Best of
Anthropology

1974

The African Origin of Civilization: Myth or Reality


Cheikh Anta Diop - 1974
    Now in its 30th printing, this classic presents historical, archaeological, and anthropological evidence to support the theory that ancient Egypt was a black civilization.N.B (translation of sections of Antériorité des civilisations négres and Nations nègres et culture)

Society Against the State: Essays in Political Anthropology


Pierre Clastres - 1974
    How then could our own "societies of the State" ever have arisen from these rich and complex stateless societies, and why?Clastres brilliantly and imaginatively addresses these questions, meditating on the peculiar shape and dynamics of so-called "primitive societies," and especially on the discourses with which "civilized" (i.e., political, economic, literate) peoples have not ceased to reduce and contain them. He refutes outright the idea that the State is the ultimate and logical density of all societies. On the contrary, Clastres develops a whole alternate and always affirmative political technology based on values such as leisure, prestige, and generosity.Through individual essays he explores and deftly situates the anarchistic political and social roles of storytelling, homosexuality, jokes, ruinous gift-giving, and the torturous ritual marking of the body, placing them within an economy of power and desire very different from our own, one whose most fundamental goal is to celebrate life while rendering the rise of despotic power impossible. Though power itself is shown to be inseparable from the richest and most complex forms of social life, the State is seen as a specific but grotesque aberration peculiar only to certain societies, not least of which is our own.Not for sale in the U.K. and British Commonwealth, South Africa, Burma, Jordan, and Iraq.

The Goddesses and Gods of old Europe, 6500-3500 BC. Myths and cult images


Marija Gimbutas - 1974
    The mythical imagery of this matrilinear era tells us much about early humanity's concepts of the cosmos, of human relations with nature, of the complementary roles of male and female. Through study of sculpture, vases, and other cult objects from southeastern Europe, Gimbutas sketches the village culture that evolved there before it was overwhelmed by the patriarchal Indo-Euopreans. The Goddess incarnating the creative principle as a Source and Giver of All, fertility images, mythical animals, and other artifacts are anlyzed for their mythic and social significance in this beautifully illustrated study.

Granite Island: Portrait of Corsica


Dorothy Carrington - 1974
    But enslaved she was. "Granite Island", much more than a travel book, grew out of years spent in Corsica and is an incomparably vivid and delightful portrait. For the first time Corsica is brought to light as a vital element in Europe: a highly individualistic island culture whose people have nurtured their love of freedom and political justice, as well as their pride, hospitality and poetry.

Topophilia: A Study of Environmental Perceptions, Attitudes, and Values


Yi-Fu Tuan - 1974
    Topophilia examines the search for environment in the city, suburb, countryside, and wilderness from a dialectical perspective, distinguishes different types of environmental experience, and describes their character.

Myth, Symbol, and Culture


Clifford Geertz - 1974
    

The Rape of the Nile: Tomb Robbers, Tourists, and Archaeologists in Egypt


Brian M. Fagan - 1974
    It is a tale vividly told by renowned archaeology author, Brian Fagan, with characters that include the ancient historian Herodotus; Theban tomb robbers; obelisk-stealing Romans; Coptic Christians determined to erase the heretical past; mummy traders; leisured antiquarians; major European museums; Giovanni Belzoni, a circus strongman who removed more antiquities than Napoleon's armies; shrewd consuls and ruthless pashas; and archaeologists such Sir Flinders Petrie who changed the course of Egyptology. This is the first thoroughly revised edition of The Rape of the Nile - Fagan's classic account of the cavalcade of archaeologists, thieves, and sightseers who have flocked to the Nile Valley since ancient times. Featured in this edition are new accounts of stunning recent discoveries, including the Royal Tombs of Tanis, the Valley of Golden Mummies at Bahariya, the Tomb of the Sons of Ramses, and the sunken city of Alexandria (whose lighthouse was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World). Fagan concludes with a clear-eyed assessment of the impact of modern mass tourism on archaeological sites and artifacts.

