American Anthropologist 1954

Adair, John. Applied Anthropology in the Southwest: Comments. American Anthropologist August, 1954 Vol. 56 (4): 716-719.

Adair’s main concern involves how the social sciences are being applied by the government Bureaus to policies about Native Americans in the Southwest. He looks at Kelly’s work and agrees with most of his points but disagrees in a few instances and finds it necessary to emphasize additional factors that he feels are relevant.

On different scales of organization, Adair believes that social science, and more specifically applied anthropology findings are not taken into account in making planning decisions. On a smaller scale this happens with the Indian Service employees that he feels will use anthropology less in the future. More precisely, he argues that applied anthropology will not be used ‘until there is [a] different philosophy of government than we find at present, when it will become possible for bureau heads to seek the advice of social scientists in a planning capacity” (p. 716).

Adair looks at a research study conducted by Laura Thompson about Indian Education, Personality, and Administration and shows how its results were not applied to projects. He argues that it is this kind of work, those done from anthropological perspectives, that is crucial to the government in making decisions. He writes, “It would seem that when there is the greatest need for social science guidance there is in fact an almost complete disinterest in what anthropology has to offer” (p. 717).

An additional point that Adair makes clear is that when an anthropologist works outside of the government structure and is not a part of the planning process, his findings most likely will not be applied. He suggests that anthropologists and social scientists interested in the application of their discipline should be the ‘catalyst’ to constructive action. Adair proposes that as the transition from federally run programs to state run programs takes place there should be an open dialogue between new state administrators and anthropologists. This would help to ensure the success of the change by giving new state administrators a well-rounded perspective that would not lead to repeating mistakes from the past. Anthropologists then would play a central role in guiding state officials in their new responsibilities of cross-cultural administration.

CLARITY RANKING: 5
LISA BAUMGARTNER Middlebury College (David Napier).

Armstrong, Robert G. A West African Inquest. American Anthropologist 1954 56: 1051-1075.

In 1952, a prominent member of the Otrurkpo people died. Even though it was well known that he suffered from stomach pains for a period of almost two years, his death was attributed to witchcraft. Another man in the tribe was the one blamed. Armstrong describes the trial of this “murder” and attempts to use it to explain the lineage structure of the Otrurkpo.

To begin, Armstrong describes the Idoma people’s, of which the Otrurkpo are a part of, superstitions with witchcraft. He describes the influence dreams have over these people, and how dreaming of another person doing something in your dream requires you to collect an offering of “pennies” from that person, with the threat of death otherwise. This belief is the cause of the Otrurkpo blaming a man for the death of another.

Armstrong then continues to detail the lineage structure of the Idoma people, explaining that this society has a patrilineal descent system, the oldest male of the “family tree” being in power. Below this lineage is what Armstrong calls sub-lineages, a group defined as the descendants of one member of the lineage. The smallest group is that of the compound, or the wives, daughters, sons and sons wives of a male in this lineage.

Armstrong finishes his article with a documented retelling of the court proceedings, and how the court system of the Idoma works. The court procedure is significantly different in the Otrurkpo society, as is made very evident here. It is not stated as to whether he was at this court proceeding, or just used the documentation of the case, written by someone else.

CLARITY RANKING: 3
MICHAEL FILLITER York University, Toronto (Naomi Adelson)

Armstrong, Robert G. A West African Inquest. American Anthropologist. Volume 56, no. 6: 1954:1051-1075

Ethnographic studies of non English speaking cultures is a common procedure in cultural anthropology. When a researcher goes into a culture, without prior knowledge of the language, he or she must rely on an interpreter to aid in their study. This reliance on an interpreter can lead to many problems, including the misinterpretation of words due to different translations.

In this article, Armstrong presents a trial among the Oturkpo, an Idoma district, in Benue Province, Nigeria. Armstrong was allowed by the Oturkpo to sit in on the murder trial of two tribal members. The late village head of the Upu tribe, Ejodini, died of an abdominal ailment. The Oturkpo believe in the power of witchcraft, and that a person can bewitch another person by having dreams concerning that person. Ejodini’s brother, Onuminya, accused Ogwu of infecting Ejodini with an illness that led to his death. Onuminya had a dream that Ogwu came to seize a goat from Ejodini, and the next day the goat died. According to Onuminya, this dream proved that Ogwu had bewitched his brother, and in fact led to his death.

The trial Armstrong observed was brought forth by Onuminya trying to prove Ogwu was guilty for the murder of his brother. However, by bringing up these charges, Onuminya actually put some of the suspicion on himself. The council, which acts as a judge, felt that maybe some of the blame might lie on Onuminya for having the dream.

Each individual presented his own side, while the council listened to them as well as other witnesses. Armstrong sat in on all the proceedings with two men. One was his translator who wrote the entire inquest down in the native language. After the proceedings were over, Armstrong and his translator translated the words to English in a script format. The other man, who was well educated in the English language, wrote the proceedings down in English as they were spoken in Idoma.

At the end of the inquest, the council as well as other Oturkpo citizens vindicated Ogwu, saying he was not responsible for the death of Ejodini. Nor did they prove that Onuminya was the one who bewitched his own brother by having the dream. The council said that Ejodini was old (and became an ancestor), and it was the ancestors who killed him.

There were two different versions of the inquest provided by Armstrong within this article. One was the version that he and his translator worked on after the inquest was over. The other version was that of the Oturkpo citizen who translated it into English as it was spoken. These two versions are basically the same, but the second version is a clearer synopsis of the events rather than an unclear script format. The first version of the inquest was very drawn out. It listed word for word everything spoken by all the individuals involved in the inquest. The second version was a short summary showing the key points of the inquest. This version was written to show the dangers of relying on interpreters in ethnographic studies. The second version was accurate but it left out certain information that was necessary in understanding the full story. Although this version does not really show to have any problems, it very well could have.

CLARITY: 4.5
NO NAME University of North Carolina At Charlotte (Gregory Starrett)

H.G. Barnett, Leonard Broom, Bernard J. Siegel, Evon Z. Yogt and James B. Watson. The Social Science Research Council Summer Seminar on Acculturation. Acculturation: An Exploratory Formulation. American Anthropologist 1954 vol.56:973-1000.

In this article the authors are fundamentally concerned with the phenomena of acculturation. This paper is a product of research seminars devoted to acculturation held at the Social Science Research Council the summer of 1954. The anthropologists emphasize that the paper is intended to be an exploratory and suggestive (rather than conclusive or definitive project). It takes into account a foregoing information base; the article represents the authors’ conceptions of a methodical approach to the study of cultural change as it is generated by culture intercourse.

The article’s basic argument is that acculturation in America is a direct consequence of cultural transmission. They also discuss acculturative change as it may be derived from non-cultural causes such as ecological or demographic changes induced by a trespassing culture. They argue that internal reconciliation following upon the acceptance of alien traits or patterns, selective adaptation, and integration allow for acculturation to happen. Their contention particularly asserts that cultural changes induced by contacts between ethnic enclaves and their encompassing societies would be definable as acculturative. Moreover, they assert that socialization, urbanization, industrialization, and secularization are not acculturation processes unless they are cross-culturally induced rather that intraculturally developed phenomena.

The argument is assembled with careful attention to detail. The authors postulate an encyclopedic argument and detail various aspects and phenomena that are affiliated with acculturation of Americans. The authors study of acculturation encompasses a review of those non-cultural and non-social phenomena that provides a contact setting and establishes certain limits of cultural adaptation. The authors set to prove that acculturation takes on many forms in differing circumstances and can also be affected by non-cultural and non-social phenomena.

The authors provide a reasonable argument that provides a frame of reference for the anthropologist interested in this topic. The authors realize that cultures do not meet, but people who are their carriers do. The evidence presented to support their discussion is abundant – there are various works of anthropological colleagues cited. Also, this piece of work was constructed as a multi-authored essay in the quest to define acculturation and its various facets.

CLARITY RANKING: 4
GIROLOMA D’ALESSANDRO York University (Naomi Adelson)

Barnouw, Victor. The Changing Character of a Hindu Festival. American Anthropologist February, 1954 Vol.56 (1):74-86

Victor Barnouw addresses the change in the character and purpose of a Hindu festival called Ganapati. This festival is to honor Ganesa, the potbellied elephant-headed Hindi god. Barnouw describes the religious worship called puja, which is held in the home. Then he gives a first hand account of the public festival. Finally, he gives a historical summary of the development from the private puja to the public festival that has been seen since India’s independence.

The author gives a basic outline of his first hand account of a puja at a home in which he was staying for his visit to India. The family that he stayed with was of a higher status then the common Hindu, so they were able to afford their own Ganesa statue. He also tells how the statues vary according to the caste of the worshippers. He stayed with a middle class Brahman family, in which he witnessed a purohit or priest participate in the rites. Only people of middle class or higher can afford to have a priest come to the home to perform rites. He goes through the steps in the ceremony that he witnessed, mentioning the many different foods, and plants that were used to adorn the Ganesa statue that was in the home. He finally briefly tells of the uttara puja, or farewell ceremony. After the uttara puja, the statue of Ganesa is carried to the river and is thrown into the river.

Barnouw then goes on to tell of his eyewitness account of the ten-day public festival. He describes the many varieties of Ganesa, which has created a friendly competition of who creates the most elaborate statue. Then he describes the procession to the river. It is a parade of sort, which involves dancing, and singing. He concludes this section by telling how the men and young boys carry the statues down the waterside and into the river. Some of the lower classes sometimes engage in wild behavior such as shoving and hollering.

The private puja, which is an ancient ceremony performed inside the home, turned into a big public festival. First he mentions the accounts that the public festival may have been held before 1893. Then he discusses how it was easy for eyewitnesses to mistake a private procession to the river for a public procession. The Indian nationalist, Bal Gangadhar Tilak started these public festivals for a number of reasons, including anti-British propaganda and unity in the Hindu community. A third reason was to give the Hindu their own festival aside from the Muslim festival of Moharram, in which Hindus participated in until the Hindu-Muslim riots in Bombay and Poona.

In 1953, the British rule ended, and Tilak’s goal was achieved. Since then, the festival has gotten more popular each year because it is a time of release, excitement, family reunions, and social events. The author’s main point is to investigate the progression, and reasons for the growth of the private puja festival in the public Ganapati festival of today. He compared the meaning of the two; the worship ceremony for Ganesa in the private homes and the many reasons of the festival one being the Hindu revivalism.

CLARITY RANKING: 4
NIKIA REAVES University of North Carolina at Charlotte, (Dr. Starrett)

Barnouw, Victor. The Changing Character of a Hindu Festival. American Anthropologist 1954 Vol. 56: 74-86.

This article examines the changing character of a Hindu festival that is held annually in honour of Ganapati or Ganesa, the elephant-headed god. Barnouw looks at how the puja festival provided a focus for nationalistic feelings in India. Thereby, he argues that the puja religious festival has played a considerable rule in India prior to the state Independence. He begins his analysis by looking at the transformation of the puja or the ritual worship of Ganesa. Thereby, his investigation falls into three categories: first a brief discussion of the family puja, second an account of the public festival, and last a historical discussion of the origin, development and the current significance of the festival.

In the first part of the article the author draws attention to the fact that before 1893 the annual worship of Ganesa was primarily a family affair. The ritual consisted of installing a hand painted pottery statuette of Ganesa in most Indian homes. Each family would then practice in a ten-day ritual worship of the Ganesa. The ritual ceremony would include: reciting Sakrit prayers and hymns, bathing and clothing the statuette, presenting food offerings, putting the breath of life into the Ganesa statue and finally performing the uttra puja which is the farewell ceremony.

The second part of the article considers the transformation of the family puja to public puja celebration. Many public Ganapati statues are purchased by locality. Thereby, abolishing any private ownership of the statue or association with a particular family. All the statuettes are then registered with the police and an official pass is required to permit the Ganapati statue to be carried to the river or well for farewell ceremony. Thus, local committees for the ceremonial expenses take up collections. The ten-day Ganapati worship ceremony takes on a form of a festival and elaborate lights and decorations make the city glow, loud music of tabla, sitar, the sandi are played, and various dances take place.

The last part of the article considers the historical discussion of the festival and its current significance. The article suggests that the festival contributes to the nationalistic feelings of Hindu revivalism and conforms unity between both the participants and thousands of spectators that come from all over the country to participate in the ceremony. The first Ganapati festival took place in 1893 under supervision of Bal Gangadhar Tilak, one of the outstanding Indian nationalist leaders of the time. Since that time, the transition from family to public Ganapati ceremonies took place because of various factors. One being that the ten-day festival provided an occasion for lectures and anti-British propaganda. Second, it provided a sense of Hindu solidarity, since there was a lot of conflict between Muslims and Hindus in the past. However, today the festival has given way to commercialized entertainment and its significant character has changed.

AZADEH ZARE-MOAYEDI York University, (Naomi Adelson)

Beals, Ralph L. Gatherers and Farmers in the Greater Southwest: A Problem in Classification: Comments. American Anthropologist August, 1954 Vol. 56 (4) 551-553.

In his comments on Kirchoff’s discussion of culture areas in the southwest United States, Ralph Beals focuses on one of major weakness he sees in the paper. The argument of Kirchoff, according to Beals, is that there are two major culture groups in the southwest, each with its own center at which characteristics distinctive of the culture are heightened. However, Beals believes that not only is this viewpoint difficult and cumbersome to apply to the southwest, but that Kirchoff should entirely drop it as the centerpiece of his argument in favor of the typological classifications he so often employs throughout the paper. To support his criticism of Kirchoff’s work, Beals draws on Kroeber, Steward and Wissler to point out that in some geographical areas such as the Great Plains, it is possible to apply the concept of the geographical culture area. On the other hand, in a region such as the southwest, with its wide spectrum of environments and subsistence strategies, Beals believes that such an approach is oversimplifying an area that requires more of the typological analysis Kirchoff uses.

CLARITY: 3
MICHAEL STEVENS Middlebury College (A. David Napier)

Bennett, John W. Interdisciplinary Research and the Concept of Culture. American Anthropologist 1954 56: 169-177.

The study of anthropology has come quite a way from the period this piece was written, till now. This becomes very apparent throughout this article, which basically explains the trials and tribulations the discipline faced in order to become the fascinating and controversial field it is today. It deals with concepts like, federation verse integration, which deals with the concepts of classifying coexisting groups with the relation to human beings, and the existence of interdisciplinary research. These are the various forms of research an anthropologist may conduct depending on the content matter. There is also the concept of culture, which discusses the components that make up culture and the differences within varying cultures. Bennett also discusses the idea of, the Emergence of an analytical scheme, which is the simplistic form for classifications that most cultures are placed under. This creates the differences between social life as opposed to creating similarities between the two. Basically the evolution of anthropology has come quite a distance, but still has much further to go, in order, to really better itself as a discipline.

CLARITY RATING: 2
SHERISSE SEQUEIRA York University (Naomi Adelson)

Bennett, John W. Interdisciplinary Research and the Concept of Culture. American Anthropologist April 1954 Vol. 56 (2): 169-179.

This article examines how the growing tendency of interdisciplinary research among the social sciences affects cultural anthropology. Bennett contends that anthropologists must change the conceptual tools they use in culture analysis if they are to incorporate data from other social sciences such as sociology, economics, psychology, and politics. The author draws on his own experiences in the field of cultural anthropology to substantiate his argument.

Bennett contends that historically, anthropological research has been a collaborative effort among the sub-fields of anthropology, including physical or biological anthropology, linguistics, and cultural anthropology. The article identifies Boas’ landmark study of head form variation in different cultural and natural environments as the first attempt of cultural anthropology to expand its boundaries and integrate elements from other social sciences. Bennett names this approach the “common conceptual scheme,” and states that this method is also seen in various other cultural theories including “problem-oriented social science,” “behavior science,” and “action theory.” The author believes this movement towards multidimensional explanations for cultural phenomenon is partly the result of wars, and the subsequent need for a broad and in-depth analysis of many facets of culture.

In order to participate in an integrated scientific study, cultural anthropologists must reform their research design and redefine their holistic concept of culture. The notion that culture is an all-encompassing entity greatly hinders interdisciplinary collaboration and limits the analysis of distinguishable social factors. As an alternative to culture as a “descriptive-holistic” concept, Bennett suggests that anthropologists shift the focus of their studies to factors that have long been obscured, such as “the roles typical of a system of social relationships, the values and norms associated with these roles, the expectations of behaviors brought to the situation by the individual actors, their needs and motivations, and, finally, the varying dimensions of the ‘situation’ itself.” Bennett asserts that several anthropologists, including Radcliffe-Brown, Malinowski, Bateson and Kluckhohn, have recognized the value of the multidisciplinary approach to understanding culture.

CLARITY RANKING: 4
MICHELE ROSNER University of North Carolina, Charlotte (Greg Starrett)

Bidney, David. The Ethnology of Religion and the Problem of Human Evolution. American Anthropologist 1954 Vol.56: 1-18.

Bidney concludes his journal on quite an outstanding note. He states, “…religion is not a collective delusion out of which man evolves with the advent of scientific thought but may well be based on well-founded rational faith, no religious dogma, such as primitive revelation, may be introduced as a scientific ethnological explanation.”

Drawing upon his final words, one wonders through the journal of his before mentioned religious advocates. These including: St. Thomas Aquinas, Tyler, Lang, and Sir Arthur Keith to name a few. What exactly is Bidney stating through it all?

It is clearly stated by Bidney that religious thinkers/philosophers compared to the evolutionists of our society do indeed differ. The Philosophers are different, are non-comparable ad the fundamental basis are different, however at what point through history has this proven to be a “new thought”? Our world is a formation of religious practitioners who preach and spread the word of God, and there are those who clearly believe in the non-supernatural. Bidney, re-tells the philosophies of these types of thinkers, their roots in history, their belief systems, but unfortunately keeps it very secular. This journal looks no further then one belief system, mainly that of Christianity. The reader and those truly concerned with the possibility that religion has indeed played a problematic role in human evolution.

CLARITY RANKING: 2.5
SHAIZA MURJI York University (Naomi Adelson)

Bourguignon, Erika E. Dreams and Dream Interpretation in Haiti. American Anthropologist 1954 Vol.56 no.2 :262-268.

While dreaming is a human universal, experienced by people in all cultures, the author of the article sets out to prove that culture will affect the levels of importance that people place on dreams. Differences include the interpretation of dreams and the amount of reality given to them. Bourguignon sorts out features of dreams that occur in Haitian peasants as an example of the influence of culture over the dreaming experience. Interviews with Haitian peasants as well as ink blot tests (Rorschach test) are used as support for the author’s claim that possession, validation of and communication with gods are all features of the Haitian dreaming experience. These characteristics are all connected.

During dream possessions the people involved sometimes encounter gods during the experience. These divine beings can be identified by their clothing or by the message that the divine being gives. This communication with the gods is the most important aspect of the dreams to adults. In one example a young woman tells of the time when she was reproached for not taking care of the family shrine. The gods encountered in the dream state take on human qualities. They are closely tied to the race and class groupings of Haiti. Darker skin color is associated with the lower classes as seen in the god Gede. In addition to racial and class based characteristics the gods are also tied to the type of religion one is a member of. It is thought that people belonging to certain religious groups rarely dream. Dreams, and their interpretation, can also bring about new religious practices.

While the dreams of adults are concerned with divine beings and the communication with the gods, the dreams of children are different. In talking with children the author comes to the conclusion that children’s dreams deal for the most part with nightmares and things that can occur in the dark. Werewolves, the dead, and demons are what most children report dreaming about. Children are thought to have nightmares due to the fact that they don’t have the necessary interpretation skills and they have less contact with the supernatural.

CLARITY: 4
ERICA BENJAMIN University of North Carolina at Charlotte (Starrett).

Bourguignon, Erika E. Dreams and Dream Interpretation in Haiti. American Anthropologist. Vol. 56 1954:262-268

The article by Bourguignon raises the issue of the importance of culture and dreams. She addresses the influence that culture places on dreams, believing there to be a cultural patterning of dreams and shows the role of the “sub conscious” to be that of one that validates the “culturally designed world views”. The goal of the article is to discuss the features of dreaming among Haitian peasants.

Dreams of the Haitians may be classified in two ways, one as “things I see at night” and the other, “supernatural visitations”; the first category is usually experienced by children who appear to be suffering mostly from nightmares. To dream of the dead is to dream (according to the Haitians) of “Baka”, or demons who are thought to be secret societies of humans who can turn into animals at will. Dreams are said to also be a means in which communication between the Gods, the dead, and the living can be achieved. The concept of one speaking in their sleep is considered to be a visit by the Gods. If the words of the speaker are not understood by another, then the language spoken by the God who manifested himself in the person is said to be that of “langai”, which is the language spoken only by the Gods and the Vodun priests. The essential point of the dream (to the dreamer) is the message from the Gods and the ability to communicate with them. One such possible message Bourguignon mentions in the article may be one of a general demand for the fulfillment of religious obligations and may even specify details of religious procedure to be followed.

Furthermore, dreams act as channels for one’s cultural “myths” and beliefs. For the Haitians, the reality of the dream world is placed at the same level as that of waking experience, what may be defined by one as a mere dream may be seen by another as a light in a tunnel of darkness that guides the direction of his or her cultural life. Thus, the importance of dreams differs greatly cross-culturally.

CLARITY: 3
CARLA DI GIANDOMENICO York University (Naomoi Adelson)

Brew, J.O. Transition to History in the Pueblo Southwest: Comments. American Anthropologist August, 1954 Vol. 56(4):599-603.

Brew analyzes Reed’s paper concerning Southwestern prehistory and offers his own insight into the Pueblos and other prehistoric Indian groups. His argument arrives at the conclusion that the Navahos had long, close contact. He notes the continuous nature of acculturation and how it fluctuates in intensity. Citing archaeological evidence, he mentions that the end of the first millennium A.D. was a high point of Pueblos acculturation. This article then traces Reed’s outline of the historical development of the geographic withdrawal of the Pueblos, which Brew associates with cultural outbursts in the arts, architecture, ceremonialism, political organization, and agriculture. This migration is attributed to population consolidation, new ideas from the outside, threats of violent attacks, and droughts. Brew also builds on Reed and Schroeder’s explanations concerning the identity of the outsiders by discussing the Athabascan problem and the ambiguous relationship between the Pueblos and their Mexican neighbors. The reasons for excluding the Navahos and Apaches as native sons are then discredited as Brew argues that the Navahos and the Pueblos had a strong extended relationship. He basis this argument on shared ceremonial evidence that indicates the high probability of relations between the Navahos and the Pueblos.

CLARITY: 4
JERROLD B. PETERSON, JR Middlebury College (David Napier)

Clements, Forrest E. Use of Cluster Analysis with Anthropological Data. American Anthropologist. 1954 Vol. 56 (4):180-

This article is Clements’ response to criticisms of an earlier article regarding the use of statistical devices to analyze anthropological data. Clements felt his article received such high criticisms because he left many areas unclear. This new version is an attempt to clarify his previous ideas. In the article Clements discusses two main points: the principles behind his use of statistics; and the actual mathematics needed to extract conclusion from the data.

According to Clements, four main principles must be followed for a valid analysis. The first is that “the traits used must be either all the traits in the statistical universe…or a representative sample of those traits.” This is a basic principle in any field of study. The second principle discusses how information must be broken down into its simplest form in order to get the broadest idea of the differences being studied. Using the simplest form allows the information to be specific and detailed and makes it easier to compare or contrast it to other factors. The third principle is that when one is discussing “presence” or “absence” of a certain trait in a study one must make sure that this is a meaningful label. If a trait would not normally exist in the study, it is unnecessary to state that it is absent. One should only label something as present or absent if it relates directly to the study. The final principle is basically a combination of the second and third. Clements re-emphasizes “the original data must be specific and must indicate the absence of trait elements as definitely as their presence.” Clements felt it necessary to further discuss his basic principles because they guided his previous studies and helped to explain his research and analysis.

The second issue explored in this article is the mathematical element of using statistics to analyze anthropological data. Clements uses his study of Native American tribe congruencies to show how the use of statistics may be applied to information in order to extract a conclusion. He uses median and means numbers to show how some traits show up more often than others in Native American populations. He does not use these statistics to show traits that are absent in a population. He believes this bias’s the study by indicating that certain traits should be apparent in all societies. “Model traits” infer an deficiency within cultural groups and Clements feels this is a problem when trying to understand a group of people.

CLARITY: 4
BONNIE STROUPE University of North Carolina-Charlotte (Greg Starrett)

Clements, Forrest E. Use of Cluster Analysis with Anthropological Data. American Anthropologist 1954 Vol.56: 180-199.

Clements had written a paper with two co-authors describing a statistical device applied to the analysis of certain ethnographic data. This paper was attacked by W.D. Wallis because of the method of analysis and some of the conclusions they had drawn. This paper has developed a number of points, which were not adequately covered in the original paper but specifies several principles that the author believes are still fundamental to the proper use of statistical analysis of anthropological data.

The author describes and responds to Wallis and a paper written by Driver and Kroeber, and defends his own paper with examples of statistical methods. It is contended, then, that studies should be analyzed using the formulas and statistical methods presented in this paper. There is great detail given about the presentation of materials using variables in table form to show correlations and defines coefficients in statistical analysis.

There are examples for each method given in graph form, tables are provided and used as examples to illustrate some techniques, and formulas are provided although they are without actual examples. Those examples are provided generally throughout the text. The majority of the paper is a source for analytical work and only provides ethnographic information relating to any particular society as an example for the formulas.

CLARITY: 2
RAGHBIR SINGH York University (Naomi Adelson)

Cole, Sonia. The Prehistory of East Africa. American Anthropologist December, 1954 Vol.56(6): 1026-1047.

The author of this article is trying to determine where the earliest African ancestors emerge. The relative dating, with the use of typological , faunal, and climatic correlations, of the prehistoric cultures in East Africa is considered unsatisfactory. There are no absolute dates upon which to build a chronological order.

The climatic order has been applied over much of Africa through what is known as pluvial periods. Kageran pluvial , is the first period of increased rainfall recognized, after the drought of the Pliocene. The Kamasian pluvial of the early Middle Pleistocene is in connection with the glaciation of Europe. The Kanjeran pluvial has land surfaces marked by occupation and sites containing implements and fossils, while the recurrent rises of the lake are marked with silts, diatomites, and sands rich with pumice. The Gamblian pluvial , most of the fauna are the same that exist today. The Makalian marks the first postpluvial wet phase. At this time the Nile River stood 10 feet higher than the present flood level, and swamp-living fauna indicate a wetter climate than that of the Neolithic period. The Nakuran wet phase is thought to have reached its peak at 850 B.C. Since then the rift valley lakes have been diminishing, and the glaciers on the tallest mountains have been receding.

It seems only two cultures existed in East Africa during the Lower Paleolithic, a pebble culture and the Chelles-Acheul culture. The most famous Acheulean site is Olorgesailie, in Kenya. This site has yielded many artifacts and fossil mammals, but no hominids. Four main cultures appear in the Upper Paleolithic of East Africa. The East African Fauresmith would have lived in high altitudes where the water was obtainable from permanent streams, and game would be plentiful. The Stillbay culture is characterized by pressure flaking of bifacial points. In East Africa they found the only human remains associated with the Stillbay culture. The Sangoan seems to have been the culture living in the most favorable area, beside the great rivers. The Kenya Capsian is the last of the four main cultures to appear in the Upper Paleolithic. During the Lower Miocence of western Kenya twenty-five-million-year-old hominids were found. Three species are recognized: africanus, nyanzae, and major. The australopithecinae are seen in East Africa and the remains were named, Meganthropus africanus. Separate from the Eyasi specimen, the only other hominid remains in Africa is the Kanam mandible, these remains come during the Lower and Middle Pleistocence. A problem is whether the Kanam mandible represents the earliest known Homo sapiens, and without cranial material there won’t be a conclusive point. The Upper Pleistocene man is known as Eyasi man, discovered by Kohl Larsen in 1934. the Eyasi skull was named Africanthropus njarensis ,and it seems little doubt that the Eyasi fragments should be seen as Homo. With the discovery of the Mesolithic man, the earliest forms of the African race appear in burials. In Kenya, these African features aren’t seen until Neolithic times. In the Neolithic man , a characteristic is seen in that the people had two lower central incisors removed, a custom still practiced among certain modern African tribes.

The origin of the African is more hidden, and there are alternative theories that he arose in Africa from ancestors, or he arrived from southern Asia. A relationship between Africans and Bushmen is seen in sharing features that often show signs of Asiatic origin.

CLARITY RANKING: 1
JENNIFER LEDFORD University of North Carolina at Charlotte (Dr. Gregory Starrett)

Cole, Sonia. The Prehistory of East Africa. American Anthropologist 1954 Vol.56: 1026-1047.

The prehistoric cultures of East Africa were dated by typological, faunal, and climatic information that correspond with other areas. Comparing East Africa to other areas, such as Europe, provides a relative date that is an inaccurate method of dating. The absolute dates are few in East African; therefore no chronological framework can be made.

