Window on Humanity A Concise Introduction to Anthropology
Eighth Edition
Conrad Phillip Kottak University of Michigan
To my wife, Isabel Wagley Kottak
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Brief Contents Anthropology Today Boxes xiii Preface xiv Acknowledgments xxv About the Author xxvii 1 What Is Anthropology? 1 2 Culture 19 3 Doing Anthropology 41 4 Evolution, Genetics,
and Human Variation 67 5 The Primates 96 6 Early Hominins 121 7 The Genus Homo 143 8 The First Farmers 173 9 The First Cities and States 197 10 Language and
Communication 222 11 Making a Living 248
12 Political Systems 275 13 Families, Kinship,
and Marriage 301 14 Gender 328 15 Religion 352 16 Ethnicity and Race 379 17 Applying Anthropology 406 18 The World System,
Colonialism, and Inequality 430
19 Anthropology’s Role in a Globalizing World 456
GLOSSARY G1 BIBLIOGRAPHY B1 INDEX I1
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Contents Anthropology Today Boxes xiii Preface xiv Acknowledgments xxv About the Author xxvii
Chapter 1 What Is Anthropology? 1 The Cross-Cultural Perspective 1 Human Adaptability 2
Adaptation, Variation, and Change 3 Cultural Forces Shape Human Biology 4
General Anthropology 6 The Subdisciplines of Anthropology 7
Cultural Anthropology 7 Anthropological Archaeology 8 Biological Anthropology 10 Linguistic Anthropology 11
Applied Anthropology 11 Anthropology and Other Academic
Fields 13 A Humanistic Science 13 Cultural Anthropology
and Sociology 14 Anthropology Today: School of Hope 15 Summary 17
Chapter 2 Culture 19 What Is Culture? 19
Culture Is Learned 20 Culture Is Symbolic 20 Culture Is Shared 21 Culture and Nature 22 Culture Is All-Encompassing
and Integrated 22 Culture Is Instrumental, Adaptive,
and Maladaptive 23
Culture’s Evolutionary Basis 25 What We Share with Other Primates 25 How We Differ from Other Primates 27
Universality, Generality, and Particularity 28 Universals and Generalities 28 Particularity: Patterns of Culture 29
Culture and the Individual 30 Levels of Culture 31 Ethnocentrism, Cultural Relativism, and
Human Rights 32 Mechanisms of Cultural Change 34 Globalization 35 Anthropology Today: Preserving Cultural
Heritage 36 Summary 38
Chapter 3 Doing Anthropology 41 What Do Anthropologists Do? 41 Research Methods in Archaeology
and Biological Anthropology 42 Multidisciplinary Approaches 43 Studying the Past 44 Survey and Excavation 44
Kinds of Archaeology 45 Dating the Past 46
Relative Dating 46 Absolute Dating 47 Molecular Anthropology 48
Kinds of Biological Anthropology 49 Bone Biology 49 Anthropometry 49 Primatology 50
Research Methods in Cultural Anthropology 50
Ethnography: Anthropology’s Distinctive Strategy 50 Observation and Participant
Observation 51
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Conversation, Interviewing, and Interview Schedules 52
The Genealogical Method 54 Key Cultural Consultants 54 Life Histories 54 Local Beliefs and Perceptions,
and the Ethnographer’s 55 Problem-Oriented Ethnography 56 Longitudinal Studies, Team Research,
and Multisited Ethnography 56 Survey Research 58 Doing Anthropology Right and Wrong:
Ethical Issues 59 Ownership Issues 60 The Code of Ethics 61 Anthropologists and the Military 62
Anthropology Today: Biology, Culture, and Grandparents 63