐husband relationships enjoyed by the traditional Irigwe system of secondary marriage helped in former days to keep the tribe's twenty‐five ritual units at peace with one another. The second section examines an instance of legislated social change clearly related to the development of an Irigwe tribal administration in recent decades, and to its continuing effectiveness today. In 1968 both the traditionalist “pagan” majority and the change oriented Christian minority on the Irigwe Tribal Council voted to outlaw all future secondary marriages. The paper considers both political and underlying structural factors which may have led to this action.
Changing Kinship in North Malaya1
Authors: BANKS DAVID J.
Published: November 2004

Data from Sik, a hill region of Kedah, a state in the northwestern corner of the Malay Peninsula, suggest that the increase in rural impoverishment due to demographic pressure on limited land resources has presented Malays with important challenges to “traditional” ideologies of social relationships. This paper suggests that rural Malay society is moving, under the influence of such pressures, toward a modern kinship ideology, but not without ambiguity, frequent conflict, and sentimental longings for the hypothetical golden social harmony of past periods.
A Technique of Formalizing and Testing Models of Behavior: Two Models of Ojibwa Restraint1
Authors: HAY THOMAS H.
Published: November 2004

Social scientists often construct informal models of the behavior of typical members of a society or of members of a social category, such as “peasants.” A technique of formalizing such models in terms of mathematical decision theory is illustrated with informal models offered by Hallowell and Freud. Quantitative implications of the models are compared with field data from two groups of Ojibwa.
On Key Symbols1
Authors: ORTNER SHERRY B.
Published: November 2004

This paper reviews the use of the notion of “key symbol” in anthropological analysis. It analyzes phenomena which have been or might be accorded the status of key symbol in cultural analyses, categorizing them according to their primary modes of operating on thought and action.
A Scientific Concept of Culture
Authors: WEISS GERALD
Published: November 2004

A century has passed since Tylor first traced for us the anthropological concept of culture. The subsequent history of the concept has been an unfortunate one, due to inadequate, unclear, nebulous, even mystical formulations. An attempt is made in this article to adjust the concept so that it will conform to a matter‐of‐fact reality. In so doing, the relationships between culture and society, culture and humanness, and culture and cultural systems, are discussed. A list of terms with strict definitions is provided as a culmination to the argument, and as an alternative to the formulations of the past.
The Ecology of Rural Ethnic Groups and the Spatial Dimensions of Power1
Authors: CANFIELD ROBERT L.
Published: November 2004

What mechanisms influence the locations of rural ethnic groups? Some authors have suggested that such groups are distributed merely in respect to ecological conditions. Political tensions between competing societies, however, also have a dimension that influences spatial locations. To illustrate this, the locations of the rural ethnic groups in a region in central Afghanistan are analyzed. In this case, variations in ecological adaptation do not adequately account for some of the spatial groupings. Effective distance, however—a time‐cost measure of the degree of separation and accessibility of different locations—is advanced as the primary factor, for it controls the degree to which the various local groups have been able to interact profitably with each other and the outside. The history of the area is presented to indicate that political alignments manifest locational controls on social relations in this region.
Fanti Kinship: The Structure of Terminology and Behavior1
Authors: KRONENFELD DAVID B.
Published: November 2004

This article compares the results of a formal analysis of the three variant patterns of the Fanti kinship terminology and the marking hierarchy they form with the results of a multi‐dimensional scaling and linear regression analysis of the bases of Fanti ascription of behavior to kinsmen. Terminological categories are shown to be a product of, but not a simple reflection of, patterns of behavior in the culture.
Genetic Relations of Polynesian Sibling Terminologies
Authors: EPLING P. J. , KIRK JEROME , BOYD JOHN PAUL
Published: November 2004

Relations between anthropology and linguistics are explored through the examination of the taxonomy and phylogeny of a small lexical set (sibling terms) within the Polynesian genetic language/culture unit using traditional and mathematical techniques of historical semantics and ethnology. Preliminary to examination of the Polynesian case a theory of sibling terminologies is developed, building on those of Murdock and of Nerlove and Romney. Beginning with the lattice of all possible partitions of sibling terms, assumptions are developed which reduce the number of terminologies (4140) to a smaller number (146), based on conjunctive concepts. The terminologies of a sample of twenty‐three Polynesian languages/cultures are shown to be five of the 146 types. Four of the five types are shown to be adjacent points in an upper semi‐lattice of the whole lattice. An evolutionary hypothesis is developed which further reduces the number of evolvable types, from 146 to nineteen for the Polynesian unit. The relation of the evolution of the terminologies and the daughter languages is shown. Likely paths of evolution of the terminologies are suggested. Functional correlates of the types are also examined, and it is concluded that economic features are of great significance in the evolution of sibling terminologies.
Kinship vis‐à‐vis Myth Contrasts in Lévi‐Strauss' Approaches to Cross‐Cultural Comparison
Authors: Boon James A. , Schneider David M.
Published: November 2004

