Cultural Anthropology: A Basic Introduction

This handbook provides a solid introduction to cultural anthropology. The author conveys a number of complex issues and ideas in cultural anthropology briefly and clearly without becoming enmeshed in excessive ethnographic detail and esoteric theoretical debates; yet it covers all the essential topics expected in an introduction to the field. Cultural Anthropology uses both an evolutionary, cross-cultural overview and an institutional overview to organize its material. Contents: Preface; INTRODUCTION; What Anthropology Is; Culture and Society; EVOLUTIONARY OVERVIEW; Preliminaries: Evolutionary and Institutional Overviews; Hunter-Gatherers; Horticulturalists; Agriculturalists; Pastoralists; Industrialists; INSTITUTIONAL OVERVIEW; Preliminaries: Ordering Social Relations; Economic Organization; Political Organization; Kinship, Descent, Residence; Marriage and Family; Religion; References; Appendices; Glossary; Index.