Student Reader Summaries (Chapters 11-23).doc

Anthropology Student Reader Notes Chapter 11: The First Cities and States Disease and Death at Dr, Dickson?s Mounds (79-83) Dickson( great spot for hunter-gatherers, but switched to agriculture Heavy reliance on a single crop (maize) led to nutrition problems Increase in disease, bone lesions, and anemia after switch to agriculture Many injuries due to labor associated with agriculture Uncovering America?s Pyramid Builders (84-87) Cahokia Mounds( preserves remnants of largest prehistoric settlement north of Mexico Why Cahokia crumbled and people vanished is still unknown As many as 50,000 people lived there (had to be mostly migrants) Pauketat( charismatic leaders created a dynamic social movement with Cahokia as its epicenter, attracting people from different areas; Cahokia was a political construct Emerson( elite of Cahokia seemed to have codified fertility symbol; their brand identity Found many buried bodies, showing possible human sacrifice and social hierarchy Chapter 12: Method and Theory in Cultural Anthropology Tricking and Tripping (96-101) Claire Sterk does fieldwork on prostitution in the era of AIDS Importance of having some knowledge of the lives of the people being studied proved to be crucial in the initial steps Key respondents important in providing initial access, but became less central as research evolved Rapport is more important than drilling with research question Became somewhat close with prostitutes and got involved in dangerous situations Talking casually with prostitutes gave her best insight into their lives Doing Fieldwork Among the Yanomamö (102-113) Yanamamö very violent and ?gross?-looking Chagnon experienced extreme culture shock in the beginning Waiteri = ferocity (important in their society) Confidence and assertion necessary for respect; had to bluff a lot When people die, their names no longer used in language; ?name taboo? Very hard to get truthful information; had two key respondents who were somewhat helpful (at times) Chapter 13: Language and Communication A Cultural Approach to Male-Female Miscommunication (114-125) When men and women attempt to interact as equals in friendly cross-sex conversations, they don?t play the same role in interaction Men?s dominance in conversation parallels with dominance in society Women produce the speech they do because it?s how women are ?supposed? to speak and it fits with the personalities they develop as a consequence of sex-role requirements Miscommunication between different cultures is a result of differences in systems of conversation inference and cues for signaling speech acts and speaker?s intent Speech differences between males and females stem from childhood development, gender roles, etc. Do You Speak American? (126-130) Retreat from fixed standards is negatively impacting language Perscriptivists: those who want us to obey prescriptive rules of grammar Descriptivists: those content to describing language as it is actually used People talk like the people they want to be like (Barbara Johnstone) Chapter 14: Ethnicity and Race Race Without Color No biological or objective way to determine between races Skin color is a bad way to group ?races? together Many similarities between different ?races? that one would never combine into a group (ex. Finger print patterns, ability to digest lactaid, etc). Chapter 15: Making a Living Eating Christmas in the Kalahari (139-142) Richard Lee bought ox for natives for Christmas dinner, but they weren?t happy because it apparently was old and thin (even though Lee thought it was a great ox) The ox was actually very fatty and good to eat; bushmen played joke on Lee Bushmen?s way( constant criticism in order to be humble Do so to avoid arrogance in those who make big kills Ties That Bind (143-145) Hopi tribe sent presents to President Filmore with expectation of reciprocation In Hopi, goods, services, or knowledge ?given? usually answered with something of equivalent value Gift-based systems built on kinship Gift economy: one gives gift to mark social relations built on kinship and altruism US never protected Hopi from Navajo and other intruders, which was their original hope Chapter 16: Political Systems Cell Phones, Sharing, and Social Status in an African Society (131-138) Many rural and urban communities in Nigeria without running water had cell phones (which was very expensive) Vernacular name for cell phone: the fire that consumes money Using and sharing one?s cell phone liberally is sign of wealth, but showing off too much is rude (humility vs. stinginess) Nigerians view cell phone credit as food/drink more so than actual money (sharing must be reciprocated) Cell phone model represents status and status competition intensifies as cell phones become more common The Kpelle Moot (146-153) Chapter 17: Gender The Berdache Tradition (154-159) Berdache: a morphological male who doesn?t fill a society?s standard man?s role, who has a nonmasculine character and occupies an alternative gender role that is a mixture of diverse elements In Native American religion, a berdache is created by deities