Anthropology Commons^™

Precis Of Vaulting Ambition: Sociobiology And The Quest For Human Nature, Philip Kitcher, Patrick Bateson (Comment By), Jon Beckwith (Comment By), Irwin S. Bernstein (Comment By), Patricia Smith Churchland (Comment By), Patricia Draper (Comment By), John Dupre (Comment By), Andrew Futterman (Comment By), Michael T. Ghiselin (Comment By), Henry Harpending (Comment By), Timothy D. Johnston (Comment By), Garland E. Allen (Comment By), Michael E. Lamb (Comment By), W. C. Mcgrew (Comment By), H. C. Plotkin (Comment By), Alexander Rosenberg (Comment By), Peter T. Saunders (Comment By), Mae-Wan Ho (Comment By), Peter Singer (Comment By), Eric Aiden Smith (Comment By), Peter K. Smith (Comment By), Elliot Sober (Comment By), Nils C. Stenseth (Comment By), Donald Symons (Comment By)

Department of Anthropology: Faculty Publications

The debate about the credentials of sociobiology has persisted because scholars have failed to distinguish the varieties of sociobiology and because too little attention has been paid to the details of the arguments that are supposed to support the provocative claims about human social behavior. I seek to remedy both dcfieieneies. After analysis of the relationships among different kinds of sociobiology and contemporary evolutionary theory, I attempt to show how some of the studies of the behavior of nonhuman animals meet the methodological standards appropriate to evolutionary research. I contend that the efforts of E. O. Wilson, Richard Alexander, Charles …

Testing Sociobiological Hypotheses Ethnographically, Patricia Draper

Department of Anthropology: Faculty Publications

Satisfactory tests of sociobiological theory using data on humans suffer from many problems, many of which are cogently argued by Kitcher. Other obstacles derive from the fact that cultural anthropology itself is undergoing a paradigm shift, in which people are no longer considered to be influenced by the normative environment with a high degree of predictability. Information about human behavior guided by this new set of assumptions is far more likely to yield the type of data necessary to test sociobiological ideas. Once the construct of culture is abandoned (or at least not assumed to have much power for predicting …

Introduction To Perspectives On Archaeological Resources Management In The "Great Plains", Alan J. Osborn, Robert C. Hassler

Department of Anthropology: Faculty Publications

The past two decades of archaeological investigations in the United States have been shaped significantly by cultural resource management (CRM) legislation. Although federal laws designed to protect the nation's archaeological record can be traced to the late 1800s, necessary funding was not made available for extensive work until 1974 with passage of the Moss-Bennett Bill (Judge 1982). The availability of federal monies for archaeological investigations at this time was unprecedented. Marked changes occurred in the discipline of archaeology that involved disruption of the traditional ties linking academic institutions and archaeological research throughout the country (Fowler 1982; Brose 1985).

Scientific Research Programmes: Toward A Synthesis And Evaluation Of Crm Archaeology, Alan J. Osborn

Department of Anthropology: Faculty Publications

Archaeologists involved in conservation archaeology and/or cultural resource management have frequently been confronted with the dilemma described by Fowler (1982). Cultural resource management projects most generally have to be conducted within a restricted geographical area within a specified period of time. Many archaeologists have chosen to deal with the resource management dilemma in one of three ways. First, there are those that have chosen to view cultural resource management primarily as a professional service. Practitioners of "service" archaeology conduct archaeological surveys and excavations in order to determine the frequency, location, and extent of cultural remains within a specified area. Investigations …

Distribution Archaeology: Survey, Mapping, And Analysis Of Surface Archaeological Materials In The Green River Basin, Wyoming, James I. Ebert, Signa Larralde, Luann Wandsnider

Department of Anthropology: Faculty Publications

Archaeology in America today is in a quandary. This is especially true for that portion of the profession responsible for investigating and managing the surface archaeology of large tracts of land. The quandary concerns how to maximize the amount of information about the archaeology of an area given finite budgets. Predictive modeling, a technique for projecting knowledge derived from a sample to its universe, has been proposed as one response to this dilemma. We shall present another response, distributional archaeology, which is designed to collect quality information about the archaeological record and is consistent with the formation and structure of …

"Preface" To Perspectives On Archaeological Resources Management In The "Great Plains", Alan J. Osborn, Robert C. Hassler

Department of Anthropology: Faculty Publications

When faced with compiling an edited volume addressing cultural resources management the overriding problem is to maintain some resemblance of contemporanity with the current status of the field. Major changes have occurred over the last decade within "contract", "salvage" or "conservation" archaeology, now commonly referred to as cultural resources management. Some of these changes are due to additional state, provincial and federal rules, regulations and statutes requiring consideration of cultural materials to be affected by public "undertakings" in North America. Other changes are resultant of the boom and bust cycle of public-licensed private developments. The constant state of flux in …

Archaeological Conservation As Process And Product: A Federal Perspective, Ronald D. Anzalone