There is evidence of Quartenary climatic periods that are gathered from sources such as high lake and river terraces, vast area of glaciers on mountains, the structure of fossil soils, wind-blown sands, elevated sea beaches, and animal evidence (fauna). At Olduvai, the area of the current gorge was inhabited by a shoal lake in to which volcanic matter was deposited, which formed Beds I, II, III. These Beds contained many materials that were collected for the study of the materials themselves and the correlation between the materials and the periods from which they came. Beds IV and V also provide materials that were suitable for study. Cultures in East Africa during the Lower Paleolithic, the Upper Paleolithic, the Mesolithic, and the Neolithic periods are described in great detail in this paper. Anthropologists, like the Leakeys, have contributed to the detailed findings of these periods. Fossil Hominids were found in Africa, particularly from East Africa where twenty-five-million-year-old hominoids were found from the Lower Miocene were studied. Others were found from the Upper, Middle, and Lower Pleistocene as well. There are controversies of the origin of the Negro. It a possibility that he came from Africa or even Southern Asia. There are similarities between the Negro and the Bushmen, which have been suggested but not exactly proven.

In conclusion, the evidence provided in this paper is quite incomplete and inaccurate. Therefore a chronological assessment can not be created.

CLARITY: 1
JANI TRINDADE York University (Naomi Adelson).

Collier, Donald and Harry Tschopik, Jr. The Role of Museums in American Anthropology. Vol.56 1954 p.768-779

Museums began as a miscellaneous collection of objects privately acquired during exploration during the sixteenth and seventeenth century voyages of discovery. By the end of the eighteenth century museums became public or semi-public.

During the 1880’s, museums were mainly concerned with acquisition of objects by purchase or gift, and the cataloguing, preservation and display of the specimens. They were usually displayed typologically or geographically. During the late 1800’s, professional anthropologists began to occupy the curatorial positions in museums.

During the formative period of the 19th century, pioneer expeditions were sent to Latin America. The most outstanding event in the history of anthropological museums in the United States was the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893, when the research was extended from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego. The result of the Exposition was the founding of the Field Columbian Museum. This helped to create growing interest in both the public and professional, which helped to supply more private money to support research.

By 1900, the basic pattern of anthropological activities in American museums consisted of programs of exhibition, research, scientific and popular publication. The large area projects fostered regional comparisons and delimitations. The theoretical interests of museum men were empirical, strongly historical, and anti-evolutionary.

In the past thirty years the balance of influence has shifted from museum-oriented anthropologists to nonmuseum anthropologists. Museums have not gone far in changing their programs in the direction of the current interests in anthropology so the role of training professional anthropologists has shifted from the museum to the university.

CLARITY: 1
ADRIENNE CRAWFORD University of North Carolina at Charlotte (Dr. Gregory Starrett)

Collier, D. and Tschopik, H. The Role of Museums in American Anthropology. American Anthropology 1954 Vol.56: 768-779.

In considering the present relationship of museums to the anthropological profession the initial look is at the past in order to appreciate the problems facing anthropological museums.

Historically the museum began as private collections of objects collected during the years of extensive exploration during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. These anthropological museums were established devoid of a plan or any system of cataloguing the objects, acquired by purchase or gift. Notable exceptions were the Peabody Museum and the Smithsonian’s Bureau of American Ethnology under the guidance of F.W. Putman and John Wesley Powell respectively, and the entry of the great anthropologist Franz Boas.

The end of the nineteenth century and beginning of the twentieth century marked a remarkable development in anthropological museums, including large-scale systematic organization of exhibits. An event that foreshadowed and led to the great period of development in anthropological museums in the USA was the World Columbian Exposition in 1893. Museums during the period of 1890 to 1920 played a dominant role as a center of anthropological teaching with museum curators forming the core of university teaching staff. The importance of educating the public was emphasized with a shift in the influence of museums and museum-orientated anthropologists as teaching institutions. Teaching of anthropology to students moved to the universities. However, to prevent museums from being on the periphery of anthropology there was a shift to new areas of research. This included a focus on cultural anthropology with the detailed documentation of primitive cultures of Latin America, Africa, Asia and Oceania before these cultures disappeared. This would be linked to the collection of documentary films to provide an audio-visual record of contemporary cultures.

With the museums seeing themselves on the threshold of a new and important role, there still remained the dilemma of focus, the student or the public. However, it was believed possible to combine the focus of the anthropological museum as having a dynamic role to play in the education of both the profession and the public. The museum was suggested as the ideal place for anthropological exhibits of human biology, morphology and evolution, the nature of culture, as well as cultural growth and change, and cultural ecology.

CLARITY RATING: 4
BERTIE FRIEDLANDER York University (Naomi. Adelson)

Davidson, Eugene. For Wendell Clark Bennett. American Anthropologist, February, 1954 Vol.56:273.

Eugene Davidson’s For Wendell Clark Bennett is a posthumous tribute to a prolific anthropologist and archeologist. Davidson focuses on the idea that while societies of today differ greatly from those of the past, many fundamental aspects of our universe remain the same. The fact that Bennett spent a good deal of his career in the field examining relics of past cultures is emphasized in this poem. The work opens by proposing the idea that while we are no longer ruled by the Gods of ancient times, human nature still exhibits the fundamental desire to search for a greater meaning and authority. The lack of the structure of the past makes this longing acute and in need of exploration. Through his fieldwork and archeological digs Bennett uncovered clues to the current and future human state. In other words, the past holds a key to fundamental aspects of human nature, such as why violence has occurred. A deeper understanding of this past will provide a clearer perspective on the future.

Davidson also writes about Bennett’s courage and individuality. He didn’t feel pressured to follow formulas, but rather followed an innate understanding and perception of the past. Through his perseverance and intellectual strength Bennett was able to uncover that which others feared. In the second stanza Davidson delves into Bennett’s work, describing the mysteries which he sought to uncover and understand through his archeological work. Davidson highlights Bennett’s interpretive abilities. In one line he describes how inanimate objects had words for Bennett. Clearly Bennett’s work made a significant impact in and beyond the anthropological community.

CLARITY: 3
ADRIENNE DAVIS Barnard College (Paige West)

Dozier, Edward P. Spanish-Indian Acculturation in the Southwest: Comments. American Anthropologist August, 1954. Vol. 56(4): 680-684.

This article deals with the varying degrees and forms of acculturation that both Pueblo and Hopi tribes experienced as a result of the Spanish presence in the Southwest. Dozier feels it is important to distinguish between the fairly strong impact that Spanish culture had on the Pueblo Indians and the much more minimal effect that they had on the Hopi. He illustrates these points by processing a number of historical texts and interpreting their data within an anthropological framework. He discusses the historical facts and then quickly touches on what they mean in terms of the two tribe’s modern (as of 1954) identities.

Dozier discusses the “phenomenon of compartmentalization” among these two Southwestern tribes in terms of how the religious, cultural, and political values of the Spanish have strongly influenced some aspects of the two societies, while leaving others virtually unedited by outside influence (680). The degrees and manifestations of this compartmentalization differ between the two groups, and Dozier provides well-researched details of how the Pueblo and Hopi tribes have incorporated or kept out Spanish influence on language, religious beliefs and services, traditional ceremonies, and societal structure and identity.

Dozier then offers a short explanation of why acculturation differed so much between these two groups, linking this directly to the length and nature of the Spanish occupation in the two tribes’ respective regions.

The brevity of the article does not allow Dozier to get into a very detailed discussion of his subject matter or to discuss the further implications of these findings, but it does serve well as a brief and easily read glimpse at the issue.

CLARITY: 5
CHRISTOPHER AHERN Middlebury College (David Napier)

Ellis, Florence Hawley. Spanish-Indian Acculturation in the Southwest: Comments.American Anthropologist, 1954. Vol. 56 (4): 678 – 680.

(100 words for commentators)

Ellis’ article calls for a closer look at the purported cultural resistance and isolationism in Eastern Pueblos. She argues that while this society is a closely integrated people with many conservative cultural practices, there is a lot of evidence for their absorption of “borrowed” culture. She says that the Pueblos have integrated practices that are not explicitly recognizable; much investigation on this society is flawed because anthropologists are looking for compartmentalized (and not amalgamated) cultural “borrowing”. She even says that “amalgamation tendencies” lend itself to the conservative culture of Eastern Pueblos because it is such a “tight” culture. She offers the example of religious practices in this society – an amalgamation of Catholicism (Spanish colonial culture) and the old native religion. She extrapolates this analysis to the relationship between state and church, and recent developments in the marketing of culture after the Pueblos realized its economic viability. She argues that this is evidence of a highly complex hybrid culture, not static Spanish-Indian cultural resistance. Hence, she calls for a more holistic approach in ethnographic analysis so as to not dismiss important elements of evolving cultures with regard to this amalgamation-compartmentalization dialectic. Her focus on the more subtle negotiations of a culture vis-à-vis other cultures is very insightful.

CLARITY: 3
JASMIN JOHNSON Middlebury College (David Napier)

Eggan, Fred Social Anthropology and the Method of Controlled Comparison. American Anthropologist 1954 Vol. 56. 743-763.

With a clear distinction having been made between the concepts of society and culture there is general consensus that social anthropology is primarily concerned with society. Social anthropology is the term used for the comparative study of primitive society, whilst ethnology refers to its historical reconstruction. The comparative method of anthropology enables us to provide a comprehensive account of the various types of social structures found in societies worldwide and to observe the social and cultural changes that has occurred over time. An adaptation of the comparative method is well illustrated in the social and anthropological method used by Radcliffe-Brown, whilst with the advent of Franz Boas came yet another major breakthrough in controlled comparisons.

Social anthropology is a product of British anthropology and ethnology has its major development in the United States dealing with cultural history and cultural processes. Ethnological history is divided into several periods. The years 1900 to 1915 are marked by the advent of “The Formative Period” of American ethnology with studies centering on the vanishing Indian cultures under the influence of Boas. The period 1915 to 1930 is known as the “Florescent Period” in American ethnology with great museums dominating the period. This is followed by the “Expansionist Period” between 1930 and 1940, which marks the transition period in American ethnology and a shift in the direction of the study of societies further afield, such as in South Africa and Australia, using a method of study developed by Radcliffe-Brown. A similar method was used in studying the tribes of the Yucatan and the Great Basin tribes.

Complementary developments were occurring in England under the direction of Evans-Prichard and Forbes. With the advent of workers such as Haddon, Rivers and Seligman in England and Malinowski and Radcliffe-Brown in the US, social anthropology emerged as the basic discipline concerned with custom and social organization. The rapid changes since WW II in all branches of anthropology saw the need to identify these changes and give social anthropology its rightful place as the discipline concerned with both society and culture.

CLARITY RANKING: 1
BERTIE FRIEDLANDER York University (Naomi Adelson)

Feibleman, James K. Toward an Analysis of the Basic Value System. American Anthropologist 1954 Vol. 56 (3): 421-431.

James Feibleman discusses the definition of and the analytical approach to a basic value system. Feibleman defines culture as having two aspects, one being the objectivity of culture and the other being the effect of that objectivity. A society maintains itself with the invention and preservation of its culture, yet some of these aspects also exist independent of the discoverer, and beyond original vision. “Every artifact is in a sense a Frankenstein, for no one can predict what its effects shall be, not even the individuals directly responsible for its existence.” One clear example of the independence of culture is its similarity with knowledge; “for instance, astronomy is part of culture but Mars is not, only the knowledge of Mars is.” Culture moves forward with “blind movement” and grows through a process of “trial and error.” The problem posed by Feibleman is “to take core samples of the common denominator of cultures, and this now means to find out what kind of system it is that dictates the basic values.” The basic value system will be like a language, because it will allow for communication and then the value system will be regenerated through cultural institutions. Feibelman devised three language types to communicate values, denotative material, and matters of fact. Cultural complexes such as theology, mathematics, and journalism give rise to similar values in other institutions and are spread by indirect communication and inference. What Feibleman is trying to “show, in short, is how there can occur in cultures a process akin to what happens when a thought gives rise to a feeling.” If the value system is a public construct then it is also ontological. Values are concrete symbols and “they come into existence in culture when the responses of exceptionally gifted individuals are projected into unknown areas. For other individuals the acquisition of such values results from the acquisition of learned responses.”

CLARITY 3
MARSIA YENCSKO University of North Carolina at Charlotte (Gregory Starrett)

Feibleman, K. Jamie. Toward an Analysis of the Basic Value System. American Anthropologist 1954 Vol.56:421-432

The author of this article attempts to delineate the common qualities concerning cultural patterns and recognition. This is done through a detailed evaluation of the “Basic Value System”. This system refers to “the ties which bind together all the strains of culture”. The objective of this paper is to understand more about the structure set concerning culture and cultural patterns, and how these cultural patterns are generated through our ontological understanding of social norms and mores, individual aims and artistic expression. In order to illustrate these points, the author initially provides us with a definition of culture: “culture is the works of man and their effects (including their effects on man)”. The author divulges on this definition of culture, in two specific areas.

First, the author discusses the “objectivity of culture”, meaning that culture must be looked at in its relation to “human” culture, and remains primarily objective because it represents “an aspect of things”. The author provides an example, referring to Planet Mars: “similarly with knowledge, for instance, astronomy is part of culture but Mars is not, only the knowledge of Mars is”. Although rational thought is considered a cultural phenomenon, logic cannot be. This is due to the fact that ideas concerning logic can change, but logic itself cannot.

Secondly, in regards to culture and the definition of the “Basic Value System”, the author discusses the idea of artifacts and their symbolic implications. Human-made artifacts and other tools of cultural identity, react noticeably upon individuals due to their “inherent” cultural significance. The distinction that the author attempts to make here is between “what things are and how they became what they are”. The author gives some examples. Things such as Oxford University, or the United States Navy are human-made. But, the institution definitely contains elements which were not the work or concern during “conscious” production. Such things include the atmospheric influences, and traditional (sometimes nostalgic) values held at a certain place. These represent the “autonomous” aspects of culture.

The author, in order to further his discussion on the “Basic Value System” discusses language, which he explains grows “organically” like culture (through trial and error). He looks at the differing types of languages: axial languages, logical languages and actual-object languages. Axial languages were initiated in order to communicate values. An example includes art (which uses indirect communication or connotations). The author asserts that there is no direct communication of values. Logical languages were devised to “communicate abstract structures and laws” (denotative material). An example would be mathematics. Actual-object languages were devised to communicate “matters of fact”. An example of this type of language includes historiographies and journalistic expression.

CLARITY RANKING: 3
ARTHUR HAGOPIAN York University (Naomi Adelson)

Ford, J. A. On The Concept of Types: The Type Concept Revisited. American Anthropologist. Volume 56, no. 1: 42-55

The concept of types has been a popular topic among many anthropologists and archeologists for years. Ford explains his own definition of the concept of type. Attached to Ford’s article are comments from Julian H. Steward, who states his version of the concept of type, while criticizing Ford’s examples.

Ford states the concept type was first used to identify smaller divisions of a larger collection of artifacts, for example, the ceramic pottery vessels and pieces from Costa Rica and Nicaragua. He refers to this usage of the concept of type as the level of abstraction. Steward states “When the use or cultural significance of an object or practice is unknown, a descriptive label is necessary.” He refers to ball courts in Arizona as a label because in reality they could be dance halls. This usage of the concept of type is the “morphological” type.

Ford goes on to clarify his definition of the word type by using the so called “fairy tale” people from the island of Gamma-gamma. He states that the Gamma-gamma have a history of using ceramic vessels as containers. As manufacturing techniques (materials and firing techniques) better, so does the pottery, causing variation in the pottery. This he refers to as the variation due to cultural drift. Steward refers to this usage of the concept of type as the “historical index” type. He says certain items should be taken for what they’re worth and that is the particular cultural use. Variation in pottery does not necessarily mean that there was an influx of new ideas into an area. The materials (clay, sand, etc.), shape and design have a cultural significance and can only be used to identify times and places, not noncultural ideas.

Ford describes how the Gamma-gamma people lived in thatch huts built on the ground, or on a platform raised in the air on four poles, or stuck in a tree. Ford shows how the original ground house shape was the type. Then he shows how it began to vary over the years, whether it was built in a tree or on poles. The original plan was the type and the other variations were different sub types, based on usage and differentiation. Ford refers to this usage of the concept type as variation over time. Steward refers to this usage of the concept type as the “functional” type. Variation with morphological objects should not be linked to certain time periods. The different house styles have a noncultural significance. These noncultural objects have a certain function which is unknown. They should not be used to suggest changes in architecture due to lifestyle changes over time.

The final usage of the word type introduced by Ford are classifications of a culture. Ford remarks on the classification of the Gamma-gamma, taking into account all the features of the culture. Astonishingly, Steward does not choose to comment on this use of the concept of type.Ford and Steward do not seem to agree on each other’s usage of the word type. Both men present their own definitions with variations of the word type. Steward wrote his article after Ford, so along with his definitions are remarks to disprove Ford’s definition. These two men come from different fields, which explains the variations among definitions. Steward (a cultural anthropologist) believes Ford (an anthropologist) is trying to quantify the data before he has characterized it qualitatively. This is a common problem in the disputes between “lumpers” and “splitters”, as well as within the science of anthropology.

CLARITY: 3
???? University of North Carolina at Charlotte (Dr. Gregory Starrett)

Ford, J. A. On the Concept of Types. American Anthropologist 1954 Vol.56:42-55.

The author of this article presents an interesting argument. He has put together a theory on the study of types and how they can be applied to a model for the study of culture. He argues that everything that an individual culture does regardless of how different they are from other cultures can be classified as a type of behavior as it relates to the necessities of life. These being things such as survival, reproduction, food, shelter, religion etc. He believed that every culture ‘type’ of behavior stems from these core values and as long as you have this model to follow from all behavior can be classified and justified. This is interesting because although it technically works it is still dated to the time that it was written (1954) because of the classification of things that it pertains to. Obviously culture is to widespread and different for such a rigid model to be applied.

CLARITY RANKING: 3
ZACH DAVIDSON York University (Naomi Adelson)

Gillin, John. Obituary: Ralph Linton. American Anthropologist 1954 Vol.56 (4): 274-279.

Ralph Linton is one of the greatest anthropologists of his time. He was born on February 27, 1893 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania into a Quaker family. His friends from Moorestown High School said he had little interest in study. Not until he began college did he find his calling in life.

Ralph Linton entered college as an anthropology major specializing in archaeology. As an undergraduate he joined two field expeditions to New Mexico and southern Colorado in 1912. In 1915 he received his M.A. in anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania. In 1916 he began study at Columbia University, but was side tracked in 1917 to serve in the 149th Field Artillery. When he returned in 1919 he began to study at Harvard. Here he was sent to the Marquesas Islands to participate in an excavation. This is when he realized that he preferred studying the people more than he enjoyed studying the excavation. It was at this point that he decided his true calling was in anthropology.

In 1928 Linton entered the world of academia as an Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of Wisconsin. Here he wrote his most famous work, The Study of Man, an Introduction. In 1937 he moved to Columbia University to become the chairman of the Department of Anthropology. In 1946 he transferred to Yale to occupy the chair of Sterling Professor of Anthropology, the last position he would hold. Throughout his time as a professor he continued to publish and research.

Ralph Linton was a renowned scientist for his time. He won many prestigious awards such as the 1954 Huxley Medal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland. He was the second American to win this award. Linton was loved by many due to his extraordinary capacity for friendship. He left a wife and his only son behind.

CLARITY: 4
WERNER, DAMIAN. UNC Charlotte (Gregory Starrett).

Goldfrank, Esther S. Intercultural Relations in the Greater Southwest: Comments. American Anthropologist August 1954 Vol. 56(4): 658-662.

The article addresses major American Indian traditions present in the Southwestern United States. The Southwest had a diverse and varied Indian population that included hunter-gather tribes as well as tribes that had sophisticated agricultural systems, all in different geological settings. The main argument is that the different societies adapted their traditions according to their social interactions with different peoples. Goldfrank accepts this argument but suggests that another influence was ecological change. She points out examples of both theories, the first being the Pueblo Revolt of 1680. In the aftermath of the revolt, the relatively small Pueblo population transformed the culture of the large Navaho population. The Navaho accepted many of the Pueblo’s agricultural and ceremonial processes. The other example, which supports Goldfrank’s theory, is of the Navaho’s acceptance of Pueblo ideas and the Mohave tribe. The Mohave tribe lived in an area that had an accessible water source to feed their irrigation systems. The Navaho, on the other hand, lived in an area prone to flash flooding. Their agricultural practices were, therefore, dependant on this flooding. The Mohave did not have many ceremonies involving irrigation while the Navaho adopted the Pueblo’s idea of magic and held elaborate ceremonies praying for rain. Goldfrank argues that while this adaptation did reflect an intercultural interaction the only reason that it the practices of the other culture were so readily accepted was because of inherent ecological circumstances. The Southwestern American Indians, therefore, adapted accordingly to their environmental needs as well as their spiritual and social needs through intercultural interactions.

CLARITY: 5
LESLIE GATELY Middlebury College (David Napier).

Greene, John C. Some Early Speculations on the Origin of Human Races. American Anthropologist February, 1954 Vol. 56 (1):31-41.

This article provides an overview of some of the theories of race formation which were prevalent in the “eighteenth century”, a period defined as prior to 1815. This interval was notable not only for the great amount of attention given the puzzle of human racial origins but also for the variety of approaches taken in the collective attempt to solve it.

During the eighteenth century there were no full time specialists studying the natural history of man. The “anthropologists” of the time were botanists, philosophers, mathematicians, clergymen, physicians, anatomists, and physiologists. Although there was some research, speculation about man’s origins predominated and the prevailing view of the question of racial origins was formed largely by the popular ideas of the day. Species were believed to be the perfectly adapted archetypes unchanged since Creation, while varieties were seen as the fortuitous result of the forces of time, chance, and circumstance. A few academians such as Voltaire and Henry Home were polygenists who believed in a number of distinct human species, however the leading naturalists were monogenists who regarded different human types as varieties rather than discrete species. In the attempt to explain the deviation from a single original type, three main lines of thought developed in the monogenist camp. The most widely accepted school of thought credited human divergence from the original stock to circumstantial influences such as climate, diet, and life ways, and presumed the inheritance of acquired characteristics. Buffon and Blumenbach popularized this theory but did not explain precisely how various environmental factors affected changes in human appearance and behavior. Another postulate which was supported by Maupertuis, Prichard, and Wells emphasized the importance of random variation and mutation. They attributed the creation of new human forms to a refining process that lead toward perfection, rather than as a decline away from the original ideal human. The third theory discussed is that of Immanuel Kant who believed that racial differences could be explained by ideas of preformation and adaptation. He asserted that the human organism was possessed of intrinsic capabilities for change that could either be activated or cached as necessary, and that physical variations occurred as adaptive responses to the demands of environmental change.

CLARITY RANKING: 3
DEA HOUSER University of North Carolina, Charlotte (Gregory Starrett)

Greene, John C. Some early speculations on the Origin of Human Species. American Anthropologist 1954 Vol 56 Pg. 31-34

Through Professor Count’s publications on Races of Man a lot of interest has heightened in this area. Count proposed that there are four distinct periods detailing the history of raciology. In this article, John Greene focuses on the period before 1815, which Count defined as the Eighteenth Century. Greene emphasizes that during this period there were no real anthropologists that focused their studies on Anthropological Research; however, several individuals such as Linnaeus, Kant, Maupertuis, Cuvier and Camper did take an interest in “…the natural history of man.” (Greene 31). These individuals, to name a few, all specialized in other fields of expertise and, as a result, “…speculation predominated over research.” (Greene 31). Greene also indicates that much consideration must be taken in viewing the history of raciology in this period as eighteenth century biology defined species and varieties as distinct. Species was seen as “in the beginning” by a Creator whereas varieties was based on time, change and nature. Greene notes these differences in viewpoints were important when analyzing the human race and “…made a world of difference whether they were guarded as separate species or as varieties of a single one” (Greene 31) when delving into the origin of the human race. Greene states that if one views life and the human race based on species there would be no question of origin as this view is based on the scripture. However, contrary to popular belief, Greene states that many naturalists “…did not believe in a plurality of human species or in ‘pure races’.” (Greene 32). Although many of these individuals did not believe in a pure race, they held on to the belief that the white man was a direct descendant from God (Great Chain of Being) and that any differences were based on biological findings. Polygenists were the individuals who held onto the idea of a “pure race” that was found to directly relate to seeing the origin of human races as “Species” in the eighteenth century.

Greene provides verification as seen by monogenists that all individuals derived from one species and that the emergence of mankind was a result on how well races successfully interbred. (Greene 32). However, many individuals, such as Blumenbach, did not agree with this idea and felt that human variety was based on known causes of degeneration (Greene 32). Blumenbach and many others believed that individuals that resided near the Caspian Sea were the true founders of mankind and that their natural white feature was the original colour that changed to yellow, brown and black based on time and circumstances. Upon further review, Blumenbach stated that through degeneration the pure white race would appear again as seen in the “white Negroes and whiter Indians.” (Greene 33). Much of Blumenbach’s findings led to several Naturalists seeking alternate answers to the origin of race and dismissing the “environmental explanation.” Naturalists such as Maupertuis supposed that many family traits were based first accidentally but as time went on, from generation to generation, the natural ancestral type would reappear. (Greene 35).

Kant, another Naturalist, formulated his own theory of race formation indicating the key to history of man lay in the genetic makeup and the interbreeding within different individuals. Kant formulized that there are four distinct skin colours that will vary based on interbreeding.

In short, during this period in time, many individuals believed that the origin of human races was a direct result of “…climate, diet and social habits and assumed the inheritance of acquired characters.” (Greene 39), while others believed it was a direct result from the interbreeding and heredity factors that lead to different strains. In all, however, the concept of nature strongly influenced the people who sought after the question of human race.

CLARITY RANKING 3
TRACY WOOLRIDGE York University (Naomi Adelson)

Gusinde, Martin. Wilhelm Schmidt, S.V.D., 1868-1954. American Anthropologist. 1954 vol. 56 (5): 868-870.

Father Wilhelm Schmidt, born in Germany, had a predisposition for anthropology before he even realized it. From an early age he resolved to dedicate his life to missionary work as a priest outside of Europe. Father Schmidt was ordained in 1892, and he studied linguistics in Berlin for two years thereafter. Linguistics was his passion, and he devoted many works to the study of linguistics. One of Father Schmidt’s major contributions was proving an “inner connection between the Mon-Khmer peoples in Southeast Asia and those groups of the South Seas”, which was (and still is) one of the most important discoveries in the field of linguistics. He created a new phonetic system, the so-called “Anthropos-Alphabet”, which better relates the sounds of a foreign language. In 1926 Father Schmidt also compiled a great work in which all the languages of the world are systematized. Ethnology also received contributions from Father Schmidt. The time that he lived in was the era of “the hegemony of crude evolutionism”. Father Schmidt was adamantly opposed to such an arbitrary evolutionary scheme. In fact, Schmidt has the formulation of the “culture-historical method” as one of his accomplishments. He arranged the principles and rules into a compact system and made ethnology into a science. Also, Father Schmidt realized the need for investigation of ‘the primitives’, as the penetration of modern civilization was beginning to influence all areas of the Earth. Father Schmidt received numerous awards and recognitions, and even was the president at the Fourth International Congress of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences. Thus, the accomplishments of Father Schmidt have been summarized.

CLARITY:5
G. THOMAS BENTON JR. UNCCharlotte (Gregory Starrett)

Gusinde, Martin. Wilhelm Schmidt, S.V.D., 1868-1954. American Anthropologist, 1954 Vol 56:868-870

Martin Gusinde’s article is a dedication to the life and work of Wilhelm Schmidt who passed away on February 10, 1954. Schmidt made exceptional contributions in several fields of knowledge and particularly extended our knowledge of nonliterate peoples in many directions. His death is a source of genuine sorrow among a wide circle of colleagues and friends, admirers and acquaintances, the world over.

The article then begins to give a brief biography of Schmidt’s younger life and education. Schmidt was born on February 16, 1868 in Hoerde, the son of a teacher from whom he and his brother inherited a rich musical talent. From youth he resolved to dedicate his life as a missionary priest outside of Europe. After graduating from the humanistic gymnasium at Steyl, Holland, Wilhelm entered the Mission Seminary of the Society of the Divine Word at St. Gabriel, WienModling, to complete his philosophical and theological studies. He was ordained a priest in 1892. The article continues talking about various positions he held, and how he had to flee Nazi’s from Austria in 1938.

Gusinde states that linguistics was Schmidt’s first greatest love. Schmidt had a particular preference for the languages for the languages of Australia and the South Seas. One of his greatest accomplishments was successfully proving an inner connection between the languages of the MonKhmer peoples in Southeast Asia and those of groups in the South Seas. He created a new phonetic system, the so-called Anthropos-Alphabet. He then produced a great new work in which all the languages of the world are systematized.

