Evolution And History

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Our Mission

Time and time again, we have observed that most students

enter an introductory anthropology class intrigued by the

general subject but with little more than a vague sense of

what it is all about. Thus the first and most obvious task

of our text is to provide a thorough introduction to the

discipline—its foundations as a domain of knowledge and

its major insights into the rich diversity of humans as a

culture-making species.

In doing this, we draw from the research and ideas of

a number of traditions of anthropological thought, expos-

ing students to a mix of theoretical perspectives and meth-

odologies. Such inclusiveness reflects our conviction that

different approaches offer distinctly important insights

about human biology, behavior, and beliefs in the past and

in the present.

If most students start out with only a vague sense of

what anthropology is, they often have less clear and po-

tentially more problematic views of the superiority of their

own species and culture. A second task for this text, then,

is to prod students to appreciate the rich complexity and

breadth of human biology and behavior. Along with this

is the aim of helping them understand why there are so

many differences and similarities in the human condition,

past and present.

Debates regarding globalization and notions of prog-

ress, the “naturalness” of the mother/father/child(ren)

nuclear family, new genetic technologies, and how gender

roles relate to biological variation all benefit greatly from

the fresh and often fascinating insights gained through an-

thropology. This probing aspect of our discipline is per-

haps the most valuable gift we can pass on to those who

take our classes. If we, as teachers (and textbook authors),

do our jobs well, students will gain a wider and more

open-minded outlook on the world and a critical but con-

structive perspective on human origins and on their own

biology and culture today. To borrow a favorite line from

W

orking on this ninth edition of Evolution and Pre-

history has proved to us how fortunate we are to

have the opportunity to revisit our textbook multiple times

with the ambition of reaching well beyond mere updat-

ing to making the narrative and images ever-more com-

pelling, informative, and relevant to readers. Our efforts

continue to be fueled by vital feedback from our students

and from anthropology professors who have reviewed and

used previous editions. Their input—combined with our

own ongoing research and the surprisingly delightful task

of rethinking familiar concepts that appear self-evident—

has helped us bring fresh insight to classical themes.

Evolution and Prehistory is designed for introductory

anthropology courses at the college level. While focusing

on biological anthropology and archaeology, a four-field

approach is central to this book. By emphasizing the fun-

damental connection between biology and culture, the ar-

chaeology student learns more about the biological basis

of human cultural abilities and the many ways that culture

has impacted human biology, past and present. Similarly,

this combination provides more of the cultural context of

human evolutionary history, the development of scientific

thought, and present-day biological diversity than a stu-

dent would get in a course restricted to biological anthro-

pology. There has been much debate about the future of

four-field anthropology. In our view, its future will be as-

sured through collaboration among anthropologists with

diverse backgrounds, as exemplified in this book.

With each new edition, we look anew at the archetypal

examples of our discipline and weigh them against the lat-

est innovative research methodologies, archaeological dis-

coveries, genetic and other biological findings, linguistic

insights, and ethnographic descriptions, theoretical reve-

lations, and significant examples of applied anthropology.

These considerations, combined with attention to com-

pelling issues in our global theater, go toward fashioning

a thought-provoking textbook that presents both classical

and fresh material in ways that stimulate students’ interest,

stir critical reflection, and prompt “ah-ha” moments.

Preface

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