BLOOMSBURG UNIVERSITY
Bloomsburg
Pennsylvania
ANTHROPOLOGY NEWSLETTER
Vol. 15, No. 6
April 1991

suumer School Offerings in Anthropology: The Department of
Anthropology ls offering the following courses during the
1991 surrmer sessions:
46.101

Introduction to Anthropology
Session 1 (5/28-7/5)

Mr. Reeder

46.102

Anthropology & World Problems
Session 3 (7/8-8/16)

Dr. Minderhout

46.200

Principles of Cultural Anthropology
Session 3 (7/8-8/16)

46.260

Men & Women
Mr. Reeder
Session 2 (6/17-7/26>

Dr. Mlnderhout

***

All of these courses fulfill general education
requirements. 46.102 may be used to fulfill the requirement
for Values, Ethics & Responsible Decision-making.

& Women (46,260): by Mr. Reeder. This course ls a study
of the evolutionary origins and expressions of reproduction
and mating In various cultures throughout history.
Specifically addressed are the questions of how and why male
and female humans select mates, compete for mates, develop
sexual statuses and Inequality, acquire gender-based
learning, divide labor, achieve sexual development and
differentiation, and Invest resources in parenting.
Men

This course ls a general education course and carries
no prerequisite. There will be lectures with dally class
discussions and video materials. Two texts emphasizing the
biology of sex roles and the human cultural expressions of
gender will be studied.
Reproduction ls of central importance In the biological
and social sciences. Other functions, such as eating and
breathing, are vital, but animals eat and breathe In order
to reproduce. Evolution ls a process that favors only those
characteristics that pay off in reproduction - and
reproduction for humans is a matter of sex. All social
organization ls, by principle, Interpretable as the outcome
of sexual strategies by which animals attempt to reproduce
themselves. 46.260 explores these behaviors. ~

American Food Customs:

One of the most distinctive
characteristics of a culture - and one of the slowest to
change - ls its food habits. What people eat - and how and

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when they eat It - ls Integral to a culture/a Identity. One
of the best ways to flt Into a new culture ls to eat their
food the way they do; correspondingly, one of the best ways
to insult one/s hosts in a new culture ls to turn up your
nose at their cuisine. People are seldom very tolerant of
the visitor/s distaste for their foods. After all, they
have eaten those foods all their lives. To them their foods
are "natural", tasty, and necessary for survival. The
visitor/s squeamishness ls hard for them to understand.
The information In the last paragraph ls Just as
applicable to American cuisine as It ls to some hunting &
gathering society. As more and more people from other
countries come to the United States to work, . to study or
just to visit, more and more Americans are having the
opportunity to host these foreign visitors. And they are
finding that there are American food~ - and food preparation
styles - which are distasteful to people from other
societies. One researcher has compiled the following list
of American foods foreigners don/t like, often to the point
of finding them repulsive:
marshmallows
watermelon
commercial, white bread
popcorn
pecan or pumpkin pie
sweet potatoes
catsup
cheeses roast turkey
hot dogs
corn on the cob
Corn on the cob serves as a good example. In most
other countries around the world, corn ls considered a food
for animals only. But we Amer.leans shuck the ear, bol 1 it,
lather it with butter, add salt and consume it like a
typewriter gone amok. And Just picture how we look: butter
dripping down our chins, blts of corn wedged In our teeth.
At that point, we turn to our foreign guest, smile, and say
"Isn't this good!" Meanwhile, they are probably thinking
that these - people not only serve animal food, but they look
like animals when they/re eating It.
Given that, a safe bet might seem to be to entertain a
foreign guest at a restaurant. However, there are some
difficulties to consider here as well. First of all, the
\/ is l tor probably comes from a cosmopol l tan cl ty such as
Mexico City or Istanbul or Bangkok that has an abundance of
fine restaurants; going out to a restaurant might not have
any particular charm for them. Second, many foods they are
used to are hard to find on restaurant menus. A great many
people around the world routinely eat lamb, but try to find