Martin also summarized some of Schmidt’s more important ethnology work. By 1906, Schmidt had declared open war against the evolutionary notion that humanity was the result of step-by-step development, ascending from a raw, incomplete primitive state to a better form and more estimable arrangement. Schmidt also formulated the “culture-historical method.” This method had been previously used by others, but it was Father Schmidt who arranged the principles and rules into a compact system. Ethnology, is better known as cultural Anthropology in the United States. Father Schmidt founded the journal Anthropos(1906-53), in which manuscripts appear in one of the seven modern languages. Later on, he became impelled to more intensive research and organized several expeditions principally to the real “primitives.” He considered it a matter of importance that the mental cultures of these tribes be systematically and thoroughly revealed.

Martin concludes that on many scientific fields with which ethnology is allied, Schmidt exerted a beneficial influence. He has completed an enormously valuable and extensive career. Posterity owes him a debt of gratitude.

CLARITY RANKING: 5
SHANE MATTE York University (Naomi Adelson)

Hallowell, A. Irving, and Erma Gunther. Daniel Sutherland Davidson. American Anthropologist 1954 Vol.56:873-876

Daniel Sutherland Davidson was a professor of Anthropology at the University of Washington. He attended the University of Pennsylvania in 1923, where it attained his degree in anthropology. From all his hard work and effort, Davidson received an invitation to join the faculty of the University of Washington. He eventually moved to Seattle where he was made professor in 1949.

Mr. Davidson became well known for his fieldwork among the Algonkin Islands of the Eastern Woodlands. He published a number of papers on the Algonkin Islands in his early days. While still a graduate student, Davidson developed a profound interest in aboriginal Australian culture. This was considered quite extraordinary for an American anthropologist at that time. A young yet extraordinary man, Davidson’s doctoral dissertation, was concerned with the systematic application of the “age and area” theory to the data then available on Australian social organization (1954:873). In 1930-31, Daniel Davidson visited Australia again, and spent almost two years as a Fellow of the Social Science Research Council.

This bright and ambitious anthropologist was quite unique in that he mastered the technique of string-figures. In 1927 his second published piece was described as incomparable. His capacity for handling the details of material culture with great precision was remarkable.

Daniel Davidson eventually became the first president of the organization of the Seattle Anthropological Society. In memory of all his success and effort, a Davidson Prize has been established, to be rewarded to the best published paper submitted by a graduate student who is a member of the Seattle Anthropological Society.

This obituary was very clearly and thoroughly written resulting in a clear article.

CLARITY:5
ANGELA ADU York University (Naomi Adelson).

Hallowell, A. Gunther, Erna. Daniel Sutherland Davidson, 1900-1952. American Anthropologist, 1954. Vol.56: 873-974.

In this article, the authors address various aspect of the life of Daniel Sutherland Davidson. Hallowell and Gunther give a detailed account of the Sutherland’s numerous achievements as well as the ways in which his presence benefited society. Sutherland was an extremely active figure within the anthropological world and had the opportunity to spread his knowledge and experience while teaching at well-known universities such as the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Oregon and the University of Washington. In addition to being an esteemed professor, his life achievements also include his opportunities to pursue his interest in aspects of various cultures such as those of the Algonquin Indians and aboriginal Australian culture. From this research, he published several works such as “A Preliminary Register of Australian Tribes and Hordes” and “An Ethnic Map of Australia”.

It seems as though the purpose of this article is to glorify the life of a beloved and respected anthropologist who has departed. This summary of his life does not in any way detail any of the negative aspects of his life or the negative aspects of his work as an anthropologist. It seems as though a Davidson should be portrayed by both his negative and positive contributions to society. To withhold somewhat negative aspects of his life is to give him a glorified persona. As a result of this glorification, the authors may be putting forth a false image of Davidson’s true character. The authors seem to hold this departed individual with high regard and as a result, they fail to mention any negative attributes that he may have had as well as any negative images that other individuals may have had of him. It seems that they are simply set out to demonstrate that Davidson was an enormous asset to the anthropological world by stating all of his glorious achievements.

CLARITY: 5
VICTORIA GAREL Barnard College (Paige West).

Hallowell, Irving A. and Gunther, Erna. Daniel Sutherland Davidson 1900-1952. American Anthropologist, 1954. Vol.56: 873-875.

This article pays tribute to the late Daniel Sutherland Davidson. He died suddenly in his mother’s home on December 26, 1952, before being able to present his final paper, entitled, “Population Density and Culture Dynamics in Aboriginal Australia.” The article offers a brief overview of his early life, though mainly focusing on his contributions to anthropology. While he was still a graduate student he became interested in the aboriginal Australian culture. From there he wrote many papers on the social organization of the tribes in Australia. His research into these fields was groundbreaking at the time and commendable. He put painstaking efforts into the accuracy of all the maps that he transcribed.

Davidson was well educated in the anthropological field and went on to share his knowledge with others. He studied at the University of Pennsylvania, where he later received his doctorate. He was a Curator at the Oceania Section at the University of Pennsylvania Museum. He taught at Pennsylvania, as well as the University of Buffalo, the University of Oregon, and the University of Washington.

His greatest achievements, as highlighted in the article, were his organization of the Seattle Anthropological Society and his influence on the graduate students at the University of Washington. In order to honor his memory a Davidson Prize was created. The prize is to be awarded to the best paper submitted by a graduate student who is a member of the Seattle Anthropological Society. Also, in his memory the graduate students’ club at the University of Washington was renamed to the Davidson Society. The article stresses the groundbreaking ideas that Davidson possessed and his unforgettable influences on the anthropological world.

CLARITY: 4
ERIN WESSELDINE Columbia University (Paige West)

Hallowell, Irving A. Southwestern Studies of Culture and Personality: Comments. American Anthropologist August, 1954. Vol. 56(4):700-708.

This briefly written article addresses the issue regarding the recent trend in the integration of studies of personality and culture into anthropological work.

Hallowell begins his argument by making note of the fact that autobiographical information has become an integral part of anthropological fieldwork, and he moves on to state that, while this movement has taken place, many have failed to recognize the complex psychological processes that produce a given orientation towards self-related events. The main argument of the article is that there are cultural differences regarding what constitutes self-related experience, and as a result “account must be taken of what the subject conceives and feels to be self-related experience.” In other words, the autobiographical account of the self-related experience of an individual from one culture may not necessarily makes sense to a reader from another culture, and it is now the responsibility of the anthropologist to make light of the manner in which one has internalized a cultural worldview and its consequent orientation towards what constitutes valid self-related experience.

The first example which Hallowell uses as evidence refers to the remarks made by a young Vaish girl in India regarding the events which had occurred in her previous life. Hallowell explains that, while our concept of self-related experience is confined to a single lifetime, the Hindu concept of reincarnation has awarded this account of a past life valid and meaningful. This girl’s account of a past life is valid because of the cultural context in which it was presented; she has been socialized to exist in harmony with a social order that functions on the idea of reincarnation and past life.

Another example which Hallowell uses refers to his own personal experiences with accounts of dreams. He explains that while some cultures do not, in the name of self-related experience, recognize the dichotomy between being awake and dreaming; thus such accounts of dreaming as genuine life experience may not coincide with our own categories of real-life experience.

Hallowell concludes his argument with an analysis of current techniques in personality and culture studies, which is a skeptical at best. Nevertheless, he introduces the Rorschach technique as the most valid protocol that has been used up to date, though he states that, if used, an anthropologist should be familiar with the technique and must also make it “and integral part of a research design well thought out in advance.”

Hallowell’s argument states that the field of anthropology has indeed made progress in the area of culture and personality, but at the same time he makes the claim that the ability of the new psychological techniques that have been developed in studies of culture and personality are, due to their complex nature, still questionable.

CLARITY: 4
FREDERICK EDWARDS Middlebury College (David Napier)

Hart C. W. M. The Sons of Turimpi. American Anthropologist 1954 V. 56 (2):242-261

The personality and culture movement in Anthropology involves, as one of its main ideas, that in “Primitive societies” there is a basic sameness in the personality of the natives. The favorite argument of this idea is that because a society forms an individual into a basic psychological mold, the simpler a society is the fewer variations in personality will develop. Though there may not be any data to contest this theory, almost every field Anthropologist would disagree. Even in the “simpler societies” a field Anthropologist must, through the course of his study, determine which natives are good informants, which are liars, which are fearful, who is afraid of whom and who belongs to whom, and who are the leaders and who are the yes men. If an Anthropologist does not or cannot discover this about the people he or she studies, he or she cannot believe their conclusion and data to be accurate. Due to the nature of Anthropology, this sort of data is the information that is never published.

As an example, this paper will review the findings and notes on personality involving a tribe of Australian Aborigines by C.W.M. Hart. These people, called the Tiwi, are located in the Islands of Melville and Bathurst in North Australia. One cannot live in the close and intimate nomadic life of Australia without getting to know some people better than others. Two of the five men that will be discussed were not only trusted advisors and informants, but also 24/7 companions for two years. These two, Mariano and Tipperary, are discussed because of the variety of events and conversations that allowed the researcher to get to know them pretty well. The other three, Antonio, Louis, and Bob, are discussed because all five are brothers and born of the same mother. These are good examples because they each were raised and “molded” in the same “simple society” and by the same mother (family setting).

Five brothers, each with a variety of personalities, but resembling one another in many ways, all living and growing in the same society. If it were true that the simpler a society, the more homogeneous the personalities of those within it, then these five brothers would act primarily the same, reacting similar to all situations, and having the same values. This however, by the evidence, is not he case. Antonio, the oldest, was thrust into a position of leadership and power he did not want nor could he handle. Mariano, who was solid in his beliefs and always ready to take center stage, even out of turn. Louis, the womanizer, always secure in himself and never needing outside influences. Tip the lovable jokester whom, through no real conscious effort, received status and prestige beyond his years. And Bob, the “Good Boy” whom spent most of his time away from the tribe and avoiding any conflict or notice. These five brothers are an excellent documented example of diversity in personality within a “simple” society.

CLARITY RATING: 5
SEAN A. WHITTAKER University of North Carolina Charlotte (Dr. Gregory Starrett)

Hart, C. W. M. The Sons of Turimpi. American Anthropologist 1954 Vol. 56: 242-261

In The Sons of Turimpi, C.W.M. Hart makes an effort to disprove the theories of critics such as Lindesmith and Strauss. These theories on the interaction of personality and culture are built on the assumption that in so called “primitive” societies, the personality of the natives are essentially the same with little or no variation.

Hart uses his knowledge of and experiences with the Tiwi of Melville and Bathurst Islands, North Australia as proof to the unfounded nature of Lindesmith’s and Strauss’ assumptions. Hart uses not just five men of the Tiwi to serve as evidence of the variance of personality in all cultures, but those five men are chosen because they are brothers: Antonio, Mariano, Louis, Tipperary, and Bob.

The contrasting personalities of the five brothers are made quite obvious by Hart’s descriptions. Antonio, the oldest brother, is described as insecure, uneasy, and a “yes-man” who is unable to have an opinion of his own. In contrast, Mariano is forceful, aggressive, influential, self-important, confident, and a natural born leader. Louis is described as a man obsessed with sex, constantly trying to seduce other men’s wives. He is also described as being gloomy, irritable, hostile, and is even rumoured to have beaten his wife to death. Tipperary is said to have an inherent sense of humour, to be jovial and fun loving. He has a friendly and social nature. Finally, Bob is considered by his community as being a complete nonentity. Bob seems devoid of personality, a subservient follower.

Hart concludes by stating that these five brothers in this seemingly simple culture have personalities that are as varied as any five random people in Western society. He exposes the ethnocentric nature of Lindesmith’s and Strauss’ theory and provides a good argument on the false nature of stereotypes.

CLARITY RANKING: 5
ELISE GRETO York University (Naomi Adelson)

Hawkes, Christopher. Archeological Theory and Method: Some Suggestions from the Old World. American Anthropologist Fall, 1954 Vol. 56 (2): 155-168

In this article, Hawkes defines the terms “text – free” and “text – aided” archaeology. He discusses reasons why “text – free” archaeology is not easily conducted by itself and suggests ideas for how the two approaches should be “conjoined” to form a better, more well rounded, better approach to archaeology.

The “text –free” method is a means by which archaeologists make inferences about human culture based solely on material remains. Unlike “text – aided” archaeology, which bases its inferences on archaeological phenomena that are known historically, “text – free” archaeology uses the idea of norms in human activity to produce a comparison of archaeological data and infer the processes necessary to create that data. “Text – aided” archaeology uses historically related texts to help accomplish this task. Most archaeologists, whether they are aware of it or not, use a combination of both of these approaches and this combination is similar to the “conjunctive” approach found in the American “new archaeology”.

Hawkes then discusses briefly the “conjunctive” approach as it applies to Old World archaeology. Our awareness of certain facts within the archaeological record is due to this combination of “text – aided” and “text – free” methodology. For example, he states that the barbarian regions of “prehistoric” Europe existed around 3000 B.C. alongside the Near and Middle East civilizations, where the beginnings of written text were occurring. Our understanding of the “prehistory” and “history” of these two cultures and their relationship will ultimately affect how we interpret them. Hawkes adds that due to the same type of “conjunctive” interpretation of most civilizations, there will almost always be something “historical” about them. This leads into a discussion of why then, the “text –free” approach does not work by itself.

Hawkes states that although certain things can be ascertained from inferences made solely on material remains, the depth to which this approach may go is limited. He says that the techniques that produced the remains and forms of subsistence may be inferred correctly, but that more abstract ideas such as socio-political structure or religious institutions are impossible to determine from material remains alone. This approach is thus anticlimactic in that it only discuses the very basic aspects of man and fails to illuminate humankind’s complexity.

Therefore, Hawkes concludes that a “conjunctive” method, which utilizes other forms of natural science, would be the ideal for archaeology in the Old World. The means of diffusion of knowledge, whether through migration or not, should be inferred and added to the interpretation. Using the historical knowledge we have and working down through time tracing diffusions back to prehistory, would enable us to draw up a clear chronology for the archaeological record.

CLARITY: 3
ROBERTSON, PENELOPE University of North Carolina at Charlotte (Gregory Starrett)

Hawkes, Christopher. Archeological Theory and Method Some Suggestions from the Old World. American Anthropologist. 1954 Vol. 56:155-168.

Christopher Hawkes, in the article examines the nexus at which “new world and old world Archeology meet.” Hawkes concerns himself with what the role of Archeology actually is, is it after all the role of archeology to simply uncover material remnants of a group is it the role of the archeologist to explore the culture from which these cultural remnants come? Hawkes suggests what he terms a conjunctive approach, saying that archeology is to both explore and analyze. For instance Hawkes points out that in the past Archeological findings were divided up into chronological order, Hawkes believes that it is equally as important for Archeological findings to be considered culture by culture. Hawkes is making the case that the technicality of the science of archeology must be complimented by the theory and historical perspective of anthropology. In a very basic sense Hawkes is considering archeology from a very holistic perspective, one that incorporates science and anthropological theory and method. This article maybe of use to someone concerned with theoretical perspective in Archeology.

CLARITY: 3
ARKEY ADAMS York University Toronto, (Naomi Adelson).

Hill, W.W. Intercultural Relations in the Greater Southwest: Comments. American Anthropologist August, 1954 Vol. 56(4): 657-658.

This article, by W.W. Hill, involves various authors’ comments about Native American cultural relations in the Southwestern United States. Cultural development was impacted by physical surroundings and social interactions.

One of the primary researchers that Hill discusses is Underhill. Although many decades of research have been conducted in the Southwest, Hill states how he was fascinated by the fact that some of the simple questions that she presented remain unanswered. Underhill suggested that it is difficult to discern between the characteristics of the Apache and those of the Navaho. Research illustrated that a group that inhabited that area, the Athabascans, gradually adjusted to their physical surroundings and local, social settings differently, thus forming two separate groups, the Navaho and the Apaches.

Hill continues the discussion by commenting on Reed’s proposal that the Eastern and Western Pueblo evolved differently over an extended period of time. Both archeological and ethnological evidence contributed to this belief. When the Eastern Pueblo came into contact with Europeans, they maintained many of their cultural practices, while incorporating some European ideas. The Western Pueblo, however, had differing types of outside contact, and therefore were able to retain a more distinct culture.

Next, Hill comments on the Tewa, whose population began dwindling even before the Spanish arrived. In order for the Tewa to preserve their identity as a group, they created a system of reciprocal obligations and of personnel who led certain events for all families or individuals. Therefore, individuals from many villages fought, hunted and performed religious ceremonies together.

Hill concludes that it is important to remember what region the Pueblos inhabited, because each culture had varying types and amounts of European contact as a result of its location. Further studies of these developments and contacts should be undertaken in order to understand how the Eastern Pueblo developed in ways that distinguished them from the inhabitants of the surrounding villages in the Southwest.

CLARITY: 4
LAUREN WOLLIN Middlebury College (David Napier).

Hirsch, David I. Glottochronology and Eskimo and Eskimo-Aleut Prehistory American Anthropologist. 1954 Vol. 56, no. 3 p. 825-836

The data on the problems within the Eskimo family of languages were obtained by the glottochronological technique for linguistic dating. This technique uses the rate of shift of languages which remains constant, and with this you can tell when certain groups diverged from one another.

Some problems arise from this technique. Sometimes there are not enough vocabulary items to fill the original vocabulary, since only a few language pairs that exist. It is therefore necessary to supplement the vocabulary. By doing this it is no longer possible to rely on absolute dates. Even by doing this it is not possible to get enough words for all the dialects. To compare the results for dialect pairs from different sublists you have to show that the list is homogenous. This is done by subjecting some of the dialect pairs for which a large number of items was available to vocabulary counts on the four sublists.

Data from archeology, radiocarbon dating, and dendrochronology will be considered, not to corroborate the linguistic results, but to order some of the data to suggest hypotheses for future research. Swadesh has classified all dialects for which material is available into two groups, Yupik and Inupik. The Yupik comprises the southwest Alaskan and the Siberian dialects. The rest are placed in the Inupik group. The parent Eskimo language was spoken about 1,000 years ago. The center of origin for the whole family is placed in or near Alaska.

Recent work has shown a relationship between the Eskimo and the Aleut. The dates of seperation for the groups is at 2900*400 years ago. During this period the proto-Eskimo must have remained a tight-knit homogenous group. The center of the Eskimo was placed in or near Alaska and the Aleut are somewhere in the Aleutians.

During the 2,000 years between the Eskimo-Aleut period and the end of the proto-Eskimo period there was a slow gradual movement toward the Bering Strait region. The original group moved to the islands off of Alaska and developed cultural modifications that were a result of their adaptation to the sea. After arriving the proto-Eskimo split into two groups for unknown reasons. There is evidence that the Inupik stayed together longer than the Yupik for unknown reasons.

CLARITY: 3
NO NAME University of North Carolina at Charlotte (Gregory Starrett)

Hirsch, David I. Glottochronology and Eskimo and Eskimo-Aleut Prehistory. American Anthropologist 1954 Vol. 56: 825-838.

This article focuses on new data presented on problems within the Eskimo language family, using the glottochronolgical technique for linguistic dating. The basic concept is that, “over relatively long periods of time, the rate of shift of items in what we may call the Basic Lexicon of a language is approximately constant.” This is then used to determine how much is still in common between various languages and therefore how far apart via time they actually are. This does not provide exact dating, but is yet another tool for anthropologists to use in their search for information.

The author goes on to compile charts and maps that serve to illustrate the language group geographical locations and the percentage of similarity between them. The remainder of the article goes even more indepth with regards to the actual science of glottochronological dating, focusing on such items as standard error, probable error, and 9/10ths level error. Using these techniques, the author goes on to discuss the results of the testing with regards to the Eskimo and Eskimo-Aleut languages. This data indicates that Eskimo proper is split into two distinct groups. The conclusion he draws is that the parent language of the Eskimo family was spoken about 1000 years ago. He goes on to use this information gleaned from glottochronology to determine when the language branched at each step along the way, tracing migration patterns and geographical locations on maps.

The author concludes that proto-Eskimo-Aleut stock was present in Alaska over 3000 years ago, and proto-Eskimo stock was between the latter area and the Bering Strait between 3000 and 1000 years ago. Eskimo proper can be divided into two major groups, and there was probably a gradual migration of the proto-Eskimo from south Alaska to the Bering Strait area. Finally, since the time period appears to be 3000 years ago there is a likely connection between Eskimo and Indo-Eurasian language groups.

CLARITY RANKING: 2
JAMES STREET York University (Naomi Adelson)

Hoebel, E. Adamson. Major Contributions of Southwestern Studies to Anthropological Theory. American Anthropologist 1954 Vol.56 (3):720-726

Prior to 1928, Southwestern ethnological theory was very limited, if existent at all. The Pueblos represent an area very rich in cultures and information. The high Spanish and Angelo cultures have a history of over four hundred years of interaction, and represent the longest and richest archeological record of primitive societies. Social Structure has developed well thanks to men like Krober and his Zuni Kin and Clan (1979) and Lowie. Men like Oppler and Eggan expanded the theories of group form in their research into the Apache, Chiricahua, and Mescalero. Another man to be remembered is Leslie White who, through his studies of the Keresan Pueblos, researched religious development patterns and developed theories for Southwestern societies. A major contributor to the psychological studies of Southwestern cultures is Ruth Benedict. With her Psychological Types in the Cultures of the Southwest and Configuration of Culture in North America, she was able to characterize many behaviors and the contrast between Northwest Coast and the Plains. Another important aspect of the Southwestern cultures is area definition. W. Duncan Strong is well known in this field because of his studies into the Pueblo as well as the Navaho.

CLARITY RANKING: 1
SEAN A. WHITTAKER University of North Carolina Charlotte (Dr. Gregory Starrett)

Hoebel, E. Adamson. Major Contributions of Southwestern Studies to Anthropological Theory. American Anthropologist 1954 Vol.56:720-726

This article is a brief summary of some of the more significant contributions to anthropology that were made from study done in the South Western areas of North America, particularly the Pueblo peoples. The author argues that the various structures of Pueblo life (geography, kinship, power relations, and position) makes them one of the most interesting and valuable peoples to study left in the world. (circa 1954). The standpoint that the author makes is that not enough weight has been put on the anthropological studies that have been done in this area. He puts a great deal of emphasis on the studies made by Kroeber and Lowie in 1915 most particularly Kroeber with his “posing of the conflict between the linguistic, or psychological, and sociological theories of causation in kinship terminology”.

The author argues that southwestern kinship phenomena contributed greatly to the study kinship relations and why they vary so greatly from culture to culture. He presents his argument by noting some of the more significant studies made in the area by anthropologists. Most notably are W. Duncan Strong’s contribution of his “nuclear cluster for diagnostic purposes”, and Kluckhohn’s work on the ‘circular action of theory on investigation and results on theory”. What is important to note in this article is that you can start to see trends leading towards the “culture as fluid” and part of a bigger interrelated picture theory. The article is clear, concise, but unfortunately lacks detail and is short.

CLARITY RANKING 4
ZACH DAVIDSON York University (Naomi Adelson)

Hoijer, Harry. American Indian Linguistics in the Southwest: Comments. American Anthropologist August 1954 Vol. 56(4): 637-639.

This article addresses the arguments made by Newman, Powell, and Sapir’s work on American Indian Linguistics. Hoijer contends that these studies are not sufficient and that each study was methodically naïve or too brief to establish any final conclusions. Hoijer claims that these Americanists have completely disregarded historical studies within structural linguistics. He also adds that too many studies deal exclusively with phonology and grammar and, therefore, there are far too few lexical studies, which are integral for historical research. Hoijer feels that the study of linguistics in the Southwest is just the beginning of dependable historical research. Except for some reason studies by Sapir there has been no further knowledge of historical affiliation within Southwestern tribes since the work of Powell in 1891. Hoijer touches upon Sapir’s work “The Hokan Affinity of Subtiaba in Nicaragua” as an example of linguistic relationships that are beyond the scope of comparative methods. This particular study shows that linguistic resemblance, in this case, is completely irrelevant to the majority of the grammar, these characteristics as so abstract that they have almost no value to historical research. Hoijer suggests that the Southwest can provide an arena to study “linguistic drift” since according to him the concept has not been suitably tested. Hoijer then goes on to mention Newman’s impressive amount of studies on linguistic problems in the Southwest but disputes their validity because they have too little research and publication. He calls for more date collection on the Keresan, Tewan, Hopi, and Zuni peoples since adequate cultural and historical research is absent for all tribes besides the Navaho. Hoijer agrees with Newman’s suggestion that the Southwest offers a great opportunity to study American Indian linguistics because it has a rich history of ethnographic data and because it contains many communities with active language and cultural practices as well as a few isolated monolinguals. Hoijer calls for language-culture research investigating linguistic change and cross-tribe interaction. He then names another problematic aspect of research, which is language borrowing. The Southwestern American Indians most likely borrowed linguistic and cultural aspects from English and Spanish. This problem, according to Hoijer, deserves more investigation. Other studies on bi- and multilingual American Indians should be studied. Hoijer concludes that many areas of American Indian linguistic and cultural study have been neglected and he suggests that the ideal location for these studies is the Southwest.

CLARITY: 2
LESLIE GATELY Middlebury College (David Napier).

Howell, F. Clark. Hominids, Pebble Tools, and the African Villafranchian. American Anthropologist. Volume 56, no. 3: 1954:378-

In Africa, primitive hominids and pebble tools have been discovered in deposits of recognized Villafranchian age. According to Howell, “these discoveries raise the question of the relationship between these earliest stone implements and the Villafranchian hominids.” Along with this question is the problem concerning the location of the Pliocene-Pleistocene boundary and the age of the Villafranchian stage in Africa.

Howell presents the discoveries of the pebble tools in the different stages of central and southern regions of Africa. Tools found in the first pluvial stage were found at various sites, including: Kanam, Kagera, the Kafu river valleys, and the Vaal river basin. These pebble tools were manufactured from water worn pebbles of quartz.

Found in the second pluvial stage is the Oldowan. These pebble tool types were found among sites in Morocco, the Congo, and in the vicinity of Casablanca. These tools were flaked by stone percussion in two directions and on both faces.

Another pebble tool industry is known from northwestern Africa. The tools found at sites in this region include worked spherical and polyhedral pebbles and chopping tools produced by bifacial stone percussion flaking.

Howell points out that there are two instances of pebble tool localities that have provided skeletal remains of early hominids. At the site of Kanam, an incomplete mandible with two right premolar teeth was recovered. At the site of Laetolil, a hominid maxillary fragment with two premolar teeth was discovered. Oldowan pebble tools were found at Laetolil as well.

Howell raises the question of a possible association between theses sites with pebble tools and hominid remains to the Old World, based strictly on radiocarbon dates. Howell states, “to resolve the question, it is necessary to locate the place of the Pliocene-Pleistocene boundary and the date of the Villafranchian stage. The Pliocene epoch is known for the onset of the world-wide climate changes. The Pleistocene epoch is known for several new animals including horse, cattle and elephant. This evidence allows for a differentiation of the two epochs. The Villafranchian stage is dated by four different sequences. Through marine deposits around Europe, erosion evidence in Asia, and through faunal evidence found in Europe and Asia.

Howell goes on to note that there is a fundamental similarity between the African pebble tools, which appear earlier in the Pleistocene, and the early stages of the chopping tool complex of Asia. This idea suggests that Africa was most likely the center of hominid origins and most definitely that australopithecine types were present in the Villafranchian. Howell goes on to note that he believes that there is a lot of evidence of tropical Africa as the center of hominid origins.

CLARITY: 4
NO NAME University of North Carolina at Charlotte (Dr. Gregory Starrett)

Howell, F. Clark. Hominids, Pebble Tools and the African Villafranchian. American Anthropologist October 1954 Volume 56(5): 379-386.

Because of the increase in prehistoric research in the post-war era, F. Clark Howell reexamines problems in paleoanthropology in his article “Hominids, Pebble Tools and the African Villafranchian.” The findings of primitive hominids and pebble tools in deposits of recognized Villafranchian age beg the question regarding a relationship between these early tools and Villafranchian hominids. Howell tries to rectify some misconceptions about the Villafranchian stage in Africa. Stratigraphic, faunal, geological, and dental morphological evidence is used throughout the article. Howell first discusses the evidence of the first tools in Africa, which belonged to the first pluvial stage. Some Oldowan implement types have been discovered in deposits of the pluvial stage, so perhaps this industry originated during that period. The Kafilian industry, which is more advanced than the Kafuan, might be the missing link between the Kafuan and the Oldowan. Howell then discusses pebble-tools in the Oldowan and northwestern Africa. Archeological explorations in two locations have revealed both hominids and pebble tools. Discoveries also suggest that some members of the australopithecine group may be responsible for early developments of the pebble-tool industry. Howell then examines the relationship between australopithecines and Villafranchian hominids in Africa, and then expands this relationship to other parts of the Old World by investigating the Pliocene-Pleistocene boundary and the date of the Villafranchian stage. At the end of the article, Howell suggests that some australopithecines may have influenced pebble-tool assemblages. The writer argues that Africa may be the area where hominid bipedalism first appeared.

CLARITY: 3
TALIA FALK Columbia University (Paige West)

Judd, Neil M. Byron Cummings, 1860-1954. American Anthropologist. 1954 Vol. 56:871-872.

