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Combining anthropological, gerontological and biocultural evidence, this study explores how humans came to grow old as slowly as they do, and what impacts this has had on their health and lives.It is only comparatively recent that humans have developed late-life survival, but much of the research on senescence is based on isolated cells, worms, and fruit flies, which may be only of peripheral relevance to human aging. ... Read more

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Shanklins book represents the first undergraduate text written by an anthropologist that arguesrace is not a valid scientific concept but a critical construct in folk taxonomies that havepolitical implications.Shanklin traces the historical development of the definition of raceand the studies of race that preoccupied anthropologists during the past few centuries. The author also explores the mixed role that anthropology has had in the elaboration of, and challenges to, racist thinking. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

So far i love it...
I'm really impressed by this book so far. It was assigned as supplementary reading for an anthropology class I took years ago, and I'm finally reading it. It's very comprehensive,fairly easy to read even for someone who has no background in anthropology, and what I like best is that it draws from history, philosophy, communication and other disciplines for a really well rounded and intellectualy stimulating look at the concept of racism.

Excellant introduction to the Race Concept
Shanklin begins her book by stating, "One of my reasons for writing this book is to put together two ideas of race - as a folk (sociological) concept and as a failed and discarded analytical (biological) concept - into an intelligible, accessible whole, a work that discusses problems with the concept of race on many levels."(Shanklin 1998:1)She then proceeds to do just that.Using current scholarship to build a strong foundation, Shanklin puts into plain English a structure that is often misinterpreted by society to its detriment.I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in working with issues of race relations.It will serve well as a launching pad into deeper scholarship. ... Read more

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Immigration is among the most contested issues in Western Europe. Studies commonly focus on political activity and the plight of minorities, but this book breaks new ground in its emphasis on the everyday reactions of Italians to immigration, nationalism and racism.Drawing on research carried out in Palermo, Jeffrey Cole considers the ambivalent responses of rich and poor Sicilians to immigrants. He places Italian attitudes in a European context, and investigates why anti-immigrant politics are concentrated in the wealthy Italian North. ... Read more

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Biological anthropologists face an array of ethical issues as they engage in fieldwork around the world. In this volume human biologists, geneticists, paleontologists, and primatologists confront their involvement with, and obligations to, their research subjects, their discipline, society, and the environment. Those working with human populations explore such issues as who speaks for a group, community consultation and group consent, the relationship between expatriate communities and the community of origin, and disclosing the identity of both individuals and communities. Those working with skeletal remains discuss issues that include access to and ownership of fossil material. Primatologists are concerned about the well-being of their subjects in laboratory and captive situations, and must address yet another set of issues regarding endangered animal populations and conservation in field situations. The first comprehensive account of the ethical issues facing! biological anthropologists today, Biological Anthropology and Ethics opens the door for discussions of ethical issues in professional life. ... Read more

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This concise introduction to biological (physical) anthropology discusses the core areas of the discipline within a unique framework modeled on the scientific method. Each chapter poses questions that get at the heart of the field, answers them, and then reexamines them in the same way that scientists generate and test hypotheses. ... Read more

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This lively and provocative book casts an anthropological eye on the field of science in a wide-ranging and innovative discussion that integrates philosophy, history, sociology, and auto-ethnography. Jonathan Marks examines biological anthropology, the history of the life sciences, and the literature of science studies while upending common understandings of science and culture with a mixture of anthropology, common sense, and disarming humor. Science, Marks argues, is widely accepted to be three things: a method of understanding and a means of establishing facts about the universe, the facts themselves, and a voice of authority or a locus of cultural power. This triple identity creates conflicting roles and tensions within the field of science and leads to its record of instructive successes and failures. Among the topics Marks addresses are the scientific revolution, science as thought and performance, creationism, scientific fraud, and modern scientific racism. Applying his considerable insight, energy, and wit, Marks sheds new light on the evolution of science, its role in modern culture, and its challenges for the twenty-first century. ... Read more

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This collection of ten mini-ethnographies takes a problem-based learning approach, focusing on contextual and cumulative learning to enhance student understanding of the fundamental concepts of cultural anthropology. The problems covered in the text range from how anthropology contributes to an understanding of human similarities and differences and why people believe different things to inequality, violence, poverty, and death. Each problem is explored in the context of a particular society, including Canada, Ecuador, Indonesia, Kohistan, Tibet, Tonga, the United States, and Sudan. ... Read more

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This is a unique ethnography that follows in the tradition of the highly successful book by Marjorie Shostak (NISA: THE LIFE AND WORDS OF A !KUNG WOMAN.) Here, the voice of Heeni, a relative of the current Maori Queen, eloquently chronicles the history of the Maori of New Zealand and the adaptations they have made to survive as a group in the modern world. ... Read more

