Output

UNIT 1 KINSHIP
Contents
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Idea of Kinship
1.2.1 What is Kinship? Concept and Definitions
1.2.2 Definitions of Some Basic Terms Used in Kinship
1.3 A Brief History of Kinship Studies in Anthropology

1.3.1 Morgan’s Kinship System
1.3.2 Contemporary Kinship Studies in the Late 20 th Century
1.4 Summary
References
Suggested Reading
Sample Questions
Learning Objectives

This unit will help you to understand:
 what is Kinship all about?
 some of the terms used in kinship parlance. The different ways in which
kinship systems categorizes the kins;
 the early studies related to kinship especially of Morgan; and
 the shift in focus in kinship studies in the 20th century.
1.1 INTRODUCTION
Human beings are known as social animals even though many species have shown
social behaviour, what sets humans apart is the complexity of our social organisation.
This unit will introduce the students to the concept of kinship. The underlying
factors that help a person trace his/her kinsman. The concentration herein would
be in understanding the terminologies used in kinship and in tracing relations. We
would also discuss in this unit the early studies in kinship and how with the
changing times the focus of kinship studies have also changed and the addition of
new kinship terminologies which were not studied till recnt times.
1.2 IDEA OF KINSHIP

As soon as a human child is born it enters this world with some given characters
like a system of beliefs, a language, parents and siblings and many other relationships
and sometimes social positions, like a potential heir to a throne, a priestly position,
an occupation or a vocation in life. Such are the ascriptive characters of what is
understood as social personhood. Thus to be born is to have an identity as a
member of a society and a receiver of a culture. But these social identities can
only be reproduced through marriage or a socially recognised bond rather than by
mere mating. To be human is to reproduce socially and not simply biologically.
Every human is embedded in a network of relationships that can be called kinship
relationships that are either based on the notions of putative blood connections or 5
Kinship, Marriage and of marriage as a socially recognised bond; what in anthropological terminology are
Family
known as consanguineal and affinal relationships; that is relations by blood and
by marriage respectively. Relatives by blood are those who are recognised culturally
to be so and not who are genetically connected, as with the case of adoption,
fostering and step-relations.
The basic principle of kinship is to keep these two categories separate. In other
words those who are supposed to be blood relatives can never be joined by
marriage and in all human societies these rules appear as the fundamental rule of
incest taboo. Apart from the basic relationships of parents and children and
siblings, there is a wide variation in the rules of incest taboo, like the taboo on
marrying within the same village in Northern India and the variations in rules of
marrying children of one’s parent’s siblings. In a few historical instances like the
Egyptian royal family, even the incest taboo between siblings could be broken, but
such was very rare. The definition of who is a blood relative is not determined
biologically but socially and thus kinship is about the social interpretation of putative
biological relations. It is the concept of legitimacy that determines the social
recognition of parent child relationships and not the fact of a biological descent.
1.2.1 What is Kinship? Concept and Definitions

The term kinship enfolds in it the various organisations of a society. Inheritance
and property rights, political office and the composition of local communities are
all embedded in kinship. In societies where ancestor worship was practiced, even
religion was based on kinship. To understand the intricacies of the term kinship
let’s start with a few definitions of kinship.
Kinship and marriage are about the basic facts of life. They are about ‘birth, and
conception, and death’, the eternal round that seemed to depress the poet but
which excites, among others, the anthropologist. Man is an animal, but he puts the
basic facts of life to work for himself in ways that no other animal does or can,
Fox (1996 [1967]: 27). While, Godelier, (1998: 387) stated that Kinship appears
as a huge field of social and mental realities stretching between two poles. One
is highly abstract: it concerns kinship terminologies and the marriage principles or
rules they implicitly contain or that are associated with them. The other is highly
concrete: it concerns individuals and their bodies, bodies marked by the position
of the individual in kinship relations. Deeply embedded in them are the
representations that legitimize these relations through an intimacy of blood, bone,
flesh, and soul. Between these two poles lie all the economic, political, and symbolic
stakes involved from the outset in the interplay of kinship relations or, conversely,
that make use of them. Stone, (1997: 5) recognised Kinship as a relationship
between persons based on descent or marriage. If the relationship between one
person and another is considered by them to involve descent, the two are
consanguines (“blood”) relatives. If the relationship has been established through
marriage, it is affinal. Encyclopaedia Britannica in its webpage has defined Kinship
as the socially recognised relationship between people in a culture who are or are
held to be biologically related or who are given the status of relatives by marriage,
adoption, or other ritual. Kinship is the broad-ranging term for all the relationships
that people are born into or create later in life and that are considered binding in
the eyes of their society. Although customs vary as to which bonds are accorded
greater weight, their very acknowledgment defines individuals and the roles that
society expects them to play. Tonkinson, (1991:57), stated in his work that Kinship
is a system of social relationships that are expressed in a biological idiom, using
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terms like “mother”, “son,” and so on. It is best visualized as a mass of networks
of relatedness, not two of which are identical, that radiate from each individual. Kinship
Kinship is the basic organising principle in small-scale societies like those of the
Aborigines and provides a model for interpersonal behaviour.
From the above definitions of kinship it can be summed up that kinship determines
the journey in a man’s life. From birth to death it is the rules of kinship which
governs the rites of passage. Kinship through its systematic organisation, rules of
marriage and descent ascribes to a person whom he can marry, who would bear
his children, who would inherit his property (either son or daughter) and ultimately
at the time of demise who would conduct the last rites. These rules differ in
different societies and in order to understand the rules of kinship in different
societies the next section would help you to get acquainted with some of the terms
frequently used in kinship.
1.2.2 Definitions of Some Basic Terms Used in Kinship

Before we embark on the history of Kinship, it would be beneficial to understand
some of the basic premises and the definitions on which kinship relations are
based.
Descent refers to a person’s affiliation and association with his/her kinsman. In
a patrilineal society a person traces his descent through father while in a matrilineal
society descent is traced through the mother. Descent Group comprises of
people having a common ancestor, the common ancestor can either be a living,
non living or mythical being like an animal, tree, human being, thunder etc. Rules
of descent can be divided into two distinct types a. Unilineal and b. Cognatic or
Non-Unilineal descent. Unilineal Descent is a descent group where lineage is
traced either through the father’s or mother’s side. Herein, only one parents
descent is taken into account based on the type of society – matriarchy or whether
patriarchy. In a partilineal society it is traced through the father while in a matrilineal
society it is traced through the mother.
Patrilineal Descent is a kinship system based on patriarchy where inheritance,
status, authority or property is traced through males only. It is also known as
agnatic descent. For example: sons and daughters belong to their father’s descent
group, sons’ children both sons and daughters will be a part of grandfather’s
descent group, but the daughter’s children would belong to her husband’s descent
group. Many of the societies of the world belong to this realm like the classical
Romans, the Chinese and also the Hindu society of India. In the Hindu society,
the rule of descent follows the transfer of authority and immovable property to the
oldest son or the first born commonly known as primogeniture.
Matrilineal Descent is a kinship system based on matriarchy where inheritance,
status, authority and property is traced through females only. It is also known as
uterine descent. A matrilineal descent group comprises of a woman, her siblings,
her own children, her sisters children and her daughters’ children. The Ashanti of
Ghana studied by Meyer Fortes, the Trobriand Islanders of Western Pacific studied
by Malinowski, some of the societies of Indonesia, Malaysia, some Native American
tribes like Navajo, Cherokee and Iroquois, and also some of the tribes in India
like the Khasis of North East India and the Nayars of southern India are examples
of societies with matrilineal descent. Among the Ashanti of Ghana, the authority
lies with the mother’s brother and a son inherits the property of the mother’s
brother, whereas among the Khasis of Meghalaya of North East India the immovable
property like the ancestral house is inherited by the youngest daughter from her
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Kinship, Marriage and mother’s mother (grandmother) and is known as the Kakhaddu. Herein, the rule
Family
of descent lies in the ultimo geniture that is the youngest in the family.
Double Descent is a kinship system in which descent is traced through both the
paternal and maternal side. In such a descent system for certain aspects descent
is traced through the mother while for other aspects descent is traced through the
father. Usually the distinction is that fixed or immovable property is handed down
from father to son while the movable property moves from mother to daughter
which may include small livestock’s, agricultural produce and also items of cultural
value like jewelry etc. As in the case of Sumi Nagas of Nagaland, which is
basically a patrilineal society during marriage Achiku a traditional necklace is
handed down from mother to daughter and moves in the same line. This necklace
if acquired from the market has no value but is treasured as a family heirloom if
passed on from mother to daughter (example related by one of the Sumi Naga
participants in a seminar). Other example of double descent well described is seen
among the Yako of Nigeria, Forde (1967:285-332).
Ambilineal descent is a form of descent wherein a person can choose the kingroup
to affiliate with which he wants to affiliate with, either his father’s kingroup or his
mothers. Bilateral descent is a kinship system wherein a person gives equal emphasis
to both his mother’s and father’s kin. Lineal kinship or the direct line of
consanguinity is the relationship between persons, one of whom is a descendant
of the other. Examples are like from father to son, grandfather to grandson etc.
In a partilineal society, people tend to remember their ancestry for several
generations like in the case of Tallensi of Ghana sometimes they could trace the
lineal descent upto fourteen generations. Collateral kinship is the relationship
between people who descend from a common ancestor but are not in a direct line.
Examples are the relation between two brothers, cousin to cousin etc.
In Kinship studies Ego plays a vital role. Ego is the respondent through whom a
relationship is traced. It can be a male or a female for example if the ego is (C)
the son of a person (A) then all relations in this case would be traced through C.
For better understanding please refer to the diagram below showing Ego (C’s)
family genealogy.
=
A B
(ego) =
C E D
F G
Fig. 1.1
As stated above in the diagram the EGO is C son of A. Let’s, see how the
relations would be traced in this situation if we start from the EGO. Ego is A’s son
that is father is A, and mother is B while D is his sister (sibling). E is ego’s wife,
and F and D are his two sons. Herein, for male the sign is  and the female is
 , the = sign signifies marriage, while  stands for divorce, and  connects
parents and children, connects siblings while  or  signifies death.
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Reflection and Activity Kinship
Trace your line of descent and explain the category of descent it falls under: a. Unilateral
or b. Cognatic descent group. To assist you below a representation of each group is
given:
a. Unilateral descent groups comprise of kingroups who trace their descent either
through the male or female line.
b. Cognatic descent groups comprises of kingroups who trace descent from both the
male and female lines. Double descent, ambilineal descent and bilateral descent are
types of cognatic descent groups.
Clan consists of members who trace their origin to a common ancestor which can
be a living or non-living being without knowing the genealogical links to that
ancestor. It is also defined as a unilateral exogamous group. Totemism is the
belief that people are related to a particular animal, plant or natural object by
virtue of descent from a common ancestral spirit. A totemic clan traces their origin
to some particular non human object like the tiger, a bird, thunder etc. Examples
of totemic clans are found all over the world like Africa, Asia, Australia, Eastern
Europe, Western Europe, and the Arctic polar region. Among the Kimberly tribe
of Australian Aborigines one of the clans traces their origin to the butcher bird
(karadada).
The term Phraty is derived from the Greek term phrater meaning brother. Phratry
is basically a kin group comprising of several clans based on brotherhood mostly
through common descent and is a consanguineous group. A moiety is the literal
division of the society in two halves. A moiety consists of many phratries and it
is a bigger unit than a phratry. All moieties have phratries in it but a phratry need
not be a moiety. As per legends, northern Kimberley tribe of Australia has two
moieties and is represented by two birds, Wodoi the Spotted Nightjar, and Djungun
the Owlet Nightjar (http://www.aboriginalculture.com.au/socialorganisation.shtml,
accessed on 29th March, 2010). The moieties are exogamous that is they marry
outside of their moiety and never within the same moiety.
Endogamy and Exogamy are two concepts which we would be referring to in
terms of marriage, which also follows the kinship rules. Endogamy is the practice
of marrying within the group. In most of the tribes and caste based societies the
rule of endogamy exists. For example among the Naga Tribe of North East India
there are different Naga Tribes like the Semi, Ao, Sumi, Angami etc. The tribes
rarely marry outside their own tribes. Likewise in the caste based system of India
a caste group always marries within their own caste like a Brahmin would marry
a Brahmin and not a Kshatriya. Exogamy is marrying out. Within the tribe and
caste the system rule of exogamy is followed by which a person has to marry
outside his own clan while in a caste based society one has to marry outside his
gotra. Herein the moiety and phraty also comes into play. As stated earlier a
moiety is exogamous and one has to marry into the other moiety.
1.3 A BRIEF HISTORY OF KINSHIP STUDIES IN

ANTHROPOLOGY
The study of Kinship has its home in anthropology since the early 19th century. In
the initial ages it emerged as a subject which became an integral part of social
anthropology and the anthropologists engaged themselves in collecting data on
genealogies. The terminologies used in describing kinship relation took centre
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Kinship, Marriage and stage in social anthropological studies but by the turn of the century the new
Family
generation of anthropologists started questioning the relevance of collecting
genealogies when it was looking at the society from Marxist and Feminist
perspectives. Kinship studies were on the verge of collapse as the than
anthropologists moved on to explore new avenues in anthropology. It was with the
work of Schneider that there was a revival of kinship studies which tend to be
historically grounded, focus on everyday experiences, and understandings,
representation of gender, power and differences. Thus, under this section we
would take up Kinship studies in two perspectives: i) Morgan’s Kinship system
which laid the basis for the study of Kinship and ii) Contemporary Kinship studies
how it emerged and what are the aspects under its consideration.
1.3.1 Morgan’s Kinship System

In Anthropological parlance Lewis Henry Morgan took up the initial studies on
Kinship. Morgan’s idea of kinship was reflected in his two major works Systems
of Consanguinity and Affinity of the Human Family (1870) and Ancient
Society (1877) which consisted of ethnographic data collected from the Iroquois,
an American tribe during his student days. Later he also acted on behalf of the
Iroquois in cases related to land rights. As mentioned in Unit 1, Block 3 Morgan
coined and described the terms Classificatory and Descriptive systems of kinship
relationships. Morgan discovered that the Iroquois had two types of terminologies
referring to their kinsman. He stated that in the classificatory system the Iroquois
merged lineal kin with the collateral kins who were linked through the same ties
(sex), like for example a father’s brother is classified as a father (both having the
same ties through men) and a mother’s sister as mother (again both having same
ties through female). While on the other hand distinguished lineals from collaterals
who were not linked through the same ties, for example mother’s brother had a
separate term of reference Uncle (being related differently-different sex) and father’s
sister as Aunt. Likewise, parallel cousins (father’s brothers’ children and mother’s
sisters’ children) were considered as siblings whereas cross cousins (father’s sisters’
children and mother’s brothers’ children) were not considered as siblings.
Morgan’s descriptive system on the other hand classified all collaterals together
and kept them separate from the lineal kin. The descriptive system is commonly
seen in the European societies where parents (father/mother) are distinguished
from all collaterals, who themselves have common terms of reference regardless
of the line of descent (uncle, aunt, nephew, niece). The Iroquois Kinship System
clearly shows the distinction between the classificatory and the descriptive system.
= = = = =
C A A B B D
G H E F E Ego F E F G H
Fig. 1.2: Iroquios kinship system
Adapted from: Nanda, Serena and Richard L. Warms. 2010: 184
Herein, this figure we see that the Ego has the same term of reference for the kins with the
same numbers. Under this system with unilineal descent mother’s side of the family (B and
10
D) is distinguished from father’s side of the family (A and C), and cross cousins Kinship
( and ) from parallel cousins ( and ).
Morgan later discovered that Ojibwa Indians had the same classificatory and
descriptive kinship terminology as the Iroquois, though the language spoken was
completely different. Similarly, it was discovered that Tamil and Telegu populations
of South India shared similar kinship terminologies as with the Iroquois and the
Ojibwa Indians. The South Indian kinship later came to be known as Dravidian
kinship. This part related to Kinship system in India would be taken up in detail
in unit 5 of this same block.
The Eskimo’s also had both classificatory and descriptive terms; in addition to sex
and generation, and further distinguishes between lineal and collateral kins. Lineal
relatives have highly descriptive terms; collateral relatives have highly classificatory
terms. This kinship system came to be known as Eskimo Kinship.
= = = = =
F E F E A B E F F E
G G G G C Ego D G G G G
Fig.: 1.3: Eskimo kinship system
In the Eskimo kinship a clear cut distinction is seen between the lineal and collateral
relations. Ego uses one set of terms to refer to his lineal relations (A, B, C and D) and
another set of term to refer to his collateral relations (E.F and G).
Even the Omaha Kinship is like the Iroquois, but further distinguishes between
mother’s side and father’s side. Relatives on the mother’s side of the family have
more classificatory terms, while relatives on the father’s side have more descriptive
terms.
= = = = =
C A A B B D
= = = = =
G H E F E Ego F E F D B
D K G H G H D B E F
Fig.: 1.4: Omaha kinship system
In the Omaha kinship a bifurcate merging system is seen among the patrilineal relations. Like
in the Iroquois system it merges father and father’s brother and mother and mother’s sister.
However, in addition it merges generations in mother’s side. So, men who are members of
Ego’s mother’s patrilineage are referred to by same term as for mother’s brother, regardless
of age or generation. 11
Kinship, Marriage and While the Crow Kinship is also like Iroquois, but further distinguishes between
Family
mother’s side and father’s side. Relatives on the mother’s side of the family have
more descriptive terms, and relatives on the father’s side have more classificatory
terms.
= = = = =
C A A B B C
A D E F E Ego F E F G H
Fig.: 1.5: Crow kinship system
The Crow kinship system is similar to Omaha Kinship system but is found among matrilineal
society. Like the Omaha system it merges father and father’s brother and mother and
mother’s sister. However, unlike the Omaha system, it merges generations on the father’s
side. So, all women who are members of Ego’s father’s matrilineage are referred to by same
term as for father’s sister, regardless of age or generation
Variations on the classificatory terminology was also observed by Morgan among

certain groups called as Malayan but rephrased as Hawaiian or generational by
later anthropologists. Under this kinship terminology mostly related to Polynesia
each generation of males have one term while the females have another. Under
such a system there is no distinction in terminology for relations from matrikin-
mother’s side and patrikin- father’s side belonging to the same gender, lineal and
collateral belonging to the same generation.
= = = = =
A B A B A B B A A B
C D C D C Ego D C D C D
Fig.: 1.6: Hawaiian kinship system
In the Hawaiian kinship the primary distinctions are between men and women and between
generations. All members of the Ego’s generation are designated by the same terms Ego
uses for brother and sister. All members of Ego’s parent’s generation are designated by the
same term Ego uses for mother and father.
Sudanese Kinship on the other hand was more descriptive that is no two relatives
share the same term.
= = = = =
K L M N O P Q R S T
C D E F A Ego B G H I J
Fig.: 1.7 Sudanese kinship system