Professor Byron Cummings died on May 21, 1954 at the age of 94. Professor Cummings was born at Westville, Franklin County, New York on September 20, 1860 and was the youngest of seven. He graduated from Oswego Normal School in 1885, continued his schooling at Rutgers College, where he received an A.B. degree in 1889 and the A.M. in 1892. In the fall of 1893 he went to the University of Utah instructing Greek and Latin where he became full professor and head of the department two years later. Professor Cummings was also Dean of Men and Dean of School of Arts and Sciences between 1905 and 1915. Byron Cummings resigned in protest of administrative policies and was quickly invited to the University of Arizona. Cummings began two departments of archeology that have now expanded into all branches of Anthropology. Professor Byron Cummings was considerate of others in and out of the classroom, honest to a fault and many of his students admired and respected him.

CLARITY RANKING: 5
COLIN COOPER York University (Naomi Adelson)

Judd, Neil M. Obituary: Bryon Cummings, 1860-1954. American Anthropologist October, 1954 vol. 56(5): 871-872.

Bryon Cummings died May 24, 1954 at the age of 94. He was born in Westville, N.Y. to Moses and Roxana (Hoadley) Cummings, and was the youngest of seven children. His father served the New York Volunteer Infantry and died in action during the Civil War.

Cummings graduated from Oswego Normal Scholl in 1885, and attended Rutgers College between 1889 and 1892, where he received A.B. and A.M. degrees. He was also an instructor of Greek and mathematics at Syracuse High School and Rutgers Preparatory School from 1887-1893. He accepted a teaching position at the University of Utah as professor of Greek and Latin in the fall of 1893. In 1915, he resigned as Dean of Men and Dean of the School of Arts and Science in protest of administrative policies. He was quickly invited to the University of Arizona as the head of a newly established department of archaeology and director of the State Museum. He devoted all of his summers to archaeological and geographical studies in the state of Utah. His interest in Southwestern archaeology led him to map three natural land bridges in Armstrong and White Canyons and nearby ruins. President Theodore Roosevelt based his proclamation of April 16, 1908, creating the “Natural Bridges National Monument” on the data that Cummings had submitted over two years. Later, in 1908, Cummings extended his research into northeastern Arizona, discovering famed cliff dwellings such as Betatakin and Inscription House. One year later, his party discovered Rainbow Natural Bridge. During the great influenza epidemic of 1918, Cummings refused to leave the school and helped minister to patients in the University hospital. His last fieldwork was pursued at Kinishba from 1931-1939 with students majoring in anthropology.

Cummings retired from the University of Arizona with the title Director Emeritus to dedicate himself to full-time writing. He published two books, Indians I Have Known and the First Inhabitants of Arizona and the Southwest, between 1950 and 1953.

Bryon Cummings was a great teacher and was well respected by all of his colleagues, as well as all of his students. He was an inspiration to all who worked for him, not only as a leader and a teacher, but also for his energy and dedication. At the age of 70, few students could match his ability at cross-country hiking and long hours of digging.

He was awarded a LL.D. from the University of Arizona in 1921 and a Doctorate of Science from the University of Rutgers in 1924. He was also a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Geographical Association, the Utah Academy of Science, the Archaeological Institute of America, the American Museum Association, and the Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society. Cummings was married twice, first to Isabel McLaury, who died November 11, 1929, and, second, to Ann Catham. Bryon Cummings is survived by Mrs. Cummings and by Malcolm Cummings, a son by his first marriage.

CLARITY: 3
MIKE BROOKS University of North Carolina at Charlotte (Gregory Starrett)

Kaplan, Bernice A. Environment and Human Plasticity. American Anthropologist. Oct. 1954 Vol.56(5):780-800

This paper is concerned with various hypotheses about human plasticity in adapting to the environment. Kaplan considers a study by Franz Boas which found a considerable difference in the physical measurements of recent immigrants, their children and older, established immigrants. Boas’ study prompted many other studies of environmental effects on physical characteristics and human growth.

Boas’ findings contradicted the current beliefs of physical anthropologists that head size is a set racial trait. He proved that this as well as height are shaped partly by environment- the potential for growth may be there, but may be retarded under less than favorable circumstances.

This article considers five types of research models for studying human plasticity: migrants and their children, migrants and non migrants, growth patterns, diet, and climate/altitude. When considering migrants and their children the number of years that the parents had spent in the US correlated with the degree of change that Boas found. Other studies have confirmed that increased length of parents’ residence in the US leads to successive children being taller and more broad-headed. In considering migrants vs. non migrants it was found that different aspects of culture have an effect on the human physique(ie.- loss of cradle boarding leads to a decrease in hyperbrachycephaly and flat-backed skulls). Growth pattern studies compare measurements of children with those of their parents when they were the same age. An increase in height and weight was found that applied equally to women and men. Studies of dietary effects include starvation studies and studies of different cultural diets. It was found that lack of adequate food or consumption of greater plant vs. greater meat foods can create lasting effects on the human body. Last of all studies of climate have shown that the average rate of growth is greater for temperate climates than for tropic climates. Studies of altitude effects have shown that people living at higher altitudes develop larger hearts to compensate for the decrease in available oxygen.

Overall it was noted that climate, diet and altitude greatly affect growth patterns, resulting in considerable differences between migrants and their children and migrants vs. non migrants. It is noted however that there does need to be better separation of environmental factors in these studies and there needs to be a better understanding of exactly how the different areas of the environment may affect growth patterns. It is also noted that a better understanding of the role of social and cultural factors in growth patterns is needed. It is agreed that a lot more research must be done before even any broad generalizations can be made, but that dietary changes seem to be one of the most important agents of body growth and change.

CLARITY: 4
ASHLEY CLARK University of North Carolina at Charlotte(Dr. Gregory Starrett)

Kaplan, Bernice A. Environment and Human Plasticity. 1954 Vol.56: 780-799

In this article, Kaplan gathers a large amount of data regarding the studies of immigrants that came to the USA. Most of the data shows the physical characteristics and changes that occurred to them when the subject underwent a dramatic change in the environment during his/her maturation stage. The author outlines the three basic environmental variables that might cause the most drastic changes: climate, diet and altitude.

After outlining the evidence, Kaplan states that it is possible that changes in the environment will lead to observable changes in the human physique. He does not, however, go so far as to say that this is concrete evidence in the matter. The article acknowledges that there still needs to be more studies done on the subject, especially in the question of whether the human plasticity has limits, or not.

The article starts by examining the work of Franz Boas on the immigrant population that was arriving in the United States. He was summoned by the government to collect measurements of those people and compare them to the measurements of the American-born. Along with the research Boas made, he examines the works of many other anthropologists who were concerned with the same issue. Kaplan summarizes their findings in tables. The first table shows the environmental factors considered important by the individual authors. The second one shows the measurements and ethnic backgrounds of the people being measured; it also shows whether or not any changes occurred. Kaplan later explains those findings. The general studies are followed by detailed examinations of the three major factors that affect human plasticity; each one of the factors is explained using data from different authors. Ivanowski, Andrews and Lasker are quoted in the section on dietary effects on the human physique. Mills studied climatic effects and Monge dealt with altitude as the third most important factor. The final section of the article contains conclusions and additional tables that show consistent increases or decreases in the dimensions of different human subjects.

CLARITY RATING: 4
LUKASZ DZIEDZINSKI York University (Naomi Adelson)

Kelly, William H. Applied Anthropology in the Southwest. American Anthropologist 1954 Vol. 56 (4): 709-719.

The Southwestern United States has been an intense focus for many studies of Native Americans and their cultures. One of the most commonly used methods today to study these tribes has been through Anthropology. This has not always been the case as is evident in this article. The author argues that Anthropology is the best way to administer to the needs of Native Americans on a governmental level. Anthropology is also the best method for acculturation we have yet found. The focus of this article is to describe the contributions Anthropology has provided to the understanding of Indian cultures in the Southwestern United States.

One of the most commonly overlooked factors in the administration of the needs of a minority is the importance and uniqueness of their culture. With the administration of John Collier in 1933 Anthropology as an applied science began to be incorporated into the Indian Service. Under Collier’s leadership the Indian Personality, Education, and Administration Research Project was conducted. Unfortunately this project was stopped at a crucial time and little of the information is complete. Nonetheless the author considers this to be the most beneficial application of Anthropology to the study of Southwestern Native Americans because of the awareness of Indian cultures that it created. The study helped to set precedents about the implementation and evaluation of personality-centered, welfare oriented administration.

The author considers the results of these anthropological studies to reveal usefulness of the method as a scientific tool to better administer to the needs of a minority through careful study of their culture. Understanding of behaviors such as medicine, education, and child rearing can help the government better serve the Native American community. While researching this paper the author interviews members of the Indian Service and asks them their opinions about the use of Anthropology in the administration of Indian affairs. Many of them agreed that some Anthropological training should be required for those who chose to be in the Service. So what is the ultimate benefit to the use of Anthropology in Indian Service? The author interviews a Navaho and he responded that it instills a respect for the Native American cultures in the Indian Service. To fully incorporate a culture into our own we must first get a clear understanding and respect for that culture. Without mutual understanding we can never become one culture.

CLARITY: 4
WERNER, DAMIAN. UNC Charlotte. (Gregory Starret).

Kelly, William H. Applied Anthropology in the Southwest. American Anthropologist, 1954 Vol.56:709-719

Kelly writes on the application of anthropology to Cross-cultured problems in the southwest. He predominately focuses on how anthropology was utilized between 1933 and 1945 in Indian services. The relationships and the accomplishments that were established in Indian services, serves, as a model for what Kelly believes is anthropology’s role in society.

Kelly stresses the need for understanding and acceptance of ideas between anthropologists, administrators and Indians. He observes, from historical records, that a greater degree of acceptance leads to more anthropological principles being incorporated into plans and to the further utilization of anthropology in the future. Kelly sees the future application of anthropology as being dependent on the quality and acceptance of the work. According to Kelly, anthropologists should strive to create “an intelligent interest in the work of anthropology,” to emphasis “information that is usable” and to provide correction and verification for practical problems. The completion of these three goals should provide public acceptance of anthropological work.

Kelly describes how attention to the goals above lead to anthropology being useful in Indian services. A summary of the results of the research, written by Laura Thompson, shows how the connection between anthropologists and administrators was beneficial. She identified a change in attitude of the workers toward the Indians and the Indian problems. The informed workers were more interested in their jobs and this translated into more efficient work being accomplished. The “results have revealed the usefulness of the method in the field of American Indian affairs and suggested its universal potentialities as a scientific tool for the discovery, implementation and evaluation of personality centered, welfare oriented community administrator.” It must be kept in mind that Laura Thompson’s success story was of the most “extensive and most important” applied anthropology program in the southwest.

Kelly points out other programs that have an ample amount of success but did not equal that of Indian services. Soil conservation and rehabilitation programs designed for the Spanish speaking New Mexicans and work in the Japanese Relocation centers are other programs that utilized applied anthropology. Kelly concludes that anthropologists are extremely helpful in connecting with understanding and reproducing the target group of people, whether it is Indians, Mexicans or another group, with which they are working. Their skills, if accepted by administrators, will work to improve cross-cultural problems.

Laura Thompson strongly agrees with Kelly on the need to work towards the solution of real life problems. Thompson uses several examples to flesh out her reasoning. Through these examples she shows that a problem must be identified and effort must be directed at finding a solution to that very real problem. She believes that when this technique is mastered, the result is that the most efficient and successful solution is applied to the problem. She concludes that it is not the strength of the social scientist at reaching a solution, but the focus on the problem that leads to the most success.

John Adair agrees with Kelly on most points in the Applied Anthropology essay. However, he focuses his comments on why he disagrees with Kelly’s view of the future for applied anthropology. He believes that anthropological findings will not be used more in the future but will be utilized less. He points out that Kelly has been “much too optimistic” in his wishful thinking that administrators will turn to anthropologists to solve social problems. Social science was introduced to the government under the New Deal. As New Deal policies, along with other policies, run out so will the administrators reliance on Anthropologists. Adair uses examples to show that even when “there is the greatest need for social science guidance, there is in fact an almost complete disinterest in what anthropology has to offer.” Adair concludes that however ignored they are, anthropologists findings are important to solving pressing problems. Communication between administrators and anthropologists may best be achieved through workshops where administrators can use anthropologists as a medium that will help them determine their responsibilities toward cross-cultural problems.

CLARITY: 3
CASSIDY FOLEY Barnard College Columbia University (Paige West)

Kelly, William H. Applied Anthropology in the Southwest. American Anthropologist 1954 Vol. 56: 709-718.

In “Applied Anthropology in the Southwest,” William H. Kelly addressed the problems surrounding the relationship between applied anthropology and American Indian affairs in the Southwestern United States; specifically the article concentrated on the process of acculturation adopted by the U.S. Government with regards to Indians. Kelly evaluated the aide that anthropology had contributed to cross-cultural problems involving American Indians and Caucasian Americans while also discussing the obstacles that hindered the furthering of anthropological research. Believing the application of social science principles to be effective in helping the American Indian situation, the author hoped that his article would encourage future use of applied anthropology in cross-cultural work.

The acceptance of the social science principles in application to Indian acculturation was primarily hindered by the American ideology that Indians needed to be brought into the American way of life through instruction and example. Believing that only good could come of this methodology, the U.S. Government established the Indian Service; unfortunately, this office was made up of many unplanned sub-institutions that were not equipped with the special knowledge and technique necessary for desired results. This was compounded by the fact that when anthropologists first began working with the Indian Service, anthropology was still a budding field to which many felt doubt and mistrust. Anthropologists lacked opportunity to do basic research that could have evaluated the degree to which social sciences would have been of assistance. Kelly wrote that as a result, some anthropologists wrote information-heavy ethnographies which were less useful because they neither addressed applications of their findings nor provided for amendment or confirmation of their data.

Kelly did cite, however, strong evidence of anthropological research’s positive contributions to cross-cultural work with American Indians. He encouraged and named writings that produced both an advanced interest in the field of anthropology as well as useful theory. He noted the most extensive application of anthropology in the Southwest, the “Indian Personality, Education and Administration Research” project, as evidence of the potentiality of continued research; this particular program worked at enhancing inter-culture relations by educating Indian Service workers about the American Indian culture and way of life. Kelly proved, through interviews with Indian Service officials, that anthropology could add invaluable assistance to the Indian Service; in addition to the education of Service workers, anthropologists could best establish much needed self-government in the American Indian community. To Kelly, progress in the Indian Service could only be achieved with reinstated anthropological research and the breakdown of the stubborn American ideology of acculturation.

Two comments follow Kelly’s article, the first by Laura Thompson and the second by John Adair. Thompson agreed with and appreciated Kelly’s article and went on to show the effectiveness of anthropology in addressing the American Indian’s immediate needs. For example, she referred to the development of a medical system which enabled medical help to directly reach Navahos; even though the system may not have been implemented, the idea was targeted at solving a significant problem. Though Adair agreed with Thompson and Kelly about the effectiveness of anthropology in the Southwest, he was much more pessimistic about its reestablishment. Recognizing that the chief obstacle was the U.S. Government, Adair believed that one must first attack the Washington office of the Indian Bureau in order to generate interest in what anthropology could bring to the Indian Service.

CLARITY RANKING: 4
JOANN WANG Barnard College (Paige West)

Kidder II, Alfred E. Wendell Clarke Bennett. American Anthropologist. 1954 vol. 56. pgs. 269-273.

William Clarke Bennett was born in 1905 in Indiana. He moved from Indiana to Chicago in 1927 to attend University. In 1930 Bennett graduated from the University of Chicago with a PhD and in 1935 he married Hope Ranslow. On September 6, 1953 Bennett died of a heart attack while swimming off the coast at Martha’s Vineyard. This obituary written for him by Alfred Kidder outlines his accomplishments and contributions to anthropology starting when he was at the University and not ending until his death.

Bennett is described as more of an archaeologist because of his excavations that led to new information in the field of Anthropology. He participated in a research project led by the University of Chicago. This research took him to Hawaii where worked on the archaeology of Kauai. His next venture was to northern Mexico where he and Robert Zing led the first studies and wrote a monograph about the Indians that inhabited remote parts of Mexico. All of this early work was the foundation for Bennett’s most valuable to contribution to Anthropology, Andean Studies.

After studying the Indians in Mexico, Bennett became the assistant curator of South American Studies and the American Museum of Natural History. In 1932 he made the most important field trip in his life, to the Andes Mountains. When Bennett arrived much work had been done in the Andean region but it had come to a stopping point. The only thing left to do was excavate and get as much information as possible from recovered data. He chose to start in a region called Tiahuanaco because there was very little known about the site. Through his excavations in the region Bennett was able to make a chronological index based on pottery styles. In true Anthropological style it was broken into three periods; Early, Classic, and Decadent. Bennett’s studies and detailed excavations in Tiahuanaco laid the framework for understanding Tiahuanaco’s influence and spread over the rest of the Andean regions.

Bennett participated in several other excavations throughout South America but he also contributed greatly as a writer and editor. From 1936 to 1940 he was editor of the South American Archaeology section in the Handbook of Latin American Studies. At this same time he had also started work on a portion of Volume II of the Handbook of South American Indians and was co-authoring, with Junius Bird, Andean Culture History for the American Museum of Natural History. Bennett reviewed and edited many other scholarly writings as well as wrote about findings from his own work in the Andes.

In addition to his written contributions Bennett participated on committees and boards throughout his career. From 1939 to 1942 he represented the American Anthropological Association in the Department of Anthropology and Psychology and from 1941 to 1944 he was chairman of the Committee on Latin American Studies in the same department. He also became chairman of the Area Studies Executive Committee and consultant to the Human Relation Area Files for Yale University, where he was on the faculty.

Bennett lived a full and busy life making many contributions not only to archaeology and anthropology as a whole, but to the specific areas of South American studies. Kidder writes that his memory will live on with all who knew him and the obituary ends most lovingly with a poem written especially for Bennett by Eugene Davidson.

CLARITY: 4
BONNIE STROUPE University of North Carolina-Charlotte (Greg Starrett)

Kirchhoff, Paul. Gatherers and Farmers in the Greater Southwest: A Problem in Classification. American Anthropologist August,1954. Vol. 56 (4): 529-550.

The author of this article is trying to show that despite being in contact with each other over a long period of time, two regional cultures of the Greater Southwest have retained their own separate identities. He comes up with a certain criteria to group the native cultures of the American Southwest. As a rule individual cultures of specific ethnic units share with nearby cultures traits and intricacies, and they are arranged in such a similar way that they appear to be one culture. An example within the Greater Southwest are the two distinct groups of seminomadic gatherers and sedentary farmers. Culture areas will generally interact with natural areas, but more advanced regional cultures will go over the natural boundaries. Regional cultures can be defined by the type of food and tool production they use. A major task is to place the individual culture within a regional culture that it would belong to, or which suits it best. During the regional culture’s existence it will change continuously, the most significant part of belonging in a regional culture is becoming involved in its history. Many culture areas will be divided into subareas. The more complex or advanced a regional culture is, the more levels will exist in its subareas. Regional cultures must be seen as relating to nearby cultures. Most of the time regional cultures will occupy the same territory, but often there will be parts of that culture seen in the territory of another.

Within the American Southwest there have been problems distinguishing between the classification of cultures. Two different types of people and cultures are seen. One is a huge amount of gatherers in the north, and the other is an advanced farming community to the south. These two cultures which are distinct and geographically separated have been around for a long time in the Greater Southwest, and that we should speak of these culture areas as two cultures without combining them into one. A key part in the question of these two cultures has to do with the part-farmer. This is an intermediate group where the people use a little gathering, but have taken over farming or some piece of the culture of farmers. The ideas of farming and gathering or part-farming suddenly came to be seen in reverse. The true farmers and the “only” gatherers became more of an obvious set of two different groups. If we assume at one time Southwestern gatherers were found all over the Greater Southwest, then the arrival of several cultures based on farming would probably reduce the amount of gatherers seen. During periods of advance, the farming cultures got farther ahead and influenced those that were gatherers to become farmers.

This older gathering cultures are one of the most strongly defined regional alternatives to the food-gathering cultures, and the young farming culture becomes the starter for the creation of great civilizations to the south. The author proposes the name “Southwest”, and “Greater Southwest” be done away with. Instead he insists they be replaced with “Arid America” and “Oasis America”. Arid America will stress the dependence of man on nature at a food-gathering level, and Oasis America will have a broader impact on a farming level, through the creation of agriculture in arid regions.

CLARITY RANKING: 2
JENNIFER LEDFORD University of North Carolina at Charlotte (Dr. Gregory Starrett)

Kirchhoff, Paul. Gatherers and Farmers in the Greater Southwest: A Problem in Classification. American Anthropologist, 1954. 56: pgs 529-550

The journal entry by Paul Kirchhoff looks at the problem in classifying the types of cultures that settled in the Southern part of California and Northern Mexico. He argues that there were two main types of cultures, hunter/gatherers and farmers, however there were different variations in each culture. Kirchhoff compares his arguments with that of other anthropologists who have written on the subject of culture in the same area. The article looks at what Kirchhoff considers the basis of identifying a culture and he uses this to expand on the two main types of cultures.

His main points are that there were those who lived their lives as hunter/gatherers and a separate group that lived as farmers. However Kirchhoff states that there were those who lived their lives being part farmer part hunter/gatherer. He called these people “part-farmers,” and the reason that they were a combination of the two cultures is because of the area in which they lived. These part-farmers relied on both aspects of farming as well as gathering and hunting was relative to both cultures. The areas in which a gathering culture lived were in what is now California and Nevada; the farming culture was located in the Northern part of Mexico and the southern part of Texas. Those cultures that were part-farmers are located in between these two ranges.

Kirchhoff cross-references his arguments with the guidelines and theories of other anthropologists such as Kroeber and Beals. Using their theory on culture, he states that these “part-farmers” lived in areas that they thought was either hunter/gatherers or farmers. However, the use of cross-referencing clouds the argument he tries to make on the existence of this type of culture. Kirchhoff leads me to believe in the existence of a “part-farmer” culture however the constructions of his arguments are confusing and not very persuasive.

CLARITY: 2
DISHAN JEBAMONEY: York University (Naomi Adelson)

Kluckhohn, Clyde. Southwestern Studies of Culture and Personality. American Anthropologist August, 1954 Vol.56 (4pt.1):685-708.

In his article, “Southwestern Studies of Culture and Personality,” Clyde Kluckhohn discusses the values of individual personalities in some early writings. After mentioning some early literature dating from the early 1900s to late 1950s, Kluckhohn goes into detail about each work and how it is of value to the study of the personality within culture. Kluckhohn discusses the main topics that each work examines regarding the psychological and anthropological study of the personalities of individuals within a certain culture. For example, some subjects in this study are the psychological characterization of cultures, dreams, biographies, autobiographies, observational studies of behaviour, recorded psychological tests and others.

By discussing the numerous works within this particular field, Kluckhohn tries to prove a very important point that there are many faults that are overlooked, while studying personality within culture. Kluckhohn argues that through observing the literature within this subject many also tend to disregard the complex information that is found within modern cultures regarding the study of personality within culture. He also believes that the importance of the effects of isolation was not really taken into consideration. According to Kluckhohn there are some accounts where too much of an emphasis was put upon the child training systems within various cultures. The main purpose of Kluckhohn’s article is to show just how valuable the study of personality within culture is, yet at the same time many of the studies in this field are often inaccurate and could possibly be misleading.

CLARITY RANKING: 3
SARAH CEREZO York University (Naomi Adelson).

Kluckhohn, Clyde. Southwestern Studies of Culture and Personality. American Anthropologist. 1954 vol. 56. 685-703.

Kluckhohn discusses what he considers to be the fundamental problems with studies conducted on Indian groups in the Southwest. He then expands that further to discuss the problems within Anthropological theory as a whole.

Kluckhohn begins with an “inventory” of information about subjects studied by Southwestern ethnographers and researchers. He outlines authors and their major works within these subjects. He then discusses what he feels to be the problems with these studies. Kluckhohn feels these studies do not address Southwestern Indian nations from a “culture and personality point of view”. In order to accurately gather both culture and personality information, a researcher must be learned in both Anthropological method as well as Psychological theory. The Anthropological method is required in order to obtain the cultural information in context while the psychological theory is needed to interpret and understand personality traits. Kluckhohn states that either the anthropologist or the psychologist is doing the research, never someone with an understanding of both fields. This leads to inferences made by researchers regarding the subject they understand the least.

This first issue not withstanding, Kluckhohn goes on to discuss the main obstacles these researchers face when gathering information for studies. The most obvious barrier is that of language, including body language and aspects of verbal language not understood through the basic alphabet. It is necessary for the researcher to understand subtle nuances that accompany the language in order to get the full meaning. The next barrier is the use of standardized tests. Kluckhohn does not completely dismiss these tests; he just feels they need to be supplemented with long-term observation in order to be accurate.

Kluckhohn believes that inherent problems, like those found in the Southwestern studies can also be found in Anthropology as a whole. His first general point about issues in anthropology is that it has tried to be too fashionable. Many writings and studies were done in haste to meet with modern demands form information. There has been too much homogeneity in primitive culture studies, making it easy to apply generalized ideas to many groups of people. Also, there has been a disregard for the complexity of modern culture. This complexity includes the relationship between culture and personality. Culture, Kluckhohn explains, is outward in its public appearance and also inward in the way it is internalized by each person. It is not a machine, but a representative of the past and active in the present. It must be abstracted, or separate, from personality.

Kluckhohn’s final explanation involves the idea of universal culture and particular culture. Universal culture is what all man needs; food, sex, shelter. Particular culture is the means by which men meet those needs. This again relates psychological functions, such as the drive to meet one’s needs, with anthropological ideas of the culture used as a means to an end. Without a thorough combination of the two sciences, and accurate adequate study, according to Kluckhohn, is not possible.

CLARITY: 4
BONNIE STROUPE University of North Carolina-Charlotte (Greg Starrett).

Kluckhohn, Clyde. Obituary: Paul Reiter, 1909-1953. American Anthropologist. 1954 Vol. 56, no.6 p.1085-1087

Paul Reiter, Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of New Mexico, died in Ann Arbor on January 10, 1953. He is survived by his widow, Winifred Stamm Reiter, and by two children, Gordon and Ann Ellen. Mrs. Reiter took her M.A. in anthropology the same year as her husband and was his collaborator on many expeditions. He was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on May 11, 1909, the son of Reverend David Reiter, a Presbyterian minister. He received his B.A. and M.A. in anthropology at the University of New Mexico.

In 1925, he became a part-time driver for Dr. E.L. Hewett, Director of the Museum of New Mexico and the School of American Research. From 1931-1938, he was the Curator of Archaeology at the Museum of New Mexico. He then joined the staff of the Department of Anthropology at the University of New Mexico. In 1940-1941, he studied in the Department of Anthropology of the University of California at Berkeley. In 1943, he became the Thaw Fellow in the Peabody Museum of Harvard University. He then began service as Research Associate of the Chemical Warfare Service Development Laboratory. He took his Ph.D. at Harvard in 1946, and then held a Ford Foundation Faculty Fellowship for studies in human biology at the Universities of Michigan and Chicago.

Reiter was a general anthropologist with an interest in physical anthropology. His publications are noteworthy because they use historical and ethnological data. He had a great deal of knowledge in geography and was an avid photographer.

CLARITY: 5
ADRIENNE CRAWFORD University of North Carolina at Charlotte (Dr. Gregory Starrett)

Kluckhohn, Clyde. Paul Reiter. American Anthropologist. 1954. Vol. 56: 1085-1087.

At the time this article wrote, Kluckhohn held affiliation with Harvard University, presumably where he met Paul Reiter who wrote his PhD thesis at Harvard on pithouses and kivas in relation to the Old World. One of Kluckhon’s main points is about Reiter’s PhD thesis, which constituted “a better answer to Walter Taylor’s criticisms of American archaeologists than any study published thus far” (p. 1086). The author indicates some sort of personal connection to Reiter through giving a somewhat intimate recount of the man’s personality and professional endeavours.

Kluckhohn describes Reiter as a “jack-of-all trades”, having practical physical ability, as well as intellectual ability that lead to Reiter’s final position at Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of New Mexico. Ironically, this is where Reiter’s academic career began, as he studied for both his BA and MA in anthropology here. After graduating he started out as a driver for the Director of the Museum of New Mexico, and later became the Curator of Archaeology, and then later joining the Anthropology department.

Holding the point of view of a cultural anthropologist, Kluckhohn indicates Reiter was more known as a field archaeologist. Reiter was noted to have been knowledgeable in geography, geology, administration, and identifying skeletal material. Reiter was especially known for directing the summer field sessions with the University of New Mexico that he had once attended.

Through the article it is evident that although quite respected, Reiter had a way about him such that “he failed to see the complexities of human motivation or to all for the vagaries of human behaviour in those respects fundamental to his own value system. His friends again and again deplored his intransigence, but they also respected and loved the total personality” (p. 1086).

CLARITY: 5
HELENA KOSKITALO York University (Naomi Adelson)

Kraus, Bertrum. Some Problems in the Physical Anthropology of the American Southwest: Comments. American Anthropologist August, 1954 Vol.56(4):621-625.

