BLOOMSBURG UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA: THE STATE SYSTEM OF HIGHER EDUCATION ANTHROPOS DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY VOL. 29, No. 3 RUNNING WAS CRITICAL IN HUMAN EVOLUTION ~ An article published in the November 18 issue of Nature argues that the need to run long distances shaped our anatomy, making us what we are today. The article is written by Daniel Lieberman, an anthropologist at Harvard, and Dennis Bramble, a University of Utah biologist. The authors say "We are very confident that strong selection for runningwhich came at the ex- pense of the historical ability to live in trees-was instrumental in the origin of the modern human body form. Running made us human-at least in the anatomical sense." The authors point out that most anthropologists have thought that running was simply a byproduct of the human ability to walk-bipedalism or upright posture. They believe that anthropologists have down HUMANS IN THE NEW WORLD In an announcement bound to stir up controversy, archaeologists from the University of South Carolina have revealed ra~ diocarbon dates from a site in that st.ate from 50,000 years ago. Historically, most an- played running because humans are poor sprinters compared with other animals. "High speed is not always important, " they write, "What is important is combining reasonable speed with exceptional endurance." The authors believe that running was used by early hominids to run down and wear out prey, such as antelopes, or perhaps to heat scavengers to a kill. 50,000 thropologists have believed that the first humans in the Amerias crossed the Bering Straits land bridge about 13,000 years ago. Sites in South America have led many to believe that humans were in this hemisphere 20-25 ,000 years ago. YEARS AGO But early stone tools .u ncovered at the Topper site in South Carolina were associated with materials that could be radiocarbon dated, revealing that 50,000 years old date. If true, this would radically change the way anthropologists have looked at the New World. Nov-DEC 2004 SPECIAL POINTS OF INTEREST: • The me-,. 2 • Feor is spread by body languaae---P. 3 • Minonn9 in anthropol- oa,-p. 4 • About w--p. 4 PAGE ANTHROPOS 2 THE RAC The anthropologist Marshall Sahlins has sad that all behavior is ridiculous out of context. This brief study by Patricia Hughes looks at the context in which one culture uses a kind of draft animal called a rac. "An Indian anthropologist, Chandra Thopar, made a study of foreign cultures which had customs similar to those of his native land. One culture in particular fascinated him because it reveres one animal as sacred, much as the people in India revere t;he cow. The tribe Dr. Thapar studied is called the Asu and is found on the American continent north of the Tarahumara of Mexico. Though it seems to be a highly developed society of its type, it has an overwhelming preoccupation with the care and the feeding of the rac, an animal much like a bull in size, THE TRIBE DR. THAPAR STUDIED IS CALLED THE Asu. strength, and temperament. In the Asu tribe, it is almost a social obligation to own at least one if not more racs. Anyone not possessing at least one is held in low esteem by the community because he is too poor to maintain one of these beasts properly. Some members of the tribe, to display their wealth and social prestige, even own herds of racs. Unfortunately the rac breed is not very healthy and usually does not live more than five to seven years~ Each family invests large sums of money each year to keep its rac healthy and shod, for it has a tendency to throw its shoes often. There are rac specialists in each community, perhaps more than one if the community is particularly wealthy. These specialists, however, due to the long period of ritual training they must undergo and to the difficulty of · obtaining the right sacred charms to treat the rac, demand costly offerings whenever a tribesman must treat his ailing rac. At the age of sixteen in many Asu communities, many youths undergo a puberty rite in which the rac figures prominently. The youth must petition a high priest in a grand temple. He is then initiated into the ceremonies that surround the care of the rac and is permitted to keep a rac. DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY PAGE THE RAC (CONTINUED) Although the rac may be used as a beast of burden, it has many habits which would he considered by other cultures as detrimental to the life of the society. In the first place, the rac breed is increasing at a very rapid rate and the Asu tribesmen have given no thought to curbing the rac population. As a consequence, theAsu must build more and more paths for the rac to travel on since its delicate health and its love of racing other racs at high speeds necessitates that special areas he set aside for its use. The cost of smoothing the earth is too costly for any one individual to undertake, so it has become a community project, and each tribesman must pay an annual tax to build new paths and maintain the old. There are so many paths needed that some people move their homes because the ~ paths must be as straight as possible to keep the animal from injuring itself. Dr. Thapar also noted that unlike the cow, which many people in his country hold sacred, the excrement of the rac cannot be used as either fuel or fertilizer. On the contrary, its excrement is exceptionally foul and totally useless. Worst of all, the rac is prone to rampages in which it runs down anything in its path, much like stampeding cattle. Estimates are that the rac kills thousands of the Asu in a year. Despite the high cost of its upkeep, the damage it does to the land, and its habit of destructive rampages, the Asu still regard it as being essential to the survival of their culture." FEAR IS SPREAD BY BODY LANGUAGE A researcher at Harvard argues that a menacing body posture can be as threatening as a frightening facial expression. Dr. Beatrice de Gelder says that her study shows that images of aggressive body posturing automatically affect the emotional part of the brain, preparing the observer to respond to fear. "When we talk about how humans communicate, we always talk about things like language. But just like the animal world, we also communicate through our bodies without our conscious minds being aware of it." Anthropologists have long said that over half of what we communicate is nonoral-information transmitted through gestures and postures. DEPITE THE HIGH COST OF ITS UPKEEP ... THE Asu STILL REGARD THE RAC AS ESSENTIAL TO THE SURVIVAL OF THEIR CULTURE. 3 BLOOMSBURG UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA: THE STATE SYSTEM OF HIGHER EDUCATION Dr. David Mindethout, E