American Anthropologist 1918
Aitken, Robert T. A Porto Rican Burial Cave. American Anthropologist July, 1918 Vol.20(3):296-309.
In 1915, under the guidance of Franz Boas, Aitken and J.A. Mason excavated Cerro Hueco, also known as Antonio’s Cueva, a cave in Porto (Puerto) Rico. The results of the fieldwork are recorded in this report. Previous studies of Porto Rican caves and artifacts are used as a basis for the Aitken’s artifact analysis. Although the cave is now known as a place to dry beans and corn, skeletal material was uncovered in a previous expedition.
A partitioning of Cerro Hueco into quarters (A,B, C, and D) enabled archaeologists to excavate each chamber individually. The artifacts and remains discussed in this article were found solely in chamber A. Excavations in B were fruitless and chambers C and D were more significant for their geographic rather than archaeological features. Chamber A revealed primarily skeletal remains, twenty burials in all. These remains were primarily children and infants and most were undisturbed; Aitken theorizes that some remains are misaligned due to later burials. Other significant finds in the excavation included skull portions and rodent remains. No art or distinguishing features were found in the cave and this burial site also lacked mortuary offerings.
CLARITY RANKING: 5
ANN ZILIC Illinois State University (Robert T. Dirks)
Aitken, Robert T. A Porto Rican Burial Cave. American Anthropologist 1918 Vol.20: 296-309.
This Article deals with the field work of Dr. J.A. Mason, and his findings during an excavation in Porto Rico in 1915. Mason began to excavate a cave in the Barrio Caguana. The actual excavation was only about two weeks. This cave was simply known as Antonio’s Cueva.
This cave is located about 200 feet above floor level of a bowl-shaped valley, and it faces towards the east, letting natural light in. There are two chambers within the cave, chamber A and Chamber B. Chamber A is where things were recovered.
The walls were looked at first, but not hidden objects were found. After searching the walls the main excavation began. The floor layers were removed carefully, and objects that were found were removed by hand because they were so fragile. While removing layers, skeleton remains were found about 20inches from the original floor surface. There were about twenty some odd burial found in the cave, the majority of which were those of young adults and or children.
There was nothing else buried with these remains, there was no indication that this was a burial site of some kind.
After finishing the excavation of the cave, Mason directed his attention to the valley directly below the cave, juego do bola. Nothing of significance was found here. While excavating this cave, Mason and his team were being informed of other caves in the area that contained skeleton remains. Only on one occasion was actual remains brought to him, but he could not do much, as did not know critical details about the site and the remains. Time did not permit Mason to investigate further.
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SHAIZA MURJI York University (Naomi Adelson).
Babcock, W.H. Certain Pre-Columbian Notices of the Inhabitants of the Atlantic Islands. American Anthropologist September, 1918 Vol.20:62-77.
Babcock describes the inhabitants of the North Atlantic islands up to the year 1492. Although Babcock does not provide an exhaustive collection, there is ample information on settlements of the Norsemen, Celtic groups, and other cultures originating from the southern latitudes. Babcock successfully demonstrates that there were indeed groups occupying these regions prior to the “discovery” of the New World by Christopher Columbus
Babcock discusses early maps of the region developed by the great Arabian geographer Edrisi. Copies of the map Edrisi presented to the King of Sicily in 1155 still exist today. Edrisi wrote geographical accounts on known areas of the region. He assigned names like the Island Sara, the Island of Delusion, and the Island of the Feminine, depending on the inhabitants of the given island. Some of the descriptions can be related to existing islands. In some descriptions it is clear the Canary Islands are being referred to, because of mentions of certain geographical landmarks. Many reports regarding Canary islanders depict a group of people living a primitive lifestyle. Some reportedly called themselves Christian, while others were Pagans.
CLARITY RANKING: 3
ROB O’BRIEN Illinois State University (Robert Dirks)
Babcock, W. H. Certain Pre-Columbian Notices of the Inhabitants of the Atlantic Islands.American Anthropologist 1918 Vol. 20: 62-78
W.H. Babcock defines the study of pre-Columbian inhabitants of the Atlantic islands as territorially confined to the Eastern Oceanic Islands: from Iceland to the Canaries.
Babcock observes that there is plenty of evidence of Norsemen settlements in Iceland at the opening of the 10th Century, and of few Irish monks arriving before them. Babcock points out that the local names on which Nansen has relied for assuming Celtic inland colonisations are better understand if they are seen as the evidence of the presence of many Irishmen and Hebrideans within the Norseman. In Azores evidence implies it might have been occasionally visited has been found, as in Corvo, where Northern African Phoenician coins have been found on the coasts.
Nevertheless, according to Babcock, it was not until Edrisi (Arabian geographer who wrote a full geographical account of the known world in around the 1155), that some valuable anthropological and archaeological data had been gathered. Edrisi and latter 15th century narratives agree on the local dissimilarities of the island inhabitants in matters of comfort and civilization.
Babcock argues that the populations in the different islands came in two waves, which explains why their dialects and languages were mutually exclusive and intelligible between one another. At the same time, some of these differences are the result of the heterogeneity of the race.
The use of caverns on some chief islands seem to link them with the troglodytes of Northern Africa and to certain Indian tribes in the southwest cordilleras of the United States. Similarly, their habit of preserving corpses as mummies links them to the Incas and to the Nile. But Babcock acknowledges that this could only be either a coincidence or a result of both populations sharing the same conditions.
No other evidence of human occupancy in Iceland, other than Celtic or Norwegian has been found, and for Azores and Madeira, although they had occasional European visitors from the mainland, the same can be said.
The population of the Canaries seemed to have reached the Canaries by boat, occupying stations on the route to America that were later followed by Columbus.
They also present a lot of traits and customs similar to those of the North American Indians. But Babcock recognizes this can be the result of similar conditions of primal tribal life and might therefore not imply a common ancestor community.
As a result of these assumptions Babcock explains the need for more anthropological and archaeological research in this area to find more evidence to support the different theories.
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RAQUEL ZEPEDA York University (Naomi Adelson).
Babcock, William. Some Ethnological and National Factors of the War. American Anthropologist 1918 Vol.20:406-413.
World War I stimulated anthropological investigation. A number of meetings focusing on archaeological and anthropologic data, racial origins, shiftings and blendings, and historic development followed the war.
