Evolution and Prehistory

EVOLUTION AND PREHISTORY has been completely revolutionized to present students with the latest contemporary thinking on human evolution, adaptation, and prehistory and offers the same great coverage as the paperbound version at a significantly lower price. It offers students a straightforward and integrated presentation of material, focusing on selected aspects of physical anthropology and prehistoric archaeology as they relate to the origin of humanity, the origin of culture, and the development of human biological and cultural diversity. A New feature entitled "Biocultural Connections" illustrates how cultural and biological processes work together to shape human evolution and behavior, and reflects where the field is today. New coverage on cutting edge topics such as medical anthropology, genetics, environmental toxins, and globalization, demonstrate the usefulness of anthropology today. A new, unique "Epilogue" looks at cultural disease and globalization.

Dr. William A. Haviland is Professor Emeritus at the University of Vermont, where he founded the Department of Anthropology and taught for thirty-two years. He holds a Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania.

He has carried out original research in archaeology in Guatemala and Vermont; ethnography in Maine and Vermont; and physical anthropology in Guatemala. This work has been the basis of numerous publications in various national and international books and journals, as well as in media intended for the general public. His books include The Original Vermonters, coauthored with Marjorie Power, and a technical monograph on ancient Maya settlement. He also served as technical consultant for the award winning telecourse, Faces of Culture, and is coeditor of the series Tikal Reports, published by the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.

Besides his teaching and writing, Dr. Haviland has lectured to numerous professional, as well as, non-professional audiences in Canada, Mexico, Lesotho, South Africa and Spain, as well as in the United States. A staunch supporter of indigenous rights, he served as expert witness for the Missisquoi Abenakis of Vermont in an important court case over aboriginal fishing rights.

Awards received by Dr. Haviland include being named University Scholar by the Graduate School of the University of Vermont in 1990, a Certificate of Appreciation from the Sovereign Republic of the Abenaki Nation of Missisquoi, St. Francis/Sokoki Band in 1996, and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Center for Research on Vermont in 2006. Now retired from teaching, he continues his research, writing and lecturing from the coast of Maine.Harald E.L. Prins (Ph.D. New School 1988) is a University Distinguished Professor of Anthropology at Kansas State University and guest curator at the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution. Born in The Netherlands, he studied at universities in Europe and the United States. He has done extensive fieldwork among indigenous peoples in South and North America, published dozens of articles in five languages, co-edited some books, and authored "The Mi'kmaq: Resistance, Accommodation, and Cultural Survival" (1996). He also made award-winning documentaries and served as president of the Society for Visual Anthropology and visual anthropology editor of the "American Anthropologist." Dr. Prins has won his university's most prestigious undergraduate teaching awards and held the Coffman Chair for University Distinguished Teaching Scholars (2004-05). Most recently, Dr. Prins was selected as Professor of the Year for the State of Kansas by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Active in human rights, he served as expert witness in Native rights cases in the U.S. Senate and various Canadian courts, and was instrumental in the successful federal recognition and land claims of the Aroostook Band of Micmacs (1991).Dr. Dana Walrath is Assistant Professor of Family Medicine at the University of Vermont and a Women's Studies affiliated faculty member. She earned her Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania and is a medical and biological anthropologist with principal interests in biocultural aspects of reproduction, the cultural context of biomedicine, genetics, and evolutionary medicine. She directs an innovative educational program at the University of Vermont's College of Medicine that brings anthropological theory and practice to first year medical students. Before joining the faculty at the University of Vermont in 2000, she taught at the University of Pennsylvania and Temple University. Her research has been supported by the National Science Foundation, Health Resources and Services Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and the Templeton Foundation. Dr. Walrath's publications have appeared in "Current Anthropology," "American Anthropologist" and "American Journal of Physical Anthropology". An active member of the Council on the Anthropology of Reproduction, she has also served on a national committee to develop women's health care learning objectives for medical education and works locally to improve healthcare for refugees and immigrants.Bunny McBride (M.A. Columbia U, 1980) is an award-winning writer specialized in cultural anthropology, indigenous peoples, international tourism, and natural conservation issues. Published in dozens of national and international print media, she has reported from Africa, Europe, China, and the U.S. Highly rated as a teacher, she served as visiting anthropology faculty at Principia College (1981-2002), the Salt Institute for Documentary Field Studies, and since 1996 as adjunct lecturer of anthropology at Kansas State University. McBride's many publications include "Women of the Dawn" (1999) and "Molly Spotted Elk: A Penobscot in Paris" (1995). Collaborating with Native communities in Maine, she curated various museum exhibits based on her books. The Maine state legislature awarded her a special commendation for significant contributions to Native women's history (1999). A community activist and researcher for the Aroostook Band of Micmacs (1981-91), she assisted this Maine Indian community in its successful efforts to reclaim lands, gain tribal status, and revitalize cultural traditions. Currently, McBride serves as co-principal investigator for a National Parks Service ethnography project, guest curator for an exhibition on the Rockefeller Southwest Indian Art Collection, oral history advisor for the Kansas Humanities Council, and board member of the Women's World Summit Foundation, based in Geneva, Switzerland.

Part I. ANTHROPOLOGY: THE CHALLENGE OF KNOWING OURSELVES. 1. The Essence of Anthropology. 2. Biology and Evolution. 3. Living Primates. Part II: EVOLUTION: THE CHALLENGE OF UNDERSTANDING HUMAN ORIGINS. 4. Field Methods in ArchaeologyandPaleoanthropology. 5. Macroevolution and the Early Primates. 6. The First Bipeds. Part III: THE GENUS HOMO: BIOCULTURAL CHALLENGES. 7. Homo habilis and Cultural Origins. 8. Homo erectus and the Emergence of HuntingandGathering. 9. Archaic Homo sapiens and the Middle Paleolithic. 10. Homo sapiens and the Upper Paleolithic. Part IV: HUMAN BIOCULTURAL EVOLUTION: THE CHALLENGE OF TECHNOLOGYandHUMAN DIVERSITY. 11. The Neolithic Revolution: Domestication of PlantsandAnimals. 12. The Emergence of CitiesandStates. 13. Modern Human Diversity. EPILOGUE: Cultural Disease and Globalization.