Department of Anthropology: Faculty Publications

Countless books and articles have either explored in some depth, or at least touched upon, the conservation of our cultural heritage. For the purposes of this volume, it would be an exercise in futility to attempt to detail current procedural requirements for historic preservation through various federal statutes and regulations. A number of sources have attacked this task in the past (e.g., Scovill, Gordon and Anderson 1977; King, Hickman, and Berg 1977). None has managed to provide completely up-to-date information on even the regulatory oscillations current that year, and there have been a myriad of changes since 1977. If there …

Knife River Indian Villages Archaeological Program: An Overview, F. A. Calabrese

Department of Anthropology: Faculty Publications

The Knife River Indian Villages are located in North Dakota near the confluence of the Knife and Missouri Rivers, just north of the contemporary town of Stanton, North Dakota. They lie within the area between the Garrison Dam to the north and the Oahe Reservoir to the south, the last remaining unflooded segment of the Missouri River valley in the Dakotas. Within the area are river floodplains, terraces, dissected breaks and upland rolling terrain. Forests occur on the floodplain and lower terraces with a variety of native and exotic grasses found on the breaks and uplands. A number of relatively …

Recovery Of Parasite Remains From Coprolites And Latrines: Aspects Of Paleoparasitological Technique, Karl J. Reinhard, Ulisses E. Confalonieri, Bernd Herrmann, Luiz F. Ferreira, Adauto J. G. De Araujo

Department of Anthropology: Faculty Publications

Standard techniques for the analysis of prehistoric soils have not been devised. It is unlikely that any single technique is applicable to all types of fecal remains. This is due to various environmental conditions which effect the preservation of helminth ova. In general, gravitational sedimentation is a useful technique for isolating helminth eggs and larvae from coprolites. Latrine soils pose greater problems for helminthological examination. Although various clinical techniques have been successfully utilized in soil study, it is important to remember that some latrine soils have not yielded helminth eggs to any clinical technique. Consequently the paleoparasitologist must be ready …

Sex Differences In The Recognition Of Infant Facial Expressions Of Emotion: The Primary Caretaker Hypothesis, Raymond B. Hames, Wayne A. Babchuk

Department of Anthropology: Faculty Publications

Although much research has been devoted to studying sex differences In functioning (e.g., Maccoby and Jacklin 1974), most efforts have been directed toward documenting or elucidating the proximate causes of sex differences. Few attempts have been made, however, to explain the ultimate causes of these differences or the selective pressures that have led to the development or psychological differences between males and females [for exception see Symons (1979) and Daly and Wilson (1983)]. Toward this end of blending psychology with evolutionary theory we develop what we call the " primary caretaker hypothesis," which predicts that the sex that through evolutionary …

Two Views Of Sex Differences In Socialization, Patricia Draper

Department of Anthropology: Faculty Publications

The literature on the socialization of human sex differences is likely to remind many students of the parable about the blind men who were grouped around an elephant, each trying to describe to the others what the elephant was like. Several traditions of research in the social sciences have been involved in the study of why the sexes are different. One that emphasizes deliberate sex role training of children owes most of its insights to learning theory and developmental psychology. It regards sex role socialization as the result of interplay between the environmental experience and the child's active learning and …

Beating A Dead Horse: Reply To Levy’S Comments, Alan J. Osborn

Department of Anthropology: Faculty Publications

The author reponds with a rebuttal to comments made by Jerrold E. Levy concerning his paper "Ecological Aspcets of Equestrian Adaptations in Aboriginal North America" which was published in American Anthropologist, volume 85, pages 562-591.

Review Of Demographic Structure And Evolution Of A Peasant System: Guatemala By John D. Early, Luann Wandsnider

Department of Anthropology: Faculty Publications

The Guatemalan peasant system of twenty to thirty years ago is rapidly changing into something else-not quite peasant-like and not quite industrial. The author uses demographic information in the form of birth and death registration (from 1877 on), as well as data from national censuses, to discuss the demographic transition and how it parallels Guatemala's socioeconomic evolution. The book is divided into six parts, of varying utility and interest, linked by the common theme of Guatemalan demography.

Monoculture, Polyculture, And Polyvariety In Tropical Forest Swidden Cultivation, Raymond B. Hames

Department of Anthropology: Faculty Publications

A number of researchers have suggested that polyculture is characteristic of native tropical forest swiddens and have adduced theory from community ecology to account for its adaptiveness. Ye’kwana and Yąnomamö swidden cultivation is examined, and it is shown that polyculture is not practiced to any significant degree. Instead, the concept of polyvariety is introduced along with a number of other cultivation practices that more simply account for the adaptiveness of Ye’kwana and Yąnomamö gardening. In addition, comparative data from other parts of the tropical world indicate that polyculture is no more common than monoculture and recent advances in ecological research …

Father Absence And Reproductive Strategy: An Evolutionary Perspective, Patricia Draper, Henry Harpending

Department of Anthropology: Faculty Publications

Explanations offered by social scientists for the effects of father absence on children are reviewed; certain aspects of these interpretations are found wanting. Another explanation using theory from evolutionary biology is suggested: children show evolved, sensitive-period learning in early childhood which is linked to mother's pair-bond status or to mother's attitude toward males. As a result of children's perceptions a developmental track is established, which influences expression of reproductive strategy in adulthood. Male children born into matrifocal households exhibit at adolescence a complex of aggression, competition, low male parental investment, and derogation of females and feminity, while females show early …