Babcock describes what led up to the war. He notes the hostility between races and national ambition was as much to blame as differences between governments. Babcock suggests the world is turning into a large melting pot. Nationality or ethnicity has more to do with one’s identity with a country or region than with physical characteristics or even language. Babcock goes into detail about how nobody is truly homogenous as he gives a good amount of attention to the geographical history of the world.
Babcock offers possible modes of action to end the World War I. He gives detailed descriptions of what he believes needs to happen for peace to prevail. Lastly, Babcock discusses the consequences of a worldwide revolution with the overthrow of central powers.
CLARITY RATING: 3
MICHAEL WAHLS Illinois State University (Robert Dirks)
Babcock, William. Some Ethnological and National Factors of the War. American Anthropologist, 1918 Vol. 20:406-413.
Babcock wrote this public address during the last stage of World War One, in 1918. He presents his analysis of the causes of the conflict, and offers potential solutions that he hopes will help humankind avoid war on the same scale. Babcock and his anthropological society researched the racial origins and general history of the people and nations involved in the war, in the hopes that this knowledge could help to restructure the world upon the conclusion of the fighting. The data presented are primarily anecdotal, and quantitative evidence is not utilized.
The author argues that although many view the First World War as a conflict between democracy and autocracy, the roots of the conflict emerged primarily from hostility between races and national ambition. This concept of the ambition of nations is quite important. For example, Babcock notes that the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand of Austria by a Bosnian Serb was the direct cause of WWI, but it is not as well known that this act was preceded by the Austrian occupation and domination of Bosnia. According to the author, if this sort of domination of one nation over another could be eliminated or at least lessened, then the number and scale of conflicts would be significantly diminished.
Babcock describes how the rule of one nation over another can be limited. First, he suggests the restoration of former political boundaries in Europe, giving Poland, Belgium, and other countries back the land that is rightfully theirs and restoring their autonomy. The primary difficulty in this scheme is that there is no power above the nation-state to enforce this lessening of aggression. Therefore, Babcock supports the creation of a league of civilization to enforce the decisions of the majority of the nations. The author recommends giving this organization the power to police nations to ensure peace and the universal system of law. Finally, he feels that such a measure is possible because of the increased speed of communication and transportation compared to ancient states like the Roman Empire.
CLARITY: 4
JOEL SCHAFFER University of Notre Dame (Nordstrom)
Dellenbaugh, Frederick. Memorial to John Wesley Powell. American Anthropologist January-December, 1918 Vol.20(1):432-437.
In 1867 Major John Wesley Powell decided to explore and document the Colorado River and its Grand Canyon. Collecting scientific material was the main object of this adventure. Unfortunately, due to exceptionally difficult navigating circumstances, all data collected on the mission was lost. This created the necessity of a second journey. For two years on a second expedition Powell made extensive observations regarding the bottom and sides of the Grand Canyon and mapped most of the Colorado River’s tributary rivers. Out of Powell’s surveys of the Grand Canyon and its surroundings grew the Bureau of Ethnology, which he founded and directed until his death in 1902. On the second anniversary of his death the Geological Congress of the Grand Canyon suggested a monument of Powell be erected along the Grand Canyon rim. The matter was brought before the United States Congress who provided five thousand dollars to the Geological Congress for the monument. In 1918, forty-nine years after the original Grand Canyon exploration, the monument was formally dedicated to Powell.
CLARITY RANKING: 4
ALEXANDRA ROBINSON Illinois State University (Robert Dirks)
Dellenbaugh, Frederick S., Memorial To John Wesley Powell American Anthropologist, 1918. Vol. 20: 432-436
Frederick Dellenbaugh’s article describes the life of John Wesley Powell, and the details surrounding his Memorial, built on the edge of the Grand Canyon.
Major John Wesley Powell, who fought in the Civil War and lost his right forearm, came up with the idea of exploring the canyons through which the Colorado River flowed from the Wind River mountains of Wyoming to the sea.
On May 24th, 1869, he set off with a team of four small boats down the river. Three months later they arrived at the mouth of the Virgin River with only two boats. There was a rough set of rapids ahead and the men refused to proceed, instead choosing to hike up the side of the canyon to a nearby settlement. Unfortunately they were ambushed and killed by Indians.
Undeterred, Powell set out on a second expedition on May 22nd, 1871. He and his team did extensive research for two years. This research became the basis for the present Geological Survey of the area.
Major Powell died in 1902 at the age of 68. The International Geological Congress felt it was appropriate that a monument be erected in his honour. For the rest of the article, Frederick Dellenbaugh details the project and the problems encountered in its creation.
CLARITY RATING: 4
SEVAAN FRANKS York University (Naomi Adelson)
Goldenweiser, A. A. Form and Content in Totemism. American Anthropologist July-September, 1918 Vol.20(3):280-295.
Goldenweiser examines totems from a historico-geographical standpoint. He believes this standpoint yields a fitness theory of totemism. Goldenweiser does not believe totemic phenomena reflect certain attitudes toward animals and plants of nature. He suggests there exists an inherent and most deep-rooted fitness between totemism and the social system that exhibits it.
Goldenweiser believes that in communities subdivided into social units there is a demand for some kind of classifiers, which would identify the separate units and yet signify their equivalence by belonging to one category. He suggests a strong feeling of common interest and solidarity tend to project a community spirit into a concrete thing, or totem, that stands for unity and provides a halo of security. This solidarity and security in numbers was advantageous in primitive societies and so was selected for. This selection deeply embedded the concept of totems into the human mind. Goldenweiser supports his theory stating that a vast majority of groups divided into social unit develop some sort of totemic complex.