12
The Sudanese kinship system occurs most frequently in societies with substantial hierarchy Kinship
and distinctions of class. It includes a separate term for each relative.
Based on the above studies Morgan explained the evolution from a supposed form of
primitive promiscuity. This was seen as a primordial situation in which the human
population was divided into hordes with no form of marriage or restriction on sexual
intercourse. Leading to a situation where children could identify their mothers only.
Morgan related this state to the Malayan system of kinship.
Morgan’s idea of Kinship was at par with the works of Johann J. Bachofen, a
Swiss lawyer who postulated the theory of ‘matriarchate’ in which women ruled
the society, later on followed by ‘patriarchate’ where marriage and family became
a part of society. Scottish lawyer John McLennan working in the same lines
postulated ‘survivals’ in terms of ritual expressions – of bride capture and female
infanticides. According to McLennan for the early hunters and gathers a daughter
was a liability whereas a wife was an asset. As daughters were killed off it led to
competition for wives, which was eased by the practice for polyandry – a marriage
where a woman can have more than one husband at the same time. While Sir
Henry Maine (1861) a lawyer by profession from his experience of administrative
work in India claimed that the earliest form of social organisation was the patrilineal
family under the absolute authority of father-husband. Maine thus placed family at
the start of social evolution followed by development of other social organisations
as descent, clan etc. The conflict between historical priority of clan or family
persisted into the 20th century. W. Robertson Smith (1885), Sir James Frazer
(1910) and Emile Durkheim (1912) correlated the development of clans to early
forms of religion involving blood, sacrifice and totemism. The association of religion
with clan postulated by Durkheim in The Elementary Forms of Religious Life,
(1912) was shown to be inappropriate by Alexander Goldenweiser a follower of
Franz Boas. Although Radcliffe-Brown tried to revive the theory of Durkheim, an
attempt which was put to rest by Levi-Strauss stating that clan is merely cognitive
as it only provides an understanding of social universe.
An alternative approach was put forward by Malinowski, for whom nuclear family
was the fundamental unit in society and dismissed kinship terminology as kinship
algebra way to confusing to the understanding of ways of society. W.H.R. Rivers
conceptualised the Genealogical method for collecting kin terms. The genealogical
terminology used in many genealogical charts describes relatives of the Ego in
question. Below a list of abbreviations is provided alongwith a diagrammatic
representation which would help in tracing genealogical relationships. The
abbreviations may be used to distinguish a single or compound relationship, such
as BC for brother’s children, MBD for a mother’s brother’s daughter, and so
forth.
 B = Brother
 C = Child(ren)
 D = Daughter
 F = Father
 GC = Grandchild(ren)
 GP = Grandparent(s)
 P = Parent
 S = Son
13
Kinship, Marriage and  Z = Sister
Family
 W = Wife
 H = Husband
 SP = Spouse
 LA = In-law
 SI = Sibling
 M = Mother
 (m.s.) = male speaking
 (f.s.) = female speaking
GF GM
G
F M
Ego W Z ZH
ZS ZD
S
S D
Fig.: 1.8
Reflection and Action
Trace the genealogy of your family considering yourself as the Ego. Also utilize the
symbols to show the relations.
1.3.2 Contemporary Kinship Studies in the Late 20th Century

The shift of Kinship studies in terms of focus from emphasis on terminologies,
tracing genealogies and usage was seen in Schneider’s work American Kinship
A Cultural Account, (1968) which centered on symbols and meanings. It was an
exemplary work in terms of interpretative anthropology. He was focused on
representing American Kinship in terms of symbols and meanings rather than on
kinship statuses, roles and institutions. He himself had stated that his book be
considered as an “account of what Americans say when they talk about kinship
………the symbols which are American Kinship”. His work presented Kinship
in a more lucid way pertaining to the symbols such as ‘family’, ‘home’ etc. which
till date remains a significant insight to kinship in North America and Britain.
Levis- Strauss’s concern was mainly with the understanding of the underlying
relationships among the constituent elements in kinship. His search for ‘deep
structures’ capable of revealing the workings of the Mind was seen in his analysis
of the structural significance of ties of marriage and alliance, the ways in which
they link descent units of various kinds. Claude Lévi-Strauss, The Elementary
Structures of Kinship (1969) was a move from descent to alliance which redefined
14
the study from kinship, and marriage in particular to a critical reevaluation of the Kinship
entailments of descent and various dimensions of unilinear groups. While under the
same pattern of studying structures Kelly developed upon sibling ship as a principle
of social order with principles of descent, filiations and affinity. Kelly’s Etoro
Social Structure: A Study in Structural Contradictions (1977) is a landmark
work wherein the deviation was seen with the focus being on siblings rather than
parent-child relations in kinship.
The early 70s also saw a rise in Feminists writing and the influence was also seen
in the works related to kinship. Some of the major works of the time were G.
Rubin’s, The traffic in women: notes on the ‘political economy’ of sex, (1975)
and Worlds of Pain: Life in the working class family, (1976). Among other
criticisms Levi Strauss’s “exchange of women” came under strong criticisms in
Rubin’s works. Levi Strauss in his work has portrayed women as a means of
exchange and a passage for political gains. In Evans-Pritchard’s ethnography on
the Nuers, he had also elaborated on the bride price/wealth of cattle exchange to
show the wealth of a tribe, a means of establishing political ties between two
tribes. Among the Nagas of North East India bride price is also a common
practice. It’s a system wherein a brides family is compensated for the loss of one
earning member in the family.
Goody’s work Family and Inheritance: Rural Society in Western Europe 1200-
1800, (1976) was a departure from the study of kinship as structure, as it considered
continuity and change in kinship and inheritance based on historic data as well. Le
Roy Ladurie and others have during the time relied on legal records and archival
material to discover the kinship ties in relation to peasant testimony on marriage,
sexual division of labour etc. In relation to historical change Sahlin’s work brings
into focus the role of ambiguity and structural contradictions in historical change.
Michael G. Peletz, A Share of the Harvest: Kinship, Property and Social History
Among the Malays of Rembau (1988) and Reason and Passion: Representations
of Gender in Malay Society (1996) focuses on the changes in kinship, gender
and social structure in the Malays a matrilineal society associated with British
colonialisation, coming in contact with globalisation and Islamic nationalism and
reform.
The rise in societies with social class and social institutions saw the effects in the
receding status of women in the context of breaking up of the kin-based societies.
There was also a shift in the power and production system with the coming up of
the states where the economy determines the mode of production as opposed to
the kinship dominated mode of production in the segmentary societies. Meillassoux
and Godelier showed the relation of lineage and production in a society. Herein
these studies the Marxist tradition is seen.
In the present era we are also concerned with complex kinship related questions
due to the new means of reproductive technologies such as sperm banks, in vitro
fertilization (IVF) and surrogate motherhood. Herein the question lies with maternal
rights whom to be considered as a mother- the biological mother who donates an
egg, in such cases a husband’s sperm is fertilized in controlled laboratory atmosphere
with a woman’s egg besides his wife (as she is not able to produce eggs due to
various medical reasons) and then implanted into another woman’s womb for
gestation, or the surrogate mother who carried the child in her womb for nine
months? Kinship studies have also encompassed the Kinship relations based on
choice and not ‘blood’. Weston’s, Families We Choose: Lesbians, Gays, Kinship,
(1996) relates the present day gay and lesbian relationships and the legalization of 15
Kinship, Marriage and the same in some countries thereby creating new types of families and marriages.
Family
These would be further taken up in the units on Family and Marriage in the same
block.
1.4 SUMMARY
To sum up we can state that Kinship is one of the integral avenues of study in
social anthropology. Kinship as we had seen is a social recognition of the biological
ties and it takes into its fold adoption also. Kinsman cannot change their kinship
ties and one has to follow the rules of kinship in descent and marriage. A man has
two types of kin groups those related by blood ties, his cognates and those related
by marriage- affines. One shares different types of relationship with his kinsmen
based on the type of society either patrilineal or matrilineal. In a patrilineal society
all relations are traced through his father while in a matrilineal society the ties are
traced through the mother. Inheritance, descent and authority are based on the
type of society patriarchy or matriarchy. In the history of Kinship we had seen that
kinship study has been enveloped in controversies. In the late 20th century there
were times when anthropologists had negated the relevance of kinship studies as
ethnocentric and build upon certain western ideas about kinship. In the words of
Malinowski kinship is ‘kinship algebra’ and the collection of genealogies had no
meaning. Kinship studies however, in the late 20 th century came up with a new
vision and it moved beyond the realms of collection of genealogy. With the coming
of modernism and feminism kinship studies ventured to new avenues and also took
into its fold the study of latest trends that is of the gay and lesbian kinship. Thus,
we can say that kinship studies are very much prerogative in the study of social
anthropology and would remain so in the long run. In the upcoming unit, we would
discuss about the theories of descent and alliance which helped in shaping kinship
ties.
References
Barnes, J. A. 1961. ‘Physical and Social Kinship’. Philosophy of Science. 28 (3):
296–299
Encyclopaedia Britannica at http://www.britannica.com/ accessed on 29th March,
2011.
Evans-Pritchard, E. E. 1951. Kinship and Marriage among the Nuer. Oxford:
Clarendon Press.
Forde, Daryll. 1967. ‘Double Descent Among the Yako’. In African Systems of
Kinship and Marriage. A. R. Radcliffe-Brown and Daryll Fordes, eds., London:
Oxford University Press.
Fox , R. 1996. Kinship and Marriage. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
[Penguin Books Ltd], [1967].
Godelier M. 1998. ‘Afterword: Transformation and Lines of Evolution’. In M.
Godelier, T.R. Trautmann & F.E. Tjon Sie Fat (eds.). Transformations of kinship.
Washington & London: Smithsonian Institution, p. 386-413.
Goody, J, Thirsk J Thompson EP. 1976. (ed.) Family and Inheritance: Rural
Society in Western Europe 1200-1800. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
http://www.aboriginalculture.com.au/socialorganisation.shtml
16
Kelly, R. 1977. Etoro Social Structure: A Study in Structural Contradictions. Kinship
Ann Arbor: University Mich. Press.
Levis- Strauss. 1969. The Elementary Structures of Kinship. Great Britain: Eyre
and Spottiswoode.
Mair, Lucy. 1977. An Introduction to Social Anthropology. Delhi: Oxford
University Press.
Nanda, Serena and Richard L. Warms. 2010. Cultural Anthropology. 10th Edition.
United Kingdom: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
Parkins, Robert and Linda Stone. (ed.). 2004. Kinship and Family: An
Anthropological Reader.MA: Blackwell. Malden.
Peletz, Michael G. 1988. A Share of the Harvest: Kinship, Property and Social
History Among the Malays of Rembau. Berkley: University of California Press.
___________ 1995. ‘Kinship Studies in Late Twentieth-Century Anthropology’.
In Annual Review in Anthropology: 24:343-72.
___________ 1996. Reason and Passion: Representations of Gender in Malaya
society. Berkley: University of California Press.
Rubins, G. 1975. The Traffic in Women: Notes on the ‘political economy’ of
sex.
___________ 1976. Worlds of Pain: Life in the Working-Class family. New
York: Basic Books.
Schneider, DM. 1968. American Kinship: A Cultural Account. Englewood Cliffs,
NJ: Prentice Hall.
Stone L. 1997. Kinship and Gender: An Introduction. Boulder: Westview Press.
Tonkinson R. 1991. ‘The Mardu Aborigines: Living the Dream in Australiaís Desert’.
(2e.). New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston. Case Studies in cultural
Anthropology, [1978].
Weston, Kath. (ed.). 1997. Families We Choose: Lesbians, Gays Kinship. New
York: Columbia University Press.
Suggested Reading
Fox , R. 1996. Kinship and Marriage. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
[Penguin Books Ltd], [1967].
Nanda, Serena and Richard L. Warms. 2010. Cultural Anthropology. 10th Edition.
Parkins, Robert and Linda Stone. (ed.). 2004. Kinship and Family: An
Anthropological Reader. MA: Blackwell. Malden.
Peletz, Michael G. 1995. ‘Kinship Studies in Late Twentieth-Century Anthropology’.
In Annual Review in Anthropology: 24:343-72.
17
Kinship, Marriage and Sample Questions
Family
1) What is kinship?
2) What is the relationship between kinship and descent explain with examples.
3) What is matrilineal descent?
4) Give examples of patrilineal descent.
5) Discuss critically Morgan’s classificatory and descriptive kinship.
18
UNIT 4 FAMILY
Contents
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Concepts, Meaning and Definitions
4.3 Functions of a Family
4.4 Changing dimensions of Family
4.5 Summary
References
Suggested Reading
Sample Questions
Learning Objectives 
After reading this unit the students should be able to:
 define the different forms of family;
 outline the various functions of a family; and
 discuss changing aspects of family in the contemporary time.
4.1 INTRODUCTION
When a child is born, he/ she is born into a family which is known as the smallest
social unit. Family is the social unit which endows the child with social norms,
values, rules and regulations through the process of enculturation. This unit would
help the students understand the social institution of family, how it emerged, its
concepts, definitions and functions as a social unit. The focus would also be on
the changing dimensions that have taken place in the family structure.
A family is established through marriage which is known as the nuclear family;
the unit of one set of parents and children, is often embedded in larger groupings
like joint families, lineages, clans and domestic groups of various kinds. The relatives
connected through the father or the patriline are called as agnates and those
connected through the mother or matriline are called as uterine, a combination of
these or all relatives from side of both parents are called as cognates. The basic
family also presupposes a monogamous marriage while in actuality there can be
a polygamous marriage by virtue of which even the basic unit may be differently
constituted. Since the incest taboo makes the family discontinuous over generations,
every adult belongs to two families, one in which he/she is born and another that
is established through marriage; these are known respectively as the family of
orientation and the family of procreation. Let us now consider each of these
aspects in details.
4.2 CONCEPTS, MEANINGS AND DEFINITIONS

How has the concept of family emerged? Was family always a part of society?
These are certain questions which would be taken up in this section alongwith the
various definitions of family postulated by anthropologists. The word family has its
origin in the Latin word familia derived from famulus meaning servant. Familia 39
Kinship, Marriage and must have been used to refer to all the slaves and servants living under one roof,
Family
including the entire household that is the master, on the one hand, and the wife,
children and servants living under his control. Today when we use the term family
it covers all the various groups of relatives representing a household (all the
individuals living under one roof), gens (all those descended from a common
ancestor), agnatic (relatives on the father’s side) and cognatic (relatives on the
mother’s side, and then by extension all blood relatives).
The family though considered universal in nature found in all types and levels of
societies and cultures, yet it is difficult to trace the origin. In the early years of the
anthropological history the origin of family, how it emerged in society was much
discussed and debated. Followers of the evolutionary theory were of the opinion
that family as an institution has evolved just like the society. Lewis Henry Morgan
in his work Ancient Society (1877) stated that in the early societies the concept
of family was not prevalent. Such societies were nomads and promiscus where
free sex relations were prevalent thus, the role of the father was not important and
the mother-sib was the earliest form of grouping. He stated, ‘The principal institutions
of mankind originated in savagery, were developed in barbarism, and are maturing
in civilization. In like manner, the family has passed through successive forms, and
created great systems of consanguinity and affinity which have remained to the
present time. These systems, which record the relationships existing in the family
of the period, when each system respectively was formed, contain an instructive
record of the experience of mankind while the family was advancing from the
consanguine, through intermediate forms, to the monogamian’ (1877:18). Though
today, Morgan’s evolutinary scheme is not followed, his work is important as he
gave the first classification of five forms of family based on five different types of
marriage.
1) The Consanguine family was founded upon the intermarriage of brothers and
sisters in a group. Evidence still remains in the oldest of existing systems of
Consanguinity, the Malayan, tending to show that this, the first form of the
family, was anciently as universal as this system of consanguinity which it
created.
2) The Punaluan family its name is derived from the Hawaiian relationship of
Punalua. It was founded upon the intermarriage of several brothers to each
other’s wives in a group; and of several sisters to each other’s husbands in
a group. But the term brother, as here used, included the first, second, third,
and even more remote male cousins, all of whom were considered brothers
to each other, as we consider own brothers; and the term sister included the
first, second, third, and even more remote female cousins, all of whom were
sisters to each other, the same as own sisters. This form of the family
supervened upon the consanguine. It created the Turanian and Ganowanian
systems of consanguinity. Both this and the previous form belong to the
period of savagery.
3) The Syndyasmian or pairing of family founded upon the marriage of single
pairs, without giving the right of exclusive cohabitation to any person over the
other. The term Syndyasmian is derived from syndyazo, meaning to pair. It
was the germ of the Monogamian Family. Divorce or separation was at the
option of both husband and wife. This form of the family failed to create a
system of consanguinity.
40
4) The Patriarchal family comprising of marriage of one man to several wives, Family
each wife being secluded from every other. The term is here used in a
restricted sense to define the special family of the Hebrew pastoral tribes, the
chiefs and principal men of which practised polygamy. It exercised but little
influence upon human affairs for want of universality.
5) The Monogamian family was founded upon marriage between single pairs,
with the married couple having exclusive cohabitation with one another the
latter constituting the essential of the institution. It is pre-eminently the family
of civilized society, and was therefore essentially modern. This form of the
family also created an independent system of consanguinity (Morgan, 1877:
40-41).
Westermarck (1853-1936) who had done a detailed study of the institution of
marriage concluded that the family emerged due to male possessiveness and jealousy.
In his work The History of Human Marriage (1922) he asserted that with the
growing concept of property, males started the insititution of family to protect and
safeguard their property. This theory was a direct criticism of Morgan’s theory
wherein the origin of family was ascribed to the bonding of mother- sib.
Westermarck though an adherent follower of evolutionism went a bit too far while
postulating the origin of monogamy as he traced it to the mammals and the birds.
Activity
Before we move on to define a family let us start with a simple task. Please list down
the names of the persons you would like to include in your family. Now if you have
listed the names of your family members, I am sure there would be many variations to
the list. Some of you might have included the names of your parents and siblings only,
while others might have also added grandparents adopted brothers/sisters or cousins
who stay with you. Likewise, the definition of family has variations as there are different
types and forms of families. There has always been a universal problem in defining a
family, so herein we would discuss some of the definitions which has tried to encompass
the meaning of family in totality.
During the early 19th century evolutionary anthropologists had described family as
a group based on marriage, common residence, emotional bonds and stipulation
of doemstic services. While in the early 20th century R.H. Lowie defined family
as a group based on material relations, rights and duties of parenthood, common
habitation and reciprocal relations between parents and children. Ralph Linton
similarly defined family as a group that involves marriage, rights and duties of
parents and children. George Peter Murdock, (1949) examined 192 societies and
formulated a definition of family as ‘the family is a social group characterised by
common residence, economic co-operation, and reproduction. It includes both
sexes, atleast two of whom maintain a socially approved sexual relationship, and
one or more children, own or adopted’. The chart presented below shows the
different types of families as constructed by George Peter Murdock.
41
Kinship, Marriage and
Family FAMILY
(Nuclear family) (Composite family)
(Polygamous family) (Extended family)
(Polygamous family) (Polyandrous family)
(Patrilocal (Matrilocal (Avunculocal (Bilocal (Fraternal