Bertrum Kraus recounts the problems present in the field of physical anthropology in the Southwest United States. He criticizes the papers and articles that have come to some conclusions using the prehistoric skeletons found in the Southwest without properly interpreting their data. He states that by using this data some anthropologists are clumping individuals that were separated both by long distances and sometimes thousands of years into a single local populations for analysis. Clearly the individual skeletal specimens were not part of the same population and should not be compared as such. This mistake leads to unreliable and invalid results. Another problem he addresses is that of sample size, for often the prehistoric skeletal samples only provide solid useable material for a few individuals preventing the large scale data collection required for population analysis.

Kraus goes on to criticize the biological studies of living populations in the Southwest. He says that many individuals in the studied, and supposedly isolated, communities now have spouses from outside the area. The small population size of the community has lead to the intermarrying, as has the increasing encounters with other communities. With the prevalence of intermarriage, the biological relationship of the local population cannot be studied accurately. Thus the physical anthropologist must work with archeologists when studying historical societies and cultural anthropologists when studying the societies of today in order to prevent inaccurate interpretation of the data that is available.

CLARITY: 5
ALEXANDRA BORDERS MIddlebury College (David Napier)

Kroeber, A.L. Gatherers and Farmers in the Greater Southwest: A Problem in Classification: Comments. American Anthropologist August, 1954 Vol. 56(4): 556-560.

A.L. Kroeber provides his critique of a fellow anthropologist’s work, Kirchoff, on cultural boundaries and climaxes. Kirchoff previously writes about the Southwest focusing primarily on arid America, which has gatherers and oasis America which farms. Kroeber like Kirchoff offers his own reinterpretation and redrawing of the Southwest by countering almost every piece of evidence Kirchoff previously presented. Kroeber writes that his reinterpretation is different from that of Kirchoff, however, as he admits himself he relies heavily on the previous findings of Kirchoff. Kirchoff apparently helped in shaping the understanding of cultural mapping. Basically, one can only understand one’s environment, culture and language growth or stagnation by tracing not only history and maps but also migration of various people and culture, in this case the California Kuksu climax and its supposed resemblance to Southwestern climaxes.

Kirchoff finds that it is by looking at historic influences that maps generally cannot sufficiently depict that one can find where and how one’s culture and natural environment evolved. Kroeber adds that one must look at language as well and that Kirchoff misses the importance of its influence in his previous work. Kroeber concludes that although he generally agrees with the majority of Kirchoff’s assessment of the Southwestern cultural mapping he would like more concrete evidence. Kroeber adds that he knows this is an impossible feat because he himself does not know but would nonetheless like to pose the challenge of finding the origin of the California area’s culture.

CLARITY: 2
YARA LUNA Middlebury College (David Napier)

Kroeber, A. L. Biography of anthropologist Robert Spott. American Anthropologist, 1954 Vol. 54: 282.

Robert Spott of Requa (1888-1953) was an anthropologist who studied the Yurok. He was a Native American Indian of the Rekwoi tribe. Upon his death, the newspapers made him into “Chief Rekwoi”. He had limited education, but made the most of it. He utilized his knowledge and his passionate interests in the Native American. His high intelligence and tact, in addition to his gentle qualities, made him an important mediator between Yurok-White relations. Kroeber closes with the opinion that much knowledge of his people died with him; but he also communicated much.

CLARITY: 3
MARIANNA DOUGHERTY Barnard College (Paige West)

Kroeber, A. L. Robert Spott 1888-1953. American Anthropologist 1954 V. 56 (2): 282

Robert Spott was born in 1888 to Frank of the house Wogwu in Weitchpec, Yurok Weitspus. Every Anthropologist who visited the Yurok knew him, and he co-authored Yurok Narratives in 1942. Very young he was adopted, along with his sister Alice who outlived him, by his father’s childless sister and her husband, Captain Spott of Rekwoi. Robert and Alice then took the surname of their new parents.

Though Robert’s education was limited, he made the best of it and was considered very intelligent by all that knew him. He also served, fought, and was gassed in WWI in France. He served several years as Chairman of the Yurok Tribal Council. He never married. He was considered by those closest to him, including A.L. Kroeber (author of original Obituary), to have all his people’s sensitivity, but free of his culture’s envious and vindictive characteristics. His high intelligence and tact made him an essential mediator in White-Yurok relations, as well as inner cultural conflicts.

He was deeply in touch with his native culture as he experienced it, and was fully taught it in his boyhood and absorbed it through his life. He also had an understanding about American civilization, never quarreling or resisting it, while still holding fast to his beliefs and values. He may not have been the most knowledgeable of the elders about his culture, but he was the most passionate for understanding and learning about it. To organize and express his understanding became a devotion in which he placed much satisfaction and pride. With his passing, much knowledge of his people passed with him, but in his time he passed on more knowledge than ever thought possible.

CLARITY RATING: 5
SEAN A. WHITTAKER University of North Carolina Charlotte (Dr. Gregory Starrett)

Kroeber, A.L. The Place of Anthropology in Universities. American Anthropologist. 1954 volume 56 (5): 764-767

This essay by Kroeber tries to explain the elusive nature of anthropology at the university level. Anthropology is multi-disciplinary and draws from many different schools of thought. Kroeber calls anthropology “…part natural science, in part humanity and only secondarily a social science”. It is because of this broad range of influences that anthropology defies classification in the traditional university system. In order to understand how the field of anthropology fits into the university system, you must first understand the discipline’s origins. Departmentally, anthropology has been placed in many different circumstances. It is sometimes grouped with sociology, as it was originally in Chicago. Because anthropology was often a minority annexed into sociology, many anthropologists have been relegated to teaching peripheral courses (archaeology, ethnography, linguistics, etc…) offered through the sociology department. Anthropology has also been placed with psychology, even by the National Academy of Sciences. In some instances, anthropology has been made into a division itself, as evidenced at Harvard. This is how anthropology has been integrated into universities historically.

Kroeber defines anthropology as “basically a science concerned with the natural history of the totality of those human activities whose higher achievements in civilized societies have long been the domain of the humanities”. This quote basically states that anthropology seeks to apply scientific methods and reasoning to the study of humans in general. But, there is a tendency to over-emphasize the social science nature of anthropology. In truth, sociology, economics, etc… are fairly recent adjuncts to anthropology (especially in 1954) and have somewhat different approaches to similar questions. Anthropology has four major distinctions between itself and other social sciences. The first is that Anthropology utilizes both expeditions and museum collections as sources for information, as opposed to relying on solely on new or previously used information. Secondly, the use of comparative linguistics has been highly successful by anthropology. In fact, Kroeber points to Boas and Sapir as two great linguists who were, in fact, anthropologists. The third characteristic of anthropology is the way research is carried out on a personal level. Only sociology is even similar, and anthropology is inherently different from the sociological approach to data collection. This relates to the fourth characteristic of anthropology, its so-called ‘comparative’ approach. Today this equating the remote with the familiar is called cultural relativism. It is because of these four preceding characteristics that Kroeber believes social sciences will not displace the natural science and humanistic components associated with the study of humans.

CLARITY: 5
G. THOMAS BENTON JR. UNC Charlotte (Gregory Starrett)

Kroeber, A. L. The Place of Anthropology in Universities. American Anthropologist 1956 Vol.56(1): 764-767

A. L Kroeber’s article examines the overall concern of the place of anthropology within the university. He explains how anthropology has become coupled with social science. Although Kroeber agrees that social science benefits anthropology, its connection to social science is inferior to its connection to natural science and the humanities.

1Kroeber begins by identifying the components that both anthropology and natural science possess. Museums are predominantly significant to both anthropology and natural science. He goes on the give historical examples of museums being linked with anthropology departments from the late eighteen hundreds to early nineteen hundreds. Further, he goes on to state that there has never been a museum of sociology (which is one of the core social sciences). Kroeber uses these examples to emphasize the similarities between anthropology and natural science and the humanities to pull anthropology further away from social science. Kroeber makes it very clear that although athropology is coupled with social science, it is only secondarily a social science. This article examines the history of anthropology and the cause and effect of how it got coupled with social science Kroeber also outlines the relationship pf anthropology to other departments over the years. He concludes the article by saying that although social science has broadened anthropology, it will never replace the natural science and humanity components of anthropology.

This article will be of interest especially to the anthropology majors. Kroeber manages to touch upon the major issues of controversy around the placements of anthropology in the university. It is crucial for the reader to examine the history of reasons behind the coupling of anthropology with social science to fully understand all the components that make up anthropology.

CLARITY RANKING: 4
RIE KOREEDA York University (Naomi Adelson)

Leacock, Seth. The Ethnological Theory of Marcel Mauss. American Anthropologist February, 1954. Vol.56(1):58-71.

Marcel Mauss was a leading figure in French Sociology until his death in 1950. The main point of this article is to show the aspects of Mauss’ work that are directly based on ethnological theory.

Mauss attended the University of Bordeaux, and studied philosophy under Durkheim, Alfred Espinas, and Hamelin. In 1900, he joined the faculty at the University of Paris and started his teaching position. The most significant contribution Mauss made to French ethnology was his work at the Institut d’Ethnologie. Mauss taught and served as joint director at the Institut until 1939. The courses he taught and the way he taught can only be understood by his participation in the publication of the Annee sociologique. This journal was founded by Durkheim in 1898, and dedicated to French sociology. After Durkheim’s death Mauss succeeded him as director.

Most of Mauss’ work with religion was done with Henri Hubert, while his earlier work was done with Fauconnet, Beuchat, and Durkheim. Due to this closeness of the group it is hard to distinguish any contribution made by Mauss to the development of theory, the basic ideas were those of Durkheim’s. Mauss considered himself a “follower” of Durkheim. This of course could be because he was Durkheim’s nephew as well as former student. Mauss never attempted to piece together his knowledge and make a book. The closest thing to a book is his collection of lectures printed in 1947 under Manuel d’ethnographie. All of his other work is in the form of articles. Another factor that shaped Mauss’ work was the fact that he never did field work. This however did not prevent him from developing sound principles or training competent field workers. Mauss, like many French sociologists, emphasized the study of certain societies because they were “simple” and could be used to explain more “complex” societies, this caused their studies to be similar to the “primitive” peoples studied by American anthropologists. According to the Durkheim school there were two categories of social phenomena. One was the idea of social structure, called “social morphology”. The other included the things that happen in a group, and comprises institutions, and the most famous of Durkheimian categories, collective representations. A collective representation is an idea or emotion shared by the group.

Prior to 1909, most of Mauss’ published work dealt with religion. He and H. Hubert studied magic as a social phenomenon, and compared it to religion. One of Mauss’ most interesting works is his “Essai sur les variations saisonnieres des societes eskimos,” written in 1906. He begins his discussion with criticism of anthropology students for over stressing the physical environment. Mauss, however, is best known in the United States for his essay “Essai sur le don, forme et raison de l’echange dans les societes archaiques”. With this study Mauss contributed to the interests of American anthropologists. This essay was Mauss’ last large comparative study.

Mauss conceived of ethnography as a descriptive science, so he dealt with what and how to observe. The observer must be be objective, and record everything. He also called for a well-rounded account on social phenomena. Some of the field workers trained by Mauss were: Levi-Strauss, Metraux, Leenhardt, and Griaule. Mauss founded no new school of thought, made no new discoveries, developed no controversial theories, but he was prominent in French sociology. Under Mauss, French sociology moved from the classroom to the field.

CLARITY RANKING: 4
JENNIFER LEDFORD University of North Carolina at Charlotte (Dr. Gregory ).

Leacock, Seth. The Ethnological Theory of Marcel Mauss. American Anthropologist 1954 Vol.56: 58-73

Leacock discusses the contribution made by Marcel Mauss to French sociology and American anthropology in terms of his ethnological theories. Mauss was a teacher at the Institut d’Ethnologie and published works in the Année sociologique and the Journal de psychologie normal et pathologique. He was a student and nephew of Emile Durkheim, whose influence on Mauss’s work is obvious. Much of Mauss’s work is based on the Durkhiem school. For Mauss, ethnology was a study of “primitive” societies, often used to explain the more “complex” societies. His work often followed Durkheim’s theories, and fit the understanding of American anthropologists.

Mauss’s theories were created based on an evolutionary framework, tracing the progress of institutions from “primitive” to “complex.” One study belonging to Mauss is the effects of seasonal migration on Eskimo culture, in which he produces general laws applicable in all societies. This reflects Mauss’s aim to follow Durkheim’s theories. Mauss’s evolutionary theories are also seen in his study of economics. As an ethnological viewpoint, he relates forms of gift-giving to a society’s form of civilization in an effort to compare the societies and form general theories about the social phenomena.

Mauss also examined the use of ethnographic reports, as well as ways to explain collected data. One of Mauss’s interests lay in religion. He conceived that religious phenomenon could be related to social phenomena and a hypothesis could be made to explain this relationship. Mauss and Hubert dismissed psychological laws as the explanation of social phenomena, consequently denying individual choice as a cause of action in their discussion of magic. They concluded by relating magic to other social phenomena. The end result was not a clarification on the study of magic, but an examination of its social nature.

Mauss illustrated two categories of social phenomenon: “social morphology” and “collective representations.” Mauss, together with Fauconnet, held that even though “collective representations exist in the individual mind, the individual has only a part of the collective idea” (61). As an implication for the explanation of social phenomenon, Mauss theorized that all sociological explanation falls into three categories. If studied in a single society, American anthropologists would term the explanations “functional”; however, not in Malinowski’s sense of the term. Mauss’s study of a single society was rare, as he often made comparative studies in an effort to demonstrate relationships between aspects of different cultures. These comparisons that were found were used to define the institution being studied, and this account created broad ideas about the basis of the institution. Mauss’s work always contained the idea of “the integration of social phenomena” (67).

Mauss instituted the idea of ethnology as descriptive science and made data collection a priority over theorizing. Leacock argues that although Mauss did not contribute to anthropology in the sense of creating anything new, he affected French sociology and British anthropology.

CLARITY: 4
ANNA COLOMBO York University (Naomi Adelson).

Lowie, Robert H. Obituary: Richard Thurnwald, 1869-1954. American Anthropologist 1954 Vol.56 No.5 :863-867.

Richard Thurnwald was born in Vienna into an upper middle class family on September 18, 1869. Throughout the years he gathered a wide array of data on the cultures he studied in Egypt, New Guinea, and other locations. This vast collection of data, gathered mostly from direct observation, was not his only contribution to the field of anthropology.

Some of his accomplishments include the journals he was editor of and the institutions he contributed to. During the 1920s Thurnwald lectured on the topics of ethnology and sociology, as well as founded the bilingual journal Zeitschrift Voelkerpsychologie und Soziologie. In the 1930s he founded both the Institute of Social Psychology and Ethnology and the Free University of Berlin.

Thurnwald is also credited with his multi-disciplinary approach. Some of his main influences came from the fields of economics, sociology, and psychology among others. Psychological, geographic, and linguistic questions were incorporated into his field research. Thurnwald was also concerned with the question of what impact westernization has on native tribes.

Concerns and research questions also focused on the process of diffusion, usually credited with Boas and Rivers. With regard to the issue of evolutionary schemes of development, he felt it could only be applied at the family or state level; he rejected the laws of sequence. Progress is not necessarily a steady ascent but the conquest of many peaks. In that connection he also rejected the notion that all similarities will yield similar results.

Many of his ideas have been credited to other famous people in their respective fields. Malinowski, Radcliffe-Brown, and Boas are some of the few who shared similar ideas. Thurnwald will be best remembered for incorporating different fields of study into his research. He realized early on that different disciplines are intertwined and deserved a closer look.

CLARITY: 4
ERICA BENJAMIN University of North Carolina at Charlotte (Starrett).

Lowie, Robert H. Richard Thurnwald 1869-1954. American Anthropologist. 1954. Vol. 56 : 862- 867

Robert Lowie provides a detailed account of the lifetime achievements of Richard Thurnwald, 1869- 1954. The article begins by describing Thurnwald as being “one of the most productive ethnologists of his time” (862). A time line of Thurnwald’s travels is presented, as well as, discussed ( e.g. working in Bosnia in 1896, where he inscribed the socio- economic conditions, researching in Egypt, Melanesia, United States etc.)

His academic career and accomplishments are outlined, namely his contributions funding the journals “Sociologus” and “Black and White in East Africa” as well as the numerous influential articles, notes, and reviews he wrote throughout his life.

Thurnwald is described as being a functionalist inclined to determine the ways in which various aspects of culture were interwoven. He studied the effects of ethnic contacts, especially focusing on the “process of cultural diffusion.”

Lowie sums up Thurnwald’s major contribution to the study of anthropology by asserting that he was the first anthropologist to provide a methodical account of primitive economics. His work is noted to have been read and used by anthropologists, such as Boas, Herbert Balsu, Wolfram Eberhard, Gerdt Kutscher, Wihelm Muhlmann and Hilde Thurnwald.

CLARITY RANKING: 4
DIMITRA LAZAROU York University: ( Naomi Adelson)

Lurie, Nancy Oestreich. Winnebago Berdache. American Anthropologist, 1954: 708-712.

In this article, Lurie discusses mainly the existence and role of the berdache in Winnebago culture. She does not explain what a berdache is until the fourth paragraph, which makes the beginning of the article somewhat unclear to anyone not well versed in Winnebago culture. However, when she does give the explanation of a berdache, it clarifies the confusion one may have had. A berdache is a man who, directed by the moon, takes on the role of a woman and is able to do the tasks of a woman better than any normal woman.

Her other point is the similarities between the Winnebago, a Woodland Siouan group and other Plains Siouan groups, such as the Omaha, Oto, Iowa and Ponca. To show this and the role of the berdache in Winnebago culture, she uses mainly stories told to her by members of those groups. While she does discuss some linguistic evidence as to the similarities and differences, as well as the role of the berdache in different cultures, the main source of evidence comes from anecdotal stories told to her in interviews.

The general view of the berdache that she presents is that while the actual berdache were honored people, the tradition was abandoned when the white man came because he viewed this tradition as silly or evil. Also, this idea of dressing up as a women, while honorable for a true berdache, was seen as a punishment for others, something disgraceful and only forced upon one’s enemies. Her conclusion is that berdache were certainly part of Winnebago culture, although the same characteristics of a berdache that would make him honorable would make another man disgraceful.

CLARITY: 4
JENNY COHEN Barnard College (Paige West)

Martin, Paul S. Southwestern Archeology, Its History and Theory: Comments. American Anthropologist, Aug,1954, Vol.56(4)570-572.

Martin offers his support for the ideas presented by Taylor in a paper and a published volume: A Study of Archeology. Taylor argues that to understand the past we need to examine the present and work backwards. Martin feels that Taylor’s ideas would have been better received had he published his archeological findings beforehand. Martin concedes that any archeological findings would clearly be influenced by the writer’s agenda. Martin describes his agenda for archeology as: learning as much as he can about the past in order to be able to recognize patterns in human behavior. He hopes to be able to take this information and use it to guide social change. He believes that by understanding the general patterns of human existence, man can harness these patterns to his advantage.

Martin is generally supportive of Taylor’s ideas, despite the challenges they face in the anthropological community. He mentions that Edward Sapir might have inspired Taylor and points out that other publications, although not necessarily in complete accord, have been moving towards the ideas that Taylor presents.

CLARITY: 2
KELLY HINES Middlebury College (David Napier)

Mead, Margaret. The Swaddling Hypothesis: Its Reception American Anthropologist June, 1954 Vol.56(1): 395-405.

The main concern in this article by Margeret Mead is the confusion between 1950 and 1954 regarding the misinterpretation of the swaddling hypothesis developed by Geoffrey Gorer. This hypothesis states: “An unusually long swaddling experience is a significant aspect of the educational process by which human infants, born to and reared by Russian parents, become Russian.”

The main argument is that there are two foci that this misinterpretation revolves around. These are: 1. “The difference between the history of a culture and the history of an individual personality”, 2. “The difference between hypotheses involving circularity and dynamic equilibriums.” It is also stated there are two common misunderstandings of Gorer’s swaddling hypothesis: It is impossible to look at a Russian individual without looking at his or her surroundings, and it is hard for an observer to not superimpose their cultural norms over those of the Russian group they are studying.

The information backing these claims comes from both journal articles and ethnographic analysis of the agriculturalist societies of northern Russia. Mead cites Geoffrey Gorer as her primary source in this analysis of the swaddling hypothesis mainly for the previous work he did with the same people a couple of years before Mead studied them. Comparing the work of Gorer with her own ethnographic study of the Russians Mead realized that the initial response to the swaddling hypothesis was vastly misinterpreted. This was because the readers took swaddling to be a bad thing for the child. Mead came to realize that this was not the case, do to the fact that in the Russian cultural context swaddling had a completely different meaning. Scientists who were studying this Russian culture at the time were in essence missing the forest for the trees. Looking at individuals this ritual of infant swaddling looked like a pointless thing, but looking at the entire society, Mead saw that this ritual is no different from bottle-feeding our children instead of breastfeeding them. Neither is better or worse, but the ritual is what the culture does.

CLARITY: 4
PATRICK DIENER University of North Carolina At Charlotte (Gregory Starrett)

Mead, Margaret. The Swaddling Hypothesis: Its Reception. American Anthropologist February, 1954 Vol. 56(1): 395-408.

In this article, Mead discusses the misconceptions that surrounded the study of cultural character over a four year span and the misrepresentations which arose as a result of the swaddling hypothesis that was developed by Geoffrey Gorer. The author confronts this issue as it relates to the general development of theory and permits the examination of the effect of cultural setting on the development of theoretical approaches and ideas. The purpose of the swaddling hypothesis posed by Gorer is to describe the process of learning within Russian culture, and is not intended to trace the origins of the culture as some interpretations imply. Swaddling is a practice which involves wrapping an infant snugly in cloth so that the movement of the limbs is tightly restricted. Gorer’s swaddling hypothesis suggests that swaddling is an integral part of the educational process that is applied by Russian parents in an attempt to groom their infants into becoming Russians that are in touch with their culture. Mead concludes that there are two main misunderstandings that surround the swaddling hypothesis, which result in numerous misinterpretations and in this article she attempts to nullify these confusions.

Mead confronts the swaddling hypothesis in an attempt to understand the complex process by which an infant with a universal biological potential develops a particular character structure with distinct culture traits as a result of exposure to a certain intricate cultural configuration. The author is addressing the effects of the types of child-rearing practices enforced by a certain culture on the developed adult character. Mead constructs her argument by referring to various clinical studies and written texts that are applicable to character formation, specifically those regarding Russians but also briefly refers to those that apply to infants universally. She focuses primarily on the uniqueness of the Russians developmental techniques, including specific aspects of Russian education, the special reasons regarding why they practice swaddling, and how swaddling appears in Russian literature and art. Mead discusses the types of educational practices instituted by Russia as children often display the types of learning characteristic of their culture. The author then concludes the article by discussing four attacks that the discussion of this approach to Russian character has generated and exhibits where the misunderstandings of the hypothesis have derived from, providing a solid argument for the importance of swaddling and other unique child-rearing practices of the Russians.

CLARITY: 5
GEMMA FERGUSON Barnard College (Paige West)

Meggers, Betty J. Environmental Limitation on the Development of Culture. American Anthropologist October 1954 Vol. 56 (5): 801-824.

In this article, Betty J. Meggers explores the relationship between culture and environment, and argues that the level of a culture’s development is contingent upon the agricultural productivity of its environment. To illustrate her point, Meggers analyzes correlations between environment and culture in myriad cultures across South America and Europe, and draws upon the work of numerous anthropologists, including Julian Steward, Sherburne Cook, and Harold Peake.

Meggers begins by redefining the term environment so that differences in agricultural potential are considered. Until now, geographers, who place no importance on cultural similarities, have largely defined environments. The primary interaction between a culture and its environment is found in subsistence, so this activity is the basis Meggers uses to classify environments into four basic categories: Type 1, Type 2, Type 3 and Type 4. A Type 1 area has no agricultural potential, and includes areas such as tundra, swamps and some deserts. Type 2 environments are characterized as areas of limited agricultural potential, and often consist of tropical environments with poor soil. Meggers defines Type 3 environments as “areas of increasing (improvable) agricultural potential,” and offers temperate climates and areas of swidden cultivation as examples. Type 4 environments are typified by unlimited agricultural potential, and closely resemble the ideal conditions for agriculture. After establishing the above criteria, Meggers constructs similar categories to measure culture development, including social classes, occupational division of labor, and religion. With these scales in place, Meggers examines different cultures and their environments across South America and Europe.

Julian Steward identified four major culture areas in South America: Marginal, Tropical Forest, Circum-Caribbean, and Andean. Meggers asserts that each of these culture areas corresponds accordingly to the four types of environments listed above. For example, while the Marginal tribes reside in various geographic areas, all of these environments are unsuitable for agriculture, thus rendering their environments to the Type 1 category. Likewise, the Tropical Forest peoples inhabit Type 2 environs, the Circum-Caribbean population resides in Type 3 environs, while the Andean culture, the most advanced population according the scale established above, is found in Type 4 environments. From this evidence, Meggers deduces that environmental condition is the paramount factor in determining cultural evolution.

To further validate her conclusion, Meggers then analyzes culture and environment in Europe. Here, the Paleolithic period is associated with Type 1 environments, the Danubian I period corresponds to Type 2 environs, the Danubian VI culture is characteristic of Type 3 environments, and the Danubian VII and VIII cultures are associated with Type 4 environments. The theory that agricultural productivity of the environment is the primary determinant of cultural evolution is then applied to the Mayan culture to explain the mysteries surrounding the culture’s origin and development. Meggers concludes by acknowledging that while an absence of diffusion may account for the inability of a culture to realize its environmental potential, “no amount of opportunity for diffusion can affect a cultural advance beyond the limitations set by the environment.”

CLARITY RANKING: 5
MICHELE ROSNER University of North Carolina, Charlotte (Greg Starrett)

Meggers, Betty J. Environmental Limitation on the Development of Culture. American Anthropologist 1954 Vol. 56:801-824

Megger examines the relationship between environment and culture with particular attention to regional subsistence patterns and its influence on the sociopolitical and religious nature of a culture. Megger contends that because environmental factors contribute to subsistence levels suitable to cultures, she sees a cause and effect relationship between the environment and development attainable for a culture. The article states that because geographical organization of various environmental features does not isolate ‘culturally significant types’ environments are deliberately categorized according to their subsistence potential in terms of agriculture.

The variation of the four types of agricultural landforms ranged from none or limited agricultural potential to areas that had increased potential and usefulness. Research done in South America and Europe suggest that definite limitations as well as possibilities for cultural development can be associated with each of the four types of environment. These are expressed in the form of a law; the level to which a culture could develop was dependent upon the agricultural potentiality of the environment it occupies. Although this law may prove useful in cultural interpretation, it should not be used to explain the cause of cultural decline or of cultural evolution. Megger states that her thesis does not provide a final or complete answer to the problem of the relationship between environment and culture.

CLARITY RATING: 3
MARCIE GOLDMAN York University (Naomi Adelson)

Miller, Eric. Caste And Territory in Malabar. American Anthroplogists June, 1954 Vol. 56 (3): 410-419.

Eric Miller’s argues that a rigid caste system is a system of territorial segmentation which has two functions: it promotes localized interdependent relations between castes, especially at the village level, by limiting the spatial range of intercaste relations for all castes; and it supports the hierarchical order of castes by permitting greater mobility and a greater spatial range of intercaste relations for those at the top of the scale than for those at the bottom. The larger and more inclusive the territorial unit in which members of a caste can move, the higher the rank of that caste.

The Malabar area is about 7,250 square miles, with a population of 5,350,000. Two thirds are Hindus, one quarter are Muslims, and the remainder are Christians. The Hindus are divided into upwards of two hundred castes and subcastes, between fifteen and twenty-five of which are represented in nearly every village. About one per cent of Hindus are Nambudiri Brahmans, the highest caste, and two thirds of the Hindus are members of the polluting castes. Below them are the Depressed Castes, who form about the fifteen percent of the Hindu population.

Then he evaluates the village organization of Malayali society. The Malayali prefers to separate himself from his neighbors with a privacy fenced garden. Villages will emerged into other village, which observes obvious boundaries. There were royal castes, upper castes, and lower caste systems. In all these social relations, whether juridical, economic, or ritual-structural, distance was expressed in terms of spatial segregation. The member of a high caste was ritually polluted if a lower-caste person approached within a specified distance. The greater the gap of rank, the greater the spatial separation.

Miller then goes on to examine broader political units. Villages were grouped into chiefdoms, which were defined by the number of able bodied Nayar troops that could be assembled. The village headman was the leader of his contingent. The chieftain of the Nayar was also a military leader. He himself was generally the headman of a village as well.

In looking at Caste and Territorial Segmentation, social relations (including marriage) of the chieftain castes were limited to the area within which a centralized government was acknowledged. The more independent chieftains were largely confined to their own nads. And since marriage was uxorilocal, with the husband only a visitor in the wife’s household, members of the chieftain families necessarily found spouses within the chiefdom more often than outside. Only the military Nayars and higher

castes, had any internal organization that extended to the boundaries of the nad and beyond. Territorial segmentation stressed the interdependence of all the castes at the village level and inhibited the development of internal caste solidarity over wide areas.