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ALEXANDRA ROBINSON Illinois State University (Robert Dirks)
Goldenweiser A. A. Form and Content in Totemism American Anthropologist 1918. Vol. 20:280-295
This is an expansion of a lecture read before the American Anthropological Association at Philadelphia written by A.A. Goldenweiser. The article discusses about the various representation different experts had concluded about totemism. Goldenweiser says that the basic character of exogamy is often referred to as “the social aspect of totemsim”. He later adds that among some researchers namely Jevons, Gomme, Wundt, and Durkeim, “totemism is primarily a stage in the evolution of belief or Weltanschauung.” (Pg. 281) The author then added that these groups have in fact their own interpretations of totemism themselves. Totemsim is said to represent a specific socialization aspect of certain religious attitude but because it seemed so “impossible to particularize the content in a definition, and hence the concept ‘emotional values’ was introduced for the totemic content.” (Pg. 281) To resolve this problem, a substitute definition was derived and carried out in “the Origin of Totemism”. It defines the cultural trait of that group as a totemic complex, which carries 3 forms that follows: one, the totemic tribe is subdivided in to social units; two, the members of the tribe possess a set of beliefs and practices; three, these beliefs and practices are distributed among the people of the tribe in such a way that they are equivalent to those of all other social units. The author also brings in the opinions of prominent figures such as Dr. Franz Boas who stated that “totemism is an artificial, not a natural unit.” (Pg. 283) One of Dr. Boas’s statements “condemns all specification of the totemic content, regarding it as significant for totemism, not in its intrinsic character, but only through its association with the social unit.”(Pg. 283)
Neither charts nor diagrams are given although the author did include several relevant articles to support his claim.
This article is mainly made up by a lot of articles that the author has chosen from different researchers therefore it can get rather confusing while reading it.
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LIZA POH York University (Naomi Adelson).
Grinnell, Bird George. Early Cheyenne Villages. American Anthropologist December, 1918 Vol.20(4):359-380.
Grinnell describes Cheyenne Villages by using traditional stories and than also by visiting some sites. Grinnell believes that Cheyenne tribes had villages along the Minnesota River and than moved westward to camp on the Missouri river. Also, he believes that the Cheyenne tribes moved on their own, not thinking of other tribes. Therefore, “there was no contemporaneous tribal migration”. Tribes constantly moved west, always in search of food.
Grinnell uses oral traditional stories to document dwellings. Using these stories he notes a camp on the Porcupine River. He visited the camp and, a few hundred yards down from the site, found more house sites. Near the river on a sandy patch he found two caches in which the Cheyenne stored corn. After occupying the Grand River the Cheyenne moved up the river to Dirt Lodge creek. Here they built a camp of earth houses.
Using oral history, Grinnell finds evidence for other sites, including a Cheyenne village east of the Missouri River and also one on the Little Cheyenne River, near Forest City, South Dakota. These dwellings were occupied for long periods of time before the Cheyenne moved southward. Grinnell believes by researching these historical sites and sites known through oral traditional stories one can recover historical data about the Cheyenne.
CLARITY RANKING: 4
ALICIA HOLMBECK Illinois State University (Robert T. Dirks)
Haeberlin, Herman, K. Principles Of Esthetic Form In The Art Of The North Pacific Coast. American Anthropologist July-September, 1918 Vol.20(3):258-264.
Haeberlin contends esthetics are demonstrable relationships expressive of cultures and epochs rather than metaphysical postulates. Art ought to be looked at in a culture-historical perspective so that principles, reasons for change, and holistic continuities are considered. Areas, specialization, assimilation, and borrowings are factors that reveal cross-cultural distinctions when evaluating art.
Haeberlin uses the intensive method to correlate relations in forms of art found in totems of the northwest coast. Animal representations are complete and adjusted to the surfaces so that distinctive relations between parts of the animals are consistent with esthetic principles. Compositions are formed according to the figures above and below, e.g., ears and haunches, that maintain an esthetic relationship consistent with the culture and the individuality of the artist. The subject matter and the given surface are worked into composites that reveal the effectiveness of the imagination. This relationship offers effective ways to demonstrate cultural comparisons.
Haeberlin concerns himself with the principles of form, the combination of successive figures, and methods of composition that are the factors in understanding the northwest coast style. Some esthetic associations can only be “felt” but it is not “characteristic of the esthetics of primitive art.” The culture-historical reason behind composites and styles is more important than a “purely ethnological point of view.”
CLARITY RANKING: 5
RANDY INGRAM Illinois State University (Robert Dirks)
Haeberlin, Herman K. Principles of Esthetic Form in the Art of the North Pacific Coast. American Anthropologist 1918 Vol.20: 258-264.
Esthetics in art are not just meta-physical, it is a study of artistic principles characteristic of a certain cultural group, or of a certain school of artists. It is beyond pure description, it is a scientific study of cultural phenomena. The author differentiates between underlying cultural principles. It may be either extensive or intensive. Extensive would be the cultural life of the people and the ideas that dominate them. If it is intensive we study a certain phase and study the principles involved in the relation of its elements. This paper focuses on the intensive form. When the relations are such that people associate or recognize them to be of a certain cultural area, it is called stylistic.
An example is the carvings and paintings of the northwest coast. The whole animal is used in carvings or paintings no matter how disproportionate the size of the body parts may be. The author has found that generally the corners of the mouth and eyebrows are on a downward slant. The author goes into detail of how artists’ styles may have developed as solutions to problem that arise when creating totems. It is also suggested that the given surface is the primary condition of composition.
There are three distinct lines of research in the study of principles of form: principles which underlie the formal relations of the different parts of the body to one another, the formal combinations of successive figures (as in totems), methods of composition with reference to the given surface. The author feels that it is the culture-historical point of view of the development of the artwork that counts.
CLARITY: 5
RAGHBIR SINGH York University (Naomi Adelson)
Haeberlin, Herman K. Sbeteda’q a Shamanistic Performance of the Coast Salish. American Anthropologist July-September, 1918 Vol.20(3):249-257.
Haeberlin describes a shamanistic ceremony once performed by the Salish tribes of Puget Sound. Since the ceremony was no longer performed at the time of his research Haeberlin was not able to observe the ceremony himself. His paper is based on the information from first hand accounts. The Sbeteda’q ceremony was intended to reclaim the guardian-spirit taken by a ghost to the land of the dead. The Salish believed that if the spirit did not return, the person who lost it would die. The shamans would dramatize the journey to the land of the dead, stage a battle for the guardian-spirit, and ultimately return the guardian-spirit to the patient.
CLARITY RANKING: 4
MEGHANN O’BRIEN SMITH Illinois State University (Robert Dirks)
Haeberlin, Herman. SBeTeTDA’Q, A Shamanistic Performance of the Coast Salish. American Anthropologist. July-Sept 1918, vol. 20: 249-257.
