Anthropology FOR DUMmIES ‰ by Cameron M. Smith, PhD with Evan T. Davies, PhD Anthropology For Dummies® Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc. 111 River St. Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774 www.wiley.com Copyright © 2008 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana Published simultaneously in Canada No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 978-750-8400, fax 978-646-8600. 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Library of Congress Control Number: 2008931633 ISBN: 978-0-470-27966-3 Manufactured in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Anthropology FOR DUMmIES ‰ Anthropology FOR DUMmIES ‰ by Cameron M. Smith, PhD with Evan T. Davies, PhD Anthropology For Dummies® Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc. 111 River St. Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774 www.wiley.com Copyright © 2008 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana Published simultaneously in Canada No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 978-750-8400, fax 978-646-8600. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Legal Department, Wiley Publishing, Inc., 10475 Crosspoint Blvd., Indianapolis, IN 46256, 317-572-3447, fax 317-572-4355, or online at http:// www.wiley.com/go/permissions. Trademarks: Wiley, the Wiley Publishing logo, For Dummies, the Dummies Man logo, A Reference for the Rest of Us!, The Dummies Way, Dummies Daily, The Fun and Easy Way, Dummies.com and related trade dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and other countries, and may not be used without written permission. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Wiley Publishing, Inc., is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book. LIMIT OF LIABILITY/DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY: THE PUBLISHER AND THE AUTHOR MAKE NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES WITH RESPECT TO THE ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF THE CONTENTS OF THIS WORK AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, INCLUDING WITH- OUT LIMITATION WARRANTIES OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. NO WARRANTY MAY BE CREATED OR EXTENDED BY SALES OR PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS. THE ADVICE AND STRATEGIES CONTAINED HEREIN MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR EVERY SITUATION. THIS WORK IS SOLD WITH THE UNDERSTANDING THAT THE PUBLISHER IS NOT ENGAGED IN RENDERING LEGAL, ACCOUNTING, OR OTHER PROFESSIONAL SERVICES. IF PROFESSIONAL ASSISTANCE IS REQUIRED, THE SERVICES OF A COMPETENT PROFESSIONAL PERSON SHOULD BE SOUGHT. NEITHER THE PUBLISHER NOR THE AUTHOR SHALL BE LIABLE FOR DAMAGES ARISING HEREFROM. THE FACT THAT AN ORGANIZA- TION OR WEBSITE IS REFERRED TO IN THIS WORK AS A CITATION AND/OR A POTENTIAL SOURCE OF FURTHER INFORMATION DOES NOT MEAN THAT THE AUTHOR OR THE PUBLISHER ENDORSES THE INFORMATION THE ORGANIZATION OR WEBSITE MAY PROVIDE OR RECOMMENDATIONS IT MAY MAKE. FURTHER, READERS SHOULD BE AWARE THAT INTERNET WEBSITES LISTED IN THIS WORK MAY HAVE CHANGED OR DISAPPEARED BETWEEN WHEN THIS WORK WAS WRITTEN AND WHEN IT IS READ. For general information on our other products and services, please contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at 800-762-2974, outside the U.S. at 317-572-3993, or fax 317-572-4002. For technical support, please visit www.wiley.com/techsupport. Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books. Library of Congress Control Number: 2008931633 ISBN: 978-0-470-27966-3 Manufactured in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 About the Authors Cameron M. Smith’s fascination with humanity was sparked on a 1984 trip to Mexico’s Maya ruins; by 1987, he was a student of both Harvard University’s early human archaeology field school at Kenya’s Leakey research station and the University of London’s Institute of Archaeology. He then went to Durham University in northern England for a Joint Honours BA in Anthropology & Archaeology, followed by an MA in Anthropology at Portland State University (in Portland, Oregon) and a PhD from Canada’s Simon Fraser University. Since 2002, Dr. Smith has taught a wide variety of courses as an Adjunct Associate Professor at Portland State University’s Department of Anthropology; he has also taught at Washington State University and Linfield College. Dr. Smith’s scientific works have been published in journals such as the American Journal of Physical Anthropology and the Journal of Field Archaeology and books published by International Monographs in Prehistory and Oxford’s British Archaeology Reports. His research has been supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Science Foundation-funded Barrow Arctic Science