In recent years Malabar, has changed from a caste society into a class society. People who may at on time have been from diverse castes are now interacting with each other. But, at the same time kinship has not been abandoned as a principle of association, and most marriages will take place within the caste. There is a large growth of population, and the subsistence economy has been replaced by a more specialized cash economy. And a key change was establishment of a centralized bureaucratic government.

In conclusion, Miller has provided us with specific analysis of caste in relation to local political structure and territorial alignments. He felt that it was necessary to distinguish between “caste” as a form of social organization and “caste” as a group and to understand that throughout India, territorial organization took on different forms.

CLARITY RANKING: 4
TELISHA EDWARDS-STINSON University of North Carolina At Charlotte (Gregory Starrett)

Miller, Eric J. Caste and Territory in Malabar. American Anthropology February, 1954. Vol. 56(1):410-419.

The goal of Miller’s article is to demonstrate his hypothesis that a rigid caste system is a system of territorial segmentation which has two functions. The first is that it promotes localized interdependent relations between castes, by limiting the spatial range of inter-caste relations. The second function is that it supports the hierarchical order of castes by permitting greater mobility and a greater spatial range of intra-caste relations for those at the top of the scale than for those at the bottom of the caste system. Miller does not set out to argue that his hypothesis is the right one but rather sets out to give evidence that supports his hypothesis. Miller does not have an established argument that he uses, instead he uses illustrative material to support his hypothesis. The illustrative material that Miller uses in this article was collected in his fieldwork in northern part of Malabar Coast. His fieldwork lasted two years. All the evidence that he uses in this article is from his fieldwork in Malabar.

Miller’s data is presented structurally with specific analysis of caste in relations to local political structure and territorial alignments. In the first few paragraphs of the article Miller sets out to provide information and facts about the people of the area. He gives quantitative data such as the size of the land, the population size, and the distribution of the land. The area he discusses in this article is about 7,250 square miles with a population size of about 5,350,000 in 1941. The area is divided into two-thirds Hindus, one fourth Muslims, and the remaining Christians. He then provides more information about the organization of the village and some definitions the reader needs to understand. The caste system of Malabar is a system of relationships between stable groups which are interdependent, both economically and ritually. These groups are also arranged in a rigid order of ranking that governed and was expressed by all their interaction. Later in the article Miller uses specific analysis of caste in relations to local political structure and territorial alignments as evidence to support his hypothesis. An example of this type of organization is a system of territorial segmentation, which limited the spatial range of the individual caste as a group. These divisions emphasized the unity of the territorial unit as a whole and inhibited the growth of individual caste unity. There was no mobility to all the castes except the Nambudiri Brahmans, which are the highest caste in the caste system. The Nambudiri Brahmans were also impeded by the difficulties of travel. With the examples of territorial alignments and political structure, Miller gave sufficient evidence to support his hypothesis.

CLARITY: 3
MELISSA VERGARA Barnard College (Professor West)

Miller, Eric J. Caste and Territory in Malabar. American Anthropologist February, 1954 Vol. 56 (1): 410 – 420.

Miller addresses the Indian caste system on a local, rather than on a national scale. His focus is on a particular region of India, the Malabar District. The object of his paper is to illustrate the hypothesis that territorial divisions within a region are necessary to preserve traditional village caste systems. According to Miller, territorial segmentation promotes localized interdependent relations between castes, especially at the village level, by limiting the spatial range of intercaste relations over wide areas.

Miller begins by mapping out the caste hierarchy found within the Malabar District. He then discusses the Desam, or the village unit, and the role each caste plays within it. He outlines the distinct juridical, economic, and ritual relations governing these tightly-knit units. He then moves on to discuss caste relations on a larger scale, within chiefdoms, or groupings of villages. Miller’s descriptions show how caste relations are distinct within different villages and chiefdoms, even among the same castes. This is true, however, only if there is territorial segmentation to limit communication among different villages and chiefdoms. Miller shows how foreign colonization and trade have transformed Malabar’s traditional methods of administration into a centralized beaurocratic government, loosening territorial segmentation. The old boundaries became porous, ceasing to mark the limits of social relations among castes, enabling them to establish internal bonds of solidarity over wide areas. Miller makes an important observation that the breaking down of territorial cleavages is fundamental to the transition from a system in which castes were interdependent within small areas to a system in which castes are becoming widely ramifying classes in opposition to one another. He also point out, however, that caste distinctions are often blurred in modern industrial society, as increasing numbers from all castes join political parties and unions.

Miller makes the conclusion that a system of territorial segmentation is necessary to maintain the kind of closed, traditional caste system found in Malibar before India’s submission to foreign control.

CLARITY RATING: 4
VALENTINA FLEER Barnard College (Paige West)

Moore, Harvey C. Cumulation and Cultural Processes. American Anthropologist June, 1954 vol. 56(3): 347-357.

Culture has been characterized as being both cumulative and non-cumulative in recent discourse about the nature of culture. Thus, it is necessary to examine certain aspects of culture in order to clarify whether or not, and to what degree, cumulation does occur. In addition, if cumulation of culture is evident, it should be considered as a system of interrelated parts, and can be further related to the cultural dynamics of the present.

Technological advancement is the most obvious example of highly cumulative culture. Modern-day tools such as the hammer, awl, ax, knife, and anvil represent specialized forms derived from similar tools used in the Stone Age. Furthermore, the forms invented in the recent past have been combined in such a manner that the original function is lost to the overall function of an integrated, larger formal unit.

Marriage provides a different picture of cumulation. Theoretically, man-and-woman marriage may take four forms: monogamy, polygyny, polyandry, and group marriage. Throughout human history, these forms have not changed or become cumulative. However, the function of marriage may show some cumulation. Monogamy developed from the Anglo-Saxon compact of kin, which prevailed when kinship was a potent force in social structure. When the Church asserted itself, the concept developed into one between the man and the woman and God. During the historical period of State supremacy, the compact developed into one between man and woman and state.

The cumulation of culture can be highly progressive, as seen in material culture, or agglutinatively progressive, as seen in marriage forms. Therefore, culture should not be classified as either cumulative or non-cumulative, but with more precision as to how culture is cumulative in specific ways. In addition, cultural processes not only include changes within certain aspects of culture, but also in changes between different aspects and individuals. In primitive society, the family performed health, economic, and educative duties. Over time and cumulation of knowledge, new aspects of culture have been developed (e.g. medicine, educational institutions). Modern American families rely on specialized members of society for duties formerly preformed by the family. Thus, it can be said that cumulation in culture is a system of interrelated parts.

This system functions to extend and cumulate aspects of culture that are evident in today’s societies. Economists since the time of Adam Smith have come to understand more about the nature of economics, while philosophers have refined their methods for arguing problems that were debated in the time of Plato. As the systems of culture cumulation are becoming progressive, the test of times and challenge of competing systems will determine whether the systems will endure.

CLARITY: 3
NO NAME University of North Carolina At Charlotte (Gregory Starrett)

Moore, Harvey C. Cumulation and Cultural Processes. American Anthropologist 1954 Vol. 56: 347-357

Moore defines and discusses the many ways in which different aspects of culture are (and are not) accumulated over time. He questions the means by which culture changes over time, and reaches certain theories about how different types of social and cultural changes occur. Moore argues that culture, as a whole, cannot be generalized as cumulative or non-cumulative; rather that certain pieces of a culture change in certain cumulative ways.

First, Moore discusses science, technology and the Church as examples of progressive cumulation. He theorizes that, in these forms of culture, present cultural norms are the simply developments upon older, simpler cultural norms. Next, Moore discusses material culture, which his says is both progressively cumulative in some ways, and also agglutinatively cumulative and cumulative-becoming-substitutive in other ways, meaning that some aspects of material culture are added over time and some aspects slowly replace others over time. Moore continues to analyze other aspects of culture, such as religion, language, and marriage structure, dividing them into these three major categories.

Next, Moore attempts to explain these different types of cultural cumulation. He does this by examining the development of technology through archeological findings. Moore discusses the cumulation of technology, such as stone tools, in the Lower Paleolithic period, and the differing social structures that came with the different process of producing technology in the Copper Age. Moore then jumps through time to the Industrial Revolution, arguing that the sharing of a body of knowledge and the specialization of labor roles within a society are “contributory to progressive cumulation (353).”

Finally, Moore looks at how culture, as a whole, is influenced by the cumulative nature of its many parts. He examines the interaction between different categories and divisions in society and their designated behaviors. Throughout the article, Moore relies heavily on the assumption that modern changes in culture have truly been progressive. He often uses theories many today would consider outdated, such as unilinear evolution, when analyzing cultural changes. However, Moore is very progressive for a writer of his time in that he recognizes that not all cultural change happens through one unified process of cultural evolution.

CLARITY: 4
LAURA DRESSER Columbia College (Paige West)

Newman, Stanley. American Indian Linguistics in the Southwest. American Anthropologist August 1954 Vol. 56 (4): 626-643.

The Southwest is a rich and diverse culture area, which makes it an ideal environment for linguistic study. In this article, Newman discusses the history and current trends of linguistical studies of American Indian languages in the Southwest. Comments by C.F. Voegelin, Harry Hoijer and Morris Swadesh are included at the end of the article.

Newman’s article begins by tracing the evolution of linguistic theory through the inspectional method promoted by Powell, to Sapir’s impressionistic method, and finally to the comparative method that is principally used at present. Powell’s inspectional method attempted to decipher the primary clusters of related languages by analyzing vocabulary semblances. This method was eventually abandoned because distant relations between languages were hard to evaluate, and grammatical changes were not considered. Sapir’s impressionistic method was based on the tenet that a relationship between languages may be assumed if broad similarities in their grammar exist. The comparative method is the most reliable method for linguistic study because researchers seek phonetic connections between the cognate forms of a group of languages. The comparative method was strengthened by the development of descriptive linguistics, which analyzes a language as a collection of patterns.

Newman also identifies the growing trend of linguistics focusing on language and culture relationships. The Whorfian Hypothesis states that a language affects perception, and this principle, as well as other linguistic evidence, have been used to interpret culture history. Newman closes the article with a summary of the linguistic achievements and needs of the Southwest culture area. While acknowledging the advances that have been made in the linguistic study of various Southwest language groups, including the Hopi, Zuni, Keresan, Tanoan, Yuman, Pima-Tepehuan and Apachean, Newman also identifies some difficulties facing linguists studying these language families. The relatively few number of linguists trained in American Indian fieldwork, and the prohibitive and ever-rising cost of printing have injured language and culture studies of the Southwest region. In his comments, Voegelin states that he completely agrees with Newman’s analysis of Southwestern linguistics, and offers three suggestions for future linguistic study: the compilation of comprehensive Southwest dictionaries, an analysis of bilingual individuals to explore linguistic acculturation, and an emphasis on typology. While Hoijer also agrees with most of Newman’s article, he also suggests that analysis on language borrowing be performed, and more research be conducted on language-culture relationships. Finally, Swadesh offers some recommendations for linguists studying the Southwest, including an initial emphasis on compiling dictionaries, over analysis of complex grammatical structure, and the incorporation and encouragement of native people collecting and recording their own languages.

CLARITY RANKING: 5
MICHELE ROSNER University of North Carolina, Charlotte (Greg Starrett)

Newman, Stanley. American Indian Linguistics in the Southwest. American Anthropologist, 1956. Vol.56:626-642.

Stanley Newman offers a critique of the contemporary research in the field of American Indian linguistics in the Southwest. He provides a detailed view of the work that has been done, praising researchers, as he deems appropriate. By doing so, Newman clearly defines the gaps within the collected body of knowledge and outlines a course of action for future studies.

Newman starts by pointing out that prior to 1946, American Indian languages of the Southwest had been largely overlooked. A discussion of the past and present methods of linguistic anthropology in the region follows. Newman credits Powell (1891) with shaping the base knowledge regarding language families in the Southwest. The fifty-eight stocks that he identified using the inspectional method had yet to be discredited. Despite this success, Powell’s approach was not effective in determining the remote relationships between languages. Also noted is the impressionistic method used by Sapir to assume relations between languages with significant grammatical structure similarities. Newman goes on to praise the modern comparative method developed by Indo-European linguists in the nineteenth century, sighting this as the most consistent and accurate method.

Finally, Newman describes in detail the research collected regarding specific languages and language families in the Southwest. While examining the Pueblo (Hopi, Zuni, Keresan, Taroan), and non-Pueblo (Yuman, Pima-Tepehuan, Apachean) language studies, he discusses the work that has been done, as well as that which needs to be done to further the field. He notes the replacement of vocabulary lists with descriptive grammars as a significantly progressive step, allowing for further comparison studies. Newman mourns the fact that historical research has long been neglected, and the research has been too brief to yield sound conclusions. According to Newman, the Southwest offers excellent potential for language and cultural investigations due to the wealth of ethnographic data. The shortage of linguists as well as the prohibitive cost of publishing and printing dictionaries has limited the extent to which that potential has been explored. Newman notes that acculturation and a high prevalence of multi-lingual individuals create unique challenges for the linguist in the Southwest.

Following Stanley Newman’s article, there are commentaries by three of his contemporaries. All three scholars agree with Newman’s observations and criticisms. C.F. Voegelin of Indiana University, looks at Newman’s treatment of dictionaries and acculturation, also noting that typology is a most exciting theoretical bias. Harry Hoijer of the University of California, reviews the key points of the article and then offers an additional four questions which need to be considered. Morris Swadesh of Denver, Colorado, offers detailed suggestions regarding the publication and production of dictionaries.

By careful critique of the available research, Newman reveals the areas within the current body of work that demand further study, while at the same time acknowledging the beneficial work that has been done. Thus, Stanley Newman successfully evaluates the contemporary research in the field of American Indian linguistics of the Southwest.

MICHELLE CHELSTROM, KELLY KRUTZ, RYAN SZYMANSKI Northern Illinois University (Giovanni Bennardo)

Pehrson, Robert N. The Lappish Herding Leader: A Structural Analysis. American Anthropologist 1954 Vol. 56 (4): 1076-1080.

Small groups were most often thought to choose their leaders due to personality traits or in response to a task or situation. The author of this article has a third option that he observed among the Lappish people. The Lapps are a nomadic group of reindeer hunters who reside in Sweden. They are a rare group to find in Europe after the industrial revolution. Their behaviors can give us ethnographic information helping us to better understand the ancient past of England. He chose the Lapps for two reasons: the narrow range of their social units, and the bilateralism of their society.

The Lapps have no internal centralized political body; their only leader is chosen as a representative to the Swedish government. This provides an interesting opportunity to study a group that forms no natural hierarchy. Women it this society are able to pass down as well as inherit wealth. Women also have a large amount of political power due to this right. Each band of Lapps has a master, mistress, and assistant master to maintain the group. The master of the group makes decisions for the good of the group. Since the Lapps are nomadic he chooses when and where to move in the common economic interest of the group. His decisions are often overruled if the group feels there is a better plan. The leader also has the responsibility to designate personnel for expeditions, reviewing applicants for membership, and setting migration dates. These responsibilities are given to an elected leader chosen by the group to facilitate the economic responsibilities of all.

The Lapps look for certain qualities in a leader as every group does. A wealthy, older man is often chosen due to his financial success as well as his maturity. Often the son of a previous leader will take the position with the passing of his father. Siblings are important to the Lapps and a leader must have a large number of them. Groups of siblings form political groups and the strongest sibling group often places the leader. To further enforce his authority a leader would want to increase the size of his sibling group; often this is done through marriage. Leadership often passes through a powerful family through the men as well as women. The more powerful families play the largest role in Lappish leadership.

In the Lapps a third option to the process of choosing a leader can be seen. For them a leader must come from a wealthy sibling group, have a large number of productive siblings, be of a relative age, be married to a fertile wife, and show good economic sense. The importance of family to the Lapps is clear in their political practices. This author has created a new method of labeling leadership in small groups; this can help with new interpretations, and reinterpretations of different cultures and their political practices.

CLARITY: 4
WERNER, DAMIAN M. UNC Charlotte (Gregory Starrett).

Pehrson, Robert N. The Lappish Herding Leader: A Stuctural Analysis. American Anthropologist 1954 Vol. 56:1076-1080

In his article Lappish Herding Leader: A Structural Analysis, Robert Pehrson studies the implications and basis for leadership in the small group of Konkama Lapps of Karesuando Parish, Sweden. Perhson’s thesis asks whether there are inherent or similar characteristics of leadership within other small groups or bands. Because bilateralism is a feature of the Konkama Lapp society (where there is gender equality in regards to rights such as inheritance and property) and leadership can be transmitted bilaterally, Pehrson questions if there is a connection between bilateral descent and mode of leadership in Konkama.

Perhrson sees that the traditional ties of kinship and local group affiliations that structure the ‘Konkama Lapp Society’ are manifested in the persona of the Lappish herding leader. The leader, who is male, can be defined as one who heads a socio-economic group whose members are unified by ties of kinship and who live in proximity to each other in order to pursue a common economic goal – the maintenance and propagation of their reindeer herd. Although there is no concise Lapp definition of leader, Pehrson notes that a leader’s characteristics and selection criteria include: maturity (rather than seniority), having siblings and solidarity with one’s siblings, membership in the wealthiest sibling group (wealth is determined by the number of reindeer that are owned), birth order, marriage and children.

The article attempts to show that marriage, fertility, and wealth relate to structural principles of sibling solidarity, birth order and bilateral decent that are integral components for the selection of the Lappish herding leader. Perhrson contends that other bilaterally organized societies should be studied to see if any correlations can be found between modes of leadership and bilateralism.

CLARITY RATING: 4
MARCIE GOLDMAN York University (Naomi Adelson)

Province, John, et al. The American Indian in Transition. American Anthropologist 1954 Vol.56: 387 – 394

The underlying assumption about American Indians is that they are quickly being assimilated into the normal stream of American life. However, evidence suggests that this claim is unwarranted. Most Indian groups in the United States are still thriving after over one hundred years of Euro-American contact. Province notes that many Indian groups have not yet been assimilated and are striving to maintain an identity, behaviors and customs associated with traditional Indian lifestyles.

Unfortunately, many Indian groups are becoming marginalized and forced to modify their lives because of pressure from non-Indian societies that surround them. This pressure is due in part to social factors such as racial prejudice, local attitudes, and administrative practices in the larger American society. In addition, Indians themselves are leaving their communities and entering larger American societies. Province argues that many Indians become well accepted and adjusted individuals.

Province suggests that there is hope for many Indian tribes stating that, “despite external pressures, and internal change, most of the present identifiable Indian groups…will continue indefinitely as distinct social units, preserving their basic values, personality, and Indian way of life, while making continual adjustments, often superficial in nature to the economic and political demands of the larger society”(Province ,1954, p389).

Contained within distinct cultural islands, American Indians are feeling the pressures from the larger American society. Such is the case for childhood education, which Province believes will help Indians to take their place in American life, only when the teachers, curriculum and techniques are adapted to suit the needs of the Indian cultures. Along the same line, economic support, teaching and assistance must be developed in combination with Indian groups and the government.

Political haggling between the American Congress and Indian groups has been difficult. Any policy, more particularly its implementation, must work for both cultures involved. However, Indians feel at a loss, because their foreseeable future is dependent on a population that favours the interests of the dominant society. The Indian can do little to affect decisions concerning Indians. Consequently, many Indian groups feel that their success is dependent on individuals that are not only competent, but also understanding of the Indian point of view. Province believes that more discussion is needed to fully understand Indian Affairs and that all the assumptions of Indians in transition have not yet been exhausted.

CLARITY: 4
ROBERT WASYLYK York University (Naomi Adelson)

Reed, Erik. Transition to History in the Pueblo Southwest. American Anthology August, 1954 Vol. 70 (4): 592-603

Erik Reed discusses the transition that was made in the Pueblo Southwest from prehistory to the present. He shared many explanations for the cause of cultural, population, and structural shifts among the number of Pueblo people who inhabited the Southwest, putting together a chronological picture of how the Pueblo people of the 1100’s became the Pueblo people of today. He says that the shift among the peoples of the southwest began to change around 1150 AD in southern Utah and Nevada.

About two generations later, an increase in population caused these groups (he uses the Anasazi) to become large, compact settlements, for defensive purposes. The period between 1150 and 1250 was a time when the villages were large, or small and compact open pueblos and there was a developing trend to move into cliff sites and other defensive areas. In the second half of the thirteenth century, however, there was a drought, which made for more defensive sites to protect water sources.

In the fourteenth century, there was another series of abandonments of entire districts and the disappearance of groups. Before the arrival of the Spanish in the sixteenth century, the Pueblo Indians were reduced to a small number of large groups. The Spaniards arrived in the middle to late sixteenth century. Permanent Spanish occupation was extended over the Pueblos in the seventeenth century, which brought a number of European items such as livestock, and metal tools. Reed then talks about the different things that changed Pueblo life after contact with the Europeans such as the building of Catholic churches. He goes on to say, however, that although little is known about Pueblo life in the eighteenth century, little has changed since contact with the Spaniards, as far as their social life. Modern inventions are incorporated in their lives yet the social and community organizations, religion, and other traditions have survived of the outside challenges.

Reed’s article was followed by comments from Albert Schroeder and J.O. Brew. Schroeder adds that although there was a lack of archeological methods applied to the Southwest other methods were being used, such as ethnography. Schroeder agrees with Reed and provides some archeological data to further strengthen his argument. Brew, however, says that Reed’s work is just the beginning of the study of the Southwest.

CLARITY RANKING: 3
NIKIA REAVES University of North Carolina at Charlotte, (Dr. Starrett)

Reed, Eric. Transition to History in Pueblo Southwest. American Anthropologist 1954 Vol 56 592-603

The history of the Pueblo Indians illustrates the long-term effects of outside interference with a community that is already proven to be self reliant.

Erik Reed attempts to recapture the cultural history of Pueblo southwest as they knew it in 1954. His intention is to provide an educational article, informing the reader of the history and historical events of centuries long ago. He makes evident how these events can affect the originality of a culture.

The Pueblos were a non-sedentary food-collecting tribe. They were known to be hunters and raiders. In the 11th century their primary location was in the Chaco Canyon of New Mexico. By the 1200’s their population grew remarkably and they strategically migrated to a more defensive location near a body of water. However, in the 13th century there was a period of drought which drained the water supply and weakened their defense against their enemy, the Ute-Paiutes. During the 14th century it was a time of survival- the stronger groups remained dominant and the weaker groups lost to extinction. Thus far Reed illustrates the tribes’ survival of enemy attacks, natural phenomenon and migration, each of which can highly impact a culture positively and negatively. It was not until the 15th century when the Spanish settlers arrived to colonize that you begin to see the transition of the natives. In the 1600’s the trade of livestock, food and valuables between Europe and the natives grew. The natives became more dependent on the Europeans but still did not totally accept their culture. In the 17th and 18th centuries the Spanish empire was more determined than ever to assimilate the natives. They rejected the Catholic religion and the demands of the Spanish military. Unfortunately, despite their reservations, many were converted and descendants of the Pueblo disbursed. Only few could survive the new diseases brought by the Europeans and fewer continued to live as an independent community. The Pueblo Indians did not totally accept the Spanish culture without resistance; however, they adopted certain necessities and they managed to make it their own and a part of their own culture.

Reed emphasizes the fact that the Spaniards began the transition to “civilization,” and relates how the Indians coped with the change.

CLARITY: 3
MELISSA MOKEDANZ York University (Naomi Adelson)

Sauer, Carl O. Gatherers and Farmers in the Greater Southwest: A Problem in Classification: Comments. American Anthropologist August, 1954 Vol. 56 (4): 553-556.

Sauer’s main argument is that in order for there to be an accurate study of Northwest Mexico, there needs to be a study that looks from both directions: the Southwest and Mesoamerica. The notion of “Apartheid’ of a southwest culture has arisen because Northern Mexico is not the central starting point of anthropological studies. Rather, Kirchhoff looks at it only from the south and their students from the north. He argues that there needs to be a re-examination of the cultural scene of the Southwest, ‘both from vertical and horizontal perspectives that see the area as a deep and wide zone of interpenetration of peoples and institutions, mainly originating elsewhere’ (p. 553). Sauer believes this will entail a merging of archeology, ethnology, and linguistics while keeping in mind geographic realities.

He looks at both agriculture and linguistics to help show the influence of the two directions in shaping latter prehistoric culture. Many introductions of agriculture to the area were brought from different routes and at differing times. Sauer suggests that further study on the domestication would help to explain prehistory culture. He believes that it is reasonable to think that the age of agriculture was introduced to the southwest around the same time it was introduced in Europe. Sauer also argues that agriculture was introduced from colonists because there is a history that shows both farmers and hunter-gathers living side by side, the latter not participating in agricultural practices despite being in areas suitable for agriculture. A reason is offered for continued hunter-gather lifestyles that suggests that agriculture is not only a way to create food but it is a way of life, often involving reorientation of culture.

Sauer also argues that looking at the geographic distribution of languages will help to shed light on the Southwestern-Mesoamerican connections. The descent of these languages may ‘provide the master key to the later prehistoric culture history’ (p. 555). When the study of northwest Mexico combines the directions of both the Southwest and Mesoamerica more facts will surface that can help to construct a clearer explanation of what the latter prehistoric culture was like.

CLARITY RANKING: 3
LISA BAUMGARTNER Middlebury College (David Napier)

Schroeder, Albert H. Transition to History in the Pueblo Southwest: Comments. American Anthropologist, Aug., 1954 Vol. 56(4): 597-258\

Albert Schroeder of the National Park Service takes an opportunity with his comments to add to Reed’s account of the Puebloan groups of the Southwest. He intends to convince the reader that research must continue in Southwestern historic sites in order to form a comprehensive understanding of prehistoric developments. To do this, he elucidates on the Athabascan tribes, a group that Reed did not discuss in depth.

Schroeder begins with a history of the study of the Athabascan tribes, noting that findings on this group have been fraught with controversy, as lack of data has led to speculation. He also alludes to documentary sources and archaeological evidence for dates when certain nations may have occupied different areas in the Southwest, more specifically the area west of the Rio Grande and the region north and west of the Four Corners area. He very briefly tracks the movement and development of several tribes from the region and contends that there is still much to be learned about each individual one, and that it would be helpful to excavate known historic sites in order to fill in gaps in the recorded history of these groups.

Schroeder’s analysis of the need for further archaeological research seems to come from an interest in both culture and history/prehistory, and the entwined relationship that he sees between these two domains. He believes that until archaeology properly documents the physical evidence of these groups’ development, it cannot begin to delve into the intangible developments of the culture, such as language and religion. These comments are helpful to those looking for an introduction to the topic of Puebloan groups in the Southwest and the direction of research within the field.

CLARITY: 4
CYNTHIA HERNANDEZ Middlebury College (David Napier)

Sears, William H. The Sociopolitical Organization of Pre-Columbian Cultures on the Gulf Coastal Plain. American Anthropologist 1954 Vol.56 (8): 339-346.

The class stratified social organization, the Natchez, of the seventeenth-century was accepted as a unique phenomena for many years. This article examines other prior possibilities. There is perhaps an earlier occurrence in A.D. 1100-1300 that reveals characteristics of social organization. Sears outlines in detail the salient features of Natchez and points out related features in cultures of other historic times. There is archaeological data that is used in reference for these cultures being discussed.

The evidence of a class stratified social system arises in cultural mortuary practices of the coastal area. There are burial mounds with a number of valuable goods and quite often there is a retainer sacrifice present. Positions and types of burials and their association to one another represent the class stratification. There is also archaeological evidence where certain types of ceramic pottery are present. Also noted is the difference in the cultures from the East and the West.

There are many cultures listed in relation to their organized social strata; however, the origins are still a question. The burial mounds are not only a sign of the social concepts; they also reflect distinct religious concepts. Through many comparisons it is evident that the Gulf Coastal Plain area has a definite relationship with the circum-Caribbean area to the south. Although there is a relationship between the two, it is impossible to tie this relationship to a specific culture and point in time.

CLARITY RANKING: 3
PATRICIA A. FALCONI York University (Naomi Adelson).

Shapiro, H. L. Obituary: Earnest Albert Hooton. American Anthropologist December, 1954 Vol. 56 (6):1081-1084.

Physical anthropologist Dr. Earnest Albert Hooton was born November 20, 1887 in Clemansville, Wisconsin to William and Margaret Elizabeth (Newton) Hooton. Educated at Lawrence College, the University of Wisconsin, and Oxford University, he received his Ph.D. in Classics in 1911. On June 3, 1915 Earnest married Mary Beidler Camp, with whom he had three children: Jay, William Newton, and Emma.

An inspiring, unorthodox, full-time Harvard professor from 1913 until 1954, Hooton enjoyed repartee with his students, once remarking to the author, “You know, none of my students have been ‘yes men’…Thank God!” Well known for his genuine interest in students, he gave generously his time and support, even opening his home as a place of warmth and refuge.