The enormous secondary literature which relates Lévi‐Strauss' comparative studies to different schools of thought has failed sufficiently to emphasize the major discontinuity within his own work. This paper characterizes the basic methodological differences in his approaches to “kinship” and to “myth.” It then suggests how, by concentrating on the kinship/myth distinction, we might constructively refine various structuralist concepts, such as distinctive feature analysis and the logical foundations of the “elementary” kinship structures. Only by concentrating on the few inconsistencies in Lévi‐Strauss' remarkably coherent corpus of work can an adequate critique of his theories of comparison be commenced.
Voodoo Death: New Thoughts on an Old Explanation1
Authors: Lex Barbara W.
Published: November 2004

Extant physiological explanations of “voodoo death” are augmented with information about neurophysiological research on sensitization, or tuning, of the autonomic nervous system. The process of suggestion is defined as incorporating both an automatic and cognitive component in tuned individuals; the significance of autonomic tuning in cause and cure of psychosomatic illness and in voodoo death is explored.
Epistle to the Anthropologists1
Authors: JARVIE I. C.
Published: November 2004

Lack of theoretical progress, among other things, indicates a genuine intellectual crisis in anthropology. Previously, the author advocated a more consciously critical and falsificationist set of methodological rules as a remedy. Fabian has shown that this is not sufficient. He argues that there is an uncritical positivism built‐in to anthropology, which leads to ontological, epistemological, and moral error. Metaphysics as well as method needs rectification. The paper urges doing this by rebuilding links to the broad philosophical concerns out of which anthropological theory grew.
Protein Capture and Cultural Development in the Amazon Basin1
Authors: GROSS DANIEL R.
Published: November 2004

This paper examines the proposition that availability of animal protein limits the size, density, and permanence of settlements of the aboriginal societies of the Amazon Basin. Previous discussions have focused mainly on agricultural potential. Evidence is presented from ethnography and ecology suggesting that fish and game are scarce, particularly away from major rivers. Nine relatively unacculturated societies have relatively low but probably adequate per capita intake of animal protein. The effects which this limitation may have on Amazonian culture are discussed.
Irrigation and Community in the Central Peruvian Highlands
Authors: MITCHELL WILLIAM P.
Published: November 2004

Irrigation in Quinua is an adaptation of high altitude agriculture, and its regulation and celebration are significant aspects of the political and ritual life of the community. Comparative data suggest that similar relationships are widespread in Peru. The information from Quinua is used to illuminate the water needs of Huari, an important archaeological site located in the community. The significance of the data for the hydraulic hypothesis of Wittfogel and Steward is discussed.
Rent, Differentiation, and the Development of Capitalism among Peasants
Authors: ROSEBERRY WILLIAM
Published: November 2004

This essay examines some processual implications of the incorporation of peasant production within the capitalist economic system. It contends that rent, the primary means by which nonpeasants appropriate the surplus product of peasants, is an inefficient method of appropriation. The implications of that inefficiency for differentiation and capitalist development within peasant communities are then examined.
T. S. Eliot, Anthropologist and Primitive
Authors: Harmon William
Published: November 2004

T. S. Eliot (1888–1965), a poet of genius, closely followed developments in the social sciences. From the viewpoint of early modern anthropology, important features of his poems resemble the qualities of the “primitive mentality” conjectured by Lévy‐Bruhl, whose work (along with Tylor's, Frazer's, Wundt's, Durkheim's, and Rivers‘) Eliot carefully and critically studied. To recover fundamental cultural unities, Eliot became, in effect, a philosophical anthropologist and, in poetry, a quasi‐primitive as well. [anthropology and literature, history of anthropology, T. S. Eliot, Lucien Lévy‐Bruhl]
Archaeological Inference and Inductive Confirmation
Authors: SMITH BRUCE D.
Published: November 2004

The limitations of the hypothetico‐deductive (H‐D) method of inductive confirmation are described, and an alternate method, the hypothetico‐analog (H‐A) method is described in detail. The H‐A method can be characterized as a modified and supplemented form of the simple H‐D method, and is proposed as being more appropriate for archaeological inference. Aspects of the H‐A method that are given particular attention include the establishment of boundary conditions for reference classes, plausibility considerations, multiple working hypotheses, bridging arguments, and criteria for selecting alternative hypotheses. [scientific method, archaeological inference, hypothetico‐analog method, inductive confirmation]
Inclusive Fitness and Human Family Structure
Authors: VAN DEN BERGHE PIERRE L. , BARASH DAVID P.
Published: November 2004

The implications of sociobiology, and especially of “inclusive fitness” or “kin‐selection” theory, to human family structures are explored. Kin‐selection theory provides a model to formulate testable hypotheses predicting cooperation and conflict for categories of kinsmen; it also suggests an alternative way of looking at incest, endogamy, exogamy, rule of descent, and type of marriage in terms of such biological concepts as mating strategies, inclusive fitness, parental investment, and sexual dimorphism and bimaturism. [sociobiology, kin‐selection theory, inclusive fitness, family structure, marriage]
Does Complementary Opposition Exist?
Authors: Salzman Philip Carl
Published: November 2004