A Franz Boas Reader: The Shaping of American Anthropology, 1883-1911


Franz Boas - 1974
    Stocking is probably the leading authority on Franz Boas; he understands Boas's contributions to American anthropology, as well as anthropology in general, very well... He is, in a word, the foremost historian of anthropology in the world today... The reader is both a collection of Boas's papers and a solid 23-page introduction to giving the background and basic assumptions of Boasian anthropology."—David Schneider, University of Chicago"While Stocking has not attempted to present a person biography, nevertheless Boas's personal characteristics emerge not only in his scholarly essays, but perhaps more vividly in his personal correspondence... Stocking is to be commended for collecting this material together in a most interesting and enjoyable reader."—Gustav Thaiss, American Anthropologist

Get Your Ass in the Water and Swim Like Me: African-American Narrative Poetry from the Oral Tradition, Includes CD


Bruce Jackson - 1974
    Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Hoodoo, Conjuration, Witchcraft, and Rootwork, Volumes 1-5


Harry Middleton Hyatt - 1974
    Classical anthropology study of African American beliefs.

How Indians Use Wild Plants for Food, Medicine Crafts


Frances Densmore - 1974
    In this book those traditions are captured, providing a wealth of new material for those interested in natural food, natural cures, and native crafts.In separate sections describing the major areas of use, Miss Densmore, an ethnologist with the Smithsonian Institution, details the uses of nearly 200 plants with emphasis on wild plants and lesser-known uses. For those interested in natural foods she gives extensive coverage to the gathering and preparation of maple sugar and wild rice, as well as preparations for beverages from leaves and twigs of common plants, seasonings including mint and bearberry, the methods of preparing wild rice and corn, cultivated and wild vegetables, and wild fruits and berries. On Indian medicines she tells the basic methods of gathering plants and the basic surgical and medical methods. Then she gives a complete list of the plants with their botanical names, uses, parts used, preparation and administration, and other notes and references. Also covered are plants used as charms, plants used in natural dyes, and plants in the useful and decorative arts including uses for household items, toys, mats, twine, baskets, bows, and tools, with special emphasis on the uses of birch bark and cedar. This section will be especially useful for supplying new and unusual craft ideas. In addition, 36 plates show the many stages of plant gathering and preparation and many of the artistic uses. While a number of the plants discussed are native only to the Great Lakes region, many are found throughout a wide range.Those studying the Indians of the Great Lakes region, or those trying to get back to nature through understanding and using natural materials, will find much about the use of plants in all areas of community life. Because of Miss Densmore’s deep knowledge and clear presentation, her study remains a rich and useful source for learning about or using native foods, native cures, and native crafts.

Communalism: From Its Origins to the Twentieth Century


Kenneth Rexroth - 1974
    Kenneth Rexroth, the well-known American poet and critic, presents a study of the history of communes and intentional communities from their known beginnings to the 20th century.

Magic and Mystics of Java


Nina Epton - 1974
    

Biological Bases Of Human Social Behaviour


Robert A. Hinde - 1974
    

An Introduction To The Study Of Man


J.Z. Young - 1974
    

Chamulas in the World of the Sun: Time and Space in a Maya Oral Tradition


Gary H. Gossen - 1974
    

Four Masterworks of American Indian Literature: Quetzalcoatl, the Ritual of Condolence, Cuceb, the Night Chant


John Bierhorst - 1974
    this book is a most noteworthy item in the field of American Indian studies, and is not to be missed by any serious devotee." --Library Journal "Biehorst's introductions and notes are brilliant, thorough, and an important contribution to the scholarship on these works. His new translation of the Quetzalcoatl is also excellent." --Choice

Death, Afterlife, and Eschatology: A Thematic Source Book of the History of Religions


Mircea Eliade - 1974
    

A Theology of the Old Testament


John L. McKenzie - 1974
    Recognizing the Old Testament as the sole literary witness to the reality of Yahweh and the experience of Israel, he proposes a theology of and for professing Christians which acknowledges its root in the religion of the prophets, but whose demands are incompatible with Old Testament religion. Originally published by Doubleday in 1974.