Consortium. Reaching out from the academic world, Dr. Smith has written popular-science articles for Scientific American MIND, Archaeology, Playboy, Spaceflight, Skeptical Inquirer, South American Explorer, The Next Step, Cultural Survival Quarterly, The Bulletin of Primitive Technology, and other magazines. Anthropology For Dummies is Dr. Smith’s second book. His first, written with Charles Sullivan, was The Top Ten Myths About Evolution (Prometheus, 2006). Outside his academic pursuits, Dr. Smith enjoys mountaineering, art, and arc- tic exploration. He is a Life Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, a Fellow of The Explorers Club and a member of the Society for Human Performance in Extreme Environments. His Web site, www.cameronmsmith.com, covers his recent writing, academic, and expedition activities. Evan T. Davies received his BA from Cornell University where he began his studies in anthropology. He earned a PhD in cultural anthropology from Rice University, and has conducted fieldwork throughout Europe, the South Pacific, and in many locations throughout sub-Saharan Africa. His doctoral dissertation reported on the land use patterns of the BaAka foragers of the central African rainforests whose subsistence and hunting strategies he stud- ied while living with them through the seasons. He has recently become involved with the protection of archaeological sites in Iraq. Dedications From Cameron: I dedicate this book to all the anthropologists who have spent careers investigating fundamental questions about humanity, and to their hosts, the indigenous folk of everywhere from Africa to Australia. From Evan: To my parents, and every good teacher I ever had. Authors’ Acknowledgments From Cameron: I’d like to thank my parents, professors Donald E. and Margit J. Posluschny Smith, for stimulating my interest in the human species in the first place and then supporting my education, worldwide, for many years. I also thank all of my professors, from Britain to Canada and the United States, from physical anthropologists to cultural anthropologists to linguists and many, many archaeologists. There are too many to name, though I can highlight Professors Brian Hayden, Kenneth M. Ames, Anthony Harding, Anthony Bilsborough, and the late Jack Nance. Although I wrote the bulk of this book, I turned to my friend Dr. Evan T. Davies to draft Chapter 12 on how cultural anthropologists do their field- work. Dr. Davies’ experience runs from field experiences in the Congo to New Guinea and the Near East, and I thank him for his work on this chapter. I’ve been privileged to have the friendship of many fascinating people who have led to many fascinating discussions, all of which simmer for months and eventually find their way into my overall writing style and content. These folks include my occasional coauthor Chuck Sullivan, my brothers Mark and Julian, and my friends John Haslett, W. McRee Anderson, and Todd Olson. I especially thank Ms. Christine Calfas for her companionship and compassion. I also thank all the members of the Leora writing group in Portland for their great advice and good humor on various writing projects. I also want to thank my agent, Matt Wagner, of Fresh Books literary agency, for suggesting this project in the first place, as well as Senior Project Editor Alissa Schwipps, Acquisitions Editor Lindsay Lefevere, Technical Editor Robert J. Meier, PhD, and the artists at Wiley Publishing for their great work, support, and patience. None of these folks are dummies, and neither are my readers; the title of the book is tongue-in-cheek. So, finally, I thank all of you readers for taking the time to think about humanity in a new way. From Evan: I’d like to thank Steven Tyler, professor of anthropology and lin- guistics at Rice University, for some very helpful guidance during the writing; the members of the Explorers Club for their continued inspiration to a new generation of field researchers; and Dr. Cameron M. Smith, colleague and friend. May we have at least 20 good years of expeditioning left in us. Publisher’s Acknowledgments We’re proud of this book; please send us your comments through our Dummies online registration form located at www.dummies.com/register/. Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following: Acquisitions, Editorial, and Composition Services Media Development Project Coordinator: Erin Smith Senior Project Editor: Alissa Schwipps Layout and Graphics: Reuben Davis, Acquisitions Editor: Lindsay Lefevere Melissa K. Jester, Christine Williams Copy Editor: Megan Knoll Proofreader: Context Editorial Services Editorial Program Coordinator: Indexer: Valerie Haynes Perry Erin Calligan Mooney Special Help Technical Editor: Robert J. 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