Uncritical application of lineage theory can obscure the complex reality of political organization and process in segmentary societies. However, the argument that lineage theory is a folk ideology with no basis in behavioral reality seems unsupportable in the light of comparative and historical evidence which indicates that short‐term and long‐term territorial stability or instability are operative factors in the symbolic and behavioral significance of lineage organization. [segmentary lineage systems, complementary opposition, ideology, political alliance, ecology]
Book Reviews
Authors: Lawless Robert
Published: November 2004

Book reviewed in this article:

General and Theoretical: Ethnicity and Resource Competition in Plural Societies. Leo A. Despres.

General and Theoretical: Migration and Urbanization: Models and Adaptive Strategies. Brian M. du Toit and Helen I. Safa.

General and Theoretical: Migration and Development: Implications for Ethnic Identity and Political Conflict. Helen I. Safa and Brian M. du Toit.
Epistemological Implications of Fieldwork and Their Consequences
Authors: Salamone Frank A.
Published: November 2004

Fieldwork is anthropology's primary data‐gathering device, providing a boundary marker from related disciplines. Since data obtained through fieldwork form the bases of anthropological theory, it is crucial that their truth value be analyzed. The paper discusses reasons for both the relative lack of epistemological concern in anthropology until recent times and its current vogue. The empirical foundations of fieldwork are examined and a grid is presented for judging the philosophical position of fieldworkers. Application of the methods suggested is illustrated by a case study of missionary/anthropologist field interaction. Finally, an argument is outlined against both rationalism and phenomenology as being antiscientific. These last two positions are seen as the logical result of anthropology's neglect of epistemology. [epistemology, fieldwork, methodology, recurrent relationships, empiricism]
The Cultural Problem of the Cultural Anthropologist
Authors: Hsu Francis L. K.
Published: November 2004

An intensive analysis of Malinowski's diary reveals an ethnocentrism hitherto unnoticed in our discipline. Ethnocentrism is common to all societies and cultures, but what anthropologists have so far failed to understand is the very basic distinction between positive ethnocentrism and neutral ethnocentrism. Malinowski, being rooted in white European society and culture where positive enthocentrism prevails, suffered from some peculiar defects in perception of non‐ Western behavior that vitiated some of his theories, such as those on religion and culture change. This paper shows that some of his shortcomings are still with us today and indicates what we can do to remedy them. [religion, ethnocentrism, positive or neutral, Trobriand Islanders, mental hospitals, internal versus external impetuses to culture change, Christianity, Islam, proselytization, Primeval Flood myth, comparative studies, China, Europe, national character, methodology]
The Abundance of Protein in Amazonia: A Reply to Gross
Authors: Beckerman Stephen
Published: November 2004

A critical examination of Gross's hypothesis that aboriginal Amazonian populations were limited to low levels by lack of adequate protein resources concludes that (1) evidence either for or against the hypothesis is still in short supply; (2) the role of vegetable protein in aboriginal diets needs much more attention and may ultimately overthrow the protein‐limitation hypothesis; (3) the abundance of animal protein in the tropical forest has likely also been underestimated; (4) the abundance of people in precontact Amazonia may well have been underestimated as well. [Amazonia, protein, cultural ecology, limiting factors, population].
Diffusion, Biological Determinism, and Biocultural Adaptation in the Nubian Corridor
Authors: Carlson David S. , Van Gerven Dennis P.
Published: November 2004

Nubia's position both geographically and historically made it a natural laboratory for application of a historical diffusionist paradigm. That approach, which dominated research on Nubia before 1960, led to a view of Nubian culture history as a series of disconnected episodes, each characterized by the migration, displacement, or hybridization of differing racial stocks. The International Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia, begun in 1960, provided a new view of Nubian history, emphasizing both cultural and biological continuity since earliest times. From that perspective, it has become possible to reconsider the forces of biological and cultural change in the Nubian corridor over the past 12,000 years, and to propose that the most reasonable explanation for biocultural change in the Nubia is in situ evolution. [Nubia, biological determinism, biocultural adaptation, diffusionism]
Sex Differences in Maasai Cognition of Personality and Social Identity
Authors: Burton Michael , Kirk Lorraine
Published: November 2004

Maasai women and men are compared with respect to their classifications of personality descriptors modifying social identity terms. Substantial sex differences are found and are interpreted in terms of Maasai culture and social organization. These findings are integrated with a theory of cognitive variability based on notions of markedness. [psychological anthropology, personality, sex differences, perception, Maasai]
The Oceanic Ethnography of Margaret Mead
Authors: McDowell Nancy
Published: November 2004

