BLOOMSBURG UNIVERSITY Bloomsburg Pennsylvania ANTHROPOLOGY NEWSLETTER Vol. 12. No. 1 October 1987 Department of Philosophy1Anthropology I t · s Our Twe!fth Year! I ~ seems hard to believe that i t was tve l ve years ago that Bob Reeder put out that first mimeographed news let t er f or circulation in anthropo l ogy ciasses. We now dlstrloute 250 copies of each issue to interested stuaents, faculty, administrators ana a lumni. I f you wouid oe interested in being added to our mailing list. p iease conta::: t either Dave Minderhout <219 BCH, 4334) or Art Sweene y. Four Anthrooologists! For the first time in its history, BU has fou~ anthropolog ists on its staff. The first anthropologist was hired at BU in i96l. The program was expanded to a second person in 1968 ana to a tnira person in 1971. Since then we ' ve been in a holding pattern. In addition to Eilse Brenner, Dave Mlnderhout, and Bob Reeaer, the anthropology program was able to hire Tom Aleto for a one-year temporary posit i on. The anthropologists are ver y much hoping that we can keep a tour person aepartment, bringing us in l ine with such SSHE institutions as West Chester and Kutztown. Spring Semester 1988 The anthropologists will be offering the fo l ~ow i ng courses fo r tne spring semester: 46.lCJ Introduction to Antnropology 46.102 46.20 0 46.220 46 . 300 46.350 46.440 46.450 Anthropology & the Modern World Pr i ncip les of Cultural Anthropo logy Pr inc ip l es of Phys i cal Anthropology Archaeological Method & Theory Medica l Anthropology Language & Cuiture South American Indians 46.1 01. 46 . 200, and 46.220 all qualify for the general educa ti on distribution requirements under Group B, the soclai sciences 46.102 qualifies as a Values, Ethics & Responsible Dec i s i on-making Cou cse. ;J.!l)th American Ina!ans:A New Cou r se From the vast t ropica l :crests of tne Amazon Bas in to the world ' s ari est desert on the coast of Chi ie. 3outh Amer ica ls one of the most ecologica ll y diverse continents. The many a 1v erse environments of South America have given r !se to some of the most exotic cuit ures that have ever existed. The most ::amous of these is ~he : nca culture that dominated the Central Anaes for near 1:' 200 years. The Spanish defeated the Inca but did not put an ena to a l I c f the indigenous cu i tures. Rather. their conquest of South America introduced an era curing which the indigenous cultures absorcea elements of t ne Europea.n way of Ii fe and the Europeans were great i y l nf i uenced o·· 2. tne people they came to conquer. The evolution of cultures that began ~ver 400 years ago continues to this day. ' Peop les & Cui tures of South Amer I ca," a course to be offerea by Protessor Tom Aleta in the spring semester, offers a look at the ~.: .scinating inaigenous and traditional cultures of South America. The course is open to a!i students with at least one semester of anthropology. !t provides an introduction to the geography of the continent and to the archaeology of the people who inhabited Soutn ~~e:•i:::: Defore the arrival of the Europeans. These topics create the oa:::kgrouna tor the study of the Inca empire anti its destruction at the hands of severai hundred Spanish conquistadors. This is fo!lowea by a discussion of the changes brought about by colonialism that are responsiole for the development of culture over the past 400 years. Three cultures wJli oe lnvestlgatea In detail. The first Is a group of Quechua speaking peasants of the high Andes. They grow potatoes and graze animals at oxygen deficient altitudes between 10,000 an c: 18,000 feet above sea level. The met"'nds of farming, language, re : igion, medicine and social organlzativ > =1t survive tod;aay reflect the !Ong contact between the Incalc an0 i.:, ,... '.)pean traditions. Another group to receive close scrutiny arP th~ ~3cendants of African slaves who !i•1e in the tropical Pacific !owianus of southern Coiumoia. Their way of life ts a rich synthesis that reflects their West African, South i',me!