The Interaction Of Behavior Variables In The Development Of Dominance Relations, Patricia Draper

Department of Anthropology: Faculty Publications

Dominance interactions among individuals undoubtedly have both a biological basis and evolutionary significance. Literature on these topics has been copiously cited elsewhere in this book and will not be repeated here. Sex differences in behaviors which separately and together culminate in the ability of an individual to win agonistic encounters are also documented both for human and nonhuman primates. Less attention has been paid, however, to the process by which sex differences in the propensity to behave in a given way interact with socialization experiences of children to produce the familiar usual pattern of male dominance. This chapter proposes to …

Osborn's Response To Yesner (Maritime Hunter-Gatherers: Ecology And Prehistory), Alan J. Osborn

Department of Anthropology: Faculty Publications

First two paragraphs:

Yesner's paper reiterates a major concern of the symposium "Man the Hunter" (Lee and DeVore 1968a)-the need to develop generalizations which accommodate the behavioral variability exhibited by hunter-gatherers, past and present. Much of the literature, Yesner reemphasizes, fails to deal adequately with groups characterized by "atypical" variations in energy flow, technological complexity, population density, sociopolitical organization, and so forth. He focuses on a subset of foragers and collectors (Binford 1980) that appears to be among the most aberrant- "maritime" hunter-gatherers.

While Yesner provides insight into the recent literature on exploitation of marine environments and expresses ephemeral concern …

The Learning Environment For Aggression And Anti-Social Behavior Among The !Kung, Patricia Draper

Department of Anthropology: Faculty Publications

The !Kung are a provocative case study: a controversy exists as to whether they are harmless or, in fact, murderous. In addition, since the !Kung are by now well studied, one can use specific information about !Kung behavior to examine general propositions about social control and interpersonal conflict in hunting and gathering societies generally.

This paper will address the question of interpersonal conflict and aggression among !Kung, with particular emphasis on the learning environment of children and how it relates to the learning of aggressive behavior. Of concern here will be parental attitudes toward children’s behavior and techniques for dealing …

Social And Economic Constraints On Child Life Among The !Kung, Patricia Draper

Department of Anthropology: Faculty Publications

The usual approach in studies of socialization is to look at the interaction among cultural values, social structure, and child-training practices. The approach used here evolved during my two years in the field living with the !Kung, when it became clear to me that the major constraints on child life derived from the nature of adult work and from the organization of people in space. By the "nature of adult work" I refer to the hunting and gathering subsistence economy, to the rhythm of work routines, and to the accommodation to scarce and unevenly distributed water sources. By "organization of …

Ye'kwana Basketry: Its Cultural Context, Raymond B. Hames, Ilene Hames

Department of Anthropology: Faculty Publications

The aim of this article is to describe an aspect of Ye'kwana (Makiritare) technology, basketry, in its overall cultural context. We will not only describe basketry as technology per se but the role it plays in Ye'kwana symbolism, ecology, economy and social organization. Also, we will discuss its role in inter-village and inter-ethnic trade and how this role has implications for understanding socio-cultural change in the immediate area of the Padamo River Basin, Territorio Federal Amazonas, Venezuela.

Cultural Pressure On Sex Differences, Patricia Draper

Department of Anthropology: Faculty Publications

This paper suggests that sex differences in the behavior of children exist but are not necessarily intensified under certain cultural conditions. Under conditions of culture change to a sedentary economy, certain elements of male and female differentiated behavior are exploited in the process of increasing sex differentiation.

!Kung Women: Contrasts In Sexual Egalitarianism In Foraging And Sedentary Contexts, Patricia Draper

Department of Anthropology: Faculty Publications

Most members of the Harvard !Kung Bushman Study Project who have thought about the subject of !Kung women's status agree that !Kung society may be the least sexist of any we have experienced. This impression contradicts some popularly held stereotypes about relations between the sexes in hunting and gathering societies. Because sex is one of the few bases for the differentiation of social and economic roles in societies of this type, it has probably been attributed more weight than it deserves. The men are commonly depicted in rather romantic terms, striving with their brothers to bring home the precious meat …

Comparative Studies Of Socialization, Patricia Draper

Department of Anthropology: Faculty Publications

This paper will not attempt a comprehensive review of the recent literature on socialization. Rather, it will deal with four areas of the comparative study of childhood which have particular interest to this writer: systematic ethnographic reports on child life in non-Western societies; education and anthropology; cognitive style and socialization; and socialization for sex role. As a further means of narrowing the potential range of this review, the author will exclude most reports of infant, adolescent, and adult socialization.

Crowding Among Hunter-Gatherers: The !Kung Bushmen, Patricia Draper

Department of Anthropology: Faculty Publications

Highly crowded living conditions exist among the !Kung Bushmen, hunter-gatherers who live on the edges of the Kalahari Desert in Botswana and South-West Africa. The !Kung appear to be crowded by choice, and biological indicators of stress are absent. Data indicate that residential crowding alone does not produce symptoms of pathological stress.