Margaret Mead did fieldwork in seven Oceanic societies: Samoa, Manus, Arapesh, Mundugumor, Tchambuli, Bali, and Iatmul. Several major concerns that characterize all of her ethnographic work are examined: her conviction that data must be useful; her experimentation with, and desire to improve, methods of ethnographic reportage; her focus on process and system; the importance of comparison; and the interplay between data and theory. Brief descriptions of each body of ethnographic material are provided, and special highlights of each are indicated. [Oceania, ethnography, Margaret Mead]
Lexical Encoding Sequences and Language Change: Color Terminology Systems
Authors: Witkowski Stanley R. , Brown Cecil H.
Published: November 2004

Lexical reconstructions of Proto‐Polynesian (Branstetter 1977), Proto‐Miwok (Callaghan 1979), and Proto‐Mayan (Fox 1977; Kaufman 1964, 1969) basic color term vocabularies are presented and compared. Although these reconstructed systems accord with the well‐known Berlin and Kay (1969) color encoding sequence, they all contain a subtle distortion They generally are as large as color term systems found in contemporary daughter languages. Considering the additive nature of the color encoding sequence, these reconstructions are unlikely. Comparative linguistic evidence is presented suggesting that all three systems are over‐reconstructed. Encoding sequences, then, prove to be instruments of considerable usefulness to add to the traditional tool kit of historical linguistics. [cognitive anthropology, color classification, language change, language universale, Mayan languages, Miwok languages, Polynesian languages]
General Stress in Anthropological Fieldwork
Authors: Brown Daniel E.
Published: November 2004

Human stress reactions are responses to physical, biotic, and sociocultural stimuli that lead to appraisal of the need for adaptive activity. Commonly used measures of stress in anthropology, such as questionnaires, are subjective in nature and inappropriate for cross‐cultural comparisons. Physiological measures of stress, such as urinary levels of catecholamines and corticosteroids, are applicable for these comparisons and may have wide utility in anthropological fieldwork, particularly for: studies of culture change, identification of highly stressed groups or individuals within groups, and observations of temporal patterns of stress in human populations. [stress, biocultural anthropology, adaptation, physiological anthropology, human ecology]
“Making Twos”: Pairing as an Alternative to the Taxonomic Mode of Representation
Authors: Lancy David F. , Strathern Andrew J.
Published: November 2004

Melpa‐speaking children do very poorly on cognitive tasks, in general, and as compared to children from another traditional society in Papua New Guinea. Causes for this difference are sought in an analysis of the tasks which shows them to require a taxonomic strategy for successful performance and in an analysis of the folk taxonomies of the respective societies which shows them to vary in complexity. Further study of Melpa representation reveals that this can better be represented as a pairing rather than a taxonomizing tendency This finding allows a reinterpretation of the cognitive task results. [Cognition, child development, ethnosemantics, world view, Melpa, Papua New Guinea]
The Oedipus Complex, Antigone, and Electra: The Woman as Hero and Victim
Authors: Willner Dorothy
Published: November 2004

This paper reinterprets the structural interpretation of Greek mythology presented by Leach and Lévi‐Strauss from a feminist perspective. The reinterpretation approaches the Oedipus myth and Freud's analysis of it from the perspective of Antigone, daughter of Oedipus and a hero of Sophoclean tragedy. Ancient Greek tragedy allowed a few mythic women the role of hero, although women in ancient Greek society were confined to the domestic sphere. The paper discusses Antigone, Electra, and other mythic women in their relations to family and the public domain. The interpretation of Greek mythology differs from previous ones but is not inconsistent with them, [mythology, gender roles, Oedipus complex, myth and social structure, structuralism]
Arnold van Gennep: The Hermit of Bourg‐la‐Reine
Authors: ZUMWALT ROSEMARY
Published: November 2004

Arnold van Gennep was a leader in the field of French folklore and ethnology. His life was one of prolific publication, constant intellectual growth, and incisive criticism of the French social sciences. Yet he remained an outcast from the French academic life. From a survey of his writings and those of members of L'Année Sociologique, the lines of tension which resulted in van Gennep's exclusion from academe are traced. [Arnold van Gennep, Emile Durkheim, history of anthropology and folklore, French folklore, French sociology]
High Altitude Hypoxia, Culture, and Human Fecundity/Fertility: A Comparative Study
Authors: Goldstein Melvyn C. , Tsarong Paljor , Beall Cynthia M.
Published: November 2004

This paper presents new demographic findings for a high altitude Himalayan population residing in Ladakh, India, and reviews problematic issues regarding the hypothesized relationship between fertility/fecundity and altitude in the Himalayas in light of these findings. It concludes that the low completed fertility ratio reported for the Sherpas of Khumbu, Nepal, is not caused by hypoxia‐induced low fecundity, but is the product of cultural factors affecting the exposure of females to the risk of intercourse, a critical confounding factor that has not received adequate consideration in previous studies. Contrary to earlier reports, the present study demonstrates that all high altitude Himalayan populations for which published data exist exhibit moderately high fertility and fecundity, and do not differ significantly in their fertility levels. Furthermore, it argues that the claims for a statistically significant difference in fertility between high, moderate, and low altitude Himalayan populations are groundless, and suggests that a parallel reevaluation of Andean findings is required. [fertility, fecundity, hypoxia, Himalayas, Andes]
Other Times, Other Customs: The Anthropology of History
Authors: Sahlins Marshall
Published: November 2004