·ican ana European traditions, bu t 1s, at the same time, quite distinct. The third group to be studiea are the Jivaro of the Amazon rain forest. They are known the world over for their custom of shrinKlng the neaas of their enemies. Until the middle 20th century, they had been litti e affected by outsiders. As a result, they provide a glimpse of a way of life that once spread throughout the Amazon Basin, but which is now aimost extinct. Tne final section of the course addresses the problems faced oy cr. ese groups in aeaiing with pressure from national governments to reject their traaltional way of life and to modernize. This is an issue of immense importance as exploration for minerals and petroleum ana aestruction of the rain forestss result in a clash of cultures and great 9ersonal tragedy. These issues are a cnr.c -:rn for ali of us since the Unltea States and the World Bank fund these projects. As the welfare of the people living on distant continents is thrust into our hands, It is imperative that we f~miliarize ourselves with their history, traditions ana values and that we recognize their aignity. This course offers an opportunity to learn about unique cultures and people and to understand their con cerns ana problems. EQJQ_corlan Indians Fight Back The Huaorani/Auca Indians of the Ecuacorian Amazon are defending themselves and their land against US and Europe3.r, oi i companies and the Ecuadorian government. "We are defending our home, the land on which we live," said Alberto Tangulla, an Indian ieade r ln Coca, Ecuador. "We will defend It with whatever it takes ... oe it with our care hands, sticks, stones. or other weapons." Tne resistance of the Auca Degan In 1956 when they killea five US evangelists who ventured into their territory. In the last decade there 3, have been at ieast a aozen fatal attacks on ell. lumber and palm company employees, as these companies' activities advanced farther into the jungle. The latest jct of resistance occurred thls past July when a Roman Catholic Bishop, Alejandro Lavaca, 67, and a nun, Sister Ines Arango, 50. were speared to death. Bishop Lavaca was employed by Ecuador's State Petroleum Corp. to contact the Auca. Social scientists living in the Jungle say that Bishop Lavaca made several serious mistakes when he aescendea from a helicopter via a rope ladder into an Auca village. First, his approach by helicopter certainly intimidated the Auca. Second, he dld not notice a red stripe on the roof of an Auca dwelilng a aeclaration of war against intruders. Third. Bishop Lavaca misinterpreted the Aucas ' smiles and hand signals as signs ot friendship. A social scientist hired by an oil company to try to "paclfy'' the Indians saia, with sadness, that he felt like a doctor in charge ot terminal cancer patients. "I know I can't do anything for my patients, because the march of progress ls unstoppable. The only thing I can do ls try to delay their death and to make It less painful." Reeaer on Sabbatical Leave This coming spring Bob Reeder will be on sabbatical !eave to research physical anthropology facilities at other universities ana to observe research at the Yerkes Primate Center in Atlanta, Georgia. As a result, the anthropology program is currently searching foe a sabbatical replacement for Professor Reeder for the spring. The aavertisement for the position reads as follows: ~ The Anthropology Program at Bloomsourg University seeks a one semester only sabbatical replacement to teach introductory courses In physical and cultural anthropoiogy for the spring semester 1988. Candidates must present evidence of skill in teaching introductory courses. Ph.D. or ABD ~referred. Appointment will be at the assistant professor or instructor level, depending on degree and experience. Women, minorities, and other protected class members are urged to apply. Send vita and three letters of reconmendation to Dr. David Minderhout, Department of Philosophy/Anthropology, Bloomsburg University. Bloomsourg. PA 17815. Applications must be received by November 1, l oS~ . AAE/EOE. New Fina Casts Light on Human Eyojution: It was announced this sunmer by Donaid Johanson ana Tim White of UCB that they had discovered the skull and limb bones of an early human ancestor at least 1.8 mil iion years old. The significance of the find focuses on the limb bones. The fossil human, known as Homo habllls, first began appearing in the archaeoiogical record in the early 1960 ' s, but untii this discovery,no one haa been able to