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that on most American menus. Slmllarly, many visitors from
India, Pakistan and other parts of South Asia are
vegetarians, which also ls hard to accomodate in many
restaurants. Also, restaurants In other countries do not
make the distinction between 11 smoklng" and 11 no smoking"
areas; if your visitors smoke - as ls likely - they will
find the partitioning of the restaurant peculiar and
obnoxious.
It;s a natural inclination to take foreign guests to
restaurants specializing In their national food, but It ls
surprising to Americans to find that the Italian, Mexican
and Chinese food we eat here ls not necessarily what ls
served In those countries. Our pasta dishes are a world
apart from what appears on tables in Italy. Here we get a
little pasta and a lot of sauce; there the ratio ls
reversed. As for Mexico, we eat faJltas In America, but you
won;t normally find them in Mexico. And our Chinese food ls
mostly an American creation - like fortune cookies which
were invented here in 1912 by a Los Angeles noodle maker.
What will work? Many foreign visitors associate
America with eating beef in large quantities. A restaurant
specializing in steaks, prime ribs and other large cuts ls
usually a winner. Also, good seafood ls enjoyed by most
cultures - as long as it ls fresh. Foreign visitors are
often put off by being asked to eat previously frozen,
batter-dipped fish.
But what works best ls inviting the visitor into your
home and then practicing a little empathy for their
situation. There ls always a natural curiosity to see where
and how someone else lives. Your home will provide
memorable experiences for visitors. For example, in
countries where maids and servants are prevalent, your
guests will be fascinated to see their American hostess
doing the cooking and serving. One American businessman
reported that .his Korean guest watched the man ✓ s wife
cooking the meal, turned to him and said graciously, "We
hope you will permit your wife to join us for dinner." In
Korea, a woman;s place ls not only several paces behind a
man, but also squarely in the kitchen.

The · Anthcopologlst/s Cookbook:

Given the comments above
about the prevalence of lamb as a dish in many cultures, we
are including a recipe for lamb from Greece. The recipe ls
called Lamb Avgolemono.
2 lbs lamb, stewing meat or shoulder, cut in hunks
2 tblspns olive oil or butter
1 large onion, chopped
5-6 celery ribs, cut in 2 inch sections
1 tsp salt
pepper

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3 large eggs
1 tblspn cornstatch
Jul ce of 2 1··e mons
Brown meat, a few pieces at a time, In very hot oil, in
a heavy pot. Set aside.
Reduce heat and brown onion and celery lightly In the
same oil. Return browned lamb to pot, add salt, pepper and
3 cups of water. Bring to a boll, reduce heat, and simmer,
covered, for 1 1/2 hours or until meat ls tender.
To make sauce, remove 2 cups hot cooking liquid and
reserve. Then beat eggs in a bowl until frothy. Add
cornstarch and beat until thoroughly incorporated. Add
lemon Jul ce gradua 1 ly ,, beat lng as' you add 1 t. Pour in
reserved cooking liquid in a slow stream, beating .
constantly.
Pour finished sauce over meat, which
hot. You can heat this gently or keep it
low heat until ready to serve, but do not
thing ls to serve it immediately. Yield:

should still be
on the stove over
boll. The best
4-6 servings.

Preserving Gorillas & Chlmpant~ea.10. tfi& Wild: Of all the
world"s endangered sp·ecles, got·1 Has an·d chimpanzees
possibly receive the most sympathy and the widest public
support for thel~ c6nservatlon. In large part, public
empathy for these animals stems from the long-term efforts
of Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and other prlmatologlsts who
have demonstrated the close kinship between these animals
and ourselves and made us aware of the dangers these
primates face in a developing Africa. Yet while
conservation effort-a' are succeeding with some African
species - especialiy elephants, which are beginning to
rebound ln some areas - the number of apes has continued to
decline. One ~urr~nt estimate sees only 310 mountain
gor-illas left in tne wild. Why ls ape conser-vatlon so
difficult?
On the surfade, the proble~s facing ape conservation
are no different than those facing other species. Rapid
population growth in Africa has led to an enormous pressure
on land, which lri turn has led to widespread habitat
destruction for wild animals. It ls also the case that a
lucrative illicit market exists for chimps and gorillas for
labor-atory animals. The asking price on the world market
f0~ a laboratory chimpanzee ls between $10,000 and $25,000,
depending on the anlmal"s age and health. Of that total,
only $50 filters down to the African poacher who stole the
animal from the wild, but that ls typically equal to two
months' wages there. Efforts are being made to do DNA
"finger-printing" of existing lab animals so that only legal