The nature of institutions is nothing but their coming into being (nascimento) at certain times and in certain guises. Whenever the time and guise are thus and so, such and not otherwise are the institutions that come into being—Vico, The New Science.
The Myth of the Male Ethnographer and the Woman's World
Authors: GREGORY JAMES R.
Published: November 2004

It is here argued that the traditionally accepted view regarding the inaccessibility of the woman's world to male ethnographers is largely a rationalization that justifies not collecting information about women, glosses over the fact that much such information is readily attainable, makes the questionable assumption that this information will be so distorted as to be useless, and erroneously implies that there are no comparable problems for male ethnographers working with the man's world.
An Application of Dimensional Analysis in Cultural Anthropology
Authors: Dobbert Marion Lundy , Mcguire Dennis P. , Pearson James J. , Taylor Kenneth Clarkson
Published: November 2004

Lawlike generalizations can be developed only for variables exhibiting strict constancy in concept formulation. By considering anthropology a space and its basic concepts as dimensions and borrowing from ecology, cultural materialism, and social, political, and cultural anthropology, we develop a 14‐dimensional space defined by 42 scaled variables. Dimensional analysis performed yields 14 equations and 28 dimensionless expressions that satisfy them. Additionally, we derive a set of 28 ethnological expressions. Entering scaled data from five societies, we solve for each. Twenty‐one expressions yield significant order‐ings. Examination of their performance confirms that they function holistically.
Structural Communication and Control Communication: An Interactionist Perspective on Legal and Customary Procedures for Conflict Management
Authors: Arno Andrew
Published: November 2004

Law and other modes of conflict control are defined processually by the interaction of control communication and structural communication. Communication produces social order through both substantive and formal ordering processes, and control communication systems of various kinds impose forms of order congruent with their own inherent formal and substantive natures upon the structural communication subject to their operations.
Distinguished Lecture: F
Authors: Hockett Charles F.
Published: November 2004

CARLETON STEVENS COON, WHOSE SCHOLARLY LARGESSE knew no bounds, 15 years ago gave me the hint that has led to this paper, and I gratefully dedicate it to his memory.
Color Terminology and Color Classification: Ancient Egyptian Color Terminology and Polychromy
Authors: Baines John
Published: November 2004

The ancient Egyptian language possesses 4 basic color terms; painting uses 7 and later 9 polychrome colors. These sets correspond to Stages Ilia, V, and VII (incomplete) of the Berlin and Kay encoding sequence for language, and support the theory of 11 “basic perceptual color categories.” The categories are probably available only through progressive differentiation. The use of color in pictorial representation fits an “active” rather than a “response” model for this expansion. The separation of color use and color terminology has significant cognitive implications.
The Pragmatics of Proverb Performances in New Mexican Spanish
Authors: Briggs Charles L.
Published: November 2004

Performances of proverbs by Mexicanos in northern New Mexico are characterized by seven features in addition to the proverb text. These are examined with respect for the role they play in connecting basic cultural and linguistic patterns with the minute details of an ongoing social interaction. The processes of presupposition and contextualization are identified as crucial determinants of the way each feature will be realized in a given performance.
Names and Peoples in Incaic Quito: Retrieving Undocumented Historic Processes Through Anthroponymy and Statistics
Authors: Salomon Frank , Grosboll Sue
Published: November 2004

When analyzed statistically, the distribution of verbal elements in some written sources, like that of objects in archeological sites, yields culture‐historical data independent of artifacts' intended meaning. A 1559 case study from highland Ecuador uses personal names and their parts to detect cultural differences in aboriginal society and their changing relation to superordinate Inca culture. This can be done even with undeciphered names from an extinct language, suggesting a fortiori that the method is generalizable.
Parental Investment and Elite Family Structure in Preindustrial States: A Case Study of Late Medieval‐Early Modern Portuguese Genealogies
Authors: Boone James L.
Published: November 2004

In this paper I examine the idea that patriarchal family structure among elites in stratified societies originates as a form of parental investment favoring male children. Patriliny and restricted inheritance among 15th‐ and 16th‐century Portuguese nobility are analyzed as reproductive strategies aimed at maximizing lineage survival and posterity in the face of high mortality. Demographic data derived from genealogies show that among the high nobility, males outreproduce females, whereas among the lower nobility, females outreproduce males, and that the tendency to concentrate investment in male offspring correspondingly increases with status. This family structural arrangement has the societal effect of generating intense competition among males for available titles, which results in increased warfare mortality among men and indirectly in the increased claustration of women.
Archeology
Authors: Kirch Patrick V.
Published: November 2004

Prehistory of the Indo‐Malaysian Archipelago. Peter Bellwood.

