Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with anthropology

cultures in transition, over time

ebesan — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 16:15:01 -0800

Looking for writing on how cultures/nations/tribes handled, fared, cope/d with alien influences. In the past or now, ongoing. Examples of what was irretrievably lost?
Examples of resilient traditions that bent and absorbed.
Involuntary-thru colonialism or war. (e.g. Catholicism on the Aztecs)
Or just the gradual seeping of one tradition into another (advertising, the internet)

Picture Book of Humans?

alice_curiouse — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:55:21 -0800

I am looking for a large picture book on anatomical differences of humans around the world... I am looking for a large book that has lots (hundreds?) of photos or drawings of what humans look like in different parts of the world.

I am not sure if National Geographic makes anything like this? Does anyone know of such a book?

Thank you!

About Which Group Should I Write My Research Paper?

howgenerica — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 08:19:36 -0800

I have to write this big research paper for my cultural anthro class, and I'm looking for recommendations for cool/ interesting groups to study. I've got to write ten pages on them, so I don't want to get bored! It's got to be a fairly specific group, but one that is not too obscure - I need to be able to find material. Thanks!

CSI: Kmt?

Meg_Murry — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 12:32:47 -0800

Did my mother really see a demonstration of ancient Egyptian mummification on a modern human cadaver on PBS in the late 90s? I have a vivid memory of waking up one morning and my mom telling me about this documentary she had stayed up late watching. The show aired late at night because it was extremely graphic, but it wasn't intentionally provocative. The purpose was, I believe, to determine how realistic the ancient descriptions of mummification were, and to try to recreate an Egyptian-style mummy using a modern cadaver. Her description of the show was that it was very clinical--harsh lighting, most of the time the camera was positioned directly over the table--and more like a recording for institutional use than for public distribution. It was also several hours long and more or less in real time.

My mom has studied and taught near eastern archaeology and is not generally taken in by exaggeration or inaccuracies in documentary specials on ancient Egypt, so I don't believe she was mistaken in her understanding of what she saw. However, it was about ten years ago, and she doesn't really remember having seen it.

Googling just seems to turn up educational material on mummies. Does anyone have any idea what this video was or where it was made?

help me find [his/her] life on the edge

mayhap — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 11:34:36 -0800

I'm looking for a fascinating piece that I read a few years back that painted an extensive portrait of the lives and culture of runaways and other people living on the margins, written from personal experience. I think it was very long, divided into two pages, and possibly specifically directed at writers whom the author was criticizing for getting their culture wrong. I remember that s/he alked about getting started mugging or shoplifting, how to handle yourself in fights to minimize the amount of actual fighting you would be forced to do, and I forget what all else. One part that I particularly remember asserted that people in this sort of situation could be very conservative sexually but promiscuous emotionally, or something like that. Although I particularly want to find this piece again, I'd also appreciate recommendations for anything similar. Thanks!

Smile!

kmtiszen — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 05:40:11 -0800

Are there any cultures in which a smile is not an expression of happiness? What about laughter? Are these traditional expressions of happiness universal?

Uh...hang on, just give me a minute.

Demogorgon — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 10:34:31 -0800

What is the most important scientific question of our time? I volunteer at an observatory for a local amateur astronomers' society and one of the guests at a recent star party came up and asked, "What do you think is the most important question science has to answer right now?" Obviously, there is no right or wrong answer, but after the party was over a lot of us were still talking about this question and I ended up learning a great deal from my fellow club members that I might otherwise not have.
The next time this question gets asked I want to be prepared to offer a variety of answers from differing fields and opinions. I don't expect to represent every answer as an expert, but I'd like to be able to give a few more examples than I was able to, and then correlate them to some book recommendations from the answers in this thread about introductions to your field.
I also think it is important to frame the question in a way that can be meaningfully answered, i.e. "What is the most important scientific discovery about to be made?" or something like that.
Of course, I had my own answer in mind, but as a relative layperson to that branch of study I had a really hard time articulating why it was so important to "science." Therefore, if you are uniquely affiliated with a specific field that you think will produce a game-changer, feel free to get as technical as you're comfortable doing.

Thanks!

What do we know about gregariousness in human behavior?

bru — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 10:17:45 -0800

What do we know about gregariousness in human behavior? My Google-fu is failing me: I thought that I would find tons of studies about the role (or effect, or influence) of "gregariousness" in human social behavior and I find almost nothing. Sheep, mice, bonobos, yes. Human, no. (I also searched with sociology, psychology, anthropology, neuroscience, Daniel Dennett, Richard Dawkins.) What am I missing?

Is this a type of archeologist or a type of pathologist?

biochemist — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 11:10:08 -0800

What does a paleopathologist actually do? I'm not looking for technical terms, but rather "a day in the life of." Is there another term for this specialty that can lead to more information about the profession?