extended extended extended extended extended
family) family) family) family) family)
Adapted from Makhan Jha, An Introduction to Social Anthropology 1995 (reprint) pp 74.
Nuclear Family consists of a married couple (man and woman) with their children
own or adopted. In certain cases one or more additional persons may also reside
with them. This type of family is prevalent in alomost all societies. Compact in
nature this type is very popular in the present day world where there is a continuous
struggle for economic subsistence.
Composite family is composed of two or more nuclear families which can be
divided into polygamous family and the extended family. The polygamous
family includes three varients based on marriage polyandry, polygyny and
polyandrous (refer to Unit- 3 of the same block for details). An extended family
consists of two or more nuclear families affiliated through extension of the parent-
child relationship. Based on the post-marital residence, an extended family can be
of the following types.
 Patrilocal family is composed of two or more nuclear families residing at
the same house, it is an extension of the father son relationship. Such a family
comrpises of a man and his wife and their sons and the sons’ wives and
childrens.
 A matrilocal family is founded with two or more nuclear families affiliated
through an extension of mother daughter relationship. It consists of a family
comprising of a woman her daughters and the daughters’ husbands and children.
 The bilocal extended family is a combination of patrilocal extended family
and matrilocal extended family. The extended family consists of two or more
lineally related kinfolk of the same sex and their spouses and offspring
occupying a single household and under the authority of a household head.
 The Avunculocal extended family consists of two or more nuclear families
affiliated through an extension of maternal-uncle and sisters son relationship.
Such a family includes a nuclear family formed by a man his wife and daughters
42 and the nuclear family formed by his sister’s son and wife and children.
 The Faternal Joint Family is a family system, like a patrilineal extended family Family
wherein the family comrpises of a man and his wife and their sons and the
sons’ wives and childrens. We can say that in such a family three generations
of kins live together. At times, such a family can be traced upto ten or so
generations living in the same residence and sharing common hearth.
In the later half of the 20th century anthropologists tried to define family in terms
of certain criteria important from the society’s point of view. According to Edmund
Leach a group to be called a family should compromise either one or several of
the following criteria: marriage, legal paternity and maternity, monopoly of the
couple over each other’s sexuality, rights of the spouses to each others labour
services, rights of both the spouses over property to establish a joint fund of
property for the benefit of the children, and a socially significant relationship of
affinity between each spouse and the relatives of the other. Evans-Pritchard also
gave a classification of types of family based on his study of The Nuers (1940)
of Sudan. His classification is more suited for the patrilineal society.
 The simple legal family comrpising of a married couple and their children.
This type of family is commonly known as a natural family.
 The complex legal family or the polygamous family where a number of
separate families are linked by their relationship to a common father.
 The ghost family which consits of the ghost (pater), his wife, their children
and the kinsmen who became their genitor in virtue of his duty towards the
ghost. The ghost family is concieved when a young man dies who has not
married yet. So a young man from the dead man’s lineage marries a woman
on behalf of the dead man and generates a family for the dead man. The
children born out of such a marriage are known as the ghost’s children and
bear his name.
Variations in a Family System
From the above discussion we can describe the family as a domestic group in
which a couple (parents) and children own or adopted live together. Yet there are
societies where the same norms are not applicable. Meyer Fortes (1945) in his
study of Ashanti of Ghana has described a society where the husband and wife
after marriage continues to live with their respective family of orientation, a reason
why the people of Ashanti like to find spouses in their own village. Lucy Mair
(1997) discussing Fortes work reflects on the description of how an Ashanti
village at sunset is full of young children carrying steaming dishes on their heads
from mother to father- sometimes it also becomes an exchange between two
houses. Thus, in such a family system the husband is a visiting husband and his role
as a father is limited to procreation alone. The upbringing of his children lies with
the kins of the wife’s family whereas he is responsible for the upbringing of his
sister’s children. Likewise, among the Nayars of South India also, the same system
of visiting husband is seen as discussed in Unit-3 of the same block and herein
like the Ashanti of Ghana the responsibility of the child rests with the mother’s
lineage. The Khasis of Meghalaya and the Garos of Garo Hills of Meghalaya are
two matrilineal societies where, in the first society the husband comes to live with
the wife’s family, while in the latter the husband is a visiting husband. While among
the Hopi’s of Southwest Amercia a man after marriage moves on to live with his
wife’s family in which he has important economic responsibilities but few ritual
obligations. In Hopi society also like the other matrilineal societies the man is
43
Kinship, Marriage and responsible and retains authority and leadership for his sister’s son and is not
Family
responible for his own children.
On the other hand among the matrilineal Trobriand islanders a practice is prevalent
wherein a boy grows up in his father’s family and after marriage when he sets up
house he is expected to live in the village of his mother’s brother. Herein, this
system the domestic authority which lies with the father is fullfilled and also the
jural authority that is authority in matters of distribution of property etc. that lies
with the mother’s brother is also successfully fulfilled. The Trobrianders also practice
the marriage of mother’s brother’s daughter and as such when a boy sets up
house in his mother’s brother’s village the bride is not removed from the vicinity
of her kin. Likewise, among the Yao and Cewa of Malawi a man immediately
after marriage has to live in his wife’s home and later he can setup house at the
village of his own matrilineal kin. In such a case by the time his daughters are of
marriageable age he becomes the head of the family to which the daughters’
husbands come (Mair, 1977).
The ghost marriage as described by Evans- Pritchard in his study of the Nuers is
also a variation in the family system as it is not found in all societies. Then there
is also the practice of a woman usually a barren woman paying bridewealth and
establishing the right to count another woman’s children as her own. In such a case
the barren woman is usually a diviner who thus, attains wealth to pay for the bride
price. The woman-husband in this case can select a man to co-habitat with her
‘wife’ and produce children who would be than known as her own (Mair, 1997).
Such a practice is seen among the Nuers, Zulus and the Yoruba societies.
Family types based on Residence
Family types can be categorized based on the type of residence also. In North
American society it is customary for the newly wedded couple to take up residence
in a place of their own, apart from the relatives of either spouse. This is known
as neolocal residence (that is a new place). Thus, a new family basically known
as nuclear family is formed with only husband and wife and later on their children,
own or adopted. When the newly married couple takes up residence in the groom’s
father’s house in a partilocal family such a residence is known as patrilocal or
virilocal residence. On the other hand a matrilocal or uxorilocal residence is
created when the couple takes up residence in a matrilocal family i.e, with the
bride’s family. In some societies like the Ashanti of Ghana a couple after marriage
resides with the groom’s mother’s brother’s family or maternal uncles house known
as avunculocal residence. Again in some societies a married couple has the
choice of living with relatives of either spouse (the husband or the wife). A residence
thus formed is known as ambilocal or bilocal residence.
Analyse your family using the geneological method as discussed in Unit 1 of this Block.
Describe what kind of a residence and family pattern it has.
Is Marriage and Family Universal?

In the earlier block also we have discussed marriage in length and we have come
to the conclusion that marriage leads to a family. But there is an example from the
Na society of China wherein there is no word for the term ‘marriage’ in their
language (Blumerfield 2004, Geertz 2001, Harrell 2002). The institution in which
the men and women are joined in sexual and reproductive partnerships is called
44 sese. In this system a man spends the night in a lover’s house and goes away in
the morning. The sese relationship does not hold any notion of fidelity, permanence, Family
paternal responsibility for children born or any form of economic obligations (Shih,
2001). A child born is the responsibility of the mother and her sisters and brothers.
A Na household comprises of mother and her sons and daughters, sisters and their
children and the brothers.
Household and Family
Many a times there is confusion between the term family and household. So let’s
first try to understand the term household and what it comprises of. Household has
been defined by Haviland (2003) as the basic residential unit where economic
production, consumption, inheritance, child rearing and shelter are organised and
implemented. The members of a household at times share a common hearth. Let’s
take the example of the Mundurucu of the Amazon who organise themselves
around a household. They have a unique system by which all men and boys above
13 years of age live together whereas all the women and children below 13 years
of age live together (Haviland, 2003). Herein, we see that household is an extention
of family, a family can be a household but a household need not be a family. To
make this statement clear let’s take another example from the present day situation.
We see a lot of students moving out of their native place and settling in some other
city or going abroad for higher education. These students usually on a shoe string
budget like to share accomodation with fellow stduents. Thus, two to three students
take up residence and start sharing space and eating together. This makes them
share a hearth but they are not necessarily members of the same family but belong
to different families.
4.3 FUNCTIONS OF A FAMILY

The family as a social group is universal in nature and its existence is seen at all
levels of cultures. Thus, the family having a status in society also has certain
responsibilities and functions. The basic functions of a family are outlined below:
 Satisfaction of biological need
The family as an institution regularises the satisfatcion of biological needs. It
serves for the institutionalisation of mating a primodial need among all humans.
Family helps in channeling of sexual outlets by defining the norms with whom
one can mate and who are out of bound in the terms of incest taboo. Family
thus helps in establishing a legal father for a woman’s children and a legal
mother for a man’s children.
 Reproduction and Inbibing Social Values
A child as we have learnt is born into a family. As soon as a child is born
into a family he is entitled to certain social position, system of beliefs, language,
parents and kins as per the family sytem that he is born into. This family
nutures the child and imbibe in him the ways of the society through the
process of enculturation preparing him to accept statuses of adulthood.
 Economic
A family as a social group is responsible for satisfying the basic needs of its
members like food, clothes and shelter. In order to achieve this objective all
the members of a family cooperate and divide the work among themselves
and make contribution towards the upkeeping of the family. Emile Durkheim
in his book Division of labour has brought forth this fact and laid emphasis
on economic satisfaction of the need of a family. It thus, serves as the 45
Kinship, Marriage and organisation of a complementary division of labour between spouses which at
Family
the same time allocates to each member of the family certain rights in the
labour of the other and in such goods or property as they may acquire
through their individual or joint efforts.
 Educational
A family provides for the linkage of each spouse and the offspring within the
wider network of kinsmen. It establishes relationships of descent and affinity.
Sociological fatherhood is determined to place the responsibility for the child
on a specific adult. There must be jural fatherhood to regularise transference
of statuses from one generation to the next. A cooperative division of labour
makes for greater efficiency and skill in the work that need to be done. Each
sex can perform many skills equally well, but each sex is likely to develop
those skills it uses more often. The basic functions of the family may be
performed with varying degrees of effectiveness from culture to culture. The
way the details of the functions are carried out can produce remarkably
different individual personalities of children and adult (Madan & Majumdar
1990, Jha 1995 et.al).
4.4 CHANGING DIMENSION OF FAMILY

Till now we have been focusing on the traditional norms and what comprises a
family. We have been concerned with the classical terminology in which a family
has been described and concieved but with the changing times the composition,
meaning and definition of family have also under gone changes. The high divorce
rate and remarriage in the present era leads to a tangled nuclear family leading to
the creation of complex kinship relations also. Presently the blended family is
coming up which comprises of networks which include previously divorced spouses
and their new marriage partners and sometimes children from the previous marriages,
as well as multiple sets of grandparents and other similar relations also. Then,
again there is the surrogate motherhood as discussed in Unit 1 of the same block
which also leads to a different type of family besides adoption. Divorces at times
also lead to families with a single parent either the children staying with mother or
at times with father. In the present day scenario single parenthood and a single
parent household is fast overtaking the nuclear family due to the rise in divorces.
Society being dynamic, we see a lot of changes and such changes have occurred
in the family system and the conception of the family itself. As we have learnt in
the last section of the Unit 1 about lesbian and gay kinship, these new patterns
have also arisen in the family structure – lesbian and gay family. In a lesbian and
gay family the partners usually adopt kids of either sex. There has been a lot of
debate in the recent past on whether or not a same sex couple should be allowed
to parent children, whether artificially implanted or adopted. This debate has gone
on for so long mainly because many religious groups believe that children can only
be properly parented by a father and mother combination. As most of the religions
do not sanction the union of same sex couples and also believe that the child will
suffer if parented by the same sex (Nanda & Warms, 2011). While the upcoming
feminist movement and many welfare agencies have strongly vouched for the
competency of two people as adults regardless of gender to be allowed to adopt
a child and care for the same. This fact is based on the idea that heterosexual
couples often have problems raising children, too. Research has found no major
differences in parenting or child development between families headed by two
46 mothers and other fatherless families. In 2008, Judge Cindy S. Lederman overturned
a Florida state law that prevented homosexual couples from adopting children, Family
stating no “moral or scientific reason for banning gays and lesbians from adopting”,
despite the state’s arguments otherwise (CNN US website accessed on 31 st
March, 2011). While, on the other hand Arkansas has recently banned all unwed
couples from adopting; a law aimed specifically at homosexual couples.
Lesbian and gay couples apart there has also been a trend of two people sharing
a live-in-relationship and begetting children without confirming to the age old
tradition of marriage. In case of live-in-relationship the partners stay as a family
on their personal consensus without undergoing the rituals of marriage which
pronounce a man and a woman as husband and wife. As in the case of family,
cases of domestic violence and rape have also come up in these live-in-relationships.
Presently, in India such cases of doemstic household violence and rape in a live-
in-relationship have been sanctioned by law to be addressed by the family court.
Reflection
Indian Law: Domestic Violence Act 2005
‘Different court judgments have discussed on different disputes pertaining to live-in

relationships. Live-in relationships are now considered at par with marriage under a new
Indian law pertaining to domestic violence. The provisions of the Domestic Violence Act,
2005 are now extended to those who are in live-in relationships as well. The amendments
intend to protect the victims of domestic abuse in live-in relationships. Section 2 (g) of
the aforementioned Act provides that a relationship between two individuals who live
together or have lived together in the past is considered as a domestic relationship. A
woman who is in a live-in relationship can seek legal relief against her partner in case
of abuse and harassment. Further, the new law also protects Indian women who are
trapped in fraudulent or invalid marriages.
http://www.lawisgreek.com/court-judgments-live-relationships-and-related-disputes,
accessed on 14th March, 2011.
Live-in-relationships has been legalised in many countries and thus, falls under the
purview of anthropological study of family. Students need to understand and
evaluate the live-in-relationship pattern, how the emotional bonding takes place
between parents and children, and the working of the kinship relations without a
formal sanction (marriage).
4.5 SUMMARY
From the above discussion on family we can summarize that family has been a
way of bringing togther two people who stay with each other to continue the
functions as administered by society. The question of when and how family as a
social structure came into being is still debatable. Family like other institutions has
also gone through many changes and we see a lot of variations in the family system
in the traditional societies. But in the present era most of the traditional societies
with polygamous and polyandrous family systems are turning into nuclear families.
Likewise, a few changes have also come up in the developed societies. The
blended families, live-in-relationships, gay and lesbian families are new entities in
the developing world and though initially there were lots of resistences yet it has
become an accepted norm in the present day scenario.
47
Kinship, Marriage and References
Family
Blumerfield, Tami. 2004. Walking Marriages. Anthropology Newsletter. 45 (5).
CNN US Websit e ht t p://art icles.cnn.co m/2008-11-25/us/
florida.gay.adoption_1_martin-gill-homosexual-adoption-florida-ban?_s=PM:US
David, Levinson & Martin Malone. 1980. Toward Explaining Human Culture.
New Haven, Conn: HRAF Press.
Durkheim, Emile. 1893. The Division of Labour in Society. Trans. Lewis A.
Coser Reprint in 1997. New York: Free Press.
Ernest, L. Schusky. 1965. Manual for Kinship Analysis. New York: Holt, Rinehart
and Winston.
Evans-Pritchard, E. E. 1940. The Nuer: A Description of the Modes of Livelihood
and Political Institutions of a Nilotic People. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
_____________ 1956. Nuer Religion. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Ferraro, Gary and Susan Andreatta. 2010. Cultural Anthropology: An Applied
Perspective (eight edition). USA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
Fox, Robin. 1967. Kinship and Marriage. Baltimore, Md.: Penguin.
Geertz, Clifford. 2001. ‘The Visit: Review of Cai Hua,’ ‘A Society without Fathers
or Husbands: The Na of China’. New York Review of Books. 18th October: 48
(16).
Harrell, Steven. 2002. Book Review of a Society without Fathers or Husbands:
The Na of China by Cai Hua, trans. Asti Hustvedt, American Anthropologists
104 (3): 982-983.
Haviland, W.A. 2003. Anthropology. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Jha, Makhan. 1945. An Introduction to Social Anthropology. New Delhi: Vikas
Publishing House Pvt. Ltd.
Julius, Gould & William L. Kolb. eds. 1964. A Dictionary of the Social Sciences.
New York: The Free Press.
University Press.
Morgan, Lewis H. 1877. Ancient Society. London: Macmillan & Company. Reprint
(1944) Indian Edition. Bharati Library.
Murdock, George Peter. 1949. Social Structure. New York: Macmillan.
Nanda, Serena and Richard L.Warms. 2011. Cultural Anthropology. 10th Edition.
Nelson, Graburn. ed. 1971. Readings in Kinship and Social Structure. New
York: Harper and Row.
Parkin, Robert and Linda Stone. ed. 2004. Kinship and Family: A
Anthropological Reader. USA: Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Roger, Keesing. 1975. Kin Groups and Social Structure. New York: Holt, Rinehart
48 and Winston.
Shih, Chaun-Kang. 2001. ‘Genesis of Marriage among the Moso and Empire Family
Building in Late Imperial China. The Journal of Asian Studies 60(2): 381-412.
Westermarck, Edward. 1922. The History of Human Marriage. The Allerton
Book Company.
Suggested Readings
University Press.
Nanda, Serena and Richard L.Warms. 2011. Cultural Anthropology. 10th Edition.
Parkin, Robert and Linda Stone. ed. 2004. Kinship and Family: A
Anthropological Reader. USA: Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Sample Questions
1) Define family.
2) Delineate the categorization of family as given by Morgan.
3) State in brief the different types of family as listed by Murdock.
4) Critically discuss the matrilineal and the patrilineal type of families.
6) Discuss the changing dimensions in family in the contemporary society.
49
UNIT 5 KINSHIP, FAMILY AND MARRIAGE
IN INDIA
Contents
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Marriage
5.2.1 Caste and Marriage
5.3 North and South Indian Kinship
5.4 Family
5.4.1 Household Dimension of the Family
5.5 Summary
References
Suggested Reading
Sample Questions
Learning Objective