Recent Advances in Indo‐Pacific Prehistory. V. N. Misra and Peter Bellwood, eds.
Cognitive Structure and Informant Accuracy
Authors: Freeman Linton C. , Romney A. Kimball , Freeman Sue C.
Published: November 2004

The problem of informant accuracy is examined in light of principles of memory organization from cognitive psychology. These principles turn out to be powerful, not only in explaining overall patterns of informant error, but in predicting details about the types of errors made. Predictions are made in terms both of different kinds of informants and different kinds of objects. All the predictions are strongly supported by the data. Finally, in the light of these results, two strategies are developed. The “best” informants, it seems, can be used to reveal long‐range stable patterns of events, and the “worst” informants can be used to reveal the details of a particular event of special interest.
Book Reviews
Authors: Golla Victor
Published: November 2004

Book reviewed in this article:

Wintu Grammar. Harvey Pitkin.

Wintu Dictionary. Harvey Pitkin.
Organizational Change and Adaptation: Community Cooperatives and Capital Control in the Western Isles of Scotland
Authors: Prattis J. Iain
Published: November 2004

The community cooperative on Barra (Western Isles of Scotland) expanded in 1984 to incorporate a limited company—Iasg Bharraidh—whose major purpose was the collective marketing of shellfish for island fishermen. This response to falling prices for shellfish involved the substitution of collective activity for individualistic marketing, and other adaptations to a wider economic system beyond their control. The history of the shellfish industry and the community cooperative will be given to provide context for an evolving marketing structure. The limited company is analyzed in terms of a transitional organization designed to permit the community to adapt to changing conditions in the wider political economy. Considerations of risk, technological change, resource conservation, and community dynamics are introduced, to indicate that cooperative organizations in peripheral areas perform very complex functions, not the least of which is to alleviate social unrest in the periphery. Cooperatives have both transformative and resistive roles. This paper tries to elucidate some of the factors that locate the Barra community cooperative within a strategy of transformation rather than that of resistance to wider social, economic, and political constraints.
Population Density, Land Tenure, and Law in the New Guinea Highlands: Reflections on Legal Evolution
Authors: Podolefsky Aaron
Published: November 2004

This paper examines law in the New Guinea Highlands through a cross‐cultural, case‐study approach. Because of low levels of variation in ecology and infrastructure, the Highlands become a natural laboratory for testing theoretically derived hypotheses relating legal complexity and the evolution of law to population density, agriculture, and property ownership. The predicted variation in legal process fails to emerge and thus the hypotheses are not supported. The uniformity of process will be encouraging to policymakers involved with developing a national legal system based on customary law.
Book Reviews
Authors: Hoffman J. Michael
Published: November 2004

Book reviewed in this article:

Forensic Osteology: Advances in the Identification of Human Remains. Kathleen J. Reichs, ed.

The Human Skeleton in Forensic Medicine. Wilton Marion Krogman and Mehmet Yaŝar I̊ŝcan.
Men Who Are Called “Women” in Toba‐Batak: Marriage, Fundamental Sex‐Role Differences, and the Suitability of the Gloss “Wife‐Receiver”
Authors: Sherman D. George
Published: November 2004

This article gives brief accounts of affinal relations, marriage, gender roles, and long‐term lineage relationships among Toba Bataks of Samosir, north Sumatra, Indonesia. Ethnographic data, presented in tandem with data on the Kachin and similar cultures, are used to call into question the use of the term “wife‐taker” as opposed to “wife‐receiver,” as it is generally employed with reference to the groom, his family, and lineage‐mates, in glossing a major conceptual category of Southeast Asian hinterland societies that have preferred matrilateral cross‐cousin marriage. It is argued that “wife‐taker” is more distorting of Batak practice and of their system of values than “wife‐receiver.”
The Symbols of “Forest”: A Structural Analysis of Mbuti Culture and Social Organization
Authors: Mosko Mark S.
Published: November 2004

This structural analysis of the Epulu Mbuti (Zaire) offers an “ideationalist” alternative to more radically “empiricist” or “materialist” studies of hunter‐gatherers. Spatial, kinship, affinal, and ritual metaphors of the “Forest” (ndura) involve homologous representations of family, sub‐band, band, and total Forest collectivities. Peculiarly Mbuti “anomalies” (e.g., reputed absence of kinship, patriliny, and sub‐band groups; elima ritual; age and gender equality) become intelligible in terms of resolving the core contradiction of the system: endogamy versus exogamy.
Relativism and the Search for Human Rights
Authors: Renteln Alison Dundes
Published: November 2004

The theory of ethical relativism has been the subject of much misunderstanding. It is argued that the central insight of relativism is enculturation and not tolerance. Relativism is characterized as a metaethical theory about the nature of moral perceptions. As such it is logically consistent, permits moral criticism, and is compatible with cross‐cultural universals. The existence of universals may indicate global support for particular human rights.
The Mesoamerican Urban Tradition
Authors: Sanders William T. , Webster David
Published: November 2004