I Need a New Big Think Book!

musofire — Sun, 10 May 2009 17:03:14 -0800

I need a new "big think" book! I just finished Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers, and I loved his other books as well. I've read everything Jared Diamond has published (Collapse, Guns, Germs & Steel, The Third Chimpanzee etc.) I like books that stretch your brain and reveal the hidden factors in life, the world and society. I like books that make you look at stuff you think you know about, which show you a new perspective. I liked Moneyball, and Better, and Complications. I just enjoyed The Black Swan.

I also like the same kinds of books in a historical context, e.g. 1491, Twilight of the Mammoths, The Dinosaur Heresies and Changes in the Land.

I'm not that fond of Thomas Friedman, who seems a master of the obvious, and Ray Kurzweil seems a bit breathless.

Who else should I read?

Looking for childhood Encyclopedia set.

studentbaker — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 12:46:40 -0800

I’m trying to remember the name of a set of themed encyclopedias for children from my childhood. Each book focused on a particular theme and had amazing illustrations and images that blew my little mind. The themes I can remember were dinosaurs, the ocean, plants, mammals, reptiles and I believe there was one focused on Native Americans and another on space exploration. I think I had around fifteen to twenty of the books. Each book was a different color. I think a new one came every year or six months, or maybe as my parents could afford them. This was in the late 70's, early 80's.

My mom gave them to a coworker for his children when I was in high school. I recently asked her about the books and she barely remembers books them, let alone the name. I would love to track down and purchase a set.

Bakhtin a Corner

umbú — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 19:04:48 -0800

What are the most insightful interpretative writings about carnival/carnaval and mardi gras? Tomorrow is my first Mardi Gras in New Orleans, and I've been thinking about how such a vast and complicated annual event evades any attempt to articulate its social meaning in any singular, definitive way.

I have also been to Carnaval in northeast Brazil, and I came away similarly exhilarated, thinking about how its significance is so impossibly messy and multiple. It's a tricky thing to write about.

What are the most insightful writings interpreting carnival/carnaval and mardi gras? I'm thinking mostly about the Western Hemisphere: Brazil, Cuba, New Orleans, Mobile, Trinidad... but a piece about European Carnivals could potentially also be relevant.

Non-fiction essays, academic articles and depictions in literary fiction are all what I am interested in gathering.

Trying to find a striking picture of anthropologist and neanderthal.

kalimac — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 11:21:36 -0800

Looking for a striking photo of a modern human facing a reconstructed Neanderthal face. Calling all physical anthropologists!

I'm trying to find a picture for a friend of mine; I first saw it in a professor's office some years ago. It's of an anthropologist who had studied Neanderthals closely, and (at least at the time) supported the hypothesis that they hadn't entirely died out, at least phenotypically. The photo was of him facing a reconstructed Neanderthal's head, both of them in profile, and looking strikingly similar. The man was probably in his early fifties, Caucasian, bald or balding and rather sturdily-built -- definitely a robust skull :) I would have seen this picture in 2000 at the earliest, and I think it wasn't terribly old then.

Can anyone track down this picture and/or the anthropologists name? My google-fu is failing me.

Thanks!

Where to start learning about anthropology?

nathaole — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 16:37:32 -0800

I would like to know more about anthropology, and have the ability to ask compelling questions about the subject. Where should I start? I have never taken an anthropology course, but am interested in reading up, beyond previous AskMe questions tagged with anthropology. It's such a broad subject, I'm at a bit of a loss of where to start.

What should I read so that I can engage in conversation with my friends and colleagues, who have studied anthropology, are well versed, and beyond Anthro 101?

Treaty of testicular disarmament? When? Was it universal?

Free word order! — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 13:40:12 -0800

Does anyone know about a past or present culture or subculture where it is acceptable to start or end a fair fight with a cockpunch? I'm wondering if cockpunch is indeed a (rare) universal taboo - in controlled male violence - and the idea is so funny because of that. I know that in martial arts, there are moves aiming for the maximum testicular damage, but they seem to be emphasizing martial life or death -situation. Most of the violence is strongly codified; so is there a culture where f.ex. good kick in the nuts is the aim, but bruising the face is out of the question?

Since much fighting happens between siblings, there could be some complex mathematical reasons where possibility of hurting your brother's genetic material is worse in the long term than cost of upholding the taboo. If there are traditions where low blow is acceptable and in use, then this theory can be put to rest.

Marcel Mauss Quote

cachondeo45 — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 12:18:19 -0800

I'm looking for the origin of a quote attributed to Marcel Mauss for a friend. From my friend:

I've run into various Latin American folklore scholars who keep referring to a "well-known" quote by French anthropologist Marcel Mauss. It is usually reproduced as "es popular todo lo que no es oficial" -- roughly, the popular is everything that is not official/institutional. Can you help me identify the source of this quote? Bonus points for either official/published English translation or original French.