At the end of the unit, you should be able to:
 describe the marriage patterns in the Indian scenario;
 explain the difference in North and South Indian kinship; and
 discuss the household dimension of family in Indian context.
5.1 INTRODUCTION
This unit will introduce the students to the concepts of kinship, family and marriage
with illustrative examples from India. We shall touch upon a few debates and also
see that at times the representation of Indian society has been more idealistic than
actual. We shall make an attempt to represent the family and marriage practices
of all sections of Indian society rather than being confined to the sanskritic or
textual norms. It must be emphasised that although marriage and family are universal
for human societies the form and practices vary considerably across cultures and
are also not static, and change with times and situations. As the definitions of
kinship, marriage and family has been elaborated in the earlier units, they would
not be taken up here.
5.2 MARRIAGE
There has been considerable debate about the definition of marriage given the
huge ethnographic variations in what passes as marriage in various societies. The
basic working definition of marriage appeared in the Notes and Queries (1951)
“Marriage is a union between a man and a woman such that the children born to
the woman are recognised as legitimate offspring of both parents”. However such
a definition of marriage as is obvious is highly Eurocentric and has limited cross
cultural applicability. Among the Nuer for example, a rich widow with no children
can enter into a ghost marriage with a young and fertile woman so that the children
born to the ‘wife’ are socially considered as children of the dead man and become
50 legitimate heirs. In India the practice of Niyoga enabled a young widow to achieve
the same end through a brother /classificatory brother or family priest. However Kinship, Family and
Marriage in India
as Kathleen Gough has pointed out the fact of producing legitimate children does
remain the most important function of marriage. She was replying to scholars like
Edmund Leach who were of the opinion that the Nayars of Kerala did not have
a real marriage as the father had no role in the identity of the children who took
on the mother’s name and identity in a matrilineal system of inheritance. The
society had no social role of father as the children were begotten through visiting
husbands who were only sexual partners to the mother and had no rights over
their children. The mother’s brother wielded authority in households comprising of
brothers and sisters and the sister’s children. However Gough points out that
every Nayar woman did undergo a marriage ceremony with a person of proper
caste ranking and wore the tali (a kind of necklace worn as a sign of marital
status). Although the husband did not have any social role, he did have a ritual
status of legitimizing the woman to be socially sanctioned to bear legitimate children.
A woman observed pollution rites at the death of this husband like a woman
would of a regular husband. More importantly if a woman bore a child before this
marriage ceremony the child would be considered illegitimate and the mother and
child banished. Thus a Nayar marriage was a proper marriage in bestowing legal
and social status on the child. She gave a often quoted definition of marriage as
“—a relationship between a woman and one or more other person, which provides
that a child born to the woman under circumstances not prohibited by the rules
of the relationship, is accorded full birth status rights common to normal members
of his society or social stratum” (Gough 1959:32).
Gough’s definition takes care of polygamy that is both polygyny, where a man
may have more than one wife and polyandry, where a woman may have more
than one husband. While polygyny was practiced in many parts of world and is
often associated with horticulture and the practice of bride-wealth, polyandry is
found only in South Asia. Polygyny is associated with those economies where
women play a significant role in the economy, like in hoe cultivation and also
where the number of wives signifies high social status as among the aristocracy of
the East. However polyandry is confined to some rare geographical regions
especially among some communities of the Himalayas, like the Jaunsaries and
Kinnauries; also among some Tibetan and Bhutiya communities. In most such
societies it takes the form of fraternal polyandry where a group of brothers may
have a wife in common. In Hindu mythology polyandry is described in the
Mahabharata where five Pandava brothers have a common wife in Draupadi.
Some scholars have criticized Gough’s definition in that she does not take into
account those societies where children from concubines may also have legitimate
status.
Polygyny has often given rise to conflicts of succession between children, especially
sons of co-wives, as depicted in the popular Hindu epic The Ramayana. According
to law giver Manu, the son of a wife of proper caste ranking and who has been
married in the most appropriate manner, that is gifted as a virgin by her father with
proper ritual has more rights than the sons of other wives and concubines.
5.2.1 Caste and Marriage

In India caste and marriage are almost inseparable among the Hindu majority and
except the indigenous populations, caste is found even among Muslims and Christians
in India. Caste does not aptly describe the Indian social organisation based on two
levels of differentiation, one at the abstract level of Varna, where all beings are 51
Kinship, Marriage and divided into four broad and ranked categories, Brahmans, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas
Family
and Shudra; plus a category that lies outside the varna system the untouchables
(asprcya or achuyt). At the actual level of social interaction including marriage
and kinship it is the ‘jati’ an endogamous and geographically localised group that
is the effective social unit. Thus jati is an extended kin group as for any person
all relationships of blood and marriage will lie inside one’s own jati. However
rules of exogamy were operative within the jati in the form of gotra exogamy and
sapinda exogamy.
Gotra is a group based on socially constructed mythical ancestry, where some
mythical divine being in the form of an ancient sage is considered the common
ancestor of the group. Since only Brahmins could be the descendants of the rishis
(ancient sages), all other varna had probably taken on the gotra of their presiding
family priests. While gotra exogamy is found among all Hindus, the Sa-pinda
(Sa=together, pinda= a ball of rice) rules are applicable mostly in North India.These
include all those who have right to offer panda (ritual offering to a dead person)
to a man. All those who share the same body, metaphorically the same flesh,
belong to the sapinda category. It includes those who are putatively related by
blood and excludes those who are related by marriage, thus a son and brother’s
son is sapinda but not a son-in-law.
Depending upon the community, the rule of sapinda exogamy was extended to all
persons descended from certain generations from the father’s and mother’s side.
The most common expression of this rule was that a person must not marry
someone who may have a direct male ancestor in the direct male (father’s) line
up to seventh ascending generation and up to fifth ascending generation in the
mother’s line. This obviously excluded all collateral kin through the blood line.
In south Indian kinship the rule of Gotra exogamy is prevalent but not that of Sa-
Pinda exogamy as certain persons in collateral lines are eligible for marriage.
Reflection
The Hindu marriage cosmologically evokes the analogy of the seed and the earth, rooted
as it is in an agricultural economy. The three rules of marriage pertaining to the seed and
earth analogy are:
1) Only those children are considered as equal in rank to the father, who are born of
women of equal caste ranking who have been married as virgins. This will be true
for all caste rankings.
2) It is acceptable for a man to marry a woman of lower rank than himself as the power
of the male seed is superior to that of the earth; hence a man’s progeny even if born
of an inferior woman will have his qualities. Thus hypergamous or anuloma (in the
direction of hair) unions are acceptable though not the best.
3) But the opposite is not true. A woman must not marry down, or hypogamy or
pratiloma (against the hair) is not permissible. If a Brahmin woman marries a shudra
the children are lowest of untouchables.
Thus in real terms it means that women of lower castes are accessible to men of
higher castes and women of upper castes are kept out of bounds for all except
men of their own caste and higher. Thus Brahmin women are the most secluded
and shudra women the most accessible. However for a regular marriage, it is
always preferred that the wife should not be of lower caste. But according to the
laws of Manu an upper caste man can take as his secondary wives women of
lower castes.
52
Hypergamy can take different forms in North and South India. Thus among the Kinship, Family and
Marriage in India
Rajputs of N-W India, the Patidars of Gujarat and the Rarhi Brahmins of Bengal
the hypergamy means marriage between ranked groups of the same caste. Here
the child gets the same rank as the father. In South India the hypergamous marriages
take place between castes and the children are given the rank of the mother. A
famous example is that of the Namboodri brahmins and the Nayar women. Only
the eldest Namboodri son was allowed to marry a Namboodri woman and have
children of his own rank, but the younger sons were compelled to go to the Nayar
women as visiting husbands and their children were only identified as the children
of Nayar matriclans. Although they both follow gotra exogamy and jati endogamy,
there are some substantive differences between North Indian and South Indian or
what is more popularly known in anthropological literature as Dravidian kinship
system.
5.3 NORTH AND SOUTH INDIAN KINSHIP

In addition to the practice of polygyny and hypergamy, marriages in North India
are marked by a higher status given to the bride receivers than the bride givers,
thereby giving the man’s family a higher social status than a woman’s family that
has resulted in a general degrading of women in society, where the mother of a
son receives more prestige than the mother of a daughter and the birth of a
daughter is viewed as a lowering of rank of her entire family. Among the status
conscious Rajputs of North-Western India, it is this status consciousness that is
one of the reasons for widespread female infanticide as the father of a daughter
feels socially degraded. This is also the reason why there is no preference for
women exchange, rather women preferably move in the same direction, that is it
is preferred that sisters be married to a set of brothers rather than an exchange
of siblings take place as it is done in Bengal, in the custom of Palti Bodol, where
to save on dowry, siblings can be exchanged if they are otherwise properly matched.
Since the practice of exogamy is done at the village level, entire villages stand in
relations of bride givers and bride receivers with appropriate rankings and taboos.
Thus a person from a bride giving village will not accept even water from a bride
receiving village.
In South India there are two distinct differences, the first is the separation of the
cross and parallel siblings of the parents and a merging of the grandparents
generation in terms of kinship terminology that had led the south Indian kinship
terminology to be labelled as “bifurcate-merging’, the second is the practice of
what was referred to as the practice of cross-cousin marriage by those following
the ‘descent school’ in kinship studies. In South India it is preferred that a boy
marry his mother’s brother’s daughter or his father’s sisters daughter, neither of
which categories is referred to as a ‘sister’ and the father’s sister and mother’s
brother are also referred to by the same term as used for mother-in-law and
father-in-law.
Louis Dumont in his analysis of kinship on what he calls as the principle of affinity,
takes a different theoretical stand. According to Dumont, where there exists
positive marriage regulations, that is some categories of kin are ear marked for
marriage, the following criteria apply;
1) Marriage becomes part of an institution of marriage alliance, which spans the
generations. This is in opposition to the descent theorist’s views that marriage
relations are confined to one generation and only descent runs through
53
generations.
Kinship, Marriage and 2) The concept of affinity should extend so as to include not only those who are
Family
related to a ego by marriage, but also to people who inherit such a relationship
from their parents. Thus a son will inherit an affinal relationship in the form
of his mother’s brother from his father who already has an affinal relationship
of wife’s brother to him. Thus where there is prescribed cross cousin marriage,
the mother’s brother and father’s sister are never consanguines, but always
affines, as inherited from the parents.
3) In terms of kinship terminology such relationships will have an affinal content.
Thus the Dravidian kinship terminology can be described as one where there is
one term for all males and all females in the grand parent’s generation. The two
terms in father’s generation, namely father and mother’s brother are not simply
different but denote two classes of relatives; one consanguineal and the other
affinal. Thus father and mother’s brother are brothers-in-law to each other, or
linked to each other through the mother.
F = M MB
Ego Z
In the same way the relationship to father’s sister is mediated through the mother,
where the brother of one woman is husband to the other.
Such affinal relationships are continued in ego’s generation, become weaker in
ego’s son’s generation and disappear fully in the grandchild’s generation. The
basic structure of the system is of fathers on one side, including the father’s
brother and mother’s sister’s husband and father’s affines on the other, including
mother’s brother and father’s sister’s husband.
According to Dumont we should differentiate between the immediate or synchronic
affine and genealogical or diachronic affines who are affines by virtue of inheriting
an affinal tie from the earlier generation. Dumont also demonstrated how the
concrete expression to the abstract concept of alliance is given differently in
different social systems taking the examples of the matrilineal Kondaiyam Kottai
Maravar and the patrilinial and patrilocal Pramalai Kallar.
For the Kallar, the category of brothers is split into two, the brothers, one’s own
and the sons of the father’s brothers who are part of one’s local or residential kin
group and the sons of one’s mother’s sisters, who are spread in various places,
depending upon where the mothers were located after marriage. Thus although
they are notionally consanguines, the relationship with such relatives is weak as it
is spread over a large geographical area and tends to be forgotten over the
generations, unlike the enduring ties with the patrilineal kin. The father’s sister on
the other hand is born and remains in the father’s house till she gets married. Thus
although terminologically she is an affine, she has an ambiguous position as a weak
affine having been treated as a kin before her marriage. The mother’s brother in
a patrilineal situation is a strong affine.
The situation is just the reverse in the case of the matrilineal Kondaiam Kottai
Maravars, where the opposition between father and mother’s brother is viewed
differently. In the matrilineal situation the father would be an affine and the mother’s
brother a kin, therefore the ambiguity attached to the father’s sister in the patrilineal
case would be attached to the mother’s brother in this case who will be considered
54 a weak affine, while the father’s sister would be considered a strong affine.
In other words as Dumont puts it, the foremost affine in the upper generation is Kinship, Family and
Marriage in India
the affine of the lineally stressed parent, the mother’s brother in the patrilineal
situation and the father’s sister in the matrilineal one.
The distinction between the two categories of relative is also expressed in
ceremonials and gift giving. F.G. Bailey in Orissa and A.C. Mayer in Malwa have
noted that there is a lot of similarity in the ceremonial functions of relatives like
wife’s brother and mother’s brother, even though the former is an affine and the
latter a relative of blood connected through the mother. In a sense both the
relatives are similarly situated as the wife’s brother becomes the mother’s brother
in the next generation; gifts given by both are referred to as mamere in the local
language so that culturally also the two relatives are put in the same bracket. In
opposition to mamere is dan. These are the gifts given by those who have taken
a woman from the group, the father’s sister’s husband and sister’s husband, in
contrast the mamere is given by those who have given a woman to the group.
Thus Dumont has pointed out that essentially from the cultural point of view the
real difference is between wife giver’s and wife receivers and not between uterine
and agnatic kin.
As an example one can take the case of the Sarjupari Brahmins of U.P. who
ignore the sa-pinda rule. But adhere to the two rules that;
Firstly, a lineage does not ‘take’ a girl from a local lineage to which a girl has
been given by them, as the bride receivers are in a permanent position of superiority
symbolized in the ritual of ‘pao-pujan’ ( feet worship).
Secondly, a man does not marry his sister and daughter (including classificatory
ones) into the same family; for this would mean matrilateral cross cousin marriage,
not permissible in North India.
However among the lower castes such as Dhobis, such marriages are permitted.
Among the upper castes the former rule prohibits reversal of marriage between
larger units such as local descent groups and the latter prohibits the repetition of
marriage between smaller units such as families. Among the lower castes such
repetition leads to stronger community formation at the local level, so necessary
for their survival. The lower castes may also practice bride exchange and widow
remarriage.
In the study of south Indian kinship it is seen that ceremonial gifts are given by
those relatives where the affinal relatives are passed down generations that is by
the mother’s brother, father’s sister or father’s sister’s husband, wife givers in all
cases by the rule of prescriptive marriage to the children of parent’s cross sex
siblings.
Among the high status Sarjupari Brahmins the first rule permits repetition of marriage
between lineages but in the same direction, thus taking care of caste norms, but
not particularly of kinship. In south India marriage rules reflect pure kinship norms.
The Sarjupari Brahmins also have the rules of “three houses, thirteen houses, and
one lakh (hundred thousand) and twenty-five thousand” houses arranged vertically.
Similar rules are seen in Bengal among the Dakhin-Rarhi Kayasthas of the “three
houses (Kulin), eight houses and seventy-two houses”, similarly arranged
hierarchically in order of preference. Such status is attributional while the status
difference between bride-givers and bride-takers is interactional.
55
Family 5.4 FAMILY
The form of family is both synchronically and diachronically determined. Among
the upper caste Hindus the Mitakshara school of Hindu law is usually followed in
which the Hindu Joint family is one in which all male agnatic members have a share
from birth and they may demand a share in the property as soon as they reach
the legal age of maturity. The male members along with their wives and children
may share the same roof and hearth and are coparcenaries. In addition there may
be other members in a joint household in the form of dependents like orphans and
widows, usually related women born in the family. A joint family is symbolically
united in common worship of some deity looked upon as the benefactor of the
particular lineage or kul.
The head of the family is usually the eldest male member known as the Karta,
who wields considerable power. However as the well known sociologist Arvind
Shah points out the three generational joint family is only an ideal type and rarely
realized in actual practice.
The biggest difference in family organisation is based upon caste, occupation and
economic status. The large undivided joint households were usually found among
the wealthy upper castes, who found it useful to stay together in a large household
with supportive resources like a large house and many servants. It was functional
for the management of large estates and businesses.
On the contrary the lower castes and poorer sections of the people rarely have
enough resources to form joint households. Also their meagre earnings do not
permit the setting up of larger units. If the family lives at subsistence level the daily
earnings or food does not permit any accumulation or cannot be shared among
large number of members, it is each to his own in such a situation. Similar situation
is found among the tribal populations where the joint household is almost unknown.
Thus the projection of the majority of families in India being joint is only a upper
caste, class and an ideal depiction.
With the use of the historical model many anthropologists have criticized this
idealistic assumption. A.M. Shah, a well known sociologists highly regarded for his
work on family, found in his social and historical study of a village in Gujarat that
the kind of family assigned to tradition was not present even in the pre-colonial
era. Let us see what he has to write about Radhvanaj, a village consisting primarily
of upper caste Rajputs and Brahmins (Shah 1998).
“According to the Census of 1825 Radhvanaj had a population of 716 persons
divided into 159 households and there were 25 castes” ......... “73 % of the total
number of households were very small or small in 1825. The ideal of the so-called
joint family household was not very strong in the village and this was even before
the beginning of industrialisation and urbanization”. But even though there were no
joint families, the Rajputs, namely the Rathods of this region formed exogamous
lineage groups. But in the very same village such lineage groups were not found
among the other caste groups. “By and large, strong and elaborate lineage groups
were associated with control over land”. As Shah has further elaborated land
ownership provided stability of residence and facilitated growth of the lineages.
Land ownership also provided power and therefore, lineages with the help of the
unity provided by the kinship bond, tended to be repositories of power.
56 Among low caste occupational groups like the Dhobis (washer men) in northern
India joint living is not found at all, Channa (1985). As rightly pointed out by Shah Kinship, Family and
Marriage in India
land ownership often provides the economic base for joint living. For households
who have to live off their daily earnings it is a difficult proposition to pool in the
earnings at the end of the day and go for joint living. What the earlier authors had
relied upon was an ideal basis for the family based on values and scriptural norms.
But in reality the economic and political considerations determine at the actual
level what shape is going to be taken by the household. The main resource of the
dhobis for example are the households, referred to them as grahak (clients) from
whose houses they get clothes to be washed. As a couple get older their capacity
to wash and iron clothes decrease. When a son grows up he gets a few clients
from his father but most of his clientele he can built up on his own depending upon
the capacity for hard work, initiative and luck both of his own and that of his wife.
Very soon after their marriage young couples prefer to set up their own chullah
or hearth, in other words set themselves up as separate production and consumptions
units separate from their parents. Because the young couple does not want that
they should do all the hard work and the aging parents should share the fruits of
their labour. Unless they get very old and disabled, their children rarely support
parents.
According to Shah, among the upper castes and elite section families of society,
the sentiments and bonds, both economic and social continue to operate even if
the members are living in different locations because of necessities of work, or
lack of urban space or any such factor; For example, children of middle class
families who are settled abroad or in different places within the country, still
consider the parental house as their own, returning for major ceremonies and
events on a regular basis. Economically too the bonds of sharing and cooperation
persist even from a distance. Thus the joint family as noted by Shah is acquiring
a ‘federal’ multi-centred character.
However in some parts of India, apart from the joint families, or joint sentiments
based on monogamous marriages, some different forms of families are also present.
The polyandrous families are still found in some hilly areas like Himachal, where
it is considered good to marry a set of brothers to a single woman so that scarce
resources of land can be preserved and since these communities still depend upon
sheep grazing and agriculture, the undivided household of several brothers and
their wife leads to more prosperity.
Among the Khasis of Meghalaya, the family property and name is inherited in the
female line with the youngest daughter inheriting the family house and property.
The husband of the youngest daughter in a Khasi family comes to live with her and
she is primarily responsible for the performance of all the household rituals. The
family name also runs in the female line. Thus the patrilineal and patrilocal family
is not absolutely universal in India.
The practice of resident-son-in-law, also called ghar-jawai, ghar-jamai or magpa
is found among many communities of India. Among the Bhutiyas and other hill
people it is a common practice with the son-in-law becoming like the adopted son
of his parents in law and even performing their death rituals. Among the Tibetans
and Bhutiyas the daughter has inheritance rights and even when the resident son-
in-law performs the rituals like a son, it is the daughter who is socially recognised
as the mistress of the property and remains dominant over her husband.
The Muslim households usually follow the Hindu pattern with the wealthy families
living in large joint households and the poorer ones living mostly in nuclear families 57
Kinship, Marriage and along with the urban and educated families, which are also nuclear. Although
Family
polygyny is permitted for the Muslims the actual incidence is rather low and not
any different from those of Hindus.
Values of education of women are often cited as factors for the break up of joint
families as are business rivalries and clash of interests. In the traditional joint
households the money was earned from a common estate or business, with
modernisation, the various sons took up jobs according to their own capacities
and conflicts could ensue over different incomes and contributions to the common
pool. Women’s education further complicated matters as they developed more
individuality and resisted being dominated. Yet deference and respect for elders
still persists and most children do not take major decisions without the permission
or consent of their parents.
5.4.1 The House-hold Dimension of the Family