In the article “SBeTeTDA’Q, A Shamanistic Performance of the Coast Salish,” Herman Haeberlin describes the shamanistic ceremony of the Salish tribes on Puget Sound. The purpose of the SBeTeTDA’Q ceremony was to regain the guardian spirit of some person from the land of the dead. Under certain circumstances it was supposed that a person’s guardian spirit has been carried to the land of the dead. If the spirit was no regained, the person would soon die.
Haeberlin explains that there are two distinct types of guardian spirits among these people. The one type is the Shamanistic guardian spirits. There are a number if these spirits, but they all refer to the power of healing. The other type of guardian spirits do not give a person shamanistic powers, but helps him in gaining riches of all kinds. For example, these guardian spirits give luck in gambling, hunting, and fishing. Thus, they are essential to the well-being of an individual’s life.
In order to perform the ceremony, there must be an even number of shamans, usually eight in number. Since there were never as many as eight shamans in one tribe that had SBeTeTDA’Q guardian spirits, it was invariably necessary to hire such shamans from neighboring tribes. Consequently, the ceremony was bound to be an intertribal affair. However, the Shaman of the neighboring tribes never took an active part in an SBeTeTDA’Q ceremony because each tribe had its own land of the dead. Therefore, a SBeTeTDA’Q shaman from one group could not assist in regaining the shamanistic guardian spirits of the patient from the other group.
Haeberlin goes on further to explain how the inhabitants of the village of the dead reap the souls of the living. For this purpose they hover about the dwellings of the living and try to steal things belonging to them. When they have succeeded in stealing a sufficient amount of property belonging to a certain person, the individual is bound to die. Thus, when a person dies, the tribe is careful to dispose of all the belongings of the deceased, either by putting them into his burial canoe or by burning them. If tribe members did not do this, the ghost would hover about his old habitat and cause others to die.
CLARITY: 4
PATRICIA MAIOLO York University (Naomi Adelson)
Hay, Oliver P. Further Consideration of the Occurrence of Human Remains in the Pleistocene Deposits at Vero, Florida. American Anthropologist January-March, 1918 Vol.20(1):1-36.
Hay presents a collection of criticisms and support concerning the controversial fossil finds at the Vero site in Florida. The main controversy is surrounded by the fact that the artifacts and fossil remains found at the site resemble those of the pre-Colombian peoples of Florida. Further controversy consumes the study when the complex strata is analyzed.
The author confronts five major questions. The questions focus on the age of the stratigraphy, the age of the fossil remains and the geological occurrences that may have disrupted or modified the Vero area over time. Hay also looks at the extinct faunal remains discovered at the site, and other surrounding sites, extensively, using them as a tool for mapping out the environment and way of life of these people. The majority of the article is dominated by simple examples, nineteen in all, of artifacts and geological data compiled from all over the country that both supports and contrasts popular explanations about the site and it’s history.
CLARITY RANKING: 4
MATT EKLUND Illinois State University (Robert Dirks)
Hay, Oliver P. Further Consideration of the Occurrence of Human Remains in the Pleistocene Deposits at Vero, Florida, American Anthropologist 1918 20 (1): 1-36
In this paper Oliver Perry Hay (1846-1930) gives prehistoric importance to the discovery of human remains and artifacts with animal bones found in Quaternary ( 0.01-1.8 million years ago) strata in Vero, Florida. He rationally tries to convince the scientific community that human remains found between horizon 2 and 3 of a three distinct layer geological deposit of Quaternary age, are as old as the deposits in which they were found. Hay proceeds by giving examples of discoveries made by archaeologists and amateur collectors from across the United States in glacial and interglacial deposits from the same time period.
Further evaluation of artifacts found from coast to coast of North America and in Quaternary age strata, proves that the remains are not recent burials or introduced into the strata by accident from modern Indians but occurred as a result of long term habitation. By describing various flora and fauna of the United States that were also discovered with human artifacts and bones, Hay strengthens his argument that pre-Columbian Indians existed for a much longer time period than was previously believed.
Oliver P. Hay was an American paleontologist who unified existing knowledge of North American fossil vertebrates by constructing catalogs that have become standard references. His knowledge of Pleistocene vertebrates is used in this paper to show that successive extinction of animals divides the time periods rather than changes in structure. Therefore, in his opinion, the same process can be attributed to the development of man in North America. The current Indian populations are the decedents of the paleo-Indians maintaining and adapting techniques for survival with some tools and losing the knowledge of other processes. Throughout the paper, there is a distinct tone of discourse between the views of Hay and the anthropologists reviewing the Vero site.
CLARITY RANKING: 4
ANJANEEN M. CAMPBELL Northeastern Illinois University, Chicago (Russell Zanca)
Hocart, A.M. A Point of Grammar and a Study in Method. American Anthropologist July-September, 1918 Vol.20(3):265-279.
Hocart addresses the subject of pronouns used in Melanesian and Polynesian culture. The problem faced is the difference between the European usages of possessives is different from the Fijian usages. While Europeans would say ‘his’ to possess many different items, Fijians would have five different words, one for each item. There are several theories associated with this style of using possessives.
Two theories discussed by Hocart are: the psychological theory and the culture-fusion theory. The psychological theory states the Fijian language is a defective language as a result of a defective mind. Hocart then goes into many arguments against this theory. The culture-fusion theory states language cannot measure the mind of a culture. Instead, the theory deals with language as a result of accidents of history and the force of environment.
After discussing theories, Hocart goes into his explanation. This portion states that the culture has no possessives, which is why it comes about to seem they have so many. Going back to the five different words to describe the possession of an item, Hocart uses the following examples; while we may say ‘his house,’ the Fijians would say ‘the house of him,’ instead of European language saying ‘his bread,’ Fijian says ‘the bread for him.’ There are many similar examples of language including many Fijian sentences to help simplify how this order would work in a sentence.
CLARITY RANKING: 3
MELISSA ANN-TERESE BOCKER Illinois State University (Robert T. Dirks)
Morley, Raymond K. On Computations for the Maya Calendar. American Anthropologist Jan-March, 1918 Vol.20(1):49-61.