for a special purpose and this creation let to the improvement of society Physical biological sex is less important in gender classification than a person?s desire?one?s spirit Vision quest: idea of supernatural dictate through dreaming (interpretation of sumbols in the dream determines adulthood destiny, which should be followed) A Woman?s Curse? (160-163) Taboos set menstruating women apart from rest of society, marking them as impure and polluting According to Dogon, menstruating women are threat to sanctity of religious altars (men and women both believe, therefore taboo is rarely violated) Information about menstruation can be a means of tracking paternity and fertility Taboo established by men, backed by supernatural forces and internalized and accepted by women until men release them from the belief Chapter 18: Families, Kinship, and Descent When Brothers Share a Wife (164-166) Fraternal polyandry: brothers marry one woman Brothers split up housework (eldest is dominant), but all share wife as sex partner Fraternal polyandry is a choice (reason usually materialistic/economic) Fraternal polyandry allows attainment or maintenance of the good life Polyandrous family allows internal division of adult labor, maximizing economic advantage How Many Fathers are Best for a Child? (167-170) Bari version of conception: a fetus is built up over time with repeated washes of sperm (a number of men can contribute) Lovers help with conception because husband may not be able to give his wife enough sex for the fetus to develop Having two fathers is beneficial to the baby because it receives more economic support Chapter 19: Marriage Arranging a Marriage in India (171-175) Parents try to find best match for children; children believe parents would make the best match Offering proper gifts is an important factor in influencing the relationship between the bride and groom?s families and the treatment of the bride in her new home Arranging marriages takes a LONG time Law, Custom, and Crimes Against Women (176-186) Some unmarried women commit suicide to relieve the burden of dowry from their parents Some parents kill fetuses Families with daughters have it much harder because they are responsible for dowry Chapter 20: Religion The Adaptive Value of Religious Ritual (187-191) Different religions have different traditions that seem weird to nonmembers Irons( primary adaptive benefit of religion is its ability to facilitate cooperation within a group Religious activities signal commitment to other members of the group Most demanding groups have the greatest number of committed members The Secrets of Haiti?s Living Dead (192-195) Dr. Douyon( convinced zombies were real and deaths were faked with a zombie potion Vast majority of Haitian peasants practice voodoo Vodounists believe they communicate directly with, and are often possessed by, the many spirits who populate the everyday world Zombie potion exists (mix of several ingredients, including a fish poison) Davis( secret societies are responsible for policing their communities and the threat of zombification is a way to maintain order Chapter 21: Arts, Media, and Sports Baseball Magic Many baseball players have odd rituals that they do before games because they think it will bring them luck Ritual: prescribed behaviors in which there is no empirical connection between the means and the desired end Taboos usually grow out of very bad performances, and people attribute a particular behavior as a reason for the bad performance Rituals especially common in settings of uncertainty Chapter 22: The World System and Colonialism The Price of Progress (217-223) Price of forcing progress on unwilling recipients has involved deaths of millions of tribal people and loss of land, political sovereignty, and right to follow own lifestyle Quality of life cannot be measured similarly for all people Economic progress lowers standard of living for many cultures Economic development increases disease rate of affected peoples (usually by disturbing the pre-existing order) Development leads to bigger gap between rich and poor Why Can?t People Feed Themselves? (224-228) Colonialism destroyed the cultural patterns of production and exchange by which traditional societies in ?underdeveloped? countries previously had met the needs of the people Colonialism?s public works programs only reinforced export crop production Stress on producing cash crops took away farming of food crops Colonialism encouraged dependence on imported food People can?t feed themselves because they are too busy feeding us The Arrow of Disease (229-234) Many diseases caused by animals Diseases and infections survive because of natural selection Infectious diseases that become epidemics spread quickly and efficiently from an infected person to nearby healthy people, are ?acute? illnesses, allow survivors to develop antibodies, and tend to be restricted to humans Crowd diseases can only survive in a sedentary lifestyle Many diseases develop from diseases of domestic animals and pets Chapter 23: Global Issues Today Introduction: The Myriad Impacts of the War Machine on Global Health