Human Evolution and Culture: Highlights of Anthropology

by Ember, Melvin R.; Ember, Carol R.; Peregrine, Peter N.

• ISBN13: 9780130979551
• ISBN10: 0130979554
• Edition: 5th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-01-01
• Publisher: Pearson College Div

Summary

This brief, concise version of Ember/Ember's larger best-selling book explores the significant achievements in physical and cultural anthropology. It is interested not only in what humans are and were like, butwhy they got to be that way, in all their variety. A four-part organization introduce readers to what anthropology is, discusses biological and cultural evolution, considers cultural variation, and highlights the applicable and practical uses of the field. For those considering a career in anthropology, and anyone who wants a better understanding of how research of the past can suggest possible solutions to various global social problems of today.

Table of Contents

Boxes	ix
Preface	xi
About the Authors	xxi
PART I INTRODUCTION TO ANTHROPOLOGY
What Is Anthropology?	1	(15)
The Scope of Anthropology	1	(1)
The Holistic Approach	2	(1)
The Anthropological Curiosity	3	(1)
Fields of Anthropology	3	(8)
The Relevance of Anthropology	11	(2)
Summary	13	(1)
Glossary Terms	14	(1)
Critical Questions	14	(1)
Internet Exercises	15	(1)
Discovering and Explaining the Past and Present	16	(28)
The Evidence of the Past	16	(2)
Finding the Evidence	18	(3)
Analyzing the Evidence	21	(4)
Dating the Evidence	25	(4)
Explanation	29	(4)
Why Theories Cannot Be Proved	33	(1)
Evidence: Testing Explanations	34	(4)
Studying Cultures in the Recent Past and Present	38	(3)
Summary	41	(1)
Glossary Terms	42	(1)
Critical Questions	43	(1)
Internet Exercises	43	(1)
PART II HUMAN EVOLUTION: BIOLOGICAL AND CULTURAL
Genetics and Evolution	44	(17)
The Principles of Natural Selection	45	(3)
Heredity	48	(4)
Sources of Variability	52	(3)
The Origin of Species	55	(1)
Natural Selection of Behavioral Traits	56	(2)
Summary	58	(1)
Glossary Terms	59	(1)
Critical Questions	59	(1)
Internet Exercises	60	(1)
Primate Evolution: From Early Primates to Hominoids	61	(22)
Common Primate Traits	61	(3)
Distinctive Human Traits	64	(5)
The Emergence of Primates	69	(6)
The Emergence of Anthropoids	75	(2)
The Miocene Anthropoids: Monkeys, Apes, and Hominids	77	(2)
The Divergence of Hominids from the Other Hominoids	79	(1)
Summary	80	(2)
Glossary Terms	82	(1)
Critical Questions	82	(1)
Internet Exercises	82	(1)
The First Hominids	83	(12)
The Evolution of Bipedal Locomotion	83	(5)
Australopithecus: The First Definite Hominid	88	(5)
One Model of Human Evolution	93	(1)
Summary	93	(1)
Glossary Terms	94	(1)
Critical Questions	94	(1)
Internet Exercises	94	(1)
The Origins of Culture and the Emergence of Homo	95	(16)
Early Hominid Tools and Lifestyles	96	(3)
Trends in Hominid Evolution	99	(3)
Early Homo Fossils	102	(1)
Homo erectus	103	(5)
Summary	108	(1)
Glossary Terms	109	(1)
Critical Questions	109	(1)
Internet Exercises	109	(2)
The Emergence of Homo sapiens	111	(24)
The Transition from Homo erectus to Homo sapiens	111	(4)
Middle Paleolithic Cultures	115	(3)
The Emergence of Modern Humans	118	(3)
Upper Paleolithic Cultures	121	(8)
The Earliest Humans and Their Cultures in the New World	129	(3)
Summary	132	(2)
Glossary Terms	134	(1)
Critical Questions	134	(1)
Internet Exercises	134	(1)
The Emergence of Food Production and the Rise of States	135	(35)
Preagricultural Developments	137	(4)
The Domestication of Plants and Animals	141	(7)
Why Did Food Production Develop?	148	(3)
Consequences of the Rise of Food Production	151	(1)
Origins of Cities and States	152	(2)
Archaeological Inferences about Civilization	154	(1)
Cities and States in Southern Iraq	155	(1)
Cities and States in Mesoamerica	156	(3)
The First Cities and States in Other Areas	159	(1)
Theories about the Origin of the State	160	(4)
The Decline and Collapse of States	164	(2)
Summary	166	(2)
Glossary Terms	168	(1)
Critical Questions	168	(1)
Internet Exercises	168	(2)
Human Variation and Adaptation	170	(21)
Processes in Human Variation	170	(2)
Physical Variation in Human Populations	172	(9)
Race and Racism	181	(7)
The Future of Human Variation	188	(1)
Summary	188	(1)
Glossary Terms	189	(1)
Critical Questions	189	(1)