A History of the Original Peoples of Northern Canada (Revised Edition)


Keith J. Crowe - 1974
    While the majority of works on Canadian history are essentially European in perspective, Crowe has endeavoured to interpret the history of the original peoples of northern Canada from a native standpoint. He has attempted to provide a work that native Canadians can use to learn the broad outlines of their cultural and historical development as well as details about their people, places, and events, while giving non-native people a more accurate version of northern Canadian history and ethnology. Crowe begins with the emergence, in prehistoric times, of the three great groups of hunting people -- the Algonkian, Athapaskan, and Inuit -- describing their contribution to the cultural heritage of native peoples today. He devotes particular attention to the various native tribes and some of their outstanding leaders; to the fur trade, its effects, and the emergence of the Métis people; to the devastating consequences of trading and whaling for the Arctic and the Inuit who lived there; to the Yukon Indians and the Gold Rush; to the coming of Christianity; and to the impact of governmental and economic encroachment on the North and the native peoples' response to this -- moving into the boardroom and elected office. In his new epilogue, Crowe surveys the major land claims since 1974 -- some settled, most still under negotiation, and some, like the James Bay hydro-electric project, being challenged. Crowe also explains the complexities of the land-claims process and points out the irony inherent in native peoples having to help create numerous "foreign" laws and institutions in order to protect an essentially simple way of life. He describes the native peoples' movement into and up the ranks of government at all levels and emphasizes the important role played by regional and national native associations, such as the Assembly of First Nations. He outlines the changes and developments in education in the North and provides a detailed assessment of the still very difficult economic situation, stressing the native peoples' concern that economic development in the North not be divorced from environmental considerations.

Gears from the Greeks: The Antikythera Mechanism--A Calendar Computer from CA. 80 B.C.


Derek John de Solla Price - 1974
    This artifact is now identified as an astronomical or calendrical calculating device involving a very sophisticated arrangement of more than thirty gear-wheels.

Foundation of Japanese Buddhism: The Aristocratic Age


Alicia Matsunaga - 1974
    

The Hidden Frontier: Ecology and Ethnicity in an Alpine Valley


John W. Cole - 1974
    The authors investigated two Alpine villages—the German-speaking community of St. Felix and Romance-speaking Tret—only a mile apart in the same mountain valley.

The Way of the Sacred


Francis Huxley - 1974
    

Patterns and Process


Robert L. Bee - 1974
    Bee presents an introduction to anthropological strategies for the study of sociocultural change.Patterns and Process summarizes, compares, and contrasts several major anthropological approaches to the study of sociocultural change. Designed primarily to be used as a discussion tool in college classrooms, Robert L. Bee presents analysis of sociocultural change that is sure to lead to substantial and significant conversation surrounding the topic.

The Clockwork Image


Donald MacCrimmon MacKay - 1974
    

Anthropology Through Science Fiction


Carol Mason - 1974
    Man as Part of NatureMartian Odyssey / S.G.A. WeinbaumArena / F. BrownPart II. Human Origins and EvolutionEnchanted Village / A.E. Van VogtRobot's Return / R.M. WilliamsPart III. Human Diversity and PotentialThe House the Blakeneys Built / A. DavidsonFrog Pond / C.Q. YarbroPart IV. The Commitment to Social LifeThe Vine / K. ReedStrikebreaker / I. AsimovPart V. The Ecological ImperativeThe Sharing of Flesh / P. AndersonSurvival Ship / J. MerrilPart VI. The Technological ImperativeFar from this Earth / C. OliverThe Cage / B. ChandlerPart VII. The Origins of CivilizationPyramid / R. AbernathyLost Newton / S. SchmidtPart VIII. The World Outside, Science and ReligionAunt Jennie's Tonic / L. TushnetNightfall / I. AsimovPart IX. Living Together in the UniverseUnhuman Sacrifice / K. MacLeanThe Monsters / R. Scheckley

Children Of The Desert: The Western Tribes Of Central Australia


Géza Róheim - 1974