In addition to the class and caste based difference a family can be viewed in terms
of its development over time and Shah has described the developmental cycle of
the Indian family following the model given by Meyer Fortes. Even the simple of
basic family may exhibit different structures depending upon the stage at which it
is found. The basic household in India is called a ‘chullah’ or ghar. The following
possible compositions are possible
1) Husband, wife and unmarried children
2) Husband and Wife (when there are no children born or they have left the
household by marriage or migration)
3) Father and unmarried children (when the wife is dead or divorced)
4) Mother and unmarried children (for same reasons as above)
5) Unmarried brothers and sisters (because of death of parents)
6) A single man or woman (for various reasons of death or separation or
migration).
In the formation of the simple household, the terms “children”, “father” and “mother”
also include all step children and adopted children, step mothers and adoptive
mothers and step father and adoptive fathers so that in reality a simple family may
at times be a ‘compound family’.
The actual power structure of the household may also vary. Thus widowed mothers
may play a considerable significant role in the affairs of their sons even though by
the rules of patriliny the son inherits the father’s status. Similarly the role of women
as wives and daughters may also be significant in certain situations.
As Shah points out the development process of the household is not random but
may follow a pattern depending on the following factors.
1) The demographic factor, like birth, marriage and death and also the sex ratio
and the actual number of persons who come to live in a household by what
is known as the process of accretion.
2) The second depends on the norms of residence that may also vary; like for
example the phenomenon of the resident son-in-law and the norms regarding
residence of parents.
58
Kinship, Family and
5.5 SUMMARY Marriage in India
In conclusion we can say that it is difficult to have a uniform description of kinship,

family and marriage in India as there is considerable regional variation (Karve
1963, Kolenda 1987), and also across caste and tribal populations. Some significant
regional works are that of Veena Das (1976) and Paul Hershman (1981) on
Punjabi Kinship, Fruzzeti and Ostor (1976) and Ronald Inden (1976) on Bengali
kinship, Dumont (1966) and Trautmann on Dravidian kinship, and Madan (1965)
on Kashmiri kinship, to name a few. One may also refer to the significant
contribution of Leela Dube (1997) to a gendered approach to the study of kinship.
Some unique features such as of caste and kinship and polyandry are found in
South Asia not found anywhere else. Significant differences exist across North and
South India and among lower and upper classes. There have been changes also
in family and kinship norms due to transformations in social and economic variables.
Thus kinship is just not ideational but practical as well serving existing needs of
society.
References
Ahmed, Imtiaz. (ed.). 1976. Family, Kinship and Marriage among Muslims in
India. New Delhi: Monohar Book Service.
Channa, Subhadra. 1985. Tradition and Rationality in Economic Behaviour.
New Delhi: Cosmo Publication.
Das, Veena. 1976. ‘Masks and Faces: An essay on Punjabi Kinship’.
Contributions to Indian Sociology, Vol.10, No.1, Pp 1-30.
Dube, Leela. 1997. Women and Kinship: Comparative Perspectives on Gender
in South and South-East Asia. United Nations University Press.
_____________ 1986. ‘Seed and earth: The symbolism of Biological Reproduction
and Sexual Relations of Production.’ In Leela Dube, Eleanor Leacock and Shirley
Ardner. (eds.) Visibility and Power: Essays on Women in Society and
Development. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Dumont, Louis. 1966. ‘Marriage in India: The Present State of the Question , III-
North India in relation to South’. Contributions to Indian Sociology: Vol.9.
Fruzzeti, Lina and Akos Oster. 1976. ‘Seed and Earth: A Cultural Analysis of
kinship in a Bengali town’. Contributions to Indian Sociology: Vol.10 No.1 pp
97-132.
Gough, Kathleen. 1952. ‘Changing Kinship Usages in the Setting of Political and
Economic Change Among the Nayars of Malabar’. Journal of the Royal
Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland. 89: 23-34.
Hershman, Paul. 1981. Punjabi Kinship and Marriage. Delhi: Hindustan Publishing
Corporation.
Inden, Ronald B. 1976. Marriage and Rank in Bengali Culture: A History of
Caste and Clan in Middle period Bengal. Berkeley: University of California
Press.
Inden, Ronald B and Ralph Nicholas. 1977. Kinship in Bengali Culture. Chicago:
University of Chicago Press.
59
Kinship, Marriage and Karve, Iravati. 1963. Kinship Organisation in India. Kolkata: Asia Publishing
Family
House.
Kolenda, Pauline. 1987. Regional Differences in Family Structure in India.
Delhi: Rawat Publications.
Madan, T.N. 1965. Family and Kinship: A study of the Pandits of Rural
Kashmir. Kolkata: Asia Publishing House.
Majumdar, D.N. 1962. Himalayan Polyandry: Structure, Functioning and
Culture Change, A Field Study of Jaunsar Bawar. Kolkata: Asia Publishing
House.
Mayer, Adrian C. 1960. Caste and Kinship in Central India. Great Britain:
University of California Press.
Ostor, Akos, Lina Fruzzeti and Steve Barnett. (Eds.). 1983. Concepts of Person,
Kinship, Caste and Marriage in India. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Shah, A.M. 1973. The Household Dimension of the Family In India. Delhi:
Orient Longman.
Trautmann, Thomas. 1995. Dravidian Kinship. Delhi: Sage Publications.
Suggested Reading
Dube, Leela. 1997. Women and Kinship: Comparative Perspectives on Gender
in South and South-East Asia. United Nations University Press.
Dumont, Louis. 1966. ‘Marriage in India: The Present State of the Question , III-
North India in relation to South’. Contributions to Indian Sociology: Vol.9.
Karve, Iravati. 1963. Kinship Organisation in India. Kolkata: Asia Publishing
House.
Sample Questions
1) Describe the basic principles of South Indian Kinship and how it differs from
North Indian Kinship?
2) Discuss the various forms of the household in India with specific reference to
the developmental cycle.
3) Discuss the relationship between bride-givers and bride takers and its ritual
and ceremonial expression among the upper castes of North India.
4) Discuss the various forms of lineality in India, with suitable examples.
5) Describe the changes in joint families and the nature of the changes.
60
UNIT 3 MARRIAGE
Contents
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Concepts, Meaning and Definitions
3.2.1 Prescribed and Preferential Marriages
3.2.2 Types of Marriages
3.2.3 Ways of Acquiring a Mate
3.2.4 Divorce
3.3 Functions of Marriage

3.4 Changing Dimensions of Marriage
3.5 Summary
References
Suggested Reading
Sample Questions
Learning Objectives

After reading this unit, the students should be able to:
 define the different rules and types associated with marriage;
 outline the various functions of a marriage; and
 discuss changing aspects of marriage in the contemporary times.
3.1 INTRODUCTION
Marriage is a phenomena found in all types of societies though the pattern of
marriage differs in different societies. The first section of the unit would introduce
the students to the concept, definition and meaning of marriage, the various types
of marraiges that are prevalent in different societies. Herein, we would be able to
answer the question as to why marriage rules though not similar among the different
societies yet have almost the same functions. With the changing times, marriage
too has come under the hammer and the institution itself is going through various
changes. These would be discussed in the last section of this unit.
3.2 CONCEPTS, MEANING AND DEFINITIONS

Marriage by most anthropologists has been described as a universal phenomena
yet the debate continues as to how marriage came into existence. In the early
year’s social thinkers and anthropologists basically the followers of the theory of
evolutionism were of the opinion that human beings lived in a state of promiscuity
where individual marriage did not exist. In such a society all the men had access
to all the women and the children thus, born were the responisbility of the society
at large. This slowly gave rise to group marriages to bring regulation and general
order in the society where either many men were married to several women or
sereval men were married to a single woman and vice- versa. However, later in 29
Kinship, Marriage and the day the natural instinct of jealousy imbedded in human beings has been assumed
Family
as the reason behind single marriages to restore harmony in a society. So far in
the theoretical part Block 3 unit 1 Classical Theories, and also in Block 1 unit 2
Philosophical and Historical Foundations of Social Anthropology, we have discussed
that the earlier societies were nomadic and the rule of the age was anarchy, so it
is impossible to state exactly where and when marriage first originated. While
anthropologists like Bachofen, Das Mutterrecht (1861), McLennan Primitive
Marriage (1865) and others were of the view that society emerged out of mother
right, there were others like Sir Henry Maine through his work Ancient Law,
(1861) postulated that since the emergence of soceity the rule was partiarchy. So
far this goes, the debate continues. Leaving this aside let’s start with understanding
what the term ‘marriage’ stands for, instead of trying to focus on how marriage
originated, through some of the definitions provided by anthropologists who had
worked in this field.
George Peter Murdock (1949) has defined marriage as a universal institution that
involves residential co-habitation, economic co-operation and the formation of the
nuclear family. While Westermarck had emphasised on marriage as a recognised
union between a man and a woman, that the spouse live together and that the
couple have clearly recognised mutual sexual rights. These definitions could not be
considered as universal definition of marriage as it failed to encompass types of
marriages such as polygynous and polyandrous marriages. Such definitions also
did not take into account marriages where the spouses lived in separate residences
and societies where the responsibility of the child lies with the mother’s brother
rather than with the biological father. These are some of the aspects which we
would take up in later part of the unit.
Kathleen Gough (1959) in her study of the Nayars has defined marriage as a
‘relationship established between a woman and one or more other persons, which
provides that a child born to the woman under circumstances not prohibited by
the rules of the relationship, is accorded full birth-status rights common to normal
members of his society or social stratum’. This definition of marriage by Gough
took into consideration polyandry which was missing in the earlier definitions.
While, Edward Westermarck in a later edition of his book, The History of Human
Marraiges, fifth edition rewritten 1921 due to the criticisms levied redefined
marriage as a social institution which may be defined as a relation of one or more
men to one or more women that is recognised by custom or law, and involves
certain rights and duties both in the case of parties entering the union and in the
case of the children born in it. However, among the Azande of Sudan where
marraiges based on homosexuality is a prescribed norm it does not find a place
in the above definitions of marriage.
William N. Stephens defined marriage as ‘a socially legitimate sexual union, begun
with public pronouncement undertaken with the idea of permanence, assumed with
more or less explicit marriage contract which spells out reciprocal economic
obligations between spouses, and their future children’. This definition also fails to
take into considertaion the taboos that exist in various societies related to marriage.
Thus, for the convinience of anthropological discourse we would refer to the
definition of marriage as in Notes and Queries (given below) to understand the
types of marriages acceptable and practiced in 80% of the societies across the
world. The other forms of marriages would be taken up as variations from the
prescribed norm as they are acceptable only in a few societies.
30
“Marriage is a union between a man and a woman such that the children born to Marriage
the woman are recognised as legitimate offspring of both partners” (Notes and
Queries on Anthropology 1951: 111).
3.2.1 Prescribed and Preferential Marriages

Societies have their own norms when it comes to marriage whom to marry and
who is out of bounds. In certain societies there are certain rules of suitability based
on which a person has to acquire a mate. While selecting one’s mate one has to
follow certain rules and choose the bride/groom within these norms. A man/woman
might be prohibited from acquiring a mate who does not fall under the suitable
category as for example in the Hindu society a woman belonging to a higher caste
cannot marry a man belonging to a caste lower than her. Such, rules when strictly
followed even though when very few members of the suitable category are available
is termed as prescribed norms. The rules which are preferred but not strictly
followed are known as preferential norms. Cross cousin marriage in many societies
is seen as a preferential norm.
Incest taboo is a universal norm for almost all societies, which pertains to restrictions
in marriage and sexual relations among certain categories of close relatives generally
related by blood like father and daughter, mother and son and sometimes also
parallel cousins. Though, incest taboo was not prevalent among the earlier Greek
and the Hawaiian royal families where it was a prescribed norm for marriage. In
these ancient royal families it was believed that royalty could only be passed down
to the child of two royal family members, usually a brother and sister. The Tallensi
of Ghana also does not strongly prescribe to the norm of incest taboo between
brother and sister while a relationship between a man and the wife of a lineage
mate is an unpardonable sin (Mair, 1997).
The rules of either endogamy or exogamy are also prescribed norms in many
societies to which a man has to adhere while acquiring a mate. Endogamy refers
to marriage within a group, while exogamy means marriage outside the group.
Endogamy encompasses marriage within the believers of the same faith or religion,
caste in Hindu society and within members of the same tribe.
In societies where endogamy is prevalent parallel cousin marriage is the preferential
norm. Among such societies marriage between first cousins is permitted, though
where the rule of lineage exogamy is practiced cousin belonging to different lineage
is preferred. For easy understanding; the children of siblings of opposite sex
(brother- sister) - are called cross-cousins; while the children of siblings of the
same sex (brother-brother) are called parallel cousins. In many of the Islamic
societies a man marries his father’s brother’s daughter known as parallel cousin
marriage which is a very rare form of endogamy. The Kurds of eastern and
southeastern Turkey still continue with the practice of parallel cousin marriage.
Cross-cousin marriages are the preferential norm in societies where the rule of
exogamy is adhered to. A man’s lineage is traced either through his mother’s or
father’s side. If the lineage is traced through the father than marriage with his
aunt’s (father’s sisters) daughter is the preferred norm and when lineage is traced
through the mother than the preferred norm for marriage is mother’s brother’s
daughter. When a man marries a daughter of his mother’s brother it’s a matrilateral
cross-cousin marriage while if he marries a daughter of his father’s sister then
it’s a patrilateral cross-cousin marriage.
31
Kinship, Marriage and Matrilateral cross cousin marriages are common in many of the matrilineal societies
Family
like the Kachins and the Purum as described by Edmund Leach in his work ‘The
Political System of HighLand Burma: A Study of the Kachins Social Structure’
(1970), while Meyer Fortes had described the Ashanti and Tallensi of Ghana. In
such societies the rules of descent and authority lies with the mother’s brother and
as such marriage to his daughter puts an end to all such questions of inheritance,
authority and it is a way to avoid conflicts which we would discuss more fully later.
Besides the above mentioned prescribed and preferential marriages, levirate and
sororate at times form a prescribed norm for widows and widowers in a few
societies. Levirate is a marriage form, in which after the decease of an elder
brother the younger brother is obliged to marry the widow. The term levirate is
derived from the Latin word levir meaning husband’s brother. This is a type of
marriage often seen in societies where exogamy is not prevalent. Sororate on the
other hand is a practice in which a widower marries’s his dead wife’s sister.
Find out the various preferential and prescribed norms for marriage in your own society
and also reflect upon the reasons for the same.
3.2.2 Types of Marriages