Raymond Morley takes Bowditch’s rule for shortening the computations in the Maya calendar as a point of reference. Bowditch’s rule allows one to find a terminal date in the Maya calendar when the initial date and the length of time elapsed from it are given. Morley feels that this rule has been sadly underused, largely due to the fact that modern scholars prefer to express numbers in the familiar decimal system. Acknowledging the irregularity of the system, Morley still believes that the best understanding and use of the Maya time periods will come from keeping them expressed as much as possible in the Maya fashion.
The purpose of Morley’s article is to first develop modifications of Bowditch’s method which will make it more easily used, and then to give a new formula for the solution of finding the interval between two given dates. He provides a very thorough and specific account of the mathematical processes that should be used to achieve these objectives. Using these processes, he solves both the problem of more quickly calculating a terminal date given an initial date and period of elapsed time as well as the problem of quickly calculating the elapsed time between two given dates.
CLARITY RANKING: 2
NICOLE ROTH Illinois State University (Robert T. Dirks)
Morley, Raymond K. On Computations for the Maya Calendar. American Anthropologist 1918 Vol. 20: 49-61.
The author reflects and develops on a method first presented by C.P. Bowditch who gave a rule for shortening the computations for finding a date in the Maya calendar when the interval of time elapsed, from it, are given. This paper develops modifications of Bowditch’s method to make it more easily used and gives a new formula for the solution of the reverse problem of finding time between two given dates. This problem consists of three parts or and within these steps are even more specific principles that need to be applied. The rules are all provided.
The calculations ordinarily required for the Maya calendar are of a very restricted variety. There are many different notations used to solve problems. The terms used in these steps are given without definition and therefore make computations much more difficult. Examples of such words are uinals, tuns, katun, haab, and kins.
Most computations are on how to make certain calculations when certain remainders are left over from previous calculations. The math is fairly simple using only addition, subtraction, division, and multiplication. The layout of the article is in text format using formulas throughout it and giving examples of possible outcomes.
CLARITY: 1
RAGHBIR SINGH York University (Naomi Adelson)
Parsons, Elsie Clews. Notes on Acoma and Laguna. American Anthropologist January-March, 1918 Vol.20(1):162-186.
Parsons discusses her brief visits to Acoma and Laguna in 1917. She describes the many difficulties she dealt with during her stay in two New Mexico areas. In the case of the Acoma, her main difficulty was the people’s extreme distrust of Whites. During her trip to Laguna, her data was limited not as much from distrust, but from the short amount of time she had available. Consequently, there is much descriptive data in her work without the information as to why the people act in the ways they do. Parsons divides the article into two sections, the first describing certain practices taking place at Acoma, the second at Laguna.
Parsons was not allowed to see many of the ritual dances at Acoma. Much of her data is derived from the one she was allowed to observe. She goes into great description regarding the particular movements, costumes, and songs the people sang. She discusses the roles of men, women, and priests during this time. Parsons also notes how during the ritual, there were two different groups dancing, taking turns that would last for about a half hour. Some dances were from the Navajo and Comanche cultures. The boys of the community performed as well, and Parsons notes how the people took them as seriously as the elder performers. Parsons was not able to observe the end and climax to the rituals that spanned days. Because she was rushed from the scene, she suspects the dances concluded with a particular ritual they did not want her to see.
Parsons intended, at the time this article was written, to later publish a list of clans and kinship terms. She briefly touches on the fact that the Acoma are maternal and exogamous. Parsons describes briefly the influence of Catholicism on the Acoma, and rituals regarding pregnancy and death. Throughout this article she makes many comparisons between the Acoma and Laguna to the Zuni people.
Parsons begins her account of the Laguna people by describing their death rites. She then goes on to describe the role of godparents in the society as well as the roles of men who adopt what would customarily be women’s work. The author concludes the article by describing certain rituals and masked dances of Laguna, drawing comparisons between them and the Zuni.
CLARITY RANKING: 3
JASON HULS Illinois State University (Robert Dirks).
Parsons, Elsie Clews. Notes on Acoma and Laguna. American Anthropologist 1918 Vol. 20: 162-186.
This article provides summary information about various customs at Acoma, Laguna, and, indirectly, Zuñi Pueblos. It is primarily the author’s description of dances and ceremonies she was permitted to witness. The data is from observations made during visits by the author to Acoma and Laguna in January 1917, with limited detail contributed by informants.
At Acoma pueblo, the author was permitted to witness an “unfinished” dance that celebrated the installation of new officers. The author describes in detail the clothing, masks, positions, and movements of the dancers. Many of her descriptions are based on comparison with the same types of activities at Zuñi Pueblo, where she had a less reticent informer.
As part of the discussion of the installation of officers, the reader is superficially introduced to the political and social functions of clans and fraternities within Acoma society. There follows brief descriptions of customs associated with childbirth, marriage, death, and the integration of Catholic customs with traditional practices. The author, as a “White woman”, was obviously limited in her access to information and activities, resulting in an article that is descriptive and not analytical.
At Laguna, lack of time resulted in an even more cursory description of ceremonies and activities there. A knowledgeable informant provided most of the data described in this portion of the article, with the author providing commentary on the similarities and differences with Zuñi. As an introduction to Pueblo tradition and custom, the article provides a basis from which to pursue further research and gather additional data.
CLARITY: 2
CATHRYN M. MEEGAN Arizona State University (Independently Done)
Parsons, Elsie Clews. War God Shrines of Laguna and Zuni. American Anthropologist October-December, 1918 Vol.20(4):381-405.
Parsons writes about the artifacts recovered from Laguna and Zuni war god shrines. She describes shrines and their artifacts, but offers no interpretation. The Laguna shrine is situated in an extinct geyser vent atop a large mound. Prior to Parsons’ examination of this shrine many of its artifacts had been removed by a local rancher. The majority of the artifacts recovered and described are sticks that had been worked or decorated in some fashion. Parsons believes that the stick offerings within this shrine are analogous with the war god shrines of Zuni, therefore this shrine is devoted, at least partially, to the war gods.
Parsons describes four war shrines near Zuni. These shrines are located atop a mesa and are believed to be associated with the four cardinal directions as well as the zenith and nadir. Again, the artifacts consisted of primarily worked stick offerings often adorned with paint and feathers. Each of the different types of stick offerings are described in great detail throughout the majority of the article.