The process of preindustrial urbanization is an important archeological issue because of its association with the emergence of early complex societies. There is considerable debate among Mesoamerican archeologists concerning both the evolutionary nature of the process itself and the configurations and functions of the centers that might be called “urban.” Part of this debate is caused by the variation that clearly exists among such Mesoamerican centers, as well as the distinctive nature of urbanization in the culture area, which differs in important respects from similar processes in the Old World. Components of a model proposed by Richard Fox are used to set the Mesoamerican urban tradition into a wider, multilineal evolutionary framework. Copán, Teoti‐huacan, Tenochtitlan, and other Mesoamerican centers provide comparative examples.
Ancient West Mexican Metallurgy: South and Central American Origins and West Mexican Transformations
Authors: Hosler Dorothy
Published: November 2004

Metallurgy first appeared in Mesoamerica at about A.D. 800, introduced via a maritime route from Central and South America into West Mexico. During the initial period of the establishment of the technology (approximately A.D. 800 to between A.D. 1200 and 1300) technical links were closest with the metallurgies of Ecuador, Colombia, and lower Central America. During the second period of West Mexican metallurgy (A.D. 1200–1300 to the Spanish invasion) new elements from these same regional metallurgies were introduced, in addition to technical components from the metallurgy of southern Peru. Although the roots of West Mexican metallurgy lay in the metallurgies to the south, the elements that had been introduced from those areas were reinterpreted and transformed, resulting in the development of a technically original, highly inventive regional technology in West Mexico.
The Scientific Basis for Shipibo Soil Classification and Land Use: Changes in Soil‐Plant Associations with Cash Cropping
Authors: BEHRENS CLIFFORD A.
Published: November 2004

Since the Shipibo began cash cropping rice, their land use patterns have changed with proportionately less utilization of soft sandy soils, which are best for staple Musa production, and greater use of harder clayey soils, which are more suitable for rice and root crops. Statistical analysis of soil samples reveals the physical‐chemical basis for Shipibo soil categories and indicates the effect ofswidden agriculture on levels of important soil characteristics. While cultural principles for planting have summarized these important ecological relationships in the past, they are often violated with increasing rice production. Examination of time allocation and food consumption data shows that changes in Shipibo land use patterns are associated with higher labor costs during brief periods of the agricultural cycle and greater dependence on domesticated animal foods.
Theories of Social Honor
Authors: HATCH ELVIN
Published: November 2004

The approaches used in studying status systems (or systems of prestige or social honor) can be classified as either materialist or nonmaterialist, and the essential differences between them reflect differences in assumptions about human motivations. It is argued that the materialist approach is untenable. The nonmaterialist approaches also differ among themselves in motivational assumptions, and these differences in turn lead to very different views about the nature of status systems. Three nonmaterialist approaches are analyzed, and it is suggested that one of them is more compelling than the others.
Prehistoric Seasonality Studies in Coastal Southern New England
Authors: Bernstein David J.
Published: November 2004

The results of seasonality studies undertaken with prehistoric faunal materials from the Greenwich Cove site in coastal Rhode Island are presented. Growth patterns in shells of the hard clam or quahog (Mercenaria mercenaria) are used to reconstruct the time(s) of year this species was collected. A controlled study of seasonal growth provides a comparative baseline for this analysis. Seasonality of white‐tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) hunting is interpreted through the examination of growth structures in preserved teeth. The seasonal availability of migratory species is also considered. Relatively year‐round coastal settlement is proposed for the final centuries of the prehistoric period.
Women, Religion, and Modernization: Tradition and Transformation among Elderly Jews in Israel
Authors: Sered Susan Starr
Published: November 2004

Modernization affects the religious lives of women in diverse and dramatic ways. On the one hand, women may find increased arenas for religious involvement, both inside and outside of traditional religious frameworks. Simultaneously, women's rituals and beliefs are often especially vulnerable to attacks from the forces of modernization. This paper focuses on the experience of elderly Jewish women of Asian origin who now live in modern Israel. The author suggests that the very nature of women's religion—domestic, personal, hidden, and flexible—explains its tenacity and creativity in the face of modernization. These findings are examined within a broad, cross‐cultural context.
Caregiving as a Cultural System: Conceptions of Filial Obligation and Parental Dependency in Urban America
Authors: Albert Steven M.
Published: November 2004

Verbal reports were elicited from 70 caregivers rendering care to impaired parents. Despite great empirical variety in the caregiving context, caregivers showed a striking commonality of interpretation with respect to attitudes about parental dependency and the obligation to care for a parent. In fact, ideas about dependency and obligation covary in predictable ways. Content analysis of the verbal reports and additional ethnographic data show that the association of these two sets of ideas represents shared knowledge in a culture of caregiving. Ideas about dependency and obligation “go together,” even for caregivers whose situations vary radically. While a minority of caregivers deviate from this consensus, they do not represent an alternative culture, but rather cases where the history of parent‐child relations leads them to interpret dependency and obligation more variably.
Film Reviews
Authors: Messer Ellen
Published: November 2004

Book reviewed in this article:

The Ribbon. 1987. Directed by Harriet Avshon.