A meticulous researcher, Dr. Hooton investigated topics as divergent as the ancient inhabitants of the Canary Islands, the origins of Upper Paleolithic populations, the skeletal remains of Pecos Pueblo, the remote affiliations of the American Indian, American criminal behavior, and somatology. In addition to education and research, Hooton also served as chairman of the Division of Anthropology at Harvard, Curator of Somatology at the Peabody Museum, editor of Harvard African Studies, research fellow of the Department of Anatomy Harvard Medical School, president of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists, and chairman of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

His many popular books which introduced physical anthropology and human evolution to a wide non-academic audience included: Up from the Ape; Apes, Men and Morons; Twilight of Man, Why We Behave Like Apes and Vice Versa; Man’s Poor Relations; and Young Man, You Are Normal.

Witty and endearing, Hooton taught until his death on May 3, 1954 at age sixty-six in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

CLARITY RANKING: 5
DEA HOUSER University of North Carolina, Charlotte (Gregory Starrett)

Shapiro, H.L. Earnest Albert Hooton, 1887-1954. American Anthropologist, 1954 Vol. 56(6): 1081-1084.

This obituary by H.L. Shapiro outlines the life and illustrious career of Earnest Albert Hooton, an anthropologist who lived from 1887-1954. Shapiro, a former Harvard University student of Hooton, writes not only about Hooton’s greatness as one of the outstanding anthropologists of his time, but about his loveable character. Hooton’s research, in the field of physical anthropology, focused on broad questions rather than details. For example, a study he started on the ancient inhabitants of the Canary Islands brought him to broadly question the origins of upper Paleolithic populations. He consequently analyzed the skeletal remains of Pecos Pueblo which led him into continental vistas and speculations on the remote affiliations of the American Indian. Though his work was meticulously detailed, he only valued that detail for what it revealed to him about the broader general issues.

Due to his ability to convey his love for his work through his candid character, enthusiastic demeanor, and sharp wit, Hooton’s work is now being carried on by vast numbers of his inspired former students around the country. Largely due to his efforts, the field of physical anthropology is now blossoming. For all of his success, Hooton never attempted to establish a school of anthropological thought.

As one of the more public figures in anthropology during his time, Hooton was often seeked out by reporters for comment. His fame among the general public was due largely to his popular books, articles, and speeches. His first popular book, Up from the Ape, was a “careful, substantial exposition of the content of physical anthropology as he was teaching it at the time.” He wrote in such a manner that was thoroughly serious, but able to be enjoyed by the public. Also an incredible public speaker, Hooton was constantly in demand.

Hooton will be remembered as one of the great men in the field of anthropology. He had a full and prolific career. But more importantly than being an incredible and respected anthropologist, Hooton was a loved man who will be greatly missed by not only the world of anthropology, but by all who knew him.

CLARITY: 5
IRIS GOLDSTEIN Barnard College (Paige West)

Spicer, Edward H. Spanish-Indian Acculturation in the Southwest. American Anthropologist 1954 Vol. 56 (4): 663- 684.

This article discusses the processes involved in the adoption of Spanish traits by various Indian cultures in the southwest region of the United States. The author attempts to establish major patterns or general types of cultural adjustment by using a uniform scheme of analysis on three different southwestern cultures, the Pueblos, the Athabascan-speaking peoples, and the Cahitan-speaking peoples. He states that conclusions made about the ways in which sixteenth century Spaniards and these southwestern cultures interacted can help us to develop a more generalized understanding of Spanish-Indian contact.

Spicer breaks Spanish acculturation down into two major periods, from 1540 to 1820 and from 1820 to around 1950. He states that due to the unavailability of sound data on the 130 years following the 18th century, his discussion is centered on the earliest period. He points out that this is a period when the Spanish were the only western culture involved in contact and there was little to no change in the Spanish culture, thus positioning it as a constant and making the period easier to analyze.

Based on analysis of culture traits and the processes of acculturation, Spicer identifies three major patterns of cultural adjustment to contact. The Pueblos practice “compartmentalization” or the addition of a trait without modification of the pre-existing trait. For example, Spicer states that although a variety of new food types were introduced to the Pueblos, there was no replacement of any existing staples. The Cahitan practice “fusion” or the combination of traits to produce a new trait that is neither uniquely Spanish nor Indian. In Cahitan religion, the Christian flood myth became combined with Cahitan myth to produce a new story with an entirely different interpretation. And lastly, the Athabascan utilize “reorientation” or the addition of a trait that causes a fundamental restructuring of the culture. For example, herding was added to the subsistence pattern of the Athabascan and as a result, there was a re-orientation of their economy as well as their social structure. Herds became a symbol of status and prestige. Spicer includes in his discussion of cultural adjustment the conditions of the contact and examines what roles the Spanish military and missionaries played in changing the organization and infrastructure of the culture.

The author concludes the article by stating that he has attempted to explain culture change from contact, first by discussion of the pattern in which the Spanish and Indian cultures combined and second, by reference to the numbers and types of traits diffused. He concludes that a look at both gives a broader understanding of Spanish-Indian acculturation. The article is followed by two commentaries. The first one agrees with Spicer’s work and attempts to follow it up with additional information. The other one disagrees with Spicer and feels that he oversimplifies the aspects of acculturation.

CLARITY RATING: 4
ROBERTSON, PENELOPE. University of North Carolina at Charlotte (Gregory Starrett)

Spicer, H. Edward. Spanish-Indian Accultration in the Southwest. American Anthropologist August, 1954 Vol. 56(4):663-684.

The author discusses cultural changes in both the northern and southern America. He argues that in general the type of adjustment to Spanish contact on the part of Indian groups varied. The article focuses on the time period from about 1540 to about 1820. Due to the available established data the author was confined to an analysis of cultural processes in the earlier period from first Spanish contacts to Mexican independence. The key feature of argument used by the author is anthropological scholarship.

Spicer begins by discussing efforts made to outline the nature of Spanish-Indian collisions in a portion of the Southwest. The reader also learns that whole communities and tribes did not survive the contact. Therefore, the nature of the adjustment of the survivors is discussed. The article focuses on three groups called Pueblos, Athabascans and Cahitans. The Spanish contact modified the Pueblo culture in limited ways, but did not change the fundamental structure. In contrast the Cahitan peoples accepted Spanish culture elements not only in peripheral, but also in focal areas of the Cahitan cultures. Unlike the Pueblo or Cahitan the Athabascans had a very limited selection of traits which they accepted. But, those traits which were accepted were combined into Navaho and Apache culture in such a way that reorientation of the cultures came about. The author also mentions the adjustment of other groups like Piman-speaking peoples or the Seri.

Spicer explains and justifies that the characterizations of general patterns of contact adjustment. He does so by discussing the conditions of contact, changes in cultural inventory, and the process of change in relation to each of the three groups. He then concludes the article by discussing the nature of the factors which gave rise to the different results in the contact process. The article ends with a commentary section where Florence Hawley Ellis and Edward P. Dozier elaborate and comment on points made in Spicer’s article.

CLARITY RANKING: 4
DAGMARA ROMANSKA York University (Naomi Adelson)

Spiro, Melford E. Human Nature in Its Psychological Dimensions. American Anthropologist February 1954 Vol.56(1):19-29.

Spiro is trying to distinguish the difference in nature between humans and non human animals in psychology and anthropology. There are two criteria looked at to define human nature: It must designate a class on the basis of characteristics needed by that class; and it must separate this class from that of the non human class who don’t share these vital characteristics. Psychology questions the existence of vital differences between humans and non human animals. Anthropology separates humans from non human animals, but at the same time considers the vital characteristics to be universal among humans. Both psychology and anthropology have denied the existence of a general human nature.

Some in the field of social psychology see an identity between humans and non human animals. Trying to discover the human qualities in behavior they appointed two drives: “primary”, the biological drives, and “secondary”, the acquired drives. These “primary” drives are not individual to man, they are shared with all mammals. If human nature contains man’s “primary”, biological drives, there is no unique human nature. Anthropology has said there is one criterion that makes human nature unique, and this is culture. Therefore, as a product of culture, a universal human nature can’t exist, because it is relative to the experience of each society’s unique cultural arrangement. Humans are unique in their possession of a language and of thought. The existence of culture, as a human adaptive technique, implies the potential for symbolic depiction and manipulation of the environment in conceptual thought. A psychological dimension that separates humans from non human animals is the unique human ability of symbolization.

Without a cultural heritage man could not survive. If this statement is true, then any drive that has an adaptive value is natural. The fact remains that humans are always found in societies. Socialization modifies, strengthens, and warps inborn structures. To develop a mind and a self it is important that an infant lives in human society and acquires a cultural heritage. The social life of non human animals consists of three lines of behavior: search for food, search for mates, and avoiding enemies. Anthropologists would not classify a society motivated only by these three drives as human.

In the absence of a universal human nature, there would be no universal pattern in culture, and without this cultural pattern there would be no science of anthropology. Underneath the many ranges in personality types there is a small number of beliefs that are universal, and make up the universal human nature. There are four prerequisites for the functioning of a culture: “needs”, “values”, “ego processes”, and “defense mechanisms”. Needs, values, and response make up a personality theory: id, ego, and superego. This theory states that behavior of an individual isn’t random, the needs(id), values(superego), and the response (ego) are organized to a degree. This organization equals personality structure, and this structure makes up the core of human nature. In the absence of a personality structure it is unlikely that culture would survive. In conclusion, in the absence of human personality there would exist no human culture.

CLARITY RANKING: 2
JENNIFER LEDFORD University of North Carolina at Charlotte(Dr. Gregory Starrett)

Spiro, Melford E. Is the Family Universal? American Anthropologist June, 1954 Vol.56(3): 839-846

Spiro defines family by quoting Murdock: “The nuclear family has four functions: sexual, economic, reproductive and educational.” Spiro then goes on to claim that he believes that this definition of the family is universal. The main argument of this paper is that the family is a universal occurrence incorporating these ideas in all cultures. Spiro used as an example of this occurrence the Kibbutz household of Israel. A Kibbutz is an agricultural group of families engaged in communal living, the absence of “free enterprise”, and the communal rearing of children. In a kibbutz there is no nuclear family, but there are still guidelines for the family inside the kibbutz. Children are raised communally by all of the families, but married couples live together in a room by themselves. Spiro chooses to use the kibbutz communities in his studies because on the outside they appear to be the exception to the rule. But as Spiro shows us this is not the case when we take a closer look.

Evidence of these viewpoints is given throughout the article showing how a kibbutz community is actually just a more complex and larger version of the nuclear family. Even though the nuclear family seems to be separate, and a part of a larger family, the family bonds are not broken. Spiro shows us that the family bonds are strong when it comes to the reprimanding of the children. The Biological parents of a child in a kibbutz are ultimately responsible for that child’s behavior. If that child is found doing an act not supported by the kibbutz community the parents of that child are the ones held accountable.

Spiro gathers his information both through ethnographic study of the kibbutz community, and citing scholarly sources from Murdock, Redfield and Zborowski.

Spiro’s fieldwork was done in the 1950’s and because of the difference in cultures; this should be taken into account. Overall Spiro presents a clear argument and concise documentation; he makes it clear that there is a difference between psychological and physical views of the “family”, and based his argument around this point.

CLARITY: 4
PATRICK DIENER University of North Carolina At Charlotte (Gregory Starrett)

Spiro, Melford E. Is the Family Universal? American Anthropologist, 1954. Vol. 56(1): 839-846.

Melford E. Spiro toys with the concept of whether or not the nuclear family is a universal ideal, unwavering, or whether certain societies have found other outlets for otherwise nuclear family achieved goals. Specifically, Spiro sets out to evaluate more critically Murdock’s point that the nuclear family (father, mother, child(ren)) is indeed universal because of its all important functions ranging from sexual, economical, reproductive, and educational. Murdock argues that because these four factors are vital to any society and because these four functions are carried out by a nuclear family, this structure is necessary everywhere. Spiro sets out to determine whether these same four functions could be divided up among a society as a whole and analyzes the lifestyles within an Israeli kibbutz to evaluate this idea better on a small, Utopian, subgroup of society, level.

Spiro aligns the Murdock evaluation of a nuclear family and its functions to kibbutz “families.” For example, according to Murdock, a husband and wife in a nuclear family are “characterized by common residence, economic cooperation, and reproduction.” In view of a kibbutz, it can not quite be stated that a reproducing couple there falls under the same category. The problem lies in the lack of economic cooperation for one another. Spiro explains how the concept of a kibbutz foundationally lies in the cooperation of all members to cooperate as a whole and perform delegated tasks that benefit the entire community, not on the scale of an individual family cooperating for the benefit of itself, using society as a means for this.

Throughout the article, Spiro goes on educating the reader beyond marriage on a kibbutz to the functions of kibbutz members, their jobs, and how individuals achieve satisfaction through the idea of the whole community functioning as one. Each member has a job, either in the agriculture or service category, which benefits the kibbutz on one level. The parents do still rear their children on their own level and still serve as “the objects of his most important identifications,” but have the added entrustment of their community as a whole to do a great deal of this educating as well, allowing the children to live in separate houses and be educated thoroughly by collective members of the kibbutz. Within this society, individuals are free to exercise sexual liberty at an assumed age, but tend to eventually settle down with one specific individual in an everlasting and satisfying union with the eventual addition of children, forming an untraditional family. Ultimately, individuals here are served by the general community and not by individual “bread winners” or guardian figures. Therefore, Spiro does indeed show how a group of people can satisfy these four crucial items, but in doing so, they do not need to confine these factors to a single nuclear family and can instead maintain a community which takes the weight of these things off the shoulders of the individual unit.

After establishing his point concerning this society, Spiro reverses his manner of almost refuting Murdock and instead goes about translating his findings to actual support for Murdock’s theories. To do this, he explains how the kibbutz is not really a very large society that serves the function of a small family unit. Instead he claims that a kibbutz is really more like a family itself, the interpersonal ties being much more kin-like than in other observable larger societies. The sense that they are all helping each other and helping to raise each other’s children creates the sense of family. Spiro ends, having thoroughly critiqued and supported Murdock, by saying that although a kibbutz does not in fact need a nuclear family for the four functions, it does need a “familial” society to carry the same functions out. “Only in a society whose members perceive each other psychologically as kin can it function as a family.” Traditionally, Murdock has overlooked the kibbutz style of living, but theoretically, his statements ring very true.

CLARITY RATING: 5
LINDSAY WARREN Columbia University (Paige West)

Spiro, Melford E. Is the Family Universal? American Anthropologist February,1954 Vol. 56 No. 1: 839-847.

In his article, Melford E. Spiro examines G.P. Murdock’s proof of the universality of the family. While he agrees that the family has “four functions: sexual, economic, reproductive, and educational,” Murdock reports that these make up the universal “nuclear” family. Spiro argues against Murdock’s claim that a family is in fact universal and a society cannot exist without the construct of such a family.

Murdock defines the family as “a social group characterized by common residence, economic cooperation, and reproduction. It includes adults of both sexes, at least two of whom maintain a socially approved sexual relationship, and one or more children, own or adopted, of the sexually cohabitating adults.” Spiro offers the example of the kibbutz society in Israel, where social organization includes both sexes and reproduction, but is not based on common residence or economic cooperation.

The nuclear family in the kibbutz does not exist; however, many of the principles that constitute a family form the structure of the entire kibbutz society. In response to Murdock’s requisite of a “socially approved sexual relationship,” Spiro discusses “marriage.” He quotes Murdock who states “marriage exists only when the economic and the sexual are united in a relationship, and this combination occurs only in marriage.” In the kibbutz, “marriage” does not exist; however, couples do form. Spiro explains they unite for love. Premarital sex is sanctioned and as a result after a period of affairs and experimentation exclusive unions form. Spiro suggests that one eventually “desires to establish a relatively permanent relationship with one person” because of inherent psychological needs for intimacy and security. In addition, the kibbutz maintains a divided economic state based on the equal distribution of labor. While both mates engage in their respective labor, neither works to profit the couple or his or her mate.

Another exception Spiro finds to Murdock’s proof about the universality of the family concerns the responsibilities of parents in the family. Murdock states that the parents are responsible for “physical care” and the “social rearing” of their own children. Yet, in the kibbutz, “nurses” and teachers handle such things. While the parents are concerned for their children and create close bonds with them, the community as a whole is responsible for its children at large. In effect, the kibbutz becomes the family that Murdock claims universally exists as the “nuclear” family.

Spiro effectively argues that there is an exception to Murdock’s rule for the family. He breaks down Murdock’s definition and offers a counter example from the kibbutz society for each criterion. In addition, he offers some psychological motivations in defense of his arguments about the organization of community and how they do not necessarily lead to the inevitable formation of Murdock’s universal “nuclear” family.

CLARITY: 5
ELLA FOSHAY-ROTHFELD Columbia University (Paige West)

Spuhler, J. N. Some Problems in the Physical Anthropology of the American Southwest. American Anthropologist August, 1954 Vol. 56 (4):604-625.

This paper uses a method of statistical analysis to give a summary of the differences between sets of anthropometric data. This data was compiled with measurements taken on Native populations in the southwest United States to test specific genetic relationships between groups. This study attempts to illustrate some problems in interpreting results of physical anthropological studies in this geographic area. The author has divided this work into four sections.

Part I summarizes physical anthropological research done in the American Southwest. Even though a great amount of work has been published about this area, no satisfactory study of the biological relationship between living people and the prehistoric tribes has been conducted.

Part II outlines an anthropological problem and an appropriate statistical method with which to examine it. The question to be investigated is how to interpret the results of human body measurements to determine the biological relationships of two or more populations. Although the preferred statistical tool for classificatory problems is discriminant analysis, it is considered too difficult and laborious for the amount of data in this exercise using the computational equipment of the period, the 1950’s. Instead, a simpler technique, coefficient of divergence or CD, is used because of its ease of calculation when classifying populations of an unknown degree of relationship and because of its propriety when the published data are limited to population means.

Part III describes a specific case in which the biological affinity of several populations with known historic relationships is assessed with CD. Aleš Hrdli
ka’s cranial measurements of four Pueblo Indian populations, the Hano, the Sichomavi, the Walpi, and the San Juan are used. The historical relationships and migration patterns of the ancestors of these groups are known. The results of this test case suggest that the relationships of these four groups can be detected by statistical analysis of physical anthropological data alone.

Part IV documents a study that applies the coefficient of divergence to measure relationships between six groups that lack recorded history. Cranial and post-cranial measurements of the Maricopa, Yuma, Pima, Havasupai, Walapai, and Southern Ute tribes are assessed and the conclusion is drawn that the similarities in physical dimensions parallel observed cultural similarities.

A brief summary is followed by comments by T. D. Stewart of the U.S. National Museum and Bertram S. Kraus of the University of Arizona.

CLARITY RANKING: 3
DEA HOUSER University of North Carolina, Charlotte (Gregory Starrett)

Spuhler, J.N. Some Problems in the Physical Anthropology of the American Southwest. American anthropologist 1954 Vol.56: 604-625

This paper is divided into 2 major sections where the first is an inventory of research conducted on physical anthropology of the American Southwest. The second reviews the height of general interest in this region among anthropologists’ possible biological connections between two or more cultural groups. The majority of this research was done on the grounds of the population density within the American Southwest, and the various native groups inhabiting the area.

When research is done of this kind, usually genetic methods are used. The theory behind the genetics population method is one based on discovering gene changes and frequencies in breeding populations, and their changes, over time. However, determining relationships between populations is beyond frequency. Also included in the objective is the breeding frequencies, genetic mutation rates, selection, mixture, and genetic drift. It seems that these appear to be some of the pressing issues involving research as well as findings and the references used to get evidence.

Above all, in spite of the large number of artifacts and writings made from those artifacts, there is still a shortage on the accounts of population relations of the various tribes once residing in the Southwest.

CLARITY: 3
ANOULONE SOUPHOMMANYCHANH York University (Naomi Adelson)

Newman, Stanley. American Indian Linguistics in the Southwest. American Anthropologist, 1954. Vol.56:626-642.

Stanley Newman offers a critique of the contemporary research in the field of American Indian linguistics in the Southwest. He provides a detailed view of the work that has been done, praising researchers, as he deems appropriate. By doing so, Newman clearly defines the gaps within the collected body of knowledge and outlines a course of action for future studies.

Newman starts by pointing out that prior to 1946, American Indian languages of the Southwest had been largely overlooked. A discussion of the past and present methods of linguistic anthropology in the region follows. Newman credits Powell (1891) with shaping the base knowledge regarding language families in the Southwest. The fifty-eight stocks that he identified using the inspectional method had yet to be discredited. Despite this success, Powell’s approach was not effective in determining the remote relationships between languages. Also noted is the impressionistic method used by Sapir to assume relations between languages with significant grammatical structure similarities. Newman goes on to praise the modern comparative method developed by Indo-European linguists in the nineteenth century, sighting this as the most consistent and accurate method.

Finally, Newman describes in detail the research collected regarding specific languages and language families in the Southwest. While examining the Pueblo (Hopi, Zuni, Keresan, Taroan), and non-Pueblo (Yuman, Pima-Tepehuan, Apachean) language studies, he discusses the work that has been done, as well as that which needs to be done to further the field. He notes the replacement of vocabulary lists with descriptive grammars as a significantly progressive step, allowing for further comparison studies. Newman mourns the fact that historical research has long been neglected, and the research has been too brief to yield sound conclusions. According to Newman, the Southwest offers excellent potential for language and cultural investigations due to the wealth of ethnographic data. The shortage of linguists as well as the prohibitive cost of publishing and printing dictionaries has limited the extent to which that potential has been explored. Newman notes that acculturation and a high prevalence of multi-lingual individuals create unique challenges for the linguist in the Southwest.

Following Stanley Newman’s article, there are commentaries by three of his contemporaries. All three scholars agree with Newman’s observations and criticisms. C.F. Voegelin of Indiana University, looks at Newman’s treatment of dictionaries and acculturation, also noting that typology is a most exciting theoretical bias. Harry Hoijer of the University of California, reviews the key points of the article and then offers an additional four questions which need to be considered. Morris Swadesh of Denver, Colorado, offers detailed suggestions regarding the publication and production of dictionaries.By careful critique of the available research, Newman reveals the areas within the current body of work that demand further study, while at the same time acknowledging the beneficial work that has been done. Thus, Stanley Newman successfully evaluates the contemporary research in the field of American Indian linguistics of the Southwest.

CLARITY RANKING: 4
MICHELLE CHELSTROM, KELLY KRUTZ, RYAN SZYMANSKI Northern Illinois University (Giovanni Bennardo)

Stewart T.D. Some Problems in the Physical Anthropology of the American Southwest: Comments. American Anthropologist August, 1954 Volume 56(4): 619-620

In this article Ted Stewart comments on some of the problems in physical anthropology of the American Southwest and the shortcomings of Sphuler’s statistical analysis of existing anthropometric data on the Indians of the American Southwest. In the article Stewart criticizes Sphuler’s new statistical device called the coefficient of Divergence (CD). Stewart argues that this new statistical approach to re-examining metrical data on skull measurements of American southwest Indians is not sufficient enough. Stewart also suggests that further analysis of the evidence should be re-examined from the point of view of genetics. He questions whether the coefficient of divergence (CD) approach to statistical analysis is more accurate than the coefficient of racial likeness (CRL). The CRL has been criticized for it randomness in testing bone samples.

Stewart points out that the CD has the same amount of faults as the CRL, such as the correlation of characters is ignored, characters are not weighted according to their importance and that the size of the sample is not taken into account. However two positives about the CD approach is that it does not test samples at random and that the Coefficient of Divergence provides a helpful objective summation of anthropometeric data. Another positive is that Sphuler’s CD is sensitive to group differences involving the shape and the size of the brain case, except this is only true when applied to “Neumann’s morphological varieties” (620).

Stewart proposes that a major shortcoming of the CD approach to statistical analysis is that it does not distinguish between differences produced by nature and those produced by man (619). Man made effects include: “artificial deformity, errors of measurement, and errors of selection.” Stewart notes that Sphuler has sought to eliminate the effects of deformity by omitting the three main cranial diameters and the cranial index; “however”, comments Stewart, “Sphuler has not fully succeeded on the account that he retained the bizygomatic diameter, the measures of the cranial base from basion and the cranial module” (619).

Stewart concludes that the statistical exercises of anthropometric data gathering are descriptively limited. He acknowledges that “a considerable basis of knowledge (about the physical characteristics of American Southwest Indians) has been prepared from which human geneticists will be able to start work, however the anthropometric data from the southwest presently available are insufficiently suitable for genetic analysis.” In conclusion, Stewart suggests that further analysis of the evidence should be re-examined from the point of view of genetics.

CLARITY RANKING: 3
O’NEIL WALKER Middlebury College (David Napier)

Swadesh, Morris and others. Symposium: Time Depths of American Linguistic Groupings. American Anthropologist. June 1954 Vol. 56(3):361-378

This article was by Morris Swadesh with comments by George I. Quimby, Henry B. Collins, Emil W. Haury, Gordon F. Eckholm, and Fred Eggan. The aim of Swadesh’s article was to give time depths for different language groupings in the Americas. Time depths need to be regarded as provisional because the lexicostatistical method used to get them is not yet fully reliable.

According to Swadesh the Chitimacha and the Atakapa have been separate languages since about 2050 BC. Quimby notes that if it should be discovered that the Chitimacha culture and its antecedents were a part of the cultural continuum of the Lower Mississippi valley at 2050 BC then it would indicate an antiquity far greater than is presently known for these cultural periods.

Collins notes that Swadesh’s estimates of the time depths for Eskimo and Aleutian are in agreement with archaeological analysis. He maintains that Swadesh’s estimate of 1,000 years between the split to the eastern and western branches of Eskimo is significant when viewed in relation to reconstructions of cultural growth, contact and population movement in the northern part of the Eskimo area. He compares the lexicostatistical method with cultural evidence and found only a 200 year difference between Swadesh’s time estimates for the linguistic split and the date given by archaeological evidence. Collins also notes that Swadesh’s estimate of 3,000 years as the time of separation between Eskimo and Aleutian agrees almost exactly with radiocarbon dates of 3018+230 years obtained from early Aleutian charcoal.

Haury’s comments focused on the time depth relations for the Utaztekan complex. According to Swadesh between 1050 and 750 BC the Nahua, Paiute and Papago diverged from one another into distinct groups. Haury believes that data from archaeological evidence supports the divergence at the time depth put forth by Swadesh.

Eckholm’s comments dealt with the Huevamayan complex. He notes that Swadesh’s date for the separation of Huastec from Mayan is not too far from the archaeological date. Eggan states that east of the Rockies time depths will be very useful, making it easier to identify more clearly the people who developed the earthlodge complex. He also believes that linguists should stop their descriptive studies and look at the material they already have. He, like the rest, believes that the lexicostatistical technique will be very useful in understanding cultural development.

CLARITY: 3
ASHLEY CLARK University of North Carolina at Charlotte(Dr. Gregory Starrett)

Swadesh, Morris. Time depths of American Linguistic Groups. American Anthropologist 1954 Vol.56:361-377

This article is about the time depths of American linguistic groups. It is an article with a series of comments made in regards to Morris Swadesh’s glottochronological or otherwise known as lexicostatistical research. The language divergence project was sponsored by the Social Science Research Council of Columbia University who also provided the materials needed.

There are mixed comments towards the glottochronological dating technique. George Quimby of the Chicago Natural History Museum says that glottochronological dating would be far more reliable if archaeological and cultural evidence was available to back it up. Henry Collins of the Bureau of American Ethnology in the Smithsonian Institute says that Swadesh’s results sound just right. He feels that Swadesh’s time depths for Eskimos and Aleutians are in agreement with the archaeological, dendrochronological and radio carbon data. Collins stresses the importance of comparing glottochronological dating with cultural evidence and of other dating techniques. He also points out that by examining linguistic patterns, you can get an idea of the potential settlement patterns of that specific group.

Judging by the comments, the glottochronological dating technique is fairly reliable on its own but is even more reliable with archaeological and cultural evidence.

CLARITY RANKING: 3
RIE KOREEDA York University (Naomi Adelson)

Taylor, Walter. Southwestern Archeology, Its History and Theory. American Anthropologist 1954 Vol.56: 561-570.

Taylor discusses the development, foundation and characteristics of Southwestern Archeology, deliberating the central issues and contrasting it with Eastern archaeology. He maintains that Southwestern Archaeology “has developed and maintained a tradition of pioneer individualism, even separatism [from non-Southwesternist ideas and practices.]” (569) Taylor starts his discussion around the turn of the twentieth century. At the beginning of – as Taylor calls it – the Cushing-Fewkes period of Southwestern archaeology, since these two theorians represent the typical ideas of the time. During this period, there was first an attempt to connect the living Indian cultures with their archaeological antecedents. A basic theoretical flaw of the period was the failure to recognize the polyphyletic nature of archaeological materials found: there was a tendency to group together all factions into one “Pueblo culture”, ignoring any variation. At this time, much of the archaeological excavation was done for the purpose of collecting objects, not information.