CLARITY RANKING: 2
BRAD HANSON Illinois State University (Robert Dirks)
Parsons, Elsie Clews. War God Shrines of Laguna and Zuni. American Anthropologist April-June, 1918 Vol.20(2):381-405.
Parsons gives detailed descriptions, complete with drawings and photographs, of the offerings she and a guide recovered from Native American shrines located in the southwestern United States. Visiting various sites in and around the mounds on the eastern border of the Laguna reservation, the author documents the artifacts with ethnographic evidence as well as extensive references to museum collections with which she is apparently familiar.
The Laguna finds were recovered from various mounds and an extinct geyser vent approximately 30 feet below the surrounding crater edge. This site had been disturbed by local ranchers prior to her investigation, but yielded a number of worked stick offerings, which she believes were shot down into the central area from above. Some were decorated with paint and feathers, and they appeared similar to those found in the war god shrines of the Zuni with one distinction: those of the Zuni are flattened at the end; those from Laguna are pointed. She identifies the variety of feathers used, including hawk, eagle, duck, blue bird, and two downy feathers probably from turkey and eagle. With the help of a local elder woman, Parsons identifies some of the sticks as “rabbit sticks,” evidently part of the usual offerings given by medicine men and warriors at war god shrines.
Parsons bolsters her claim that the Laguna and its surrounding mound sites are war god shrines because the offerings there seem to match those described by M. C. Stevenson in “The Sia,” page 44, of Eleventh Annual Report, Bureau Ethnology (n.d.), and in myths (Zuni and Keresan) about the war gods.
Parsons found associated with some of the stick offerings bows and arrows with their arrowheads detached. The rancher with whom she had contact prior to her own investigation of the sites gave her a number of arrowheads and turquoise pendants and shells from the site, and claimed that the arrowheads were attached to their arrows at the time he found them.
Parsons also describes her investigation of four shrines near Zuni. These she believes mark the four cardinal directions and the zenith and nadir of their world. Parsons considers them war god shrines as well, and she backs her claim with evidence similar to that which she presents for the Laguna sites. The artifacts she describes from Zuni include the worked stick type similar to those from the extinct geyser site near Laguna. With accompanying photographs and extensive descriptions she also details what seem to be effigy-like figures of the Zuni war gods.
CLARITY RANKING: 1
ARIEL WALLIS-SPENCER Sonoma State University (Richard Senghas, Ph.D.
Sapir, E. Kinship Terms of the Kootenay. American Anthropologist January-December, 1918 Vol.20(1):414-418.
Sapir reflects on the Kootenay kinship terms collected in 1916 by former Kootenay chief Paul David. Sapir believes the Kootenay system of kinship exhibits many features of interest. Among these is the Kootenay’s extensive use of distinct terms indicating whether a speaker is male or female. The application of this sex principle seems irregular. In addition, the Kootenay kinship system appears to confuse terms of consanguity and affinity. A Kootenay woman speaks of and addresses her parents-in law in term of her children; her father-in-law is her child’s grandfather, her mother-in-law is her daughter’s grandmother. Sapir suggests that Kootenay nomenclature may be due to a psychological desire for symmetrical patterning. The kinship terms also reflect customary marriage practices in Kootenay society.
CLARITY RANKING: 3
ALEXANDRA ROBINSON (amrobin@ilstu.edu): Illinois State University (Robert Dirks)
Sapir, E. Kinship Terms of the Kootenay Indians. American Anthropologist January-December 1918 Vol. 20(1): 414-418.
This article describes the principles that organize kinship terms for the Kootenay Indians, who lived near Ottawa, Canada. The kinship terms of the Kootenay are based on six main points. The first is that they have an extensive use of distinctive terms according to whether the speaker is male or female. The application of this rule is involved in a great deal of irregularity and criss-crossing. The second principle is based around reciprocity. Terms for uncle are used reciprocally, but this rule does not work for terms for one’s aunt. An example of this rule would be to say that a single term is used for all parent-in-law to child-in-law relationships except where a daughter-in-law is involved. With the exception of “avuncular-nepiotic” relationships, the sex of the connecting relative is not considered, which is the third characteristic. The fourth rule, that Sapir considers the most interesting, characteristic of the Kootenay kinship system is the partial confusion of terms of consanguinity and terms of affinity where the woman speaks of and addresses her parent-in-law in terms for her children. The fifth rule is that there is the use of distinctive terms for affinal relatives when the connecting link is deceased. The sixth rule for terms concerns a woman’s sister’s child. A woman refers to her sister’s children as if they are potentially her children.
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TOMMY J. HELD JR. Indiana University of Pennsylvania (Dr. Miriam Chaiken)
Saville, Marshall H. Fredrico Gonzalez Suarez. American Antropologist July-September, 1918 Vol.20(3):318-321.
Doctor Fredrico Gonzalez Suarez was the father of Ecuadorian archaeology. He also was the formost historian of native South America and one of the most talented Spanish American writers of the ninteenth century. Dr. Suarez was a tireless resaercher who dedicated a good portion of his life to tracing the history of his homeland.
At the age of twenty one he became a member of the Jesuits, a few years later he became the Archbishop of Quito Ecuador. As an Archbishop he taught literature, philosphy and humanities at Jesuit colleges in Quito. He left the Jesuits in 1872 and joined the Church at Cuenca where he continued to teach. He took up history which lead to his interests in archaeology. In 1878 Dr. Suarez started to do archaeology in Ecuador and publishing his work. He enjoyed archaeology yet he wanted to know more about his homeland as a whole. Suarez went to Europe where he spent three years studying ancient manuscripts of Spanish and Portugese history, linking togehter the history of South America. He produced a three thousand page, seven volume history of South America in 1890. The publication included the history and archaeology of South America until 1809.
CLARITY RANKING: 5
MATT EKLUND Illinois State University (Robert Dirks)
Saville H. Marshall. Obituary of Fedrico Gonzalez Suraez. American Anthropologist 1918 Vol. 20: 318-321.
