Simon Underdown

Brian Street

Hilary Callan

Anthropology seeks to understand the roots of our common humanity, the diversity of cultures and world-views, and the organisation of social relations and practices. As a method of inquiry it embraces an enormous range of topics, and as a discipline it covers a multitude of fields and themes, as shown in this selection of original writings. As an accessible entry point, for upper-level students and first year undergraduates new to the study of anthropology, this reader also offers guidance for teachers in exploring the subject’s riches with their students. That anthropology is an immensely expansive inquiry of study is demonstrated by the diversity of its topics – from nature conservation campaigns to witchcraft beliefs, from human evolution to fashion and style, and from the repatriation of indigenous human remains to research on literacy. There is no single ‘story of anthropology’. Taken together, these fundamental readings are evidence of a contemporary, vibrant subject that has much to tell us about all the worlds in which we live.

Introductory Readings in Anthropology

Camilla Power

Morna Finnegan

Human Origins brings together new thinking by social anthropologists and other scholars on the evolution of human culture and society. No other discipline has more relevant expertise to consider the emergence of humans as the symbolic species. Yet, social anthropologists have been conspicuously absent from debates about the origins of modern humans. These contributions explore why that is, and how social anthropology can shed light on early kinship and economic relations, gender politics, ritual, cosmology, ethnobiology, medicine, and the evolution of language.

Contributions from Social Anthropology

Human Origins

Robin Dunbar

Wendy James

Nicholas J. Allen

Early Human Kinship brings together original studies fromleading figures in the biological sciences, social anthropology,archaeology, and linguistics to provide a major breakthrough in thedebate over human evolution and the nature of society. A major new collaboration between specialists across the rangeof the human sciences including evolutionary biology andpsychology; social/cultural anthropology; archaeology andlinguistics Provides a ground-breaking set of original studies offering anew perspective on early human history Debates fundamental questions about early human society: Wasthere a connection between the beginnings of language and thebeginnings of organized 'kinship and marriage'? How far didevolutionary selection favor gender and generation as principlesfor regulating social relations? Sponsored by the Royal Anthropological Institute of GreatBritain and Ireland in conjunction with the British Academy

From Sex to Social Reproduction

Early Human Kinship

Notes Towards an Ethnography of Diplomats' Wives

The Premiss of Dedication

The International Encyclopedia of Anthropology is the most complete reference resource for the field of anthropology and interrelated areas, providing an authoritative and expert overview of the concepts, research, and techniques that together define the discipline. Under the guidance of Editor-in-Chief Hilary Callan - former director of the Royal Anthropological Institute (2000-2010) - and fourteen internationally-respected voices acting as Associate Editors, the Encyclopedia features contributions from a team of over 800 international scholars making this a work of unparalleled depth and breadth of knowledge. Over 1,000 entries, ranging from concise summaries to longer writings, present the reader with in-depth discussions of hundreds of key topics, including: ecology, human evolution, gender, health, language and education, kinship, politics, and power, as well as biographical entries of many of the world’s most influential founding anthropologists. Organized alphabetically and written for both the specialist and the general reader, the Encyclopedia is a landmark reference resource for students and scholars engaged within the broad and dynamic field of anthropology, and those studying and working within the related disciplines of psychology, medicine, religious studies, and sociology. This work is also available as an online resource at www.encyclopediaofanthropology.com.

The International Encyclopedia of Anthropology, 12 Volume Set

Hilary Callan

Books

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