Taylor states that in general, Southwestern Archaeology frowns upon theoretical analysis, or ‘armchair anthropology’, generally considered an Eastern practice. Instead, Southwesternists have always focused on the specimen, especially ceramic data, and any conclusions drawn were not theoretical, rather they focused on the physical, concrete evidence. After what Taylor calls the time-space revolution around the early 1910’s, Southwesternists drasticly increased their previously absent concern with the temporal context of culture. The culture-area concept, embraced by Kidder, which emphasized the connection between particular geographical areas and corresponding cultures, was also popular among Southwesternists. Unfortunately, this resulted in an urge to fill in the spatial gaps in the archeological record. However, due largely to a lack in formal anthropological training, individuals who participated in these so-called investigations did not explore or excavate each region completely, instead they simply skimmed the surface, focusing on the unique and exotic, Taylor says. On the other hand, some positive analytical methods did result: Kidder collected potsherds from many sites in and around the ranges of several Pueblo peoples, founding the practice of ceramic survey and analysis. A few years later in a region close by, Kroeber and Spier tested and extended Kidder’s methods. Regrettably, Southwesternists’ ‘pioneer’ attitude and deficient practices, which were radically different from those non-Southwesternists, caused Southwesternists to be considered amateurs and shunned by the rest of the anthropological community. Nevertheless, many Southwesternists did contribute significantly to the practices of archaeology: in addition to Kidder, Kroeboer and Spier, Douglass provided the first absolute dating for prehistoric American Archaeology in 1929. Shortly after, Gladwin published a taxonomy which influenced the theoretical and methodic structure of southwestern archaeology tremendously.

Taylor proves his theory by providing evidence from the writings of some southwesternists. He also mentions specific archaeological sites from several locations in Mexico as examples of methods used on Southwesternist expeditions.

CLARITY: 4
NO NAME University of North Carolina at Charlotte(Dr. Gregory Starrett)

Taylor, Walter W. Southwestern Archeology, Its History and Theory. American Anthropologist Volume 56, no. 1: 1954:561-.

Archeology of the southwest was started in the 1880’s by eastern archeologists and anthropologists. Universities and other institutions along the east coast sent researchers out west to find out as much information about past Indian cultures as they could. Walter Taylor presents the format used by “Easterners” to collect information about the past peoples and cultures of the west, focusing on the creation of pottery typologies.

Many people doing archeological research in the west tried to connect living Indian cultures to their archeological antecedents. Archeologists have tried to connect present Pueblo groups to cultures from the past. This is a very hard process for the archeologists to complete because there is a lack of direct linkage between the past and present Indian groups. Most of the data used to connect Indian groups is based solely on pottery types and other artifact forms. There is no real hard evidence (documentation or genetic evidence) linking the present groups to their antecedents.

Another research method used was the analysis of actual material remains. Whether these remains be pottery, bones, food, or charcoal, researchers analyze the remains to gather information about the past cultures. After finding the remains, the archeologists can then try to piece the giant puzzle together, and come up with a regional chronology. In most western sites there is an overabundance of pottery. A lot of the sites had similar pottery types. Many times there was a failure to recognize a difference between cultures. Cultures such as the Hopi, Chaco, Mesa Verde, and even the Zuni were often thought to be the same culture just because of similar pottery. There was no distinction made between cultures until ethnographic data was presented, such as religion, values and daily life.

After collecting material remains from many different sites located throughout the southwest, archeologists would then organize the different types of artifacts. They would come up with different typologies for the various pottery pieces as well for the different tools, blades and points. The Pecos conference, held in Pecos, New Mexico, was the site where all the archeologists doing research in the southwest developed a typology for the different types of pottery found in the region.

The next step discussed by Taylor was the combining of all radiocarbon dates and tree ring dates into a regional chronology. This regional chronology would encompass all the sites and cultures found, distinguishing the older cultures from the younger.

Taylor goes on to note that many people doing archeology in the southwest, had originally gone to collect artifacts for their museum collections. They did not really care to find out any ethnographic information. As time passed on, more and more “Easterners” were doing research for universities, which changed the focus from artifacts to the importance of ethnographic information.

CLARITY: 5
HANNAH WEITZENFELD York University (Naomi Adelson)

Thompson, Laura. Applied Anthropology in the Southwest: COMMENTS. American Anthropologist, New Series, Vol. 56, No. 4, Southwest Issues (Aug., 1954), 715-716.

In her comments on Applied Anthropology in the Southwest, Laura Thompson applauds Kelly’s efforts to “solve real problems having to do with human welfare.” While championing the importance of active problem solving in the anthropological discipline, Thompson fills the body of her article with an analysis of previously conducted research about (mainly Navaho) Indians.

Citing the Leightons in The Navaho Door, the research of Kimball and Provinse, the Indian Personality, Education and Administration Research and the Indian Reorganization Act, Thompson highlights each efforts attempt to work towards finding the solutions for real life problems that many Indians encounter on a daily basis. Specifically, she mentions research problems concerning soil conservation, merging U.S. medical knowledge with Indian life, and finding ways to integrate Indians into, and facilitate their understanding of, the modern world. Although it is unclear as to weather Thompson is drawing out research examples that were already put forth in Kelly’s work, Thompson is unequivocally clear in her intentions to link all four research examples with a common theme…that of real life problem solving. In so doing, Thompson gets to what, I think, she feels is the root of the application process in “applied” anthropology which is an intense focus on “the imperatives of the problems needing solutions” as opposed to the theoretical orientation and immediate implementation of research data.

In the end, although the overarching emphasis of the work was on Indians, I couldn’t help but feel that the main function of Thompson’s review of Kelly’s work was to use the review as a vehicle to encourage social scientists to actively help all people (not just Indians) solve problems, overcome obstacles, and find ways to constructively deal with the harsh realities of living in the modern world.

CLARITY: 3
IAN P. TRACY Middlebury College (David Napier)

Underhill, Ruth. Intercultural Relations in the Greater Southwest. American Anthropologist August, 1954 Vol. 4(1):645-662.

This article is on cultural relations in the native Southwest. Ruth Underhill creates a survey in which she presents the major traditions in the Greater Southwest. She begins with the discussion of the simple hunting and gathering people. Next, she discusses Oasis America and it’s basic agricultural pattern. Underhill goes on to discuss the Uto-Aztecans of Mexico . She begins with the most primitive group called the Tarahumara, who have cave dwellings but lack cotton and irrigation. Pueblos is the last group discussed. They are a modern group and have a well-developed irrigation agriculture, elaborate administrative organization, and ceremonial events. The author discusses these groups in the context of varied environments. For example, deserts, mountains, river valleys etc.

The two main non-Pueblo groups considered are the Athebascans and the Yumans. When discussing the California-Arizona area the author lists the traits shared by southern California Shoshoneans, River Yumans and Papago. Other shared traits discussed are between River Yumans and Papago. Papago and Southern California traits are discussed as well. The article ends with Underhill suggesting a basis for further discussion. She lists five culture groupings for Oasis America. The article contains commentaries by W. W. Hill and Esther S. Goldfrank.

CLARITY RANKING: 1
DAGMARA ROMANSKA York University (Naomi Adelson)

Van Der Kroef, Justus M. Dualism and Symbolic Antithesis in Indonesian Society.American Anthropologist 847-861 Vol. 56 (5) October, 1954

In the Indonesian islands there is one main social structure, the functional antithesis of two social groups. This is expressed in the classifications of the social systems, trade, religion, art and literature. The distinctions are heaven and earth, male and female, the center and the sides. The whole structure of their society revolves around opposites. This paper describes and analyzes this dualism of opposites and the symbols of structural antithesis.

On form of dualism is the connubial arrangement of some Indonesian groups that has a pattern of gift exchange. Where there are clans there is a pattern of circulating connubium. One clan supplements the other clan, they trade women with other clans and also trade goods. The Toba-Bataks in Sumatra are patrilineal and one group delivers its women for marriage to the opposite clan. The ideal marriage is believed to be between a sister’s son of one clan to a brother’s daughter in the other clan. Fish are also given and have symbolic and religious significance as expressions of fertility and long life. In Indonesia the knife, kris, saber, and cloth are common symbols of male and female. With them are some of the clan structure that has a preference for cross cousin marriage. The spear and cloth represent the Ngadju view of the tree of life, the strength of the spear and the magic and religious aspects of the cloth.

The duality is explained by some village societies like an example on Amboyna island. The village is divided into two parts, with each part being an independent social unit and a classification category that is made up of all the objects and events in the villagers’ world. Some of the characteristics associated with the two divisions are: Left-female, coast or seaside, below, earth, spiritual, downwards, peel exterior, behind, west, younger brother, new; and right-male, land, or mountainside, above, heaven, or sky, worldly, upwards, pit, interior, in front, east, older brother, old. The Javanese-Balinese system of social dualism has patterns that are ancient in origin.

The themes of the dualism are varied but the basic theme is repeated over and over. The social duality and symbolic antithesis appear in the religion, mythology, and folk literature. The legends are about deities or spirits that are identified with male or female, heaven or earth, sky and water, upper or under world and draw attention to the dualism pattern. The essence of the characters is also dualistic. The character of Pandji, the major hero of the wayang gedog story, is the hero who is the protector of weaving, benefactor of man, champion of goodness, defender of the weak and courageous in battle; and is also an amorous adventurer, a happy deceiver, breaker of hearts, clown and a trickster

CLARITY RATING: 3
TALLISH EDWARDS-STINSON University Of North Carolina At Charlotte (Gregory Starlet)

Van Der Kroef, Justus M. Dualism and Symbolic Antithesis in Indonesian Society. American Anthropologist 1954 Vol. 56:847-862.

The author’s objective is to describe and analyze the persistent structural motif of “functional antithesis” found in Indonesian society. He notes that Indonesian society, though culturally and socially diverse, seems to revolve around the oppositions of heaven and earth; male and female, and even in areas where these principles have waned, the features themselves can still be traced. He uses the examples of marriage arrangements, social schema, myth and literature to illustrate how this dualism is expressed.

In marriage, the author stresses that what is most important is that the knife/saber, and cloth/garment appear repeatedly as symbols of male and female respectively, and that the exchange of these specific goods symbolizes the cosmic unity of the two groups through their mutual antithesis and opposition. This practice of exchange is demonstrated by the antithetical relationship between clans on Sumba Island, and Tanimbar in eastern Indonesia; and between patrilineal lineages of the Toba-Bataks in central Sumatra. With the Toba-Bataks, one unit (hula-hula) delivers its women, and its “opposite” (boroe) receives them. The boroe receives the sahala from its hula-hula, the symbolic life-giving substance such as food and gifts, and they also get oelos from its hula-hula: a specific type of garment or cloth that is believed to be magically charged with fertility and life-spirit. In return, the hula gets specified gifts called piso which is usually a knife or saber.

The divisions in the Indonesian social system also demonstrate a persistent dualistic pattern that relates everything to a supernatural antithetical principle, believed to govern the universe. The dualistic schema or “two-fold division” (852) is an everyday phenomenon (e.g. left/right, exterior/interior). What is important to note, is that in relation to the dual division, there is also a third element – that of synthesis. This is what the author refers to as a “higher unity which harmonizes the two antithetical elements and keeps them in balance” (852). The example of marriage among Minangkabau in Sumatra is situated around the same principle. The community is divided into two parts that are antagonistic but complementary. The marriage allows the two sides to come together. Although the tribal antagonisms manifest themselves, it strengthens the community as a whole.

Social duality and symbolic antithesis also appears in religion, myth, and literature. An example is that creation myths involve the marriage between heaven and earth – the union from which grew all things. Deities also repeat the appearance of duality (e.g. male or female; heaven or earth; upper or under) and these dualistic principles are found in Indonesian, and Javanese myth and literature.

In sum, the author states that any typology of Indonesian culture cannot ignore the evidence of structural and symbolic antithesis that is pervasive within Indonesian society.

CLARITY: 3
MARY CHUNG York University (Naomi Adelson).

Voegelin, C. F. American Indian Linguistics in the Southwest: Comments. American Anthropologist August, 1954 Vol.56(4):635-637.

In this article, C. F. Voegelin assumes the role of ‘discussant’ in light of the comprehensive work done by Stanley Newman on “the trends of anthropological linguistics and the bearing of these on the languages of the Southwest” (635). Voegelin comments on what might subsequently be done in the field, by exploring the ideas of ‘dictionary compilation’, the study of ‘linguistic acculturation’ and the study of ‘typology’. By addressing each of these linguistic domains in turn, the author offers a means by which comprehension of aboriginal southwest languages would be increased.

Voegelin begins his comments by pondering what would be the best way to utilize 100% manpower of linguistic anthropologists around the world. He passes up his own proposals of studying aboriginal grammar, and of the collection of aboriginal texts, and finally suggests that the best way to comprehend aboriginal languages of the Southwest is to compile comprehensive dictionaries. He believes that through comparative analysis of these independent lexical databases linguistic anthropologists would be offered profound insight.

The author next turns to the necessity of examining linguistic acculturation. He believes that the most efficient way to study this topic would be with the help of bilingual ‘informants’, but he acknowledges potential difficulties in finding individuals fluent in two aboriginal languages. In light of this problem, Voegelin suggests anthropologists begin by making phonetic records provided by ‘subjects’, and then use these records to make further comparative analyses of different languages.

As his last point, Voegelin briefly addresses the topic of ‘typology’, but only in stating that, “the most efficient area for experimentation with typology is the Greater Southwest” (637). In so doing, the author seems to sum up his comments by suggesting that the potential for linguistic studies of the Southwest is great, but a concrete plan must be made and action must be taken.

CLARITY: 3
ZACH CENTER Middlebury College (David Napier)

Weckler, J.E. The Relationships between Neanderthal Man and Homo sapiens. American Anthropologist 1954 Vol.56 (3): 1003-1023.

J.E. Weckler examines the kinship between Neanderthal Man and Homo sapiens, in order to gain a greater understanding of human evolution. Weckler’s thesis is that, “after a presumed common origin, they evolved independently in almost complete geographic isolation from one another for a long time prior to the third interglacial, and that the ‘progressive’ Neanderthals of that time were hybrids between these two forms of man.” Africa is seen as the birthplace of hominids and developing Homo sapiens, Neanderthal man having evolved in Asia. Geography and climate set the stage for differentiation. Geography itself kept both Neanderthals and Homo sapiens virtually isolated, with continental barriers as well as local geographic barriers. Large bodies of water and mountains kept these two forms of man separated, except for “sporadic penetrations.” Simplicity of cultures during this time period maintained evolutionary isolation. Glaciations aided and abetted the migration of early man. In certain circumstances land bridges made migration possible, while at other times the climate did not permit it. Variable climates are also seen as determining early evolution and migration of early man. Primates being warm climate animals, sought to remain in similar environments. People were totally dependent on their environment until they could control it with mastery of things such as fire. Glaciations prompted massive migrations, yet some stayed behind and adapted to the cold. Cultural advancements enabled man to not only migrate, but also mix. Genetic drift created racial differentiation, but the author assures us that, “we cannot safely assume distributional linkage between race and culture.” Weckler’s hypothesis is admittedly premature, and he awaited more data. This article was “written in the hope that it will be helpful in the search for, and the interpretation of, primitive men and their cultures.”

CLARITY: 4
MARSIA YENCSKO University of North Carolina at Charlotte (Gregory Starrett)

Weckler, J.E. The Relationship between Neanderthal Man and Homo Sapiens. American Anthropologist. 1954 Vol. 56:1003-1025.

J. E. Weckler in, The Relationship between Neanderthal Man and Homo Sapiens, tries to prove that Homo sapiens and Neanderthal may have a common origin, however, they evolved independently in almost complete geographic isolation from each other. The author also believes that the “progressive” Neanderthals of that time were hybrids between Homo sapiens and Neanderthal man.

The author looks at the geography of that time to explain how Homo sapiens and Neanderthals had to evolve independently. J. E. Weckler believes that Africa may have been the birthplace of hominids, but more importantly to the paper, that it was the homeland of developing Homo sapiens. The author believes that the Neanderthal may have evolved his distinct physical characteristics in Asia, and maybe, north of India. The author also assumes that early man would abandon areas that became too uncomfortable and would followed the optimal climate as well as plants and animals they were accustomed to. The article states that even though the two cultures evolved in separate areas, they may have come in contact with each other and bred. However, the mixing was so seldom that it prevented the birth of a new species.

J. E. Weckler also looks at tools of the time to explain whether or not these people were in fact isolated from one another. The author looks at a certain type of tool making tradition, uninfluenced by “Western” traditions until Upper Pleistocene times, which show Weckler that they were isolated. The author also suggests that the contact between Homo sapiens and Neanderthals in Asia and Europe gave way to more Homo sapiens cultures. J. E. Weckler believes that Homo sapiens incorporated and improved the ideas they got from the Neanderthals.

The author states that since the skeletal finds in Europe and Africa do not contradict the thesis proposed, it must prove it. The skeletal finds show that Homo sapiens evolved in Europe and Africa before the Neanderthals arrived there, as a result showing that Neanderthals evolved somewhere else.

CLARITY RANKING: 2
COLIN COOPER York University (Naomi Adelson)

Wendorf, Fred. The Reconstruction of Northern Rio Grande Prehistory American Anthropologist April, 1954 Vol. 56 no.2: 200-227

In what is now the American Southwest, many Pueblo groups including Zuni, Hopi, Acoma, Pecos as well as others occupied the Rio Grande area around 1540. This was during the time of Spanish exploration, which counted over forty villages in seven districts. These areas were composed of many geographic regions. The upper Sonoran zone, which composed the largest occupied area, was the center of the Pueblo population in 1950.

A chronological framework was designed to show the progress of the Rio Grande Anasazi. Five periods were defined in chronological order starting with the preceramic period (ca. 15,000 B.C.-A.D. 600). Occupation in this area can be traced back into late Pleistocene. Many different projectile points including those with serrated edges and bifurcate bases were found at nonpottery sites at the Northern edge of the area. These points were named Rio Grande points by Renaud. They were also associated with Black-on white and Black-on-gray pottery on the Colorado line at a rock shelter on the Rio Grande. Farther south on the Chama River tools such as scrapers and choppers were found and had an estimated date of around 4000 B.C. and A.D. 1300.

The Rio Grande Developmental period (ca. A.D. 600-1200) was a transitional time for the Anasazi. Early ceramic sites in the Northern Rio Grande suggest that the Anasazi developed more in the western areas and moved east. Much information was excavated from the Tijeras Canyon Site near Santa Fe. The sites ranged from ten room pueblos to large communities with over a hundred rooms. The pottery from this period included wares with dense gray paste and jars and pitchers with coiled necks. Some artifacts included chipped axes, grooved mauls, tubular pipes made from clay, triangular points with lateral notches, and turquoise beads and pendants. The Anasazi depended primarily on agriculture for subsistence and they developed the “Pueblo Kiva” architectural style.

The Rio Grande Coalition Period (ca. A.D. 1200-1325) was marked by the use of organic pigment instead of mineral pigments to decorate pottery. Only in the extreme northern regions was the transition not apparent until much later. There were two sub periods during the Coalition Period. The first was the Pindi stage, represented by a small coursed adobe walled pueblo composed of thirty to forty rooms and three kivas. The latter period was the Galisteo stage, which is distinguished by the appearance of several new ceramic and architectural features. A type known as Galisteo Black-on White replaced the previous pottery styling. Masonry construction and slab floors are found in the rooms, which replaced the coursed adobe architecture.

The Rio Grande Classic Period (ca. A.D. 1325-1600) was onset by a change in ceramic technique. Introduced by western Pueblo groups was the use of red-slipped and glaze-decorated pottery design. These techniques of pottery design spread over much of northern Rio Grande and south to villages along the Rio Grande. Much of the masonry construction continued from the previous period although “great kivas” were reported from several sites but none were excavated. An emergence of material culture was seen throughout the classical period through elaborate decorations of pipes, axes and vessels.

The Rio Grande Historic Period (A.D. 1600-present) is marked by the European settlements, missions, and control taken by the Spanish over the natives. The pottery of this period is best described as regional with influence from previous periods. The firing of pottery during this period allowed greater fluidity of their pieces.

Within the Rio Grande area two unrelated language families are present, Keres and Tanoan. Many correlations between language and archaeology have been made to carry these language families back into prehistory. The Keresan and Tanoan languages have a correlation with the pre-glaze population shifts, but due to incomplete information on the overall scheme of things cannot be entirely satisfactory.

CLARITY RANKING: 3
JOHN SHEEHAN University of North Carolina Charlotte. (Greg Starrett)

Wheat, B. Joe. Southwestern Cultural Interrelationships and the Question of Area Co-tradition. American Anthropologists August 1954 Vol. 56, no. 6: 576-591.

The article focuses on cross-cultural comparison between groups located in the Southwest. Two that are discussed are the Mogollon, which was an outgrowth of the eastern Cochise, and the Hohokam, a western Cochise variant. The Cochise represents an eastern intrusion from the great Basin. There have been moves to interrelate these various parts into a larger whole, including Martin and Rinaldo’s (1951) Southwestern Co-tradition, and Daifuku’s (1952) New Conceptual Scheme for Prehistoric Cultures in the Southwestern United States.

Architecture traditions are one example of these two group’s differences. The Mogollon pit house uses the side of the pit as the lower wall and the Hohokam houses were built in the pit. The very large Hohokam houses were considered ceremonial. There is a decrease in size of the Mogollon ceremonial houses and an increase in the size of domestic houses. Many other variations occur in each of these groups, some unique to one group but many ideas are shared across the spectrum. Hohokam pottery was produced by the coil and paddle-and-anvil method and the Mogollon used a coil-and-scrape technique. Both produced polished plain ware and slipped and polished red ware.

Many culinary and non-culinary technologies are present in these southwestern groups and are not independent inventions but most likely occurred as a complex in the “Middle Mississippi” horizon, which was a mutual interchange of traits in this area. In architecture as in agriculture, there are early differences and later similarities. There are many differences between these groups and surrounding groups, but there are also similarities as information seems to flow between different groups and different times. The period from A.D. 1000 to 1400 marks the time of the greatest cultural similarity throughout the Southwest.

In the comments related to the article Gordon R. Willey, states “If the co-tradition concept can assist us in escaping from the limitations of our ways of viewing Southwestern cultural history, as Wheat suggests, it will have served a useful purpose and we should experiment with it.”

CLARITY RANKING: 3
JOHN SHEEHAN University of North Carolina Charlotte (Greg Starrett)

Wheat, Joe Ben. Southwestern Cultural Interrelationships and the Question of Area Co-traditions. American Anthropologist. 1954, vol. 56: 576-586.

In the article “Southwestern Cultural Interrelationships and the Question of Area Co-traditions,” Joe Ben Wheat points out that there has been a counter-trend or a move to synthesize the various parts of southwestern archeological areas into an interrelated whole. As evidence of this trend, Wheat presents three trial formulations. They are 1) Martin and Rinald’s (1951) southwestern co-traditions, 2) Daifulu’s (1952) now conceptual scheme for pre-historic cultures in the southwestern United States, and 3) the museum of North Arizona’s temporal-spatial synthesis.

Before addressing these trial formulations, Wheat comprises a chronological framework based on consistent mutual trade relationships. His main focus is on the two groups Mogollon and Hohokam. According to Wheat, the Mogollons were an outgrowth of the late eastern Cochise, otherwise known as the Great Basin gatherers. The Hohokams were a less well-established group from the late western Cochise variant. Wheat points out that there was much in common between the earliest Mogollons and Hohokams. Both produced polished plain ware and both made polished red ware. There were basic similarities in vessel form also. The earliest painted types are so similar in conception and execution that they can be distinguished only with difficulty. However, regardless of these similarities, Wheat argues that the Mogollons and the Hohokams should be viewed as two distinctive and separate groups. By using radiocarbon dating as evidence to support his argument, Wheat proves that there were distinctive agricultural regimes practiced within these two groups.

After having presented a brief survey of the interrelations of some of the resident southwestern complexes, Wheat turns to a consideration of the extent to which they are amenable to inclusion in an area co-tradition. For Wheat, it seems clear that from the time of the introductions of pottery the Hohokam follow a divergent tradition. Furthermore, there is little evidence of strong interrelationships after the middle of the pioneer period about A.D. 400. After this time there are relatively few plainly defined horizon markers, and were it not for trade pottery it would be very difficult to cross-date there two areas. Thus, a number of specific differences make it clear that the Mogollons and the Hohokam were two different cultures.

CLARITY: 2
PATRICIA MAIOLO York University (Naomi Adelson)

Willey, Gordon R. Southwestern Cultural Interrelationships and the Question of Area Co-Tradition: Comments. American Anthropologist August, 1954 Vol.56(4): 589-591.

This brief article comments on a work by Joe Ben Wheat entitled A Study of the Mogollon Culture prior to A.D. 1000. Willey considers the general implications of the concept of ‘co-tradition’ and asserts that it is a device through which cultural homogeneity may be explored both with regards to cultural diffusions as well as common origins. In explicating the historical contexts of Southwest cultures, Willey asserts that the co-tradition of this region is intermediate in terms of its historical definitiveness; that is, there are facets of the various cultures that suggest diverse and unique origins while at the same time lend themselves to regionally comparable trends. Indeed, it seems that broader definitions of cultural categories lend evidence to the commonality of regional cultures, while narrower definitions support the notion of cultural uniqueness. Ceramics are used to illustrate this argument in the Southwest context: while specific and unique pottery styles differentiate cultures in the region, the region as a whole manifests a shared tradition of pottery making. Willey concludes his comments by asserting that the concept of co-tradition is only a framework with which to reference and integrate cultural and historical data; he further recognizes both the applications and limitations of this framework: its broadly encompassing and unifying frame necessarily ignores and suppresses cultural distinctions.

CLARITY RANKING: 5
ANDREA HAMRE Middlebury College (David Napier)

Wilson, Monica. Nyakyusa Ritual and Symbolism. American Anthropologist 1954 Vol.56 (2): 228–241.

The Nyakyusa are a large tribal group separated into chiefdoms, with a total population of almost a quarter million people. They live in the tropical regions of Africa, with much of their ritual based on elements of their environment. The group has a very elaborate set of rituals for birth, puberty, marriage, and death. These rituals give solidarity to the kinship systems, validate birth and marriage, and aid in the grieving process after the death of a loved one.

Monica Wilson of the School of African Studies at the University of Cape Town in South Africa studied the rituals of the Nyakyusa for many years. She has attempted to explain the purpose of these rituals in a manner that the western world could understand. This article begins with an elaborate explanation of the rituals of the Nyakyusa and an analysis of what it all means.

The Nyakyusa rituals of birth, death, puberty, and of marriage are all very similar with common elements throughout them all. The basic foundation of the Nyakyusa thought is disgust with filth. All of the rituals are a form of cleansing, a removal of the filth of the people that participate in the events. Of all the rituals spoken about in this article, the death ritual was most elaborately explained.

After the death of a loved one a very complex ritual is begun to cleanse the family of the filth of death, and to ease the grieving of the family. The entire town comes together in these times to aid each other with the grief, and to aid in the ritual process. The body is buried, and the family buries sacrifices and necessary items for the afterlife with the deceased. Next the widow or widower is cleansed of the death, and a new family is created. A relative usually replaces the deceased, and the widow or widower has sexual intercourse to solidify the new relationship.

The most common symbol in these rituals is the plantain (banana). For all of the major rituals a plantain is planted in a significant place as an indication of rebirth. When a woman wanted to indicate she is fertile she would wear the leaves of a plantain. A daughter buried plantains in her father’s field after her first sexual experience with her new husband. Another symbol is the washing under a waterfall to be cleansed, or lying in a stream. The Nyakyusa were very clean people washing almost every day and keeping up their homes. Clearly the disgust with filth plays a huge role in their society.

CLARITY: 5
WERNER, DAMIAN. UNC Charlotte. (Gregory Starrett).

Wilson, Monica. Nyakyusa Ritual and Symbolism. American Anthropologist, 1954. Vol. 56: 228-240

Monica Wilson’s article examines the Nyakyusa rituals and the symbols inherent in them. Their religion is made up of three elements: the belief in the survival of the dead; the belief in medicines; and the belief in witchcraft. All these elements are expressed in a series of elaborate rituals.

With the Nyakyusa, no one ritual is fully intelligible without reference to the whole series of rituals. Therefore, the paper examines the ritual cycle, rather than specific events that take place in it.

Out of the family rituals, the one performed at death is the most elaborate. It consists of two parts — the burial and then the ritual purification, both of which Wilson examines in relative detail. Following this, she breaks the whole ritual down into nine themes. She states that the general form of the ritual is the same at death, puberty, marriage, and at birth.

Wilson writes that there are appreciable differences between all the rituals. At death there is wailing and at puberty and marriage there is rejoicing. She states that her focus is on the common symbolic patterns between the rituals. For example, there are many symbols for purification: “clearing and burying the litter; burning the clothes or leaves worn during seclusion; elaborate and repeated washing and shaving; anointing the body with oil and rouge; and casting away some representations of the shade.”

In her conclusion, Wilson states that rituals reveal values at the deepest level. To increase our understanding of the essential makeup of human societies, one must study the rituals.

CLARITY RATING: 3
SEVAAN FRANKS York University (Naomi Adelson)