conclusively link limb bones to the skulls previously unearthed. When the current find was reconstructed, researchers were aoie to identify the remains as those of an elderly female, the age being determined by the fact that the teeth were oadly worn: in one case the tooth was worn down into the jawbone. Besides oeing the oldest representative ln the fossi 1 record for Homo habi ! is, this specimen was also remarkably short - she stood only about 3 feet, 4 4. inches tall. Johanson & White interpret this as evidence of extreme sexual dimorphism in Homo habllls, with males being perhaps twice as tall as females. What was also surprlslng was the length of the find,. s arms; they would have hung to her knees. This ls surprisi ng since Homo habilis is known to be fully bipedal, that ls, with upright posture just like a modern human. Homo habilis' brain also ls significantly larger than apes or than other contemporan<>:-· • hominids, the australopithecines; work on fossi 1 in- ! n casts suggests that H. habi 1is• orain was structured more like the c ·,dern human brain than apes or australoplthecines. Thus, thls otherwise fairly modern early human ancestor appears to have reta ined the relatively long arms of an ape. Anthropo!ogy Major Makes Good!: The following ls reprinted from the Alumni Quarterly: March 1987 When John Sabol <1 72) was a student at Mahanoy Area High School, one of his teachers told him he wouldn 1 t amount to much. Boy, did he fool her! In the 20 years since he left school, Sabol has been an archaeologist-anthropologist , a guard at the Russian Embassy, an army sergeant, military technician, borde r guard, policeman, reporter, fighter, and Viking. Actually, Sabol is a professional ar:ta~~ loglst-anthropologlst. His other Jobs were on a Paramount m0v '~~t in Mexico, where he workea as an extra and has had small speaki r ~ ~! es. While employed as a professc::- 1 -- the Mexican national education system in 1983, Sabol heard audi Lv.,- i,~re being held for extras for the film "Dune" at Churuousco, Azteca, one of the world 1 s largest movie studios . On a lark, he wenbt to the set, auditioned, and was told he would hear from the movie company if they were interested in his services. Saool said he thought that was the beginning and end of his movie career, but about three weeks later he was called and offered the role. In "Dune" which starred Jose F'errar, Max Von Sydow, and the rocK singer, Sting, Sabol had five different roles. "My face was only seen in one. In the other four roles I wore m-::sks, · Sabol said. He also worked on special effects where he was one of 10 people pulling aifferent parts of a monster. Because there was plenty of action on the film, some of the voices were not as clear as they should have been, and Sabol's voice was also used for the Mexican actors who had small speaking parts. Since then, he has had speaking roles in many American ana Mexican films and has been featured on television commercials. Although Sabol said he enjoyed working on all films, he especially . iked working with Sylvester Stal lone on "Rambo II." "A let of people are confused about Stallone and perceive him to be difterent from what he actually is," Sabol said. "He has a lot of savvy about the job he wants done." Other movies Saool has worked on are 11 The Falcon and tne Snowman." ''Conan the Baroarian II", and "On the Wings of Eagles." Saool said he could do a lot more acting if he was willing to give up his duties as a professor of archaeology/anthropology at a Mexican university. • > s. After earning a degree at Bloomsburg and a master's degree at the University of Tennessee. he studied at the University of the Americas in Cholula, Mexico and at Penn State. He was a student and assistanc at the University of Exeter in Devon, England, during the excavation of the 12th century Wolvesey Palace in Winchester. Saool a!so spent a summer as supervisor of a team of field surveyors ln South DaKota that was involved in recording historic ana prehistoric sites. He oelieves that one of life ' s ironies is that he is a teacher. "l hated school, and now here I am, a teacher." Sabol saia his interest in archaeology and anthropology developed during his youth when he and his friends walked the mountainside