Part 1: Using Anthropology as the Scientific Basis for the Study of Culture
Part 2:
New Jersey History – 12000 BP to
European Contact
What is Anthropology?
Physical Anthropology
• Primatology
The study of primates.
• Paleoanthropology
The study of human evolution
• Human Variation Studies: The study of the physical differences in humans.
Cultural Anthropology
A.K.A. Ethnology
• Ethnography
A.K.A. Participant Observation
• Linguistics
• Archaeology
What is Culture?
The Culture Concept: Culture is understood as the learned body of knowledge, beliefs, and customs that people use to organize their natural and social environments.
Material Traits
• Tools
• Clothing
• Housing
• ETC.
Non-Material Traits
• Attitudes
• Behaviors
• Beliefs
• ETC.
Culture: No overall consensus as to its meaning…over 300 definitions.
• An Autonomous Population Unit• Distinct Cultural Characteristics• Shared Traditions
Problems:
• Cannot Define Cultural Boundaries
• Cultures are Not Closed and Self-Contained
• Cultures are in Constant Contact and Change
• Cultures are Provisional and Transitory
• Many are Extinct
Culture is a Survival Mechanism
•An infinite variation in cultural expression, but each meets a certain need – Food, Shelter, Resolve Conflict, Solace, etc.
•A blueprint of our customs and ideas for living. •It is packaged and delivered by symbols. •It is pervasive - we are often unaware but it surrounds and envelops us. •Items and ideas meld together and make sense.
Fine ArtsStorytelling
Subsistence PatternDancing-Games-Cooking-DressObservable Material Elements
May Include Behavioral Characteristics,i.e. Religion, Handshakes, etc.
Surface Culture
Deep CultureConception of Beauty – Ideals of Governing – Patterns of Raising ChildrenNotions of Modesty – Cosmology – Relationship to Animals
Patterns of Superior/Subordinate Relations – Courtship Practices Conception of Justice – Incentives to Work – Notions of Leadership
Tempo of Work – Patterns of Group Decision MakingConception of Status Mobility (Class, Caste, etc.) – Eye Behavior
Roles in Relation to Status by Age, Sex, Class, Occupation, Kinship, etc.Conversational Patterns in Various Social Contexts – Conception of Past and Future
Nature of Friendship – Conception of Self – Preference for Competition or CooperationPatterns of Handling Emotions
AND MUCH, MUCH MORE…
Cultural Anthropology-Ethnology
Ethnography-Participant Observation
• Social Organization
• Subsistence Pattern
• Economic Pattern
• Political Organization
• Religion
• ETC.
Do these concepts inherently reinforce bias when we teach history?
PRIMITIVE
UNDEVELOPED/DEVELOPED
RACE
ETHNOCENTRISM/CULTURAL BIAS
NEW JERSEY’S
NATIVE AMERICAN HISTORY
Ice sheet on Ellsmere Island, Canada
From Tundra: Semi-frozen Sub Arctic Plain
To: Deciduous Forests
New Jersey During the Late Pleistocene Epoch Circa
15,000-10,000 BP
Hypothetical NJ
Local Sequence in Archaeology
12000 BP
8000 BP
2000 BP
Paleo Indian Period
Archaic Period
Woodland Period
This point was named by Ripley P. Bullen and Edward M. Dolan (1959:77) for Alachua
County, Florida.
PREFORM: Broad and triangular, having convex sides and a straight to slightly convex basal edge.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION: A thick medium to large point with a nearly straight to
contracting stem and a straight to slightly concave basal edge. The blade is
broad and triangular and may have straight to slightly convex edges.
Shoulders ace broad and angular. The juncture between stem and blade is
usually well rounded.
AGE AND CULTURE: This type begins in late Middle Archaic and continues into the
Late Archaic period. Dates suggested range from 5000 B.C. to 2000 B.C.
DISTRIBUTION: The type is found from Florida to southern Georgia.
COMMENTS: This type has been divided into four variants. The earliest, the Putnam
point, has a contracting stem with a rounded base. The other three points, the
Alachua (Figui-e A), the Levy (Figure B), and the Marion (Figure 0, seem to be variants of the same point. Their major difference is a minor variation in the
stem, which ranges from nearly straight to contracting and has a straight
to slightly concave or convex basal edge.
Bullen, Ripley P. and Edward M. Dolan 1959 The Johnson Lake Site, Marion County, Florida. The Florida
Anthropologi st 12(4).
ALACHUA
An Archaeological Local Sequence
Woodland Period
Archaic Hunters and Gatherers
Circa 2000 BP
Circa 1000 BP
Cultivating Grasses, Bow and Arrow
Raising Corn, Beans and Squash
An Archaeological Local Sequence in NJ
Circa 3000 BP Pottery
Circa 8000 BP
Paleo Indians
Circa 12000 BP
Semi Nomadic
Nomadic Herd Hunters
Paleo
Indians
And
Mega
Fauna
PALEO INDIAN TOOL KIT
Paleo Indian Projectile Points
Woodland Period
Archaic Hunters and Gatherers
Circa 2000 BP
Circa 1000 BP
Cultivating Grasses, Bow and Arrow
Raising Corn, Beans and Squash
An Archaeological Local Sequence in NJ
Circa 3000 BP Pottery
Circa 8000 BP
Paleo Indians
Circa 12000 BP
Semi Nomadic
Nomadic Herd Hunters
ARCHAIC PERIOD POINTS
Woodland Period
Archaic Hunters and Gatherers
Circa 2000 BP
Circa 1000 BP
Cultivating Grasses, Bow and Arrow
Raising Corn, Beans and Squash
An Archaeological Local Sequence in NJ
Circa 3000 BP Pottery
Circa 8000 BP
Paleo Indians
Circa 12000 BP
Semi Nomadic
Nomadic Herd Hunters
The Three Sisters of the Garden
WOODLAND POINTS
Early Middle Late
Woodland Period Pottery
Guns, Germs and Steel
The First Globalization
EUROPEAN CONTACT
FROM THIS
TO THIS
COLONIAL ARTIFACTS
18th and 19TH CENTURY HOMES
LIGHTING
18th and 19th Century Artifacts and
Methods
Colonial Maps Homesites
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