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Highlights pro and cons especially in relation to women
Book brings in technical case-study of the Maori culture and
mixes it with easier-to-follow aspects in the life of a cherished elder. It surprised me to learn how cruel and degrading the Maori men treated women, as a practice of culture. Sisters, my sisters, we still have a long way to go. Also, the book discusses how the church influenced changes. I found it shocking that a women was traded off to the church in a bargain of peace? Piece of what?! ... Read more

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This annually updated reader is a compilation of carefully selected articles from current newspapers, magazines, and journals, addressing key topics in physical anthropology. ... Read more

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A textbook from one of the greats of anthropology
Joseph Birdsell, although somewhat underated, is one of the greats of physical anthropology. A young Harvard graduate who studied under Earnest Hooton, he was among the half dozen who shaped physical anthropology in the period between 1930 and 1970.

Birdsell worked with the great Australian polymath, geologist and archaeologist Norman Tindale in the 1930s. Tindale largely single handedly mapped the tribal territories of all Australian aboriginal tribes across the continent, and during World War Two, played a key role in identifying the launch point of Japanese Fugu incendiary balloons launched at the Pacific North West. Tindale analysed the balloon's ballast.

At one time Birdsell was even one of James Dean's professors at college.

During the postwar period Birdsell absorbed and mastered the newly emerging Neo-Darwinian Synthesis. By major effort he incorporated it's insights into a massive rework and reinterpretation of much of the physical anthropology database that he and his peers had been patiently collecting and collating for decades.

Birdsell adopted the cline approach to measuring physical differences, and used his massive studies of Australian Aboriginal people (based upon field work he and Tindale had performed in the 1930s and 1960s) as the basis for his work providing an empirical base for Sewall Wright's 'shifting balance' hypothesis of evolution.

Birdsell's shifting balance work really came to the fore in his final book published when Joseph was in his eighties, just before his death, sums up a lifetime of work and thinking. This textbook however represents a milestone on the path of that thinking.

What is not often recognised, mainly by commentators unfamiliar with Birdsell's later work, is that his approach helped provide a new approach to human physical anthropology scientifically more rigorous than the older racial classification systems, that other students of Hooton were associated with. Birdsell, who had great sympathy for the status of indigenous people under colonial regimes, knew it was not sufficient to merely provide a politically correct alternative, but a scientifically valid alternative. Many of the critics of physical anthropology, especially of the Franz Boas - Margaret Mead Columbia cultural anthropology school, unlike Birdsell, concentrated on the former at the expense of the later.

This great textbook represents the thought of Birdsell in his later period. One of the unique features of the book is it's heavy reliance on numerous Australian examples. That being said you would imagine Australian colleges would be keen to acquire and distribute this book. Not so! Alas as far as I can ascertain it was never used as a textbook in any Australian course. This absence speaks volumes about both the "colonial cringe" in Australia and the politics of anthropology.

In due course Birdsell's role will receive the credit it deserves and I suspect his volumes will become more valuable items in the future. ... Read more

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Never HIGHLIGHT a Book Again!Virtually all testable terms, concepts, persons, places, and events are included. Cram101 Textbook Outlines gives all of the outlines, highlights, notes for your textbook with optional online practice tests. Only Cram101 Out ... Read more

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This fifth edition represents the most intense and thorough revision of a classic text for the combined physical anthropology and archaeology course. Authors Cliff Jolly and Randy White, noted researchers in their respective fields, has gone many extra miles to make this edition the most up-to-date, scholarly and beautifully written resource for today's students. Loyal users and new adopters will be pleased to see several new chapters in both sections reflecting the latest movements in these related fields. The authors present their point of view regarding contentious topics in addition to others views. The emphasis is upon evolutionary theory and principles. Also, a dynamic new four color design and carefully crafted art program features many of the authors own photos from Ethiopia and the paleolithic period. ... Read more

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Great overview of primate evolution
Dr. Simons, now a professor at Duke University, gives an excellent overview of primate evolution.This text is organized well, and it is useful tool for anyone interested in biological anthropology.Anyone taking his classes would find this very helpful!

The book includes the following chapters:
1. Geologic Setting
2. Evolutionary Biology
3. Interpretation of Fossils
4. Living Primates
5. The Extinct Malagasy Lemurs
6. The Archaic Prosimians
7. The First Primates of Modern Aspect
8. The Earliest Monkeys
9. Tertiary Apes, Oreopithecids, and Hominids
10. What Made Man?

Chapters 5-7 were my favorite because of their detailed descriptions of primates often excluded in the texts of intro classes.The writing style also makes it a good read.I highly recommend this book and his classes.He is by far one of the best professors I have ever had--his lectures are fascinating. ... Read more