Federico Gonzalez Suares was Archbishop of Quito, Ecuador, and he died on December 1, 1917. He was the foremost native South American historian. Suares was born in April 13, 1844, and at an early age he joined the church and at age of twenty-one he became a member of the Order of Jesuits. There he taught literature, philosophy, and humanities. In 1872 he left the Jesuit Order, and became Secretary of the Curacy at Cuenca. In 1853 some ancient tombs were excavated in Chordeleg in Southern Ecuador, and this caught Gonzalez’s attention. He visited the site and gathered data form the excavation and twenty-one years later wrote the Estudio Historica Sobre Los Canaris, which was published in 1878. However, the monumental work of Gonzalez was his seven volumes printed in 1890 on historical matter of Ecuador, which included archaeological atlas of the country. In 1895, he went on to become Bishop of Ibarra, and in 1906 he was consecrated Archbishop of Quito. During the time he lived in Ibarra he wrote his treatise on the Aborigines of Imbabura and Carchi. Later on he found time to continue his archaeological studies more extensively. Thus, Dr. Gonzalez Suarez became the father of Ecuadorian archaeology.
CLARITY RANKING: 5
AZADEH ZARE-MOAYEDI York University, (Naomi Adelson)
Spier, Leslie. The Growth of Boys: Dentition and Stature. American Anthropologist November, 1918 Vol.20(3):37-48.
Spier’s argues that rapid rate of growth has an effect on variation of stature, weight, and dental development in young boys. Spier’s uses data on a group of boys from Porto (Puerto) Rico and Boston. The ages range from seven to nineteen. Spier’s purpose is to distinguish which group of schoolboys shows rapid growth rate in dental development. Evidence shows that rapid growth rate for Porto Rican boys indicate measurements increasing during the period (after the ninth year) of rapid growth and declining during the period (before the fourteenth year) of decreasing growth. To support his data Spier’s used tables to illustrate that the increase in rapid growth rate for Porto Rican boys appears to have early eruption; one year before the Boston boys.
After conducting the experiment, Spier’s discovered the correlation between the stature and dental development. At a certain age, those individuals accelerated beyond the average dental stages of their age showed a greater average stature than individuals who did not. For example, eight-year-old boys with permanent upper canines are more developed and has a greater stature than their age-mates that lack these teeth. In Spier’s final arguments, he proves that different locations do not have a vast effect on growth development, but that stature, weight and dental development work hand and hand in rapid growth development.
CLARITY RANKING: 4
KIMBERLY JONES Illinois State University (Robert Dirks)
Spier, Leslie. The Growth of Boys: Dentition and Stature. American Anthropologist January-March, 1918 Vol.20 (1): 37-48.
This article states that when studies of growth are conducted, the measurements given are based on an individual’s actual age and “not on their physiological status”, to which Spier agrees (Spier, 1918). This study was conducted to find the relation between stature and dentition of boys. For the study, Franz Boas took plaster casts of dental arches and measurements of three hundred fifty school-aged boys from Utuado, Puerto Rico.
The study begins by stating that growth can be explained due to the variations of development in a child in the form of accelerations and retardations. Any growth period of a child is affected by the previous acceleration or retardation, which will affect the child’s body. The measurement values will either increase by acceleration or decrease by retardation.
In order to make the data as accurate as possible, Spier defines “permanent teeth” and “deciduous teeth” by noting that permanent teeth were recognized as “protruding beyond the gums to any degree” (Spier, 1918), while deciduous teeth were defined as “any recognizable fragment” (Spier, 1918).
The study begins with a chart analyzing the number and percentage of deciduous teeth present in boys ranging from age seven to fifteen. Spier divides the teeth up between the upper and lower jaw, then breaks them down even further with the inner and outer incisors, canines, first and second molars. The pattern shows that the younger the boy is, the more likely he is to have deciduous teeth present in one or all areas. As he gets older, the numbers reduce, representing the loss of the deciduous teeth. By the age of fifteen, the boys used in this study had none of their deciduous teeth left. Spier then moves on to the number and percentage of permanent teeth present. Once again, the teeth are divided up in both the upper and lower jaw, but the age range is from seven to nineteen. At the age of seven, most of the boys do not have many of their permanent teeth. As the boys get older, the numbers of permanent teeth begin to increase until they reach the age of nineteen where in all cases, every boy had every tooth that was listed.
There is then a comparison of the permanent teeth on the upper jaw of Boston girls and boys, which was conducted by Dr. Walter Channing. Upon examining the upper bicuspids of boys and girls from the ages of six to fifteen, the girls usually get their first and second bicuspids before the boys do. Using these figures, it is believed that the Puerto Rican boys’ permanent teeth appear earlier than those of the Boston boys. Spier states that an individual who has their permanent teeth is more developed than an individual who does not and that permanent teeth eruption correlates with greater stature.
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BRIANNE N. DUFFNER Indiana University of Pennsylvania (Miriam Chaiken)
Ten Kate, H. F. C. Notes on the Hands and Feet of American Natives. American Anthropologist April-June, 1918 Vol.20(2):187-202.
This article is a comparative study of forty-four hands and forty-two feet of fifty-four subjects, North American Indians, South American Indians, Carbugres and Bush Negroes. Ten Kate also compares the length of the fingers of Navajo and Zuni Indians. He has many diagrams of hands and feet outlined of these individuals to show differences and similarities.
In Native North American males have larger hands than females. He then compares the breadth of the foot in which males also have larger than females. The next study was of the difference in finger length between the second and fourth fingers, the fourth is longer than the second. He then does a study of hand forms, long, short, and intermediate. The majority lie in the long, then intermediate and finally short.
Next, he studies the feet; he measures the inward margin of the foot, the disposition of the toes, and the difference in breadth of the anterior and posterior parts of the foot. He conducts the same studies with South American Natives and Carbugres. Ten Kate concludes with a comparison between North and South American Natives adding in the last group only to say their hands and feet most resemble those of full-blood difference in absolute measurements but the relative measurements produce slight differences.
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MELISSA ANN-TERESE BOCKER (Illinois State University (Robert T. Dirks)
Ten Kate, H. F. C. Notes on the Hands and Feet of American Natives. American Anthropologist April-June, 1918 Vol.20(2):187-202.
Ten Kate presents measurement and proportion data gathered during 1883, 1885-86, and 1888 on forty-four hands and forty-two feet of Native Americans: thirty-one North American Indians, eighteen South American Indians, and five Carbugres and Bush Negroes. He also includes finger-length measurements for six Navajo and eighteen Zuni.
