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APPLYING ANTHROPOLOGY An Introductory Reader

TENTH EDITION

Aaron Podolefsky Buffalo State University (SUNY)

Peter J. Brown Emory University

Scott M. Lacy Fairfi eld University

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APPLYING ANTHROPOLOGY: AN INTRODUCTORY READER, TENTH EDITION

Published by McGraw-Hill, a business unit of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 1221 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020. Copyright © 2012 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Previous editions © 2009, 2007, and 2003. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written consent of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., including, but not limited to, in any network or other electronic storage or transmission, or broadcast for distance learning.

Some ancillaries, including electronic and print components, may not be available to cus- tomers outside the United States.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Applying anthropology : an introductory reader / [edited by] Aaron Podolefsky, Peter J. Brown, Scott M. Lacy.—10th ed. p. cm. ISBN 978-0-07-811704-6 (alk. paper) 1. Applied anthropology. 2. Anthropology. I. Podolefsky, Aaron. II. Brown, Peter J. III. Title. GN397.5.A67 2012 301—dc23

2011036666

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There are things I couldn’t have known when Peter and I began developing the ideas for this book during the late 1980s. I could not predict its growth and development nor how grateful

I now am that the numerous editions have brought enlightenment to so many students over the years. In a similar way, my sons—young boys at the time—were also works in

progress and at the start of their own lives. Looking back I refl ect with great joy, pride, and satisfaction as I have watched these young boys blossom into men of character and wisdom.

This book is dedicated to my sons, Noah and Isaac, who have grown to be men since our fi rst edition eighteen years ago.

—Aaron Podolefsky

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v

Contents

Theme Finder for Chapters xiii

To the Student xv

To the Instructor xvii

Introduction: Understanding Humans and Human Problems 1

PART I Biological Anthropology 3

HUMAN EVOLUTION

1 Teaching Theories: The Evolution-Creation Controversy 6 Robert Root-Bernstein and Donald L. McEachron (The American Biology Teacher, 1982) Through a comparison of evolution and creationism, this article examines the logic of scientifi c inquiry and the characteristics of scientifi c theory. Scientifi c theories are testable and correctable, which is why they lead to new and useful knowledge.

2 Re-reading Root-Bernstein and McEachron in Cobb County, Georgia: A Year Past and Present 15 Benjamin Z. Freed (Article written especially for Applying Anthropology) Cultural confl icts about evolution and creationism have centered on the American classroom. This selection describes recent debates and legal skirmishes about teaching evolution in public schools.

3 Great Mysteries of Human Evolution 21 Carl Zimmer (Discover, 2003) Despite the extraordinary number of hominid fossils discovered in the past thirty years, many questions remain open about human origins and evolution. This article asks eight basic questions about what is fundamentally human.

4 A New Kind of Ancestor: Ardipithecus Unveiled 27 Ann Gibbons (Science, 2009) In a 5 million-year-old forensic “cold case,” anthropologists have discovered the skeletal remains of some of our earliest human ancestors in Africa. Paleontology, genetics, and the virtual reconstruction of fossils have revealed exciting new details about lives and physiology of our earliest human ancestors.

PRIMATOLOGY

5 What Are Friends For? 32 Barbara Smuts (Natural History, 1987) “Friendship” between adult males and females is an important part of the society of olive baboons of Kenya. These mutually benefi cial, long-term relationships are usually based on female choice and are only indirectly related to sex. Observations of nonhuman primates make anthropologists rethink the origin and nature of human sociality.

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vi CONTENTS

6 Mothers and Others 38 Sarah Blaff er Hrdy (Delivered as a Tanner Lecture on Human Values) Based on observations of other primates and hunter-gatherers, a new way of thinking about our species challenges long-held beliefs and has implications for child rearing and gender roles, the importance of kin groups and neighbors, and the practices and policies of our day-care systems.

7 Apes, Hominids, and the Roots of Religion 45 Barbara J. King Can modern apes teach us about human religious life? Recent primatology research suggests that empathy, compassion, and shared emotional experiences were not only evolutionarily advantageous behaviors for our primate ancestors, but they may help us mark the origins of human religious practices.

HUMAN BIOLOGY

8 How Race Becomes Biology: Embodiment of Social Inequality 49 Clarence C. Gravlee Many contemporary ideas about the relationship between race and health are based on three fundamental mistakes: that race equals human biological variation, that biology equals genetics, and that race is a myth. Health inequalities between socially defi ned groups are the enduring result of stress in reaction to racist social interactions and discrimination, which can also cause low birth weight babies and chronic adult diseases.

9 Ancient Bodies, Modern Customs, and Our Health 64 Elizabeth D. Whitaker Biological anthropologists believe that our long evolutionary history has shaped our bodies and therefore strongly infl uences our health. Infant sleeping and breast-feeding patterns are linked to health issues like birth spacing, allergies, diarrhea, and dehydration, as well as increased risk of breast cancer and sudden infant death syndrome.

10 Ancient Genes and Modern Health 74 S. Boyd Eaton and Melvin Konner (The Leakey Foundation) Many of the serious health problems confronting us today may be the result of an incongruity between our genetic heritage as descendants of hunter-gatherers and our current diet and lifestyle. The study of Paleolithic people may be the key to a healthy life.

11 The Tall and the Short of It 78 Barry Bogin (Discover, 1998) A biological anthropologist discusses changes in the average height of populations as an example of human plasticity in the context of changing nutrition in childhood. Our environment is shaped by culture, and it affects our outward biological characteristics or phenotype.

12 Identifying Victims after a Disaster 82 Dick Gould (Anthropology News, 2005) Forensic anthropology has taken on an important role both in the American public imagination and on the front lines of disaster relief efforts. This selection discusses how archaeology and forensic anthropology have increasingly played a part in the identifi cation of victims of human and natural disasters.

PART II Archaeology 85

13 Dawn of a New Stone Age in Eye Surgery 88 Payson D. Sheets (Archaeology: Discovering Our Past, 1993) An anthropologist applies his knowledge of the stone toolmaking technology of ancient Maya to the manufacture of surgical scalpels; his obsidian blades are more than 200 times sharper than the surgical steel scalpels currently in use.

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CONTENTS vii

14 Feminine Knowledge and Skill Reconsidered: Women and Flaked Stone Tools 91 Kathryn Weedman Arthur (American Anthropologist, 2010) The idea of the naturally inclined male provider (and his dependent female) is a modern mythology that tells us more about contemporary gender constructs than it does the continuity of a prehistoric patriarchy. Experimental archaeology collaborations with present-day female foragers who make sophisticated stone tools contradict prevailing theories of the dependent and domestic foraging women.

15 The Secrets of Ancient Tiwanaku Are Benefi ting Today’s Bolivia 106 Baird Straughan (Smithsonian, 1991) Archaeologists working at Tiwanaku discover an ingenious agricultural system used by the Inca that has led to signifi cant increases in crop yields and the quality of life of present-day residents.

16 Disease and Death at Dr. Dickson’s Mounds 112 Alan H. Goodman and George J. Armelagos (Natural History, 1985) The intensifi cation of maize agriculture among prehistoric Native Americans of the Mississippian period, combined with their involvement in a trading network, led to a drastic decline in their health.