Depending on the type of society, the marriage pattern and style also vary. Before
going into the depth of the topic let’s outline the types of marriages universally
found which are (a) Monogamy and (b) Polygamy. Monogamy is a form of
marriage in which the practice is to have only one spouse at one time. In the
western world the divorce rate is increasingly higher and serial monogamy is
witnessed. Serial monogamy pertains to a state where a man has a series of
wives one after the other, but only one wife at any given point of time. Thus, in
the United States where divorce rate is high but only monogamy is legal, serial
monogamy is widely noticed. In societies like the Hindu society of India monogamy
pertains to non-serial monogamy where a man has a single wife throughout his
life. In such societies the divorce rate is rare and as such it is the preferred norm.
Polygamy is a term derived from the Greek word polys gamos meaning often
married. It is a form of marriage in which an individual has more than one spouse
at any given time, or married to more than one individual. In polygamy when a
marriage involves one man with many women it is known as polygyny. The wives
of a man if sisters or related then such a marriage is known as sororal polygyny.
In many of the Islamic countries this practice is prevalent. In some Australian
Aboriginal societies, the elder brother often marries the two eldest sisters. While
the younger sisters of the wives’ would also marry their sisters’ husband’s younger
brother or brothers. This is said to create a clear advantage in power and self-
sufficiency in these societies. The Swazi society of Africa practice sororal polygyny.
In societies practicising sororal polygyny it is believed that two sisters have better
chances of getting along with one another rather than two unrelated women who
have not grown up together. It is a resilient approach because sisters are assumed
to have less of a competitive approach towards their husband’s affection because
as sisters they would be more inclined towards maintaining harmony and live in
mutual understanding.
The rules of residence in sororal polygyny differ from society to society. In some
societies the wives co-habits like among the Zulus of South Africa, while in the
Swazi society each wife sets up separate residence. Upon death of a husband, the
32 marriage does not come to an end. A blood relative of the husband assumes full
responsibility of providing domestic, economic, and material support for the Marriage
women. If the wives of a man are not rleated such a marriage is known as non-
sororal polygyny. In the Coromo islands non-sororal polygyny is practiced (Madan
& Majumdar, Mair et.al).
Polyandry derives its name from the Greek word poly ‘many’ and andros ‘man’.
Thus, in this type of marriage a woman is married to more than one man. Societies
where polyandry has been found are Tibet, Canadian Arctic, northern parts of
Nepal, Nigeria, Bhutan, parts of India and Sri Lanka. It is also encountered in
some regions of Mongolia, among the Mosuo people in China, and in some
societies of Sub-Saharan African such as the Maasai people in Kenya and northern
Tanzania and American indigenous communities. Polyandry has been practised in
several cultures — in the Jaunsar-Bawar region in Uttarakhand, among the Nairs,
Theeyas and Todas of South India, and the Nishi of Arunachal Pradesh. Indian
examples would be detailed in Unit 5 Kinship, Marriage and Family in India, of
the same block. The Guanches, the first known inhabitants of the Canary Islands,
practiced polyandry until their disappearance.
Fraternal polyandry refers to a marriage in which a woman is married to two
or more brothers also known as adelphic polyandry. The term fraternal has its
origin in the Latin term frater- ‘brother’. Account of Fraternal polyandry in Indian
Hindu society is seen in the great epic Mahabharata where the five Pandava
brothers were married to princess Draupadi. Polyandry is found in certain regions
of Tibet and Nepal as a socially accepted practice.
The type of marriage where a woman is either married to a number of non-related
men or related kinsmen (clan brothers) such a marriage is known as non-fraternal
polyandry. In the recent past the Todas’ of southern India practiced both fraternal
and non-fraternal polyandry where the husbands were either brothers or related
kinsmen but with the changing age monogamy has made inroads into this society
and is fast becoming a part. Though among the Nayars of Malabar Coast of
Southern India the husbands were not related they had to belong to a social strata
equivalent to that of the woman as prescribed by the society. In societies where
polyandry is practiced, when a woman becomes pregnant the paternity is not
ascribed to the biological father (genitor) but is accepted through a ceremony
wherein any one of the brothers as sociological father (pater) can assume social
responsibility of the child by paying the midwife, as in the case of the Nayars of
Southern India. While in some cases the eldest brother assumes the responsibility
of the child in case of fraternal polyandry (Gough 1959, Mair 1997).
When the husbands of a woman are father and son such a marriage is known as
familial polyandry. It is a very rare form of polyandry and has been found
prevalent among the Tibetians. There are many speculations for such a marriage
and one of them relates to the small population size of the tibetians and the high
altitude in which they live. A wife if taken from other communities who live in the
low lands, it becomes difficult for her to adjust to the harsh climatic conditions and
as such sharing a wife by father and son is taken up as an option.
Polygynandry another variety of polygamy pertians to a marriage where several
men are married to several women or a man has many wives and a woman has
many husbands at any given time. Such marriages were prevalent among the
Marquesans of Polynesia and also among the Todas of the Nilgiri hills and the
Khasas of Jaunsar Bawar of India.
33
Kinship, Marriage and 3.2.3 Ways of Acquiring a Mate
Family
Marriage as the term implies has a lot of connotation in different societies. It does
not just mean a man finding a girl to be his wife. Even when a man chooses a mate
for himself he has to ascribe to the norms of the society while claiming his bride.
Herein, we would outline some of the prescribed customs in societies through
which a man can acquire a mate.
Marriage by negotiation is a very frequently practised way of acquiring a mate.
It is found in most of the simple societies like the Ituri of Congo region in Africa,
Siwai of Soloman Islands, the aboriginals of Australia, Andamanese of Andaman
Islands and also in complex societies like the Hindu society of India, China, Japan,
Europe and America. In such a system either the girl’s family or the boy’s family
(as per the custom) puts forward a propsal for marriage through a thrid party or
mediator. This third party is generally someone known to both the would be bride
and groom’s family. In Indian context it is also known as arranged marriage. In
earlier times the bride and groom meet each other only during the wedding, but
this rigidity is being relaxed now a days. In such a system bride price, bride
wealth, dowry also has an important role to play and it is usually a long drawn
process where consensus of the bride and groom’s family is all done by the
mediator.
Bridewealth is usually the compensation given upon marriage by the family of a
groom to the bride’s family. Varieties of currencies and goods are used for paying
the bridewealth depending upon the societies. Mostly the bridewealth is movable
property given by the groom’s family. For example reindeers are given as
bridewealth by the reindeer-herding Chukchee, sheep by the Navajo, cattles by
the Nuers, Maasai and Samburu of Africa, spears in Somalia etc. The amount of
bridewealth to be paid is based on various factors of which some are related to
the status of the broom’s family and others on the bride and her social acceptance
as prescribed by the society. For example: if a woman has given birth to a pre-
nuptial child than her bridewealth is very low whereas among the Kipsigis of
western Kenya if the distance of the brides natal home is very far away from the
marital home than the bride wealth is very high as she is able to spend less time
at her natal home and devote more time to the domestic chores in the husbands
home. In some cases if the groom’s family is not able to pay the bridewealth than
compensation is made in the means of bride service in the form of labour wherein
the groom goes to the brides house and helps in the hunting, farming and other
related activities. The time span of the bride service varies from society to society
and it might last from a few months to several years (Nanda et.al). Dowry on the
other hand is the transfer of goods and money from the bride’s family to the
groom’s family. Previously a practiced norm in the Hindu society, the tradition of
dowry was prohibited in 1961 under Indian civil law and subsequently by Sections
304B and 498a of the Indian Penal Code. The move was made to protect the
women from dowry related harassment and domestic violence.
Marriage by exchange also forms a part of the marriage by negotiation system.
Herein, such a system the bride price or bride wealth, whichever is applicable to
the society, is waived off by marriage through exchange. This happens generally
if there are daughters or sisters for exchange for the grooms. This helps in not only
forming an alliance but also strengthens the bond between groups. Examples of
such excahnge is seen is societies of Australia, Melanesia, Tive of Nigeria and also
in the some of the tribes in India- Muria Gonds, Baiga of Bustar and the Koya
34 and the Saora of Andhra Pradesh. (Majumdar 1986, Jha 1994 et.al)
Marriage by service is found among some of the tribes in North East India. Marriage
Among the Naga’s of North East India the bride wealth forms a part of the
marriage negotiation and if the groom’s party is not able to pay the bride wealth
then the compensation is through service. The boy works for the bride’s family
and only when the brides family is satisfied that the marriage is solemnised.
Marriage by probation invloves the consent of the brides parents alongwith the
girls consent wherein the groom stays at the brides place on trial basis. Herein,
the groom is allowed to stay with the girl so that they both get to know each
others temperament and if the girl likes the boy the marriage takes place, else the
boy has to pay compensation in cash to the girl’s family. Among the Kukis of
Manipur of India such a marriage is a practised norm (ibid).
Marriage by capture is found in many societies. The capture can be a physical
capture or a ceremonial one. Among the tribes of Yahomamo of Venezuela, Northern
Brazil and the Nagas of Nagaland in India during raids the men from one village
capture and take home females of the other village and marry them as wives. Such
a situation is ascribed as physical capture. In ceremonial capture a boy desiring
to marry a girl propositions her in a community fair or festival and makes his
intentions towards her known by either holding her hand or marking her with
vermillion as in the case of Kharia and the Birhor of Bihar (ibid).
Marriage by intrusion is a type of marriage wherein a girl forces her way into
the boy’s house and forces him to accept her as his spouse. Such marriages are
seen in Birhor and Ho of Bihar and also among the Kamars of Madhya Pradesh.
Marriage by trial is a process in which the groom has to prove his strength and
valour while claiming his bride. In the two great Indian epics Mahabharata and the
Ramayana we have examples of how Draupadi and Sita were claimed by Arjuna
and Lord Rama after they proved their skills in the swayamvar (a gathering where
the eligible males are invited to prove their strength to claim the bride). Such
marriages by trail are still found in many societies in India and some of the
examples are the Bhils of Rajasthan and the Nagas of Nagaland.
Marriage by Elopement is a customary marriage in some societies whereas
looked down in others. In societies where a huge amount of wealth is required for
the marriage rituals and which is usually difficult for the families to bear in such
societies marriage by elopment has come up as a customary practice. Such marriage
is quite in vogue among the Karbis of Karbi Anglong district of Assam. In other
cases marriage by elopment takes place when either of the prospective groom or
bride’s family does not approve of the wedding or when marriage is fixed with a
distasteful partner. In such a case, the would be bride elopes with the partner of
her choice. Such marriage by eleopment is seen in almost all parts of the world
(ibid).
3.2.4 Divorce
Divorce is the situation wherein the husband and wife separates and gives up the
vows of marriage. It can happen due to many reasons and the most common one
is incompatibility of the two partners. Divorce is a situation which can be unpleasant
and painful for both the parties as it leads not only to physical separation of two
people, but all that has been build up during the time together like family, children
and material objects. Divorce is also a universally accepted norm as marriage but
still it is looked down in many societies more so in the case of the wife in a
patrilineal society. 35
Family 3.3 FUNCTIONS OF MARRIAGE
Marriage is a sanction for two people to spend their lives together and it has many
implications and functions related to it. Some of the functions are mentioned
herein.
Biological Function
The most important function of a marriage is to beget children. The society gives
recognition to children born out of wedlock and the children thus born are ascribed
status as per the norms of the society. A society basically channelizes the sexual
rights through the institution of marriage and it helps in mating within the rules and
regulations as ascribed by a society. This helps in maintaining the norms of incest
taboo also.
Economic Functions
In order to do away with the discrimination of labour by sex, marriage comes in
as a protective measure wherein the men share their produce with the wives.
Marriage leads to an economic co-operation between men and women ensuring
the survival of every individual in a society.
Social Function
Marriage is the way to forming a family. A marriage sanctions the status of both
husband and wife in a society and thus, they are also collectively accepted by
society as husband and wife. In many societies there are norms where only a
married person can take part in the rituals. For example in the Hindu society there
is a ritual during wedding in which the bride is blessed with oil. In this ceremony
atleast seven married women hold a ring with the tip of their right hand forefinger
on the brides head. Oil then is poured on this ring by the married women. It is
believed that the oil which pours down from the head to below takes away all the
evil and brings in good luck to the would be husband and wife. Normally, widows
and divorcees do not take part in such rituals. Marriage helps in forming new
kinsmen and widening his network.
3.4 DEVIATIONS IN MARRIAGE

Till now we have discussed the general trend that we had seen in the societies so
far that has been observed and written by anthropologists at different times. Herein
this section we would discuss about the deviations in the marriage rules and the
coming up of new types of kinship and family due to a change in the pattern of
mate selection. In the present era two new types of relationship has emerged
which were not prominent in the earlier days – lesbian and gay relationship. A
lesbian relationship is based on the liking of a girl for another girl instead of a man
as it happens in the normal course. Anthropologist Gill Shepherd explored female
sexual relationships among Swahili Muslims in Mombasa, Kenya, and found that
relationships between females were perfectly acceptable, as were relationships
between men. Women were allowed to choose other women as sexual partners
after they are married; so many such women also have a husband at home, or are
widowed or divorced (http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cultural_Anthropology/
Marriage,_Reproduction_and_Kinship#Lesbianism_in_Mombasa accessed on 23rd
March, 2011). In other cases in the present day a women has sanction by law to
take up another women as legally wedded. Such marriages are certified by law
in a few American States like Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire,
36 Vermont, plus Washington, D.C. and the Coquille Indian Tribe in Oregon. In 2005
Canada through the enactment of the civil marriage act became the fourth country Marriage
in the world to accept same sex marriages.
On the other hand a ‘gay relationship’ is based on a man having a liking for other
man commonly known as homosexual relationship. In Nicaragua, the ideal for
masculinity is “machismo”, and being described as a man who is dominant, active,
and violent. While, in the U.S., the term machismo refers to a man dominating his
female partner, often described as male chauvinism. However, in Nicaragua, this
can also be applied to the sexual relationship between man. Greek mythology and
Greek history is galore with reference to homosexual relationships. One example
is the story of Apollo and Hyacinthus; Apollo fell in love with a mortal boy,
Hyacinthus, and became a mentor to the youth. He taught Hyacinthus the art of
war and sports and visited him often. Other Greek gods and Greek heroes have
stories attributed to them about their same-sex relationships, Zeus and Hercules
among them.
When talking about movements for homosexual rights Brazil emerges as the first
country to take up this issue. What sets them apart however is the promenience
with which same-sex rights is being fought for in their culture. SOMOS was the
first organised homosexual group formed in 1979 in Brazil. As of today there are
over 70 groups that are interested in gay rights operating within the country. The
São Paulo Gay Pride Parade is also one of the largest in the world, with over 2
million particpants a year. Even the Brazilian President, Luiz Lula, has been fighting
to pass a ‘homophobia law’ which would count criticizing homosexual behaviour
as a crime (ht t p://en.wikibo o ks.o rg/wiki/Cult ural_Ant hropo lo gy/
Marriage,_Reproduction_and_Kinship#Homosexuality_in_Brazil accessed on 25th
March, 2011). Nepal on the other hand has accepted same sex marriage and
thus, many same sex people from different countries come to exchange their
marriages vow’s, which otherwise is banned in their own country.
3.5 SUMMARY
We can sum up the unit by stating that marriage is a universal phenomena ascribed
and prefered in all human societies. The type of marriage and ways of acquiring
a mate varies from society to society. Marriage has a legal sanction to it and the
children born of wedlock are always accepted by the society. It is the means of
achieving economic and social security for the wife and the children. In course of
time marriage has seen many changes like the lesbian and gay weddings but till
date it is very much a part of society, though at times debates have arised for the
need of marriage when two people are willing to live together.
References
Bachofen, Johann J. (1861) 1948. Das Mutterrecht. 2 vols. 3d ed. Edited by
Karl Meuli. Basel: Schwabe.
Evans-Pritchard, E. E. 1951. Kinship and Marriage Among the Nuer. Oxford:
________________ 1956. Nuer Religion. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Ferraro, Gary and Susan Andreatta. 2010. Cultural Anthropology: An Applied
Perspective. Eight edition. USA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
Fortes, Meyer. 1945. The Dynamics of Clanship among the Tallensi. Oxford:
37
Kinship, Marriage and Fox, Robin. 1967. Kinship and Marriage. An Anthropological Perspective.
Family
Baltimore: Penguin.
Gough, Kathleen. 1959. The Nayars and the Definition of Marriage. “Journal
of the Royal Anthropological Institute”, 89: 23-34.
Hutter, Mark. ed. 2003. The Family Experience: A Reader in Cultural Diversity.
Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Maine, Henry. 1861. Ancient Law: Its Connection with the Early History of
Society, and its Relation to Modern Ideas. 1931 reprint London: J.M. Dent.
Mair, Lucy. 1977. An Introduction to Social Anthropology. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.
Majumdar, D.N. and T.N. Madan. 1986. An Introduction to Social Anthropology.
Fifth National Impression 1990. Darya Ganj, New Delhi: National Publishing
House.
McLennan, John F. 1865. Primitive Marriage: An Enquiry into the Origin of
the Form of Capture in Marriage Ceremonies. Edinburgh: Adam and Charles
Black.
Morgan, Lewis Henry. 1877. Ancient Society. First Indian publication 1944.
Calcutta: Bharati Publication.
Murdock, George P. 1949 Social Structure. New York: Macmillan.
Nanda, Serena and Richard L. Warms. 2011. Cultural Anthropology. 10th Edition,
Royal Anthropological Institute. 1951. Notes and Queries on Anthropology. 6th
edition. London: Routledge and Kegan.
Westermarck, Edward. 1922. The History of Human Marriage. The Allerton
Book Company.
Suggested Reading
Fox, Robin. 1967. Kinship and Marriage. An Anthropological Perspective.
Baltimore: Penguin.
University Press.
Nanda, Serena and Richard L. Warms. 2011. Cultural Anthropology. 10th Edition,
Sample Questions
1) What is marriage?
2) What is prescribed and preferential marriage?
3) What is fraternal polyandry? Illustrate with the help of examples.
4) What is the difference between bride wealth, bride service and dowry?
5) Examine the functions of marriage.
38
UNIT 2 DESCENT AND ALLIANCE
THEORIES
Contents
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Descent Theory
2.2.1 Development of Descent Theory
2.2.2 Main Exponents and Critical Evaluation
2.2.3 Counter Theories
2.2.4 Conclusion
2.3 Alliance Theory

2.3.1 Development of Alliance Theory
2.3.2 Main Exponent
2.3.3 Analytical Assessment
2.3.4 Conclusion
2.4 Summary
References
Suggested Reading
Sample Questions
Learning Objectives

From this unit we will be able to:
 know about the theories (descent and alliance) which explain kinship;
 see how the existing theories have motivated many scholars in the formulation
of new theories; and
 how various kinship ties shaped these theories.
Also comprehend that though these theories are defunct in the contemporary
scenario, they still provide an insight into the constitution of family, sib, clan,
moiety, marriage, exchange etc.
2.1 INTRODUCTION
In this unit we will deal with two theories which sought to understand kinship
relations in an elaborate way. As we have already learnt in the last chapter, kinship
is the relationship between individuals who are connected through genealogy, either
biologically or culturally. When relationships are created through birth it leads to
descent groups or consanguineals and when relationships are created through
marriage, it forms affinal groups. Based on these relationships, two theories of
kinship were advocated, the first as early as the 40s and the second was discussed
in the 60s. These theories, descent and alliance are in today’s anthropological
enquiry considered almost defunct for various reasons which we will try to decipher
in this unit. However as these theories formed an important part in kinship studies
it is important for the student to have knowledge about these.
19
Family 2.2 DESCENT THEORY
2.2.1 Development of Descent Theory
Descent theory also known as lineage theory came to the fore in the 1940s with
the publication of books like The Nuer (1940), African Political Systems (1940)
etc. This theory was in much demand in the discussion of social structure in British
anthropology after the 2nd World War. It had much influence over anthropological
studies till the mid-60s but with the downfall of the British Empire and its loss of
colonies, the theory also sort of fizzled out. However its presence in certain works
even now, like descriptions in ethnographic monographs, or its use by French
Marxists to understand the lineage mode of production etc. makes it eligible
enough for some intellectual enquiry.
Descent theory when it first became popular, it seemed to be a new idea, a
revelation, but deeper studies exhibit that it was actually a part of the ongoing
changes in ideas and notions which took place in the study of anthropology.
Descent theory, in order to be explained clearly can be divided into two periods,
the classical and the modern. Both these periods have three stages each. The first
phase of the classical period involves the creation of the new models of descent
which was done by Henry Maine and Lewis Henry Morgan. These models were
revised and given a new form by some anthropologists of that time, more notably
by John F. McLennan. Finally in the third stage these models were empirically
made use of in field studies by students of Franz Boas. The classical phase
reached a low and remained mere speculations after this but were revived all of
a sudden by British Africanists, and the modern phase of descent theory came up.
The main issues in both the periods however were the same even though the
approach applied to study them differed. The issues were relationship between
blood and soil, kinship and territory, family and clan etc.
2.2.2 Main Exponents and Critical Evaluation