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animals are used in research, but the most concentrated
efforts In ape conservation focus on tourist dollars.
Given the demands of a growing population and low
Incomes, it ls difficult to ask Africans to set aside
valuable land to preserve a species for our satisfaction.
Instead many lnstltutlons and governments have been offering
an alternative: attract tourists to ape preserves and charge
them for the privilege of seeing the animals in the wild.
In this way, ape conservation can be financially rewarding
to local governments.
The most financially successful and well-known tourist
experience with great apes in Africa ls the mountain gorilla
project ln the Pare National des Volcans In the country of
Rwanda. Last year about 6500 tourists climbed the steep
slopes of the Vlrunga volcanoes in search of a one-hour
encounter with our largest relative. Each of the foar
habituated gorilla groups ls visited by up to five tourists
dally. This attraction ls not for the out of shape, since
reaching the gorillas takes a 4 or 5 hour climb at 9000
feet. Since gorillas are not very active, they are easy to
find, and the exhausted tourist ls rewarded with extremely
close encounters. Gorillas often directly approach the
tourists and sometimes touch tourists - or allow themselves
to be touched.
None of this ls cheap. Just gaining entry to the park
requires a $160 entrance and gorilla visit fee. Lodging,
transportation, and meals will typically add another $300 to
the park fees for even a two night stay. The result ls that
6500 tourists in 1990 generated over $3 million for the
Rwa ~·1da government Cabout $10,000 per gor 111 a>. Most of this .
money goes to the government, rather than to the local
population, but It does provide a substantial motivation for
Rwandans to preserve gorillas.
Ch-imps are much more active and often move through the
treetops, rather than on the ground, like the more placid
gorillas. Tourists often cannot locate chimps or only get a
glimpse of a dark shape against the sky.)
However, the tourist industry has proved to be a mixed
blessing when it comes to ape conservation. Unlike
elephants, lions or antelopes, gorillas and chimpanzees are
genetically very similar to humans; chimps share 99% of our
genes. This makes these great apes very susceptible to
human diseases. In 1966, a polio epidemic that began in the
local African population killed 10-15% of the Gombe
chimpanzee population in one year; in 1988, an additional 14
animals died from an introduced respiratory infection.
Last year, a respiratory disease struck one group of 34
gorillas In Rwanda; that number represents 11% of the enllre

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population of mountain gorillas. When the dominant
sllverback male died of the disease, a decision was made to
treat the other seriously 111 animals with broad-spectrum
antibiotics. It ls thought that the disease was transmitted
to the gorillas by a tourist. Tourists are told to approach
no closer than 1 meter to any of the animals, but members of
the habituated groups routinely touch tourists. As a
result, the mechanism that could save the animals - tourism.
- also has the potential to hasten their extinction.

SSHE Anthropo)ogy Conference:

On the weekend of March 2 &
3, the Department of Anthropology hosted the SSHE
Undergraduate Anthropology Conference. Five SSHE programs
participated: California, Indiana, Mansfield, Millersville,
and, of course, Bloomsburg. On Saturday, March 3, students
from these institutions presented papers about research they
had conducted, either in archaeology or in cultural
anthropology. Several BU students made presentations based
on the 1990 Summer Field School in Ohio. Kristen Ecker and
Crystle Reustle gave an overview of the work done on the
Munson Spring Site, while Shannon Leonard talked about the
interesting patterns in stone found during the excavations.
George Stout, Rich Lewis and Steve Comly then talked about
the Mastodon remains excavated at a golf course near the
Munson Spring site. All three presentations were
illustrated by slides.
In addition to the presentations, the BU Anthropology
Club sponsored a pizza party for participants at
registration on Friday night, March 2, and a reggae dance
party in the Kehr Union on Saturday night. All in all, the ·.
conference ran very smoothly. Special thanks are to be
extended to the members of the club, to club adviser, Dr.
Aleta, and to Dean John Baird, who attended the sessions at
the club/s invitation. We would also like to thank Vice
President for Institutional Advancement John Walker for the
help he provided.
Dr. Aleta ls sponsoring a barbecue at his home on April
2 as another way of thanking club members for all the work
they did to make the conference a success.

Congratulations: To Dr. Aleta who will be presenting a paper

at the national meetings of the Society for American
Archaeology April 25th to the 28th. His paper will be based
on his on-going research in Ecuador.

To Dr. Wymer who has been nominated to the board of the
Society for Pennsylvania Archaeology. Dr. Wymer also
recently gave a talk on her research to the Williamsport
chapter of the Society, and on May 3, she will be
participating in a national press conference based in Ohio
which announce the findings of her research group with
regards to the Mastodon excavation. It/s appropriate that

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she will represent BU at a SSHE conference in Harrisburg
April 11-12 entitled "College Faculty as Classroom
Researchers."
To Dr. Minderhout who will be presenting a paper at the
College of Business/ Professional Development Forum on April
26. His paper ls entitled "Why Businesspeople Need
Anthropology."