Spy-glass Thus far, as I have come to understand as a student of anthropology, being a successful ethnographer must involve providing an accurate and ethical representation of the culture on the other side of Hurston’s “spyglass” while at the same time taking into consideration one’s own biases and experiences that affect the situation at hand and the representation itself. With these t

Holy Grail Since the beginning of time man has searched for a source of immortality or some form of fountain of youth. Many cultures have developed myths and stories telling great tales of immortality and ways to achieve everlasting life. One of these myths associated with Christianity is the myth of the holy grail of Jesus Christ. If acquired it is foretold that the gift of immortali

The Concept Of Race The Concept of Race Race- A local geographic or global human population distinguished as a more or less distinct group by genetically transmitted physical characteristics. What in the world does that mean' Every definition is vague, nothing is definite. When I was growing up I never noticed the color of people’s skin until I started Kindergarten. It was something t

Stronger, Faster, We Have The Adapdability Stronger, Faster, Better, we have the adaptability Moments before its life is abruptly ended, a particularly sneaky and cleaver mosquito pushes its needle into the back of a man who lives in Africa. Unfortunately for our African friend, the mosquito carried with it the disease known as malaria. More unfortunately was the fact that the mala

The First Native Americans The First Americans Throughout time our ancestors have always been the race that we have descended from. To this day scientists and philosophers still don’t grasp the true revelation, of who owns the past. The controversies of the Kennewick man very well define some of our many questions about the actual origin of the 9300 year old skeleton. The remain

The Husband/wife Realationship In “ the husband-wife relationship: variation in love, intimacy, and sexual jealousy. The article describes cross-cultural differences in how married couple’s act towards one another. In American culture, love is seen as the most important aspect of marriage, while in many other places, love is seen as an aspect of marriage that is not of great importance

Female Genital Mutilation Female Circumcision or Genital Mutilation' Should we intrude on other cultures traditional practices when we believe they violate basic human rights' As Americans, we view issues much the way they pertain to our culture; it was how we were raised. For instance, female circumcision takes place within many African cultures. Debates rage about this custom, whether

Anthropology Anthropology proves to be satisfying and intellectually fulfilling to many in the field. However, there are also many challenges and bumps in the road along the way. Napolean A. Chagnon and Claire Sterk faced many of these challenges themselves. During his fieldwork with the Yanomamo, Chagnon faced many challenges interacting with the natives. Chagnon could not pra

Communication Communication Culture helps mold communication and communication helps mold culture. With the two fueling one another, each is essential in both studies. In answer to the question “How does cultural anthropology contribute to the study of communication”, the answer is quite simple; without cultural anthropology on could not study communication. Communication is th

Early Humans Physical anthropologists have just discovered something new about early humans. Humans before us were a good deal bigger in size than we are today. From the findings of human fossils in Spain and in China researchers have found that humans before us had thicker, longer, and broader pelvises in both males and females. Scientists believe this was probably due to the way the

Endangered Primates There are many endangered species in the world today. One species that is in danger of becoming extinct are primates. The primate species include prosimians, monkeys, apes, and humans. One group of primates that are endangered is the great apes. Great apes are in danger due to many different reasons such as humans hunting them, loss of habitat due to humans, or ot

Is War Inevitalbe Racism happens all over the world today, based on the belief that someone of another skin color isn’t as good as another. This plague of racism, the constant judging and criticizing of people of other “races”, needs to be put to and end. Whether one’s feelings toward another are acted upon or not it is still racism, racism can be words, an action, or something as “harm

Ethnocentism How do you learn about another culture without passing negative judgments on areas that are different' This is the main question for me regarding ethnocentrism. I grew up in three different countries within three different cultures and I luckily learned how to suspend judgments in other people’s practices in order to understand their own culture. As a war r

Evolution of the Genus Homo Homo neanderthalensis, also known as Neanderthals, are one of the best-known archaic human populations. They lived 250,000 to 30,000 years ago in Europe and Eastern Asia around the time of the fourth glaciation. There were many adaptations in the Neanderthal culture. They created a variation in their tools from previous cultures and the cold environment caused

A Way Of Life Subsistence and Economics "A way of life." Many people use this expression as a way to talk about their subsistence and how they perceive their everyday life. What they fail to recognize, however, is the fact that their way of living is connected in a much broader category than they think. Anthropologists study these categories broad, narrow, present, and past to t

Galileo The Life and Times of Galileo Galileio Galileo Galilei was born at Pisa on the 18th of February in 1564. His father, Vincenzo Galilei, belonged to a noble family and had gained some distinction as a musician and a mathematician. At an early age, Galileo manifested his ability to learn both mathematical and mechanical types of things, but his parents, wishing to turn him aside

