Meeting Anthropology Phase to Phase: Growing Up, Spreading Out, Crowding In, Switching on

In Meeting Anthropology, the major phases through which our species has passed provide the structure for a truly coherent encounter with general anthropology — biological, archaeological, cultural, and linguistic. In Part I, Graber provides an introduction to general anthropology and evolution. Part II, "Growing Up," covers the evolution of upright, large-brained primates. Part III, "Spreading Out," details how culture allowed these handy, intelligent beings to expand from their tropical homes to fill the world. Part IV, "Crowding In," focuses on the dramatic cultural reconfigurations wrought by the growth of large societies, as humans populated the earth ever more densely. Part V, "Switching On," explores how contemporary culture emerged from, and continues to be transformed by, the development of a world system and the ongoing process of industrialization. Meeting Anthropology Phase to Phase combines breadth, brevity, and clarity to make the introductory course a more coherent intellectual experience.

Throughout the book, the imperative we share with all animals to find and use energy sources is a key integrative theme. Also highly integrative is the book’s consistency in defining and analyzing cultural systems — including our own — in terms of (1) the means by which societies interface with their physical and social environments; (2) the customary ways in which members of society interact with one another; and (3) the ideas through which reality is interpreted symbolically.

A teacher's manual is also available.