Henry S Maine formulates and discusses the patriarchal theory in his work Ancient
Law (1861) which postulates how society was formed and grounded by families
ruled by the eldest surviving male in it. He also talked about how families formed
aggregations. With the death of the father, the sons stay behind together creating
extended ties of kinship and a broader polity of sorts which formed the basis of
societies. It was much later that attachment to territory created rivalry among
blood ties, which became a matter of study of social organisation. This extended
patriarchal family is known as a unilineal development. It allowed jural stability and
endurance. His opposition towards concepts of societies based on kinship and
those based on territory became the accepted norm in his subsequent generation.
It was Mclennan and Morgan who deliberated that human societies are
fundamentally promiscuous rather than being based on family. In fact promiscuity
only led to matriliny first instead of patriliny as it first created the mother/ child
bond. Patriliny developed much later with the introduction of marriage and legal
paternity.
The descent model of society developed in two ways, one in which theorists
rearranged the fundamentals in a new way to produce assumed patterns of historical
development. The second way was by using the model to cultural sources and to
ethnographic work of native communities. For example, McLennan and Morgan
20
stressed about the importance of exogamy in clans or totemism, was found to be
a common factor in kin groups. Emile Durkheim, in his Division of Labour in Descent and Alliance
Theories
Society (1893) tried to understand how clan based societies operated in reality.
For him, they would be together through mutual solidarity which he named
mechanical solidarity. Clans however also created territorial segments. According
to him this comes out from division of labour and the complex groups thus formed
were united by function. This is what he termed as organic solidarity.
Another development in this theory took place in the early twentieth century where
Boas’ students made use of Morgan’s model in reference to studies they conducted
among American Indians. For Example, John Swanton wrote on the social
organisation of American Indians. He questioned the historical validity of matrilineal
clans as postulated by Morgan. His work showed that many North American
tribes were not matrilineal and if at all matrilineal than they were not advanced than
family based units as deduced by Morgan. Another ethnographer, Frank Speck
demonstrated in 1915 that the Algonkian hunter-gatherers have families and they
are also associated to territories. This evidence too refuted Morgan’s claims.
R.H. Lowie summarized the critique of Morgan by noting that all data showed that
family has been present in all stages of culture. He also noted that there is no fixed
succession of maternal and paternal descent. Both higher and lower civilizations
in many cases give importance to paternal side of the family. His final postulation
was, family (bilateral) and clan, sib, moiety (unilateral) are rooted in local and
consanguinal factor.
The prominent British anthropologists of that time, like Rivers and Radcliffe-Brown
were clearly associated in their views with their American counterparts, more so
with Maine and McLennan than Morgan. The debate about the historical superiority
of ‘father right’ or ‘mother right’ was done away with. Family as a group and its
existence from a very early time was accepted. Clans for the British anthropologists
were associated with territories though for Rivers clans are based on common
descent than on territory. Morgan had identified the classificatory kinship
terminology, though initially was connected to forms of group marriage, later on
got linked to the presence of exogamous clans. Rivers too supported this notion
later on, in relation to studying kinship relationships in America, India, Africa,
Australia etc.
The British and American scholars only differed from each other when Rivers and
Radcliffe-Brown started investigating the corporate role of descent groups. Rivers
talked about ‘descent’ in terms of the way in which membership of a group is
recognised and also for modes of transmission of property, rank etc. but the
second notion was not accepted as these processes do not correspond to each
other all the time. Radcliffe-Brown’s essay on “Patrilineal and Matrilineal Succession”
gave Rivers’ points a concrete basis. He noted that social organisations needed
endurance and finality. Hence societies required corporations which can be either
based on territorial ties or kinship ties. Such kin based ties are unilineal descent
groups which describe group membership on a descent criterion. Radcliffe-Brown
based his ideas from his work on The Social Organisation of Australian Tribes
(1931).
It was A.L. Kroeber who however put forward a critique of Radcliffe Brown’s
study. His critique was mainly on descent theory of Radcliffe Brown, where he
disagreed to his claim of placing descent groups at the centre in Australia. For
Kroeber, moiety, clan and any other unilateral descent groups play secondary
parts in many societies and are not central. Family or clan did not actually have 21
Kinship, Marriage and any historical character about who followed whom. In societies where clans played
Family
an important role, they were always found with basic family units.
The clan model did not die away but came back to the forefront as a functional
model known as lineage model. It was basically used for the understanding of
contemporary relationships between institutions, more so to study particular African
example of segmentary lineage system. The field studies associated with this
functionalist model was aimed at analysis of living societies. Hence relationship
between territorial group and descent groups or between families and lineages
were with the help of this model deciphered as real problems rather than historical
issues.
Works on the Nuer by Evans-Pritchard and the Tallensi by Meyer Fortes developed
theoretical explorations and definition of typologies. In Fortes “The Structure of
Unilineal Descent Groups” (American Anthropologist, 1953) he submitted the
segmentary lineage model as an important offering of British Anthropology of his
times. His formulation suggested that the structure of unilineal descent group could
be generalised and its position in the complete social system can be viewed. For
example he particularly talked about the existing continuous nature of such lineages
in Africa and their political role specially where political centralisation was not
strong. Thus the social structure would exhibit how territory and descent would
connect with each other.
During that time, more classificatory studies continued. They tried to look at the
variety and types of descent groups, how corporateness could be recognised and
the importance to be devoted to unilineality. Leach however, was against typologizing
and even spoke against basic categories like matrilineal and patrilineal. There were
others who supported the pattern of sets of variables rather than the increase of
types and subtypes.
2.2.3 Counter Theories

Considering that so much of effort and time was used for creating the perfect
descent theories, it nevertheless faded out in the 1960s because of the many
complicacies and misunderstandings created by the ideas postulated by the thinkers.
In the 1960s in fact it faced the main challenge from a model which was designed
by Levi-Strauss based on the primitive social structure. It was referred to as the
Alliance theory. This model too agreed to the existence of segmentary organisation
of unilineal descent groups but posited the main arena of the system in exchanges
of marriage between such exogenous groups.
This alternative also critiqued Radcliffe-Brown by offering another interpretation
on the relationship between family and clan. For Radcliffe-Brown the universal
family created sentiments which took solidarity among siblings to a larger grouping
while Levi-Strauss stated the siblings can be linked through the exchange of sisters
in marriage. Similarly Edmund Leach argued on Fortes’ complementary filiation.
For Fortes, ties of affinity while generating importance to ties of descent came
under the expression, which Fortes called complementary filiation. For Leach both
segmentary lineage systems and primitive states could be identified by the system
of preferential unilateral marriage alliances which finally is linked to local descent
groups.
A neo-Malinowskian model was introduced during the same time which was
called the Transactional theory. In his study of a village named Pul Eliya in Sri
22 Lanka, Edmund Leach postulated that the reasoning behind social action was to
be seen at the level of individual management of resources for personal gain. This Descent and Alliance
Theories
was in contrast to the segmentary lineage model. Human beings and the community’s
action are based on kinship and descent principles. For him human beings are
dependent on a territory for their livelihood. Thus the conflict between territory
and descent was brought up again in Leach’s work. However Leach did not
distinguish between kinship relations and between individuals though it works as
a significant critique of descent theories.
2.2.4 Conclusion
In contemporary anthropological study of social systems, the descent model has
no credibility. It does not look into the local models or notions that societies
possess in their own realm. And it is not a ‘repetitive series’ of descent groups
which are essential for organising political and economic events. It however helps
in the study of kinship in anthropology, as it gives us ideas about how earlier
societies were made up. It also helps in moulding itself into other boarder models
of society. Beyond these Descent theories offer no significant contribution in
anthropology today.
Delineate the features of the Descent theory.
2.3 ALLIANCE THEORY

2.3.1 Development of Alliance Theory
The alliance theory in the study of kinship is also known as the general theory of
exchange. It bears its roots to the French structuralist Claude Lévi-Strauss and
hence is also known as the structural way of studying kinship ties. The alliance
theory was first discussed in Lévi-Strauss’ monumental book named Les Structures
élémentaires de la parenté (1949). Its English version is known as Elementary
Sturctures of Kinship. Alliance theory was quite popular during the 1960s and
went on to be discussed and deliberated till the 1980s where the issue of incest
taboo was taken up by not only anthropologists but also by psychologists, political
philosophers etc. Alliance theory tries to enquire about how inter-individual
relationships are woven and how finally they constitute society.
The theory developed to study those kinds of kinship systems which exemplify
positive marriage (cross-cousin marriage) rules. However besides providing
conjectures on marriage, it also provides a general theoretical awareness about
kinship. The study of marriage rules have been used from the initial days of kinship
studies to comprehend kinship terminologies. Scholars like W.H.R. Rivers also
used marriage (symmetrical cross-cousin marriage) and terminology (bifurcate
merging) and tried to exhibit a relationship between each other. For him the
marriage rule is the cause and the terminology is the effect. Australian kinship
system, which is quite perplexing, was also studied elaborately by anthropologists
to be familiar with their descent system. They too made use of marriage alliances
for this. Most scholars agree with each other on the notion that in symmetrical
cross-cousin marriage pacts, double descent is always seen, directly or indirectly.
However exponents of descent theories tried to go on about this through various
instances, like for example B.Z. Seligman’s tries to convert types of marriage to
forms of descent or Radcliffe-Brown’s extra stress upon descent where he finds
it worrying that the Australian kinship system has a core matrilineal exogamy along 23
Kinship, Marriage and with what he mentions as classic Australian patrilineal system. Radcliffe-Brown did
Family
accept that relationship between individuals and marriage rules are more important
than descent groups. However, coming back to alliance theory and its development,
Lévi-Strauss’ alliance theory was in complete defiance to Radcliffe-Brown’s
functionalist theory.
2.3.2 Main Exponent

Alliance theory was categorically created by Claude Lévi-Strauss, though analytical
assessment has been also offered by Rodney Needham and Louis Dumont. Lévi
Strauss studied and observed the connections formed between consanguinity and
affinity in his investigation of non-European societies. These two are both opposed
and complementary to each other. Due to this rules of preferential marriage and
marriage prohibitions are an incorporated part of this theory. Such rules in fact rise
due to the connection between blood ties and affinal ties. It is the marriage ties,
according to Levi Strauss and many of his contemporaries which create
interdependence between families and lineages.
According to Levi-Strauss alliance theory is based on incest taboo and the
prohibition of incest is recognised universally. It is viewed as a fundamental condition
of human social life. A man is not allowed to make a woman his wife who is his
immediate kin and in fact he has to give her away to another man. It is this
prohibition of incest that led human groups to follow exogamy. Lévi-Struass says
this prohibition is beyond any sociological explanation and clearly shows a difference
between consanguinity and affinity as the basis of kinship system. For him incest
taboo is thus seen as a negative prescription and it is only because of this that men
had to move out of the core kinship group or come in from another group to it.
This theory has much similarity with Sigmund Freud’s work Totem and Taboo
(1913).
This process of incest taboo where a daughter or sister is sent to a different family
commences a circle of exchange of women. Strauss views marriage as primarily
a process of exchange (between one men and other men or between one domestic
group and others). He observes positive marriage rules from the negative
prescriptions of prohibition. The main notion of alliance theory is then a reciprocal
exchange which creates affinity. It is the positive marriage rules which regulates
this exchange and thus gives rise to what Strauss call ‘elementary’ structures.
For Lévi-Strauss, there are two models of structure in the study of kinship and
exchange in marriage. When women in the ego’s group are proposed to another
group which is eligible for such exchange then such a situation may be called as
elementary structures of kinship. Similarly if the group of possible spouses for the
women are not known and kept open in the ego’s group, excluding particular kin
people like the nuclear family, an uncle, an aunt etc, this Strauss terms as complex
structures of kinship. This is easily seen in the western scenario.
In a society, keeping in mind incest prohibition, a kinship system is made up of
a combination of many traits, like inheritance, affinity, descent, residence etc. and
an understanding is reached by the combination of these features as a whole. If
all the transmission between these features takes place systematically between
generations in one and the same line it is known as harmonic while it is said to
be disharmonic if some of it is passed patrilineally and some matrilineally. It was
observed that the rules of cross cousin marriage where it exists is associated with
this. Theoretically from this, three types of affinal relations can exist, bilateral,
24
matirlateral and patrilateral. In bilateral cross cousin marriage, the spouse is mother’s Descent and Alliance
Theories
brother’s child and father’s sister’s child. It forms a self sufficient unit as two
intermarrying groups exchange women as wives. Lévi-Strauss calls this closed or
restricted exchange. He also connected it with disharmonic transmission.
In contrast to this, he talks about the implications of matrilineal cross-cousin
marriage. Here a man marries his mother’s brother’s daughter. So to elaborate if
a given line A gives their women to Line B and themselves take women from C,
finally at the end a circle is formed where Z after receiving from Y, will give back
to A. This is what Levi-Strauss class generalised form of exchange. It is opposed
to the closed type as it first consists of three groups and can accommodate any
number of groups. This type has similarities to harmonic transmissions, which are
either matrilineal or patrilineal.
It is the network of relationships which shows the identity of the intermarrying
group. Relationships that come out of different generations within the same group
of affines are terminologically compared. It is due to intermarriage being directionally
adapted to, hence a group does not receive wives from a group to which it gives
its daughters, as has been mentioned above. A possibility of disparity in status is
noted between wife-givers and wife takers. Levi-Strauss’ third type, the patrilateral
type has been superficially dealt with. It seems to be there in his discussion as a
failed hybrid of the other two.
Lévi-Strauss’ model tried to offer a proper description of cross-cousin marriage,
exchange of sisters, rules of exogamy etc. He postulated that it is the marriage
rules which after a certain period generate social structures. This he says is because
marriages are a coming together of not just two individuals but also of two groups.
With his root for such relationships as based on incest taboo, he formulated that
it was because of it that natural impulses were kept under check and it also
created the division of labour based on sex. We have discussed the former notion
in the above paragraphs about how women are exchanged and the latter idea
prescirbes work for women at a domestic level. As noted this exchange of wives
are arrangements which advances inter-group alliances and helps in creating
structures of social networks. The kinship structures that Levi-Strauss proposed
were of three kinds, which are created out from two types of exchange. They are
elementary, semi-complex and complex structures.
The first i. e. elementary structures are centered on rules of positive marriage
which indicate whom an individual can marry. Elementary systems work on two
forms of exchange, direct exchange or restricted exchange between two groups
of people which is symmetric. In restricted exchange, father’s sister and mother’s
brother marry and the children born out of them become bilateral cross cousins.
Then to maintain the continuity the two lineages marry again. Restricted exchange
structures are not very common.
Elementary structures have another form of exchange which is called generalised
exchange. Here a man can marry either his mother’s brother’s daughter, which is
a matrilateral cross-cousin marriage or his father’s sister’s daughter, which is a
patrilateral cross cousin marriage. These forms of exchange give rise to asymmetry
between three groups. According to Levi-Strauss matrilateral cross cousin marriages
are common in Asia, especially among the Kachin.
Compared to restricted exchange, generalised exchange was considered to be
finer as it permitted the incorporation of innumerable numbers of groups. Levi-
25
Strauss gave the example of Amazonian tribes who followed restricted form of
Kinship, Marriage and exchange. They were considered to be unstable as they usually were made up of
Family
moieties which broke quite regularly.
Generalised exchange on the other hand allows more amalgamation but exhibits
hierarchy. The wife – givers are superior to wife takers and the last wife taking
group is much inferior to the first wife giving group. Such disparities can weaken
the complete structure of society. Levi Strauss gave the example of the Kachins,
in Elementary Structures of Kinship, to show such behaviour. Levi-Strauss noted
that the matrilateral cross- cousin marriage was better than the patrilateral one,
from the structure point of view. As the exchange sequences are not very long as
the direction of wife exchange is inverted every successive generation, hence it has
less probability to create social integrity. As has been mentioned earlier patrilateral
cross-cousin marriage is very rare and hence not clearly touched by Levi-Strauss.
The peril that matrilateral cross cousin marriage faces is that group A as a giver
has to wait to get a wife from a group which would be very far from the line and
not much obligated to give a woman for marriage. A delay which might be caused
is not found in restricted exchange system.
Between Elementary and Complex structures, Levi-Strauss contributed to a third
structure, the semi-complex structure. It is also known as the Crow-Omaha system
as it is found among the Crow and Omaha native Indians of North America. It is
in many instances like the elementary structures, as for example it also contains
negative marriage rules and almost have rules like prescribing marriage to some
groups.
2.3.3 Analytical Assessment