Ice Man The topic of my article, taken from the New York Times is about archaeologists finding evidence that human life has been around longer than speculated. These new discoveries have come from an old riverbed near the Ural Mountains. Through their findings of stone tools, animal bones, and mammoth tusks that show signs of chopping in them due to human activity which have carbon dat

Lucy Lucy was found by Donald C. Johanson Ph.D. and Tom Gray on November 30th 1974, in the Hadar Region in Ethiopia and was named after the song “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds”. She is special because she lived just less than 3.18 million years and because about 40% of her skeleton was found. Lucy walked on two legs and was about 3’6” tall and weighed 60 to 65 Lb.. Lucy was a part

Marriage In America, most weddings are traditionally a one day event in which two people with a relationship based on love commit to one another in the presence of family members and friends. One would think that whenever a being commits to another being, the reason for that commitment would be love. After interviewing Zohra Ahmed, I’ve come to the understanding that in Pakistan or, in a

Mayan And Brazilian Indians After viewing Victor Montejo’s presentation on the formation of Maya ethnicity and the creation of Maya identity in Guatemala it has become apparently clear that not only do the Brazilian Indians have hardship, but indigenous people from other locations as well. His people, the Mayans, have gone through and will continue to face many similar problems that the

Mayan History MAYAN HISTORY The Maya are probably the best-known of the classical civilizations of Mesoamerica. Originating in the Yucatan around 2600 B.C., they rose to prominence around A.D. 250 in present-day southern Mexico, Guatemala, western Honduras, El Salvador, and northern Belize. Building on the inherited inventions and ideas of earlier civilizations such as the Olmec, th

Monte Verde After long, often bitter debate, archeologists have finally come to a consensus that humans reached southern Chile 12,500 years ago. The date is more than 1,000 years before the previous benchmark for human habitation in the Americas, 11,200-year-old stone spear points first discovered in the 1930s near Clovis, N.M. The Chilean site, known as Monte Verde, is on the sandy ba

Problems Caused By Air Pollution Problems Caused By Air Pollution Some people think that air pollution is not harming the earth or the people, but it is doing worse, by killing the earth and getting people sick. Air pollutants are known to cause respiratory diseases, cancer, and other serious illnesses. Air pollution not only threatens the health and life of humans but also c

Aztec Art and Culture In the Aztec Nation a distant sound is heard. It sounds like a deep drum being hit with a heavy instrument. You hear it again and strain your eyes in the direction of the sound. All around you is dense jungle. Snakes slither between your legs. In front of you is a dense stand of ferns. You part them and look down into a wide-open valley. The valley gets so wide and

On American Culture On American Culture To a typical foreign anthropologist American culture could be seen very competitive and individualistic. While other countries only play 1 or 2 sports throughout their nation, North America is involved in a vast variety of competitive sports. From Basketball to Golf and Tennis, to our treasured past time favorites such as Baseball and Football.

Oneida Community The radical notion that one could be without sin – be perfect – did not originate with John Humphrey Noyes, the leader of the Oneida Community and the perfectionist movement, however, his brand of perfectionism was genuinely new. He claimed that in 70 AD Christ had returned to earth, therefore liberation from sin was an accomplished fact. He proclaimed that he was, in fa

Anthropology Societies can be organized through many different ways and of these ways a few are found to be common among many cultures. Gender, descent and social class system all are of the more universal ways in which societies are arranged. Descent can often play a large roll on the social texture of a society. Descent, which is the tracing of kinship back to previous generation

Primate Evolution Human evolution, the biological and cultural development of the species Homo Sapiens, or human beings. A large number of fossil bones and teeth have been found at various places throughout Africa, Europe, and Asia. It gives idea of human evolution during past 4 million to 5 million years. From a genome view point, the difference between modern man and the modern a

Ptolemeic Egypt and the Falcon of Horus Ptolemaic Egypt and the Falcon of Horus The ancient Egyptian society is often referred to as one of the greatest civilizations to have influenced the world. Not only is their stretch of continuous success over time impressive, but the art and technological achievements of the peoples is still esteemed and admired today. In order to create su

Savages The Huaorani of the Ecuadorian Amazon are a tribe of fearsome warriors, able to endure for centuries whatever hardship the forest put in front of them. Having never been exposed to the outside “civilized” world until recently, the Huaorani lived their lives as their fathers had before them—getting everything they needed and wanted from the forest. They lived simpler lives of hu