Using a special pencil, crayon approprie, suggested by Topinard in Elements d’ Anthropologie generale, pp. 1135-1136, Ten Kate found that tracing the outlines on paper was more reliable for his purposes than those taken directly on the subjects. For those measurements which were taken directly, he used a compas glissiere. When the feet were too long he used the glissiere anthropometrique of Topinard, constructed by Collin.
Ten Kate compiles the anatomical and morphological measurements into several tables, expressed in millimeters. Although his written commentary is divided according to the three major groups, his tables list measurements for males and females separately in order to accommodate later comparison. Ten Kate concludes that differences between the three major groups are minimal, with the South American Indians having short, broad hands and feet, and the North American Indians having long, slender hands and feet. He finds the hands and feet of the Indian Carbugres similar in most respects to the other two groups.
Ten Kate finds all measurements consistent with height and body type of the subject. However, he finds more frequently in the South American group a set of foot characteristics occurring together: concave incurvation of the foot, with outward deviation of the first toe and fan-like disposition of the other toes and the interstices between them. He believes this variation is due to environmental adaptation to the dense rain forest, similar to that of peoples of the Malay Peninsula, the Indian Archipelago, the Philippines, and Oceania. The South American group also lives in dense rain forests, travelling over the land on bare feet, or often riding in canoes. Their North American counterparts wear sandals or moccasins to negotiate the sandy, rocky terrain, and rarely encounter waterways which accommodate watercraft.
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ARIEL WALLIS-SPENCER Sonoma State University (Richard Senghas, Ph.D.)
Wallis, W.D. Indo-Germanic Relationship Terms as Historical Evidence. American Anthropologist January-March, 1918 Vol.20(1):419-431.
Wallis attempts to determine the extent kinship distinctions in language reflect current distinctions in social or political life. He compares Greek, Roman, and Teutonic languages and shows how kinship terms were used. His specific interest is on how kinship terminology reflected descent reckoning.
Wallis asserts that there are two ways in which current distinctions between maternal and paternal relatives can be accounted for. First, he supposes that there was a prior matrilineal or patrilineal state where descent was counted through only one parent. When the descent became counted through both parents the earlier method of language was supplemented. His second idea is that the importance of the maternal-paternal distinction died out. This caused the original discriminations of the terminology to also die out.
CLARITY RANKING: 2
CARLY J. SCHROCK : Illinois State University (Robert Dirks)
Walls, W. D. Indo-Germanic Relationship Terms as Historical Evidence. American Anthropologist January – March, 1918 Vol.20(1):419-431.
Throughout the history of anthropology, kinship terms have been used as a means of understanding a culture’s social and political structures. Walls believes that too little attention has been paid to the Indo-Germanic kinship terms. In the early 1890’s Delbrck pointed out the importance of these terms; a point which was later emphasized by O. Schrader. In this article, Walls explores Roman, Greek and Teutonic kinship terms and compares them to historical accounts as a means of understanding the “social and political lives of these respective peoples.” (419)
Walls first focuses on the direct and literal translations of terms as a means of understanding how they reflect the society they represent. He explores the cognitive divisions that are made, such as that between maternal and paternal relations. In a society where the wife joins the family of her husband we might expect to see emphasis put on the paternal relationships, or a lack of emphasis on the maternal family. This might correlate with known conditions such as living arrangements and inheritance of property.
Relationships between kinship terms and the apparent evolution of the terms is also an important aspect of this article. The German Muhme for example, used to mean “cousin by female descent.” Later, the same term took the meaning “female cousin.” Changes such as these may point to corresponding societal changes. In this case, the society which once placed great significance on descent may have changed until the significance lay on the sex of a specific person more than their ancestors. The article culminates in a discussion of the possible implications and reasons for the evolution of kinship terms over time.
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A. SKYE FLYNN Indiana U. of Penn. (Miriam Chaiken)
Wilson, Lucy L. W. Hand Sign or Avanyu: A Note on a Pajaritan Biscuit-Ware Motif. American Anthropologist December, 1918 Vol.20(1):310-317.
An avanyu is an Otowian plumed serpent. Archaeologists working in New Mexico describe the common symbols inscribed on biscuit-ware found on the Pajaritan Plateau as avanyu. Wilson believes this is incorrect. She suggests the symbols of the biscuit-ware represent hand signs or handprints. Wilson supports her claims by citing cross-cultural accounts of the popularity of hand symbols on pottery, walls, and structures in the South West United States, Mayan Central America, India, and Jerusalem. Wilson notes that the sign of the hand is across cultures used to call attention to gods, avert evil eyes, or represent power. Wilson admits that archaeologists can never know what the common symbol truly meant in the minds of the Otowians of the Pajaritan Plateau. However, Wilson’s extensive archaeological excavations on the plateau and cross-cultural research of the hand sign in prehistoric and historic art refute the possibility that the symbol on the biscuit-ware is an avanyu.
CLARITY RANKING: 4
ALEXANDRA ROBINSON Illinois State University (Robert T. Dirks)
Wilson, Lucy. Hand Sign or Avanyu: A Note on a Pajaritan Biscuit-ware Motif. American Anthropologist. 1918, vol. 20: 310-317.
In the article “Hand Sign or Avanyu: A Note on a Pajaritan Biscuit-ware Motif,” Lucy Wilson describes the decoration motif frequently found on prehistoric Pajaritan biscuit-ware. According to Wilson, it is a motif that still survives in some of the Rio-Grande pueblos. The variations in drawings are so numerous and so marked that it is easy to make an extensive classification of them. Thus, the meaning of the symbols is certainly distinct.
Although there may be many meanings of symbols, Wilson explains that it is the Avanyu and the hand sign symbols that are of much importance. Avanyu is the Tewa word for a mythological plumed serpent. The zigzag from of the god resembles lightning, which coincides with the many thunderstorms that frequent New Mexico and follow with the much-desired rain. Therefore, the plumed serpent figure is frequently seen on the walls and in caves of the Pajarito.
Wilson goes on to explain the significance of the hand signs, which has been a favorite symbol both in prehistoric and in primitive art. The use of the hand sign by primitive people is apparently either to call the attention of the gods to a vow or prayer, or to avert the evil eye. Whatever the significance, it was obvious that it held value in the society because of the numerous artifacts that were discovered with these symbols.
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PATRICIA MAIOLO York University (Naomi Adelson)