Internet Exercises	189	(2)
PART III CULTURAL VARIATION
The Concept of Culture	191	(20)
Defining Features of Culture	191	(3)
Attitudes That Hinder the Study of Cultures	194	(2)
Cultural Relativism	196	(1)
Describing a Culture	197	(6)
Some Assumptions about Culture	203	(6)
Summary	209	(1)
Glossary Terms	210	(1)
Critical Questions	210	(1)
Internet Exercises	210	(1)
Communication and Language	211	(30)
Communication	212	(3)
The Origins of Language	215	(3)
Descriptive Linguistics	218	(5)
Historical Linguistics	223	(4)
The Processes of Linguistic Divergence	227	(1)
Relationships between Language and Culture	228	(6)
The Ethnography of Speaking	234	(5)
Summary	239	(1)
Glossary Terms	240	(1)
Critical Questions	240	(1)
Internet Exercises	240	(1)
Getting Food	241	(17)
Food Collection	242	(3)
Food Production	245	(6)
Environmental Restraints on Food Getting	251	(3)
The Origin, Spread, and Intensification of Food Production	254	(2)
Summary	256	(1)
Glossary Terms	257	(1)
Critical Questions	257	(1)
Internet Exercises	257	(1)
Economic Systems	258	(25)
The Allocation of Resources	258	(4)
The Conversion of Resources	262	(8)
The Distribution of Goods and Services	270	(10)
Summary	280	(1)
Glossary Terms	281	(1)
Critical Questions	282	(1)
Internet Exercises	282	(1)
Social Stratification: Class, Ethnicity, and Racism	283	(19)
Variation in Degree of Social Inequality	284	(8)
Racism and Inequality	292	(2)
Ethnicity and Inequality	294	(3)
The Emergence of Stratification	297	(2)
Summary	299	(1)
Glossary Terms	300	(1)
Critical Questions	300	(1)
Internet Exercises	301	(1)
Sex, Gender, and Culture	302	(22)
Physique and Physiology	303	(1)
Gender Roles	303	(4)
Relative Contributions to Subsistence	307	(2)
Political Leadership and Warfare	309	(2)
The Relative Status of Women	311	(3)
Personality Differences	314	(4)
Sexuality	318	(4)
Summary	322	(1)
Glossary Terms	322	(1)
Critical Questions	323	(1)
Internet Exercises	323	(1)
Marriage and the Family	324	(23)
Marriage	324	(1)
Why Is Marriage Universal?	325	(3)
How Does One Marry?	328	(3)
Restrictions on Marriage: The Universal Incest Taboo	331	(4)
Whom Should One Marry?	335	(3)
How Many Does One Marry?	338	(4)
The Family	342	(1)
Variation in Family Form	343	(1)
Summary	344	(1)
Glossary Terms	345	(1)
Critical Questions	345	(1)
Internet Exercises	346	(1)
Marital Residence and Kinship	347	(23)
Patterns of Marital Residence	348	(1)
Explanations of Variation in Residence	349	(4)
The Structure of Kinship	353	(4)
Bilateral Kinship	357	(1)
Unilineal Descent	358	(7)
Ambilineal Systems	365	(1)
Kinship Terminology	366	(1)
Summary	367	(2)
Glossary Terms	369	(1)
Critical Questions	369	(1)
Internet Exercises	369	(1)
Political Life: Social Order and Disorder	370	(24)
Variation in Types of Political Organization	371	(10)
Variation in Political Process	381	(10)
Summary	391	(1)
Glossary Terms	392	(1)
Critical Questions	393	(1)
Internet Exercises	393	(1)
Religion and Magic	394	(16)
Variation in Religious Beliefs	395	(5)
Variation in Religious Practices	400	(5)
Religion and Adaptation	405	(3)
Summary	408	(1)
Glossary Terms	409	(1)
Critical Questions	409	(1)
Internet Exercises	409	(1)
PART IV USING ANTHROPOLOGY
Applied and Practicing Anthropology	410	(16)
Motives for Applying and Practicing Anthropology	411	(1)
History and Types of Application	412	(2)
Ethics of Applied Anthropology	414	(1)
Evaluating the Effects of Planned Change	415	(1)
Difficulties in Instituting Planned Change	416	(4)
Cultural Resource Management	420	(3)
Forensic Anthropology	423	(1)
Summary	424	(1)
Glossary Terms	425	(1)
Critical Questions	425	(1)
Internet Exercises	425	(1)
Medical Anthropology	426	(20)
Cultural Understandings of Health and Illness	427	(3)
Treatment of Illness	430	(5)
Political and Economic Influences on Health	435	(1)
Health Conditions and Diseases	436	(8)
Summary	444	(1)
Glossary Terms	445	(1)
Critical Questions	445	(1)
Internet Exercises	445	(1)
Global Social Problems	446	(17)
Natural Disasters and Famine	447	(2)
Inadequate Housing and Homelessness	449	(2)
Family Violence and Abuse	451	(3)
Crime	454	(3)
War	457	(3)
Making the World Better	460	(1)
Summary	460	(1)
Critical Questions	461	(1)
Internet Exercises	461	(2)
Glossary	463	(11)
Notes	474	(45)
Bibliography	519	(27)
Index	546

