Readings for a History of Anthropological Theory, Sixth Edition

Readings for a History of Anthropological Theory, Sixth Edition

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Readings for a History of Anthropological Theory curates and collects many of the most important publications of anthropological thinking spanning the last hundred years, building a strong foundation in both classical and contemporary theory. The sixth edition includes seventeen new readings, with a sharpened focus on public anthropology, gender and sexuality, race and ethnicity, linguistic anthropology, archaeology, and the Anthropocene. Each piece of writing is accompanied by a short introduction, key terms, study questions, and further readings that elucidate the original text.On its own, or together with A History of Anthropological Theory, Sixth Edition, this anthology offers an unrivalled introduction to the theory of anthropology that reflects not only its history but also the changing nature of the discipline today.

 

Through the Lens of Anthropology: An Introduction to Human Evolution and Culture

Through the Lens of Anthropology: An Introduction to Human Evolution and Culture

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Through the Lens of Anthropology is a concise but comprehensive introductory textbook that uses the twin themes of food and sustainability to illustrate the connected nature of anthropology's four major subfields: archaeology, and biological, cultural, and linguistic anthropology. By viewing the world through the lens of anthropology, students will learn not only about anthropological methods, theories, and ethics, but also the ways in which anthropology is relevant to their everyday lives and embedded in the culture that surrounds them.Beautifully illustrated throughout, with over 150 full-color images, figures, feature boxes, and maps, this is an anthropology text with a fresh perspective, a lively narrative, and plenty of popular topics that are sure to engage readers. A strong pedagogical framework structures the book: each chapter features learning objectives, glossary terms, and chapter summaries, as well as review and discussion questions which guide students' analysis of the topics, themes, and issues raised in the text. This book is interesting to read, manageable to teach, and succeeds at igniting interest in anthropology as a discipline.

 

Born in Africa: The Quest for the Origins of Human Life

Born in Africa: The Quest for the Origins of Human Life

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Africa does not give up its secrets easily. Buried there lie answers about the origins of humankind. After a century of investigation, scientists have transformed our understanding about the beginnings of human life. But vital clues still remain hidden.In Born in Africa, Martin Meredith follows the trail of discoveries about human origins made by scientists over the last hundred years, recounting their intense rivalry, personal feuds, and fierce controversies, as well as their feats of skill and endurance. The results have been momentous. Scientists have identified more than 20 species of extinct humans. They have firmly established Africa as the birthplace not only of humankind but also of modern humans. They have revealed how early technology, language ability, and artistic endeavour all originated in Africa and they have shown how small groups of Africans spread out from Africa in an exodus 60,000 years ago to populate the rest of the world. We have all inherited an African past.©2011 Martin Meredith (P)2011 Audible, Inc.

 

Handbook of North American Indians, Volume 17: Languages

Handbook of North American Indians, Volume 17: Languages

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Provides a basic reference work on the Native languages of North America, their characteristics and uses, their historical relationships, and the history of research on these languages. Fold-out, color, volume map.

 

Ancient Encounters: Kennewick Man and the First Americans

Ancient Encounters: Kennewick Man and the First Americans

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The skeleton known as Kennewick Man was discovered in 1996 by two young men along the Columbia River near Kennewick, Washington. When the skeleton was brought to Jim Chatters, a forensic anthropologist, Chatters first believed that the remains were those of a nineteenth-century pioneer. He was astonished when radiocarbon dating revealed the skeleton to be approximately 9,500 years old, making it one of the oldest skeletons ever found in North America. But what really intrigued Chatters was that despite his antiquity, Kennewick Man did not resemble modern Native Americans. So who was he, and where did he come from? Ancient Encounters is Chatters' compelling account of his quest to find the answers to these questions-a quest that ultimately was halted by political considerations. Chatters' investigation was cut short because local Indian groups claimed the skeleton under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) and demanded the right to rebury the remains. The Army Corps of Engineers, which had jurisdiction over the land where Kennewick Man was found, seized the skeleton and put it into federal storage, where it remains to this day. The skeleton was not reburied, because a group of scientists whom Chatters contacted to help him in his investigation filed suit to prevent this. Their suit is scheduled to go to trial in 2001.But Ancient Encounters is much more than a story of political intrigue. This is an anthropological detective story, told by the first scientist to have studied Kennewick Man. In the short time that the skeleton was in Chatters' hands, he learned a great deal about the man's life. Numerous serious injuries-including a spearpoint embedded in his hip-indicate that Kennewick Man led a dangerous, perhaps even violent, life. His physical characteristics suggest a relationship to the people of Polynesia, perhaps a common ancestry. As Chatters consulted other experts and explored museum collections, he learned that many of Kennewick Man's physical features were shared by other ancient skeletons discovered in the Americas. The first Americans, or Paleo-Americans, as they are known to some in the scientific community, may have arrived in the Americas earlier and by a different route than has been generally agreed. Kennewick Man may hold significant clues to the ancestry of the people of the Americas, which is why, Chatters argues, his skeleton deserves further study.Fascinating and impassioned, Ancient Encounters is an important exploration of the origins of our earliest ancestors-and a critical examination of the controversy over who owns the past.

 

Evolving the Mind: On the Nature of Matter and the Origin of Consciousness

Evolving the Mind: On the Nature of Matter and the Origin of Consciousness

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The next great revolution in science will undoubtedly be the emergence of a useful theory of consciousness--a theory based on our better understanding of molecules and brains and of the nature of science itself. Evolving the Mind broaches both of these themes, covering how ideas about the mind evolved in science and how the mind itself evolved in Nature. What Cairns-Smith does that is particularly compelling is to synthesize the contributions of a wide range of scientific disciplines (physics, molecular biology, brain science, and evolution) to bring science to the brink of a unified theory of consciousness. The author thoroughly explores this complex concept in a straightforward, conversational style. Few readers will be able to resist the exciting conclusion that we are closing in on a scientific theory of consciousness.

 

Olduvai Gorge: My search for early man

Olduvai Gorge: My search for early man

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Olduvai Groge is a valley in the Serengeti Plains at the western margin of the Eastern Rift Valley in northern Tanzania. The formations discussed in this volume, Beds I and II, were deposited in the Lower and Middle Pleistocene and have yielded large quantities of the remains of early man, in the form of bones and stone tools and evidence of the environment in which they lived. Bed I, in which remains of Australopithecus boisei and Homo habilis have been found, is firmly dated between 1.9 million years for the lowest level and 1.65 million years for a level below the top. This third volume describes the excavations. In Part I, starting with the lowest levels and devoting a chapter to each main level, Dr Leakey describes the actual process of excavation and the finding of the principal remains. In Part II, Dr Leakey describes the circumstances of the discovery of the hominid skeletal remains. These range from purposive excavation to accidental discovery while collecting small stones for mixing in concrete. Finally, mammalian bones, as tools and as food remains are discussed.