Suchergebnisse

Social Reproduction and History in Melanesia: Mortuary Ritual, Gift Exchange, and Custom in the Tanga Islands. Robert J. Foster Nation Making: Emergent Identities in Postcolonial Melanesia. Robert J. Foster

'Positivism,' it seems, is a movement that cultural anthropology can do without. But what is positivism, who are these positivists, and what precisely are their sins? Notwithstanding appearances to the contrary, the image of positivism in cultural anthropology is comparatively coherent and the criticism directed at it relatively well founded. What is dubious is the conclusion to which many critics think it leads: that the methods of the natural sciences are inappropriate to the study of human culture and society.

Mbuti bands in eastern Zaire differ in their hunting use of the spreadnet and the bow, a variation previously attributed to historical contacts with different non‐Mbuti groups, population pressure, and differences in the floral diversity and abundance of the Ituri Forest. None of these factors, however, adequately explains a similar differentiation in the Sepik Basin of Papua New Guinea. Instead, the Sepik data indicate that the net and the bow may spread through historical contact and diffusion, but their adoption or rejection is ultimately determined by a conjunction of their technological properties and the horizontal and vertical densities of environmental vegetation. From this perspective, the essential determinants of Mbuti spreadnet and bow use may be spatial variations in the physiognomy of the Ituri.

The Mountain Arapesh -- Volume I -- Cover -- Half Title -- Title -- Copyright -- Contents -- INTRODUCTION TO THE TRANSACTION EDITION -- I. AN IMPORTING CULTURE -- PREFACE -- METHOD OF PRESENTATION -- DESCRIPTION OF THE AREA -- GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS -- SPECIFIC CHARACTERISTICS -- DAILY LIFE -- THE MOUNTAIN ARAPESH -- COMPARATIVE NOTES ON BEACH ARAPESH VILLAGES -- COMPARATIVE NOTES ON PLAINS ARAPESH VILLAGES -- SUPPORTING MATERIALS -- INTRODUCTION -- HOUSE BUILDING -- Planning a Hamlet -- House Types -- Steps in House Building -- METHODS OF CARRYING AND STORING -- USE OF COCONUT PALM LEAVES AND OF BASKETRY TECHNIQUES -- FIRE-MAKING -- CORD AND STRING MAKING -- CLOTHING -- Making a G String -- Women's Aprons -- Belt and Armband Making -- Beadwork -- Dog Teeth Stringing -- Decorated Bark Belts -- TOBACCO GROWING AND SMOKING -- ARECA NUT CHEWING -- GARDENING -- SAGO WORKING -- Cutting the Sago -- Construction of the Washing Apparatus -- Beach Deviations -- HUNTING AND TRAPPING -- Rat Trap -- Large Game Snare Trap -- Pig Trap -- Deadfall -- Bird Snare -- COOKING -- Cooking Utensils -- Butchering a Pig -- Dishes made of Sago -- Taro and Coconut Croquettes -- IMPORTS AND MOUNTAIN VERSIONS OF IMPORTS -- LOCAL ARTIFACTS, CRUDER FORMS OF BEACH TYPES -- LOCAL ARTIFACTS, CRUDER FORMS OF PLAINS TYPES -- IMPORTS WHICH THE MOUNTAIN ARAPESH MAKE NO ATTEMPT TO COPY -- THE MOUNTAIN ARAPESH SEEN AS AN IMPORTING CULTURE -- GLOSSARY AND GAZETTEER -- II. SUPERNATURALISM -- PREFACE -- METHODS OF COLLECTING AND PRESENTING THE MATERIALS -- THE PLACE OF THIS SECTION IN THE SERIES -- CLASSIFICATION OF LEVELS OF CONCRETE MATERIALS -- METHOD OF TREATMENT ADOPTED IN THIS SECTION -- SPECIFIC METHODS OF FIELD-WORK USED AMONG THE ARAPESH -- GENERAL FORMULATIONS OF ARAPESH CULTURE -- ATTITUDES TOWARDS THE NATURAL WORLD -- Cosmology -- Treatment of the Past -- Plants and Animals