Excerpts

This edition is new in several ways. We have expanded the coverage of biological (physical) anthropology and archaeology. There is now a chapter on how archaeologists and paleoanthropologists discover and explain the past and present, and a separate chapter devoted to the australopithecines. We have added 5 new boxes, 3 in the physical anthropology and archaeology sections. We have expanded our coverage of applied and practicing anthropology, reflecting the fact that one out of two anthropologists is now employed outside the academic world, working on practical problems. We now have three chapters grouped under the heading of "Using Anthropology." The first introduces applied and practicing anthropology and includes new sections on cultural resource management and forensic anthropology. Then there is an entirely new chapter on medical anthropology. Finally, there is a chapter on global social problems and how they might be solved on the basis of anthropological and other social science research. We have added new materials on ethnicity and racism, including new sections on ethnicity and inequality, racism and inequality, and new boxes on ethnic conflict and African American/European American disparities in death. This book is an abridged version of the latest edition of ourAnthropology.(Peter N. Peregrine was coauthor.) In updating this book, we try to go beyond descriptions, as always. We are interested not only in what humans are and were like, but we are also interested in why they got to be that way, in all their variety. When there are alternative explanations, we try to communicate the necessity to evaluate them both logically and on the basis of the available evidence. Throughout the book, we try to communicate that no idea, including ideas put forward in textbooks, should be accepted even tentatively without supporting tests that could have gone the other way. PART I: INTRODUCTION Chapter 1: What Is Anthropology? Chapter 1 introduces the student to anthropology. We discuss what we think is special and distinctive about anthropology in general, and about each of its subfields in particular. We outline how each of the subfields is related to other disciplines such as biology, psychology, and sociology. We direct attention to the increasing importance of applied anthropology. Chapter 2: Discovering and Explaining the Past , and Present Chapter 2 gives an overview of archaeological and paleoanthropological research. We discuss the types of evidence archaeologists and paleoanthropologists use to reconstruct the past, the methods they use to collect the evidence, and how they go about analyzing and interpreting that evidence. We also describe the many techniques used by archaeologists and paleoanthropologists to determine the age of archaeological materials and fossils. We discuss what it means to explain and what kinds of evidence are needed to evaluate an explanation. We discuss the major types of study in cultural anthropology--ethnography, ethnohistory, within-culture comparisons, and worldwide cross-cultural comparisons. The box explores the differences between scientific and humanistic understanding and points out that the different approaches are not really incompatible. PART II: HUMAN EVOLUTION: BIOLOGICAL AND CULTURAL Chapter 3: Genetics and Evolution Chapter 3 discusses evolutionary theory as it applies to all forms of life, including humans. Following an extensive review of genetics and the processes of evolution, including natural selection and what it means, we discuss how natural selection may operate on behavioral traits and how cultural evolution differs from biological evolution. We consider ethical issues posed by the possibility of genetic engineering. The box examines the evidence suggesting that evolution proceeds abruptly rather than slowly and steadily. Chapter 4: Primate Evolution: From Early Primates to Hominoids