near his home. "I had a great imagination, and I used to try to visualize what It was ilke for the Indians that roamed the woods," Sabol said. When he returned home he often transferred his thoughts to paper in the form of poetry. Someday ln the future Sabol would like to see a movie done on the eariy days of Schuylkill County and help in the creation of the characters. Llfe on a Great Lakes Tanker: In the September 1987 issue of Smith~Q.Ilia..ll there ls an article on anthropologist Michael Agar 1 s research on ore boats sailing the Great Lakes. This is an interesting example of participatory observation, of an anthropologist having direct involvement in a way of life not well understood or documented. Agar sailed on the Columbia Star. a huge <1000 ft. long by 105 ft. wide) boat that carries iron ore pellets from ports in Minnesota to ports In Ohio where processing plants are located. The emphasis in Agar s research is on lne decline of the trade; the traffic through the Sault St. Marie Locks between Lake Superior and Lake Huron has declined from 7000 freighters in 1981 to 4200 in 1986. However, he also describes the nature of the trade at its peak. 1 Iron ore was discovered in the Upper Pennisula of Michigan In 1844. At first, the mines were too remote to be profitable, but the opening of the Soo Locks in 1855 made tanker-borne shipments to Ohio reasonable. Processing plants were not located near the mines because they were too far from ooth populations of workers and for markets for the raw iron and steel. The tankers quickly took on a typical appearance - a wheelhouse at the bow, an engine room aft, a long stretch of deck for ease of loading and unloading, and flat, boxy sides to flt more cargo into snug rivers and locks. The division of the crew into deck crew and enmglne crew oecarne a social as well as a spatial division. Crews livea, ate, and worKed In separate environments. The captain ruled the deck crew, but the engine crew answered to the chief engineer. Some boats actually had lines drawn across them to mark the social boundaries. Life on a tanker was - and is - hard. Today, wprk shifts stretch for 60 continuous days, then 30 days off. The shipping season now is nearly year-round, but In the past, before modern lee-breaking equipment, the season was boundaried by the ice in Lake Superior. Even 6. so, the tankers sailed deep i nto the winter. To quote the article: "Everything freezes; noth i ng works. The crew coats themselves in layers but shiver ali the same. The buoys are gone. Snow and ice plie up on deck and freeze the hatches, and floes clog the raw water ports. Slabs of frozen river threaten steel hulls." (p. 122). During the entire year the trip is menaced by narrow channel s , heavy traffic from recreational craft, and heavy fogs. Navigation Ir, .ways tricky. Agar tel ls the story of one pilot who steered by "t,' ·. ng dog navigation. " At a treacherous Dena in a channe l, a toot en the ship ' s whistle would set the dogs barking at a nearby farm, and the sound would tell the pilot how close he was to the shore . Today, competition f rom foreign s teel and the high cost of shipping have seriously underminea the Great Lakes tanker trade. Automation on the new boats have reaucea the need for crews. Twenty-five years ago there were 12,000 Great Lakes sai !ors; last year there were 1900. To quote Agar, "Veterans ana newcomers alike hope that, somehow, a twitch in the woria economy will turn things around. Their hopes are probably unrealistic. The lakers gr-ew with steel, developed like i nbred animals for a special economic niche. The~ hauls high - dens itr freight on Great Lakes waters. Sne can do little else. She ls llke a ainosaur, upset at the unfami i iar chi i 1 from approaching glac ier'J. fin! ike the dinosaur, the s.t.ar. ana a few others like her will su , . .: . " Cp. 126>. Minor in Anthropology: The minor i ~ ~~ thropology ls composed of 18 creaits. There are three requlrec.; --··. Jes: 46.200, Principles of Cultural Anthropology; 46.210, Prehistoric Archaeology; ana 46.220, Princip 1es of Physical Anthropology. T~e remaining three courses should oe chosen in consultation with one of the anthropology staff. A minor in anthropology is a fine complement to any major.