Today’s Topics (1/21/03)

• Anthropological Fieldwork

– Living People

– Past People

• Early Anthropologists

• Studying Culture

– Science/Humanity

– Cultural Universals

– Cultural Diversity

Fieldwork: Living People

• Ethnography

– Participant Observation

– Interviews

• Structured / Unstructured

– Genealogy

– Consultants

– Life Histories

– Longitudinal Research

Fieldwork: Past People

• Archaeology

– The study of the human past through the systematic recovery and analysis of material remains

– Material Remains

• Artifacts

• Ecofacts

• Features

– Placing Objects in Space & Time

• Survey & Excavation

Artifacts

• Used, Made, or Modified by Humans

– e.g., Lithics, Ceramics, Bone Tools

Ecofacts

• Non-Artifactual (“Natural”) Remains From Archeological Sites

– e.g., Bones, Seeds, Pollen

Features

• Non-Portable Evidence of Humans

– e.g., Hearths, Postholes, Buildings

Archaeological Techniques

• Survey: Elucidate patterns of settlement over a large area

– Establish geographic location of site

– Sites vs. non-sites

Archaeological Techniques

• Excavation: systematic recovery of material remains & documentation of location

Excavation (cont’d)

• Documentation

– Mapping

• Recovery

– Removal of layers

– Screening

– Flotation

Excavation (cont’d)

• Location in Three-Dimensional Space

– Grid System

– Datum Point

– Provenience

Excavation (cont’d)

– Vertical Control

• Arbitrary Layers

• Natural Layers

Early Anthropologists

The 19^th Century Evolutionists

• Edward Tylor (1832-1917)

• Louis Henry Morgan (1818-1881)

• Herbert Spencer (1820-1903)

• Main Features:

– Armchair Speculators

– Ethnocentric

– Unilineal Evolution (Savagery, Barbarism, Civilization)

– Evolutionary Progress

Social Darwinism

• Application of Darwinian evolution to study of human societies

– Successful human societies have advantages because of biological superiority

– Often used to justify political & economic dominance of colonial Europeans

• Spencer

Psychic Unity of Man

• All human populations have the same basic cognitive abilities

– 19^th century evolutionists believed people moved at different speeds through cultural stages

Franz Boas (1858-1942)

• Born in Germany; Trained in geography, math, physics

• Long-term fieldwork

– Inuit & Kwakiutl

• Salvage Ethnography

• Cultural Relativism

• Historical Particularism

Emic / Etic

• Etic: Observer’s (Ethnographer’s) Outsiders Perspective (“Objective”)

• Emic: Actor’s Insider Perspective (“Subjective”)

• Boas Emphasized Emic—Gave Priority to Values, Norms, Traditions

Boas’ View of Culture

• Culture Based on Habits & Tradition as Well as Adaptations

• Importance of Diffusion in Culture

• Culture as a Loosely Organized Patchwork (Not Tightly Fused System)

Acculturation

• Exchange of Cultural Features From Continuous Contact Between Two Groups

– Groups Remain Distinct

– Often Both Change

Adaptation

• Adaptation: Strategy for Coping with Environmental Stresses

• Biological & Cultural Adaptations

• Is Culture Always Adaptive?

– Culture Can Be Adaptive

– Culture Can Be Maladaptive

• Behavior Often Motivated by Cultural Factors, Not Biology or Environmental Constraints

Bronislaw Malinowski (1884-1942)

• Polish Anthropologist

• Trobriand Islands

• Long-Term Fieldwork in Small Communities

• Participant Observation

How Should We Study Human Behavior & Culture?

• Scientific & Humanities Approaches

• Science:

– A Way of Knowing Based On:

• Observation

– Empirical Evidence

– Systematic & Explicit Techniques

• Generalization (Hypotheses)

• Verification (Testing Hypotheses; Theories)

• Building on Previous Developments

• Humanities:

– Branches of human thought, such as literature and art, that are concerned with human thought and culture

Cultural Universals

• Cultural features found in every culture

– Examples:

• Incest Taboos

• Life in Groups

• Music

• Food Taboos

• Religion

• Men Generally More Aggressive than Women

Cultural Generalities

• Cultural Features That Occur in Many Groups but Not All Groups

– Diffusion

– Independent Invention

• Examples:

– Nuclear Families

Cultural Particularities

• Features Unique to Certain Cultural Traditions