Should Immigrants Be Required to Learn a National Language?

netbros — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 07:36:38 -0800

What are the reasons for and against constitutionally requiring a specific national language? I'm particularly interested in the United States and the frequent debate about a constitutional amendment to require knowledge of the English language, but I realize the MeFi population spans the globe. So rather than being U.S. centric, please tell me what the debating points are in your home country. Thanks for your assistance.

Til Death Do Us Part?

netbros — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 05:16:08 -0800

Are we a monogamous species? An estimated 90 percent of all bird species are monogamous. Many human cultures seem to have monogamy as a bonding goal. If you pick up a Sunday paper, you will always see announcements of 50th wedding anniversaries. Conversely, divorce rates have been going up, and many questions right here on AskMe talk about "playing the field." Is it human nature to want to find a single, life long partner? Or is that something religions would have you believe, and the science is more complex?

Most important social psychology books of past 50 years?

Malad — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 12:31:00 -0800

What have been the most important books in social science (including psychology, political science, sociology, anthropology, economics, "applied" social sciences like marketing, and so on) of the past 50 years?

Help me find a book on organizational psychology from an anthropological perspective

semblance — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 11:31:54 -0800

Years ago I read a book on organizational psychology written by an anthropologist. His thesis IIRC was that the ideal forms of human organization can be seen in the ways hunter-gatherer societies organized, and that nearly all modern organizations are diametrically opposed to that. Can anyone help me find this book? I encountered this book doing research for a (never completed) dissertation. Because it wasn't really all that relevant to my research, I didn't keep any bibliographic info on it, and I haven't been able to find it since. But the thoughts behind it keep cropping up, and I would really like to read it again.

The author claimed that hunter-gatherer societies organize in groups of no more than about 15 or so, and that leaders emerge spontaneously from these groups. Control isn't imposed from "outside" or "above"; instead, in the best case, coordinated behavior is an emergent property of the group. I may well be imposing my own thoughts on what the author said, since it's been so long, but I think that's reasonably accurate.

Another detail I remember is that supposedly some businessman in Brazil reorganized his company along the lines that this author suggested, turning it around and changing it from a money loser to a substantial success.

Any help identifying this book would be much appreciated! And if you know of any other books along similar lines, I would love to know about those as well.

obscure-sub-field-of-anthropology corner

clockzero — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 06:16:45 -0800

What can you (you wonderful, bright, worldly people, you) tell me about legal anthropology? I'd like to know about its ideological construction, presence in academia, personal experiences, applications in the non-academic world, and whatever you've got. Thanks!

Did you hear the one about the loud-mouthed Texan?

bjork24 — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 17:24:36 -0800

Is there a version of this representing attitudes from people within the US about their neighboring states? If not, someone smart needs to start collecting all the stereotypes. Just don't ask someone from Arkansas. ;)

Mystery crown-head must have an interesting story

dreamyshade — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 18:05:48 -0800

My friend and I saw this lovely carved-wood head with a crown (picture) at the American Museum of Natural History in the hall of African artifacts. Now we're curious about it and its European-looking crown. Why did people make this? When I got home from the museum, I remembered the name of the group of people who made the sculpture (from the label next to it) and looked it up in the museum's anthropology database, and I found out it was acquired in the 1940s or 1950s. The database didn't say much else, and I've forgotten the name and didn't bookmark the link (oops).

So, I figure this was probably made after the arrival of significant European influence, maybe as a gift. Can you tell me anything else? Or direct me to somebody who would know more? Or maybe just know of something similar?

Sundry Notes for an Abortive Ethnography of the Asadi of BoskVeld

showbiz_liz — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 14:31:52 -0800

Where can I find good science fiction about alien ethnographers (or 'xenologists')? I'm an anthropology student and sci-fi fan, and it just occurred to me that there must be loads of alien ethnography stories out there. The two I've read that I remember were Speaker for the Dead (natch) and Death and Designation Among the Asadi. I'd love to find more- got any recommendations?

Picking teams for the upcoming interspecies tournament of death...

jjjjjjjijjjjjjj — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 05:02:30 -0800

At a cocktail party last weekend, an Anthropologist was telling me about an experiment/study where people were shown videos of various animals preying on one another, and then measured their reactions. The findings, he contends, were that humans were largely more sympathetic to the deaths of animals more similar to themselves (i.e. sharing a more recent common ancestor). What is this study, what is this area of research called, and where can I read more about it? As in: Humans were more likely to have a sympathetic (or negative, or disgusted) reaction to a snake being killed and eaten by a tarantula (because the snake is a chordate/has a backbone... like us) than we would if the roles were reversed and the snake was eating the tarantula.

Likewise, we'd be on the side of the squirrel (mammal) in any configuration of "squirrel eating snake" or "snake eating squirrel" confrontation. And so on and so on.

For what it's worth, the guy seemed to know his shit, and spoke eloquently about it. I'm interested in reading more about it. Please do offer any insights you might have. Thanks so much.