With These Hands. 1987. Produced by Chris Sheppard and directed by Chris Sheppard and Claude Sauvageot.

The Struggling People. 1987. From the Only One Earth series. Produced by Rachael Lyon and directed by Barbara Pyle.
Archeological and Historical Approaches to Complex Societies: The Islamic States of Medieval Morocco
Authors: Boone James L. , Myers J. Emlen , Redman Charles L.
Published: November 2004

The study of complex societies, especially those with documentary sources, provides an unparalleled opportunity for the archeologist to contribute to an understanding both of the past and of contemporary society. We argue that available documentary sources for early North African state societies can be effectively combined with anthropological insight to formulate interpretive models to derive more meaning from the archeological record. The illustration we provide comes from early Islamic North Africa. We postulate that during the Medieval period two widely different sociopolitical contexts existed, giving rise to diverse urban patterns. Most importantly, we argue that the second of these patterns represents a widespread situation that is inadequately treated in the literature.
Between Powhatan and Quirank: Reconstructing Monacan Culture and History in the Context of Jamestown
Authors: Hantman Jeffrey L.
Published: November 2004

One of the more enigmatic events in the history of European colonization in the New World is the generally tolerant reception the Jamestown colonists received in 1607 from Powhatan, the paramount chief of the Powhatan people of Tidewater Virginia. Understanding that event requires an anthropological study of the complex sociopolitical relations between the coastal Powhatan and the less‐well‐known interior cultures of the native world. This article is primarily concerned with describing one such interior culture, the Monacan, a people who ethnohistoric texts suggest were less complex than, and a principal enemy of, the Powhatan. Analysis of those texts, and insights derived from archeology, provide a picture of the Monacan that leads to a different perspective on the context of the Jamestown settlement, and on relations of power between indigenous cultures in the precontact world.
Sociobiological Explanations of Incest Avoidance: A Critical Review of Evidential Claims
Authors: Leavitt Gregory C.
Published: November 2004

Sociobiologists of human behavior, arguing that close inbreeding results in deleterious offspring, have proposed that natural selection processes have produced incest avoidance mechanisms in the human genotype. To support this evolutionary hypothesis, universal cultural incest proscriptions and research indicating a close compliance with these taboos are cited. Additional evidence from population genetics, ethology, and human community studies is also offered as evidential support. In this article I argue that the research cited in support of a biological basis for incest avoidance does not justify these resolute conclusions.
Wealth, Status, and Reproductive Success among the Mukogodo of Kenya
Authors: Cronk Lee
Published: November 2004

The evolutionary biological hypothesis that culturally defined values and goals are proximate means of enhancing reproductive success is tested on data from the Mukogodo, a small group of Maa‐speaking pastoralists in north‐central Kenya who value the accumulation of livestock. The results support the prediction that, at least among males, livestock wealth should correlate with reproductive success. This correlation appears to be due mainly to greater polygyny among wealthier men. Lower age at first marriage among wealthier men may also contribute to the correlation between livestock wealth and reproductive success. The association between livestock wealth and reproductive success does not appear to be due to the productivity of wives and children, to bridewealths obtained when daughters marry, or to the effects of wealth on the reproductive success of men's wives.
Amusement and Absolution: Transforming Narratives during Confession of Social Debts
Authors: Kratz Corinne A.
Published: November 2004

During Okiek initiation in Kenya, the final ritual event before the climax of circumcision involves public “confession” by initiates of their “social debts.” Confession is through an intermediary who questions initiates, then announces their wrongs to an assembled crowd. The questioner/announcer introduces formal transformations that recast the narrative and its interpretation. That recasting absolves initiates of their wrongs, amuses the listeners, and completes a ceremonial process that helps initiates succeed in the trial of circumcision and gradually distances them from their childhood lives.
Migration, Education, and the Status of Women in Southern Nigeria
Authors: Hollos Marida
Published: November 2004

This article examines changes in the status of women migrants, educated and noneducated, to various urban centers in one Nigerian ethnic group. The migrants are examined in contrast to women who remained residents in the rural home community. The major focus is on male‐female relations in the household. Findings indicate an erosion of the private status or domestic power of educated urban women, living in monogamous, nuclear family households.
Art, Science, or Politics? The Crisis in Hunter‐Gatherer Studies
Authors: Lee Richard B.
Published: November 2004

In the complex history of hunter‐gatherer studies, several overlapping and at times antagonistic discourses can be discerned. However, one critique has emerged that would render all hunter‐gatherer discourses irrelevant and do away with the concept altogether. The paper explores the poststructuralist roots of this “revisionism” and then argues why the concept of hunter‐gatherer continues to be politically relevant and empirically valid. However, if they are to fulfill their promise of illuminating an increasingly fragmented and alienating modernity, hunter‐gatherer studies will have to become more attuned to issues of politics, history, context, and reflexivity.