Levi-Strauss’ alliance theory is not without its flaws. His arguments are based on
societies about which he has given examples of, which are clearly viripotestal and
also that his ideas of marriage was simple. The fundamental character and
explanatory value of exchange as defined by Levi Strauss faced some extreme
criticism. For supporters of consanguinity as a self-explanatory system, the
prohibiton of incest as the basis for the difference in consanguinity and affinity is
redundant. Marriage as been seen as a form of exchange was also questioned,
one because women were seen as possessions, private properties and also because
exchange was used in too wide a sense that it lost its meaning. Strauss’ main
confronter, R. Needham tried to make clear cut distinction between prescription
and preference in rules of marriage. For Needham, prescription on its own has
structural involvements in the whole social system. He states that if prescription
rules are seen not only as a marriage rule but as significant in the entire system,
then the danger arises in underrating the importance of other types, like preferential
marriage. These too have structural elements and the distinctions are sometimes
not visible at all.
The main development in the alliance theory which was observed was that there
was a refinement of the concept of alliance and to make to more empirical, it was
given a more structural identity. Initially the theory was mostly concerned with the
exchange of women between greater exogamous components of the society.
Needham tried to improve the notion that matrilateral marriage rules would result
in groups intermarrying in a circle. It was suggested that the marriage circle was
too limited in number and the people involved should be aware of them. Needham
further asserts that such alliance cycles do exist, and that too implicitly, however
their existence does not bring to an end the function or meaning of marriage
26
alliance. Levi-Strauss himself noted that conscious rules were to be considered Descent and Alliance
Theories
more important than their results in terms of exchange. In the absence of cycles,
the fundamental relationship can be formed from one of the many types of
consanguinal relationship between paired local descent groups. Louis Dumont
points out that where marriage alliance does not result in a system of exchange at
the level of group as a totality, it remains an integral part of the system of categories
and roles as understood by the people studied.
Needham further criticizes Levi-Srauss’ structuralism by calling the mediating
concepts of reciprocity and exchange as facing distinctive opposition. The basic
assimilation is not of groups but of categories as is viewed by the social mind,
where marriage rule is nothing but a gamut of ideas. Social relationships are
demarcated by classification and Needham perceived that asymmetrical
intermarriage, though could not function with less than three alliance groups, can
be dualistically theorized. This was in accordance to a complete dualist arrangement.
Louis Dumont like Needham states that structural entailments which are observed
are diverse from the group scheme on which attention was initially given. The
phrase marriage alliance hence includes both a generic phenomenon of intellectual
assimilation and a particular fact of group integration. Dumont further states that
this structural theory in its limited arena on its own rises above the prejudices in
our own culture. For him words like cross-cousin marriage maybe useful in theory
but in real life is deceptive. A concrete comprehension can be reached according
to him when the marriage rule which is known as marriage alliance is viewed as
offering a diachronic aspect which is only connected to descent or consanguinity.
If this can be done then it will be possible to go beyond our margins of thought
built upon our own society and make evaluations and appraisals on the basis of
the key perceptions involved, in this case consanguinity and affinity.
2.3.4 Conclusion
Allaince theory though quite categorical did not continue to work as a speculation
which bore definite fruits. A lot more was anticipated from the theory. The inference
of marriage alliance for status, economy, and political organisation was never
clearly explained. The etymological investigation remained defectively structural.
The study of terminologies did not finally help in comprehending or bettering this
theory. Though alliance theory had much greater explanatory value than descent
theory, yet in today’s contemporary anthropological setting, investigations have
minimized their interest in kinship studies to understand the diversity of kinship
systems. Hence the question of universal kinship structures remains unanswered
due to which the debates between descent and alliance theories have shrunk.
2.4 SUMMARY
To summarize the unit, we may say that in the study of kinship, two theories – the
descent theory and the alliance theory were proposed by anthropologists. This
was to work out the different structures of kinship through the models based on
birth and marriage ties. However these theories though intricate and complex in
their description and a matter of much debate while they were animate, lost their
significance and worth as they were in reality and in today’s understanding of
society, not enough persuasive or credible. These theories are obsolete in the
present scenario yet their knowledge is necessary for the student as it did play an
important role in the development of kinship studies in anthropology in the past.
27
Kinship, Marriage and References
Family
Durkheim, Emile. (1893)1997. The Division of Labour in Society. New York:
Free Press.
Evans-Pritchard, E.E. 1940. The Nuer: A Description of the Modes of Livelihood
and Political Institutions of a Nilotic People. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Fortes, Meyer and E.E. Evans-Pritchard (eds.). 1940. African Political Systems.
London: Oxford University Press.
Fortes, Meyer. 1953. ‘The Structure of Unilineal Descent Groups’. In D. A.
Baerreirs, A. Spoehr and S.L. Washburn (eds.), American Anthropologist, Vol.
55, No. 1 (pp. 17-41). Chicago: The American Anthropological Association.
Freud, Sigmund. (1913) 1918. Totem and Taboo: Resemblences between the
Psychic Lives of Savages and Nuerotics. New York: Moffat, Yard and Company.
Levi, Strauss. (1949) 1969. The Elementary Structures of Kinship. Boston:
Beacon Press.
Maine, Henry. (1861). 2006. Ancient Law. London: Book Jungle.
Radcliffe-Brown, A.R. 1931. The Social Organisation of Australian Tribes.
Melbourne: Macmillan and co., limited.
Speck, F.G. 1915. ‘The Family Band as the Basis of Algonkian Social
Organisation’. In Am. Anthropol. 17: 289- 305
Suggested Reading
Parkin, Robert. 1997. Kinship: An Introduction to Basic Concepts. Oxford:
Blackwell Publishers Ltd.
Parkin, Robert and Linda Stone (eds.) 2004. Kinship and Family: An
Anthropological Reader. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Schneider, David. A. 1984. A Critique of the Study of Kinship. Michigan: The
University of Michigan Press.
Sample Questions
1) What are the two theories in the study of kinship?
2) Give a detailed analysis of descent theory.
3) Explain how Levi-Strauss designed alliance theory. What were its main
deliberations?
4) How clearly did these theories help in the study of kinship?
28
MAN-001
Social Anthropology
Indira Gandhi
National Open University
School of Social Sciences
Block
6
RELIGION
UNIT 1
Concepts and Approaches to the Study of Religion
(Evolutionary, Psychological, Functional and Marxist) 5
UNIT 2
Rituals and Symbolism 22
UNIT 3
Religious Specialists 33
Expert Committee
Professor I J S Bansal Professor V.K.Srivastava Dr. S.M. Patnaik
Retired, Department of Principal, Hindu College Associate Professor
Human Biology University of Delhi Department of Anthropology
Punjabi University, Patiala Delhi University of Delhi
Professor K K Misra Professor Sudhakar Rao Delhi
Director Department of Anthropology Dr. Manoj Kumar Singh
Indira Gandhi Rashtriya University of Hyderabad Assistant Professor
Manav Sangrahalaya Hyderabad Department of Anthropology
Bhopal Professor. Subhadra M. University of Delhi
Professor Ranjana Ray Channa Delhi
Retired, Department of Department of Anthropology Faculty of Anthropology
Anthropology University of Delhi SOSS, IGNOU
Calcutta University, Kolkata Delhi
Dr. Rashmi Sinha
Professor P. Chengal Reddy Professor P Vijay Prakash
Reader
Retired, Department of Department of Anthropology
Anthropology Andhra University Dr. Mitoo Das
S V University, Tirupati Visakhapatnam Assistant Professor
Professor R. K. Pathak Dr. Nita Mathur Dr. Rukshana Zaman
Department of Anthropology Associate Professor Assistant Professor
Panjab University Faculty of Sociology Dr. P. Venkatrama
Chandigarh School of Social Sciences Assistant Professor
Professor A K Kapoor Indira Gandhi National Open Dr. K. Anil Kumar
Department of Anthropology University, New Delhi Assistant Professor
University of Delhi, Delhi
Programme Coordinator: Dr. Rashmi Sinha, IGNOU, New Delhi
Course Coordinator : Dr. Rukshana Zaman, IGNOU, New Delhi
Block Preparation Team

Unit Writers Content Editor
Professor R. Siva Prasad
Units 1 and 3 Unit 2
Head
Professor N. Sudhakar Rao Professor Subhadra M.
Department of Anthropology
Department of Anthropology Channa
University of Hyderabad
University of Hyderabad Department of Anthropology
Hyderabad University of Delhi, Delhi
Language Editor
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Assistant Professor
Discipline of English
School of Humanities
IGNOU, New Delhi.
Authors are responsible for the academic content of this course as far as the copyright issues are concerned.
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BLOCK 6 RELIGION
Introduction
Since the inception of the discipline Anthropologists have been eliciting the
relationship between religion and society. In traditional societies it has regulated
the lives of the people in different aspects that included economy, polity, life cycle
crisis, etc. Some Marxist structuralists, like Maurice Godelier and Meillassoux,
believed that in societies where religion was predominant, it was regarded as a
mode of production, as is also the case with societies that are predominantly
kinship based, which controlled the production, distribution and relations of
production. The classical example that can be cited is that of the Inca and Hindu
society during the ancient times. In many societies religion is one of the main social
control mechanisms. Even in the present day societies, it plays a very significant
role in controlling and regulating lives of people. Put differently, religion and society
are intricately related, be it tribal, rural, urban, traditional or modern. By and large,
what we notice in traditional societies is that religion is community oriented, while
in the modern societies it is, to a certain extent, individual driven. It is, therefore,
important to understand the way religion and society are intertwined. This Block
on Religion, which contains three Units, acquaints you to the theoretical and
empirical aspects of the relationship between the two. It will provide a good
understanding about the religious specialists, their role in healing, social control,
etc.
Unit1: Concepts and Approaches to the Study of Religion, introduces the
concept of religion as evolved in anthropology differently from the other disciplines
that deal with the subject matter of religion. Anthropological perspective of religion,
unlike the others, reflects the subjects’ perspective or what is aptly known as the
‘field view’. This Unit acquaints you to different concepts involved in the study of
religion from an anthropological perspective. It further assists you in understanding
the anthropological perspective of religion and different approaches to study religion.
In a way, it makes you analyse religion from an anthropological lens.
Unit 2: Rituals and Symbolism, reflects upon the anthropological studies of
rituals replete with symbolism. Anthropologists have immensely contributed to the
studies on symbolism and this unit discusses vividly the perspectives on rituals and
symbolism. It further delineates the way anthropologists analysed rituals as symbolic
communication, as a mark of protest, the use of symbols of rituals in social life of
communities, etc. It also discusses the concepts used in the analysis of rituals and
symbols.
Unit 3: Religious Specialists, outlines the significant role played by the religious
specialists in different societies, be they the agents of social control, health specialists
or mediators (healers), ritual specialists, etc. The unit discerns the role of religious
specialists in a community or society. As part of this, it appraises you to different
types of religious specialists, religious specialisations, and functional differences
among the specialists, besides the relationship between religious specialisation and
the scale of society.
UNIT 1 CONCEPTS AND APPROACHES TO
THE STUDY OF RELIGION
(Evolutionary, Psychological,
Functional and Marxist)
Contents
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Concepts of Religion
1.2.1 Supernatural Beings
1.2.2 Animism
1.2.3 Animatism
1.2.4 Naturism
1.2.5 Totemism
1.2.6 Taboo
1.2.7 Sacred and Profane
1.2.8 Ritual
1.2.9 Myth
1.2.10 Cult
1.3 Religious Symbolism

1.4 Religious Knowledge and Practices
1.4.1 Ancestor Worship
1.4.2 Magic and Magician
1.4.3 Witchcraft and Sorcery
1.4.4 Evil Eye
1.5 Anthropological Approach to Religion

1.5.1 Evolutionary Perspective
1.5.2 Psychological Approach
1.5.3 Functionalist Approach
1.5.4 Structuralist Approach
1.5.5 Marxist Approach
1.5.6 Symbolic Approach
1.6 Summary
References
Suggested Reading
Sample Questions
Learning Objectives

This reading should enable you to understand:
 various concepts in the discourse of religion;
 development of anthropological perspective of religion;
 various approaches to study religion; and
5
 contribution of anthropology to the understanding of religion.
Religion
1.1 INTRODUCTION
The subject matter of religion is dealt with in anthropology differently from the
other disciplines, such as philosophy, theology, comparative religion, religious studies
and so on. It tries to explain not what religion is but why is religion important in
the lives of the people. It basically takes people’s perspective and seeks to find
out how it is important to the people. There is no society that is known so far
without any religious idea. As early as nineteenth century, anthropologists made
attempts to search for earlier forms of religion and religious thoughts and the
courses of change therein. Some intellectuals thought that religion will have no
place where science and technology flourish, but the reality is to the contrary.
Even today in the age of computers, robots and inter-planetary travel religion
plays important roles in the lives of people. Anthropologists are trying to know the
relevance of religion in human societies whether they are technologically advanced
or primitive hunter and gatherers. This obviously raises the question of the
significance of religion in human societies. This unit basically attempts to orient
students to the anthropological perspective of religion.
Anthropological approach of studying human societies as integrated wholes,
considers religion as a part of culture. Each culture is unique in its own way and
each culture can be studied and described. The recent thinking is that the world
can be viewed in multiple ways and, therefore, the representation of culture cannot
be monological, authoritative and bounded. Thus, the anthropological perspective
of religion is the way its practitioners see the world, interpret and see themselves
different from others.
One may begin to have an understanding of the domain of religion with the question
what constitutes religion? And how do we define religion? Anthropologists defined
religion in different ways. But none of these well known definitions adequately
cover all aspects of religion practiced by all human societies. There has been
criticism on each of these definitions for their failure of accounting for one aspect
or the other.
In this unit, the students will be introduced to basic concepts found in anthropological
discourse on religion, and various approaches to study religion such as evolutionary,
psychological, functional, Marxist and symbolic. First, each of the basic concept
is discussed, followed by discussion on anthropological approaches to study religion.
Box No. 1 Definition of Religion
For Edward B. Tylor (1832-1917) religion is the belief in spiritual beings (1871).
Emile Durkheim (1858-1917) defines religion as “a unified system of beliefs and

practices relative to sacred things, that is to say, things set apart and forbidden
- beliefs and practices which unite into one single moral community called Church,
all those who adhere to them” (1961:62).
Clifford Geertz defines religion as (1) a system of symbols which acts to (2)
establish powerful, pervasive, and long-lasting moods and motivations in men
[and women] by (3) formulating conceptions of a general order of existence and
(4) clothing these conceptions with such an aura of factuality that (5) the moods
and motivations seem uniquely realistic (1973:90).
1.2 CONCEPTS OF RELIGION

The important concepts that appear in the study of religion include supernatural
6 beings – of polytheistic and monotheistic beliefs, forms of religion – animism,
animatism, totemism, ritual, myth, religious symbolism, ancestor worship, magic, Concepts and Approaches to
the Study of Religion
witchcraft and sorcery. Each of these concepts is briefly explained below: (Evolutionary,
Psychological, Functional
1.2.1 Supernatural Beings and Marxist)
There is dichotomy of world into: natural and supernatural. The natural world is
explained in terms of cause and effect relations, whereas the supernatural world
cannot be explained in causal relations alone. Gods, goddesses, god-lings, dead
ancestors, spirits who may be benevolent or malevolent; ghosts, demons, and
other forms, which are usually malevolent, and are powerful than human beings in
their movements and actions that constitute the world of the supernatural beings.
The supernatural beings may be visible at particular point of time, not for all but
for a few, or remain invisible. They are not subject to natural laws and principles,
whereas the natural beings necessarily follow the natural or physical laws and
principles. Theism refers to the beliefs and ideas that focus on supernatural beings
within the religious practices. When the society holds belief in multiple supernatural
beings it is called as polytheistic religion. Hinduism is the best example of having
a number of gods and goddesses in its pantheon. Monotheistic religions are those
having belief in one supreme supernatural being that may be called God or Yahweh
or Allah as in case of Christianity, Judaism and Islam.
In several religious practices, the interaction between humans and spiritual beings
are through spirit possession, vision and dreams. The spiritual beings possess
some humans who become media through which other humans and spirit enter into
dialogue. Sometimes, the spirits speak to the human agent who conveys the message
to people. In some cases, the humans get visions or the spirits appear in dreams
to interact with them. Also individuals get into trance for interacting with the spirits.
Thus, links are established between humans and supernatural world.
1.2.2 Animism
The term is coined by E. B. Tylor (1871) to describe the belief in soul or life force
and personality existing in animate and inanimate objects as well as human beings.
Several of the tribal religions hold such beliefs. His theory is that human beings are
rational beings, and attempt to interpret mysterious phenomena like sleeping, dreams
and death with the idea of soul.
1.2.3 Animatism
R. R. Marett (1866-1943) considered that humans believed in impersonal forces
in nature and certain objects. This sort of belief had created in humans religious
feelings of awe, fear, wonder, respect, admiration, and other psychical effects. He
believed that primitive man could not distinguish between the natural and supernatural
and also between living and dead. This condition that prevailed before the
development of the idea of soul is called animatism, which Marrett named after
mana which means power in Polynesia.
1.2.4 Naturism
Max Muller contended that since the gods in various societies were originally from
natural phenomenon, such as sun, thunder, trees, animals, mountains, forests, lakes,
rivers, oceans and so on, the human perception of nature must have had very
powerful agencies for origin of religion. Nature was the greatest surprise, a terror,
a marvel, a miracle which has also been permanent, constant and regular occurrences,
7
Religion and these could not be explained with the known facts. They are believed to have
great influence on the affairs of human beings. The religious thoughts must have
originated from the conceptualisation of nature itself and worship of nature.
1.2.5 Totemism
It is a system of belief in which certain objects, plants or animals have kinship
relationship with social groups. Such animate and inanimate objects stand as
emblems giving identity to the groups and form representations of the groups.
They create religious feelings among the members and form the objects of worship,
reverence and sacredness. According to Durkheim, totemism is the earliest form
of religion and it is quite prominently found among the Australian tribes, and such
phenomena are also noted among the American tribes as well.
1.2.6 Taboo
Taboo a Polynesian concept (tabu/tapu) but widely used in anthropological
literature. It refers to something, use of which is collectively and strictly forbidden
in religious context. The violation of a taboo has different consequences of temporary
defilement, crime to be punished and attracts the sanctions of supernatural beings
and so on. Taboo is associated with mana and Totems are considered taboos.

According to Durkheim, these are central concepts of religion. The sacred refers
to the things or spaces which are set apart for religious purposes, and against
these the profane refers to those considered secular in nature. However, in several
religions there are no equivalent terms and often they overlap also.
1.2.8 Ritual
Ritual, like religion, is difficult to define due to diverse forms and complexity of
the phenomenon. However, one may understand it as a set of formalised actions
performed with symbolic value in a socially relevant context or worshiping a deity
or cult. It is also a customary observance involving stereotyped behaviour. Rituals
vary in form and in content within a particular religion and across religions. They
involve participation of one or more individuals, physical movements or actions,
verbal and non-verbal or symbolic mode of communication based on certain
shared knowledge. Often ritual actions are infused with certain moods and emotional
states and the participants may inwardly assent or dissent from the ritual process.
Box No. 2
Victor Turner defines ritual as “prescribed formal behaviour for occasions not given over
to technical routine, having reference to beliefs in mystical (or non-empirical) beings or
powers regarded as the first and final causes of all effects” (1982:79).
Gluckman and Turner differentiate ritual from ceremony, though both of them are
forms of religious behaviour. Ritual involves social status and transition of one’s
status and, therefore, it is ‘transformative’, while the ceremony is associated with
social status and ‘confirmatory’. But such fine distinction often gets blurred and
difficult to maintain the difference. Rituals are classified as religious, magical,
calendrical, sacred, secular, private, public, sacrificial and totemic and so on.
Anthropologists most often use in their discourses on religion the ‘rites de passage’
of Arnold van Gennep, who analytically isolated a set of rituals called rites of
passage. The rites are organised recognising the change of status of individual in
8
one’s life time, and each of the rites employs three phases: separation; margin (or Concepts and Approaches to
limen); and incorporation. Turner elaborates the transitional phase liminality in his (Evolutionary,
study of Ndembu in Zambia. Psychological, Functional
and Marxist)
1.2.9 Myth
Believed to be truthful accounts of the past, the narrative that gives religious
sanctity and sacred character to the account, and is often associated with ritual is
called myth. Well, all myths may not actually depend on the past and necessarily
do not deal with sacred, yet they refer to or hinge upon such putative factors
providing social credibility and acceptability of the account. Well-known myths
are creation myths. Myth is different from legend as the characters in the myth are
usually not humans. They may be supernatural beings or animals or other animate
and inanimate objects and sometimes they are ambiguous characters. Myths
generally offer explanations for the customs and practices. On the other hand,
legends are about culture heroes, historical figures located in historical events,
which are believed to have taken place, that very easily transit into the contemporary
life. Folk tales are not considered sacred but regarded as stories or fiction meant
basically for entertainment. These tales may also include supernatural elements, yet
are essentially secular in nature. The characters in these tales may be human and/
non-humans. The tales exist independent of time and space. There is a strong
relationship between myth and ritual, and there was a debate as to which came
first. It is so because some argued that ritual is the enactment of myth whereas
others had argued that myth arises out of rites. The contemporary studies on
myths find no strict correspondence between the two.
Franz Boas tried to understand the social organisation, religious ideas and practices
of people from their myths. Malinowski argued that myth is a powerful social force
for the native which is relevant to their pragmatic interests. It expresses and
codifies beliefs and works towards efficacy of ritual and provides a practical
guide. However, for Levi-Strauss, myth is a logical model, it is a cultural artefact.
The human mind structures reality and imposes form and content on it. According
to him, myth is an area where human mind enjoys freedom and unrestrained
creative thinking expressed in it. Taking into consideration several limiting factors,
humans think certain conceivable possibilities about the critical problems that they
face. Therefore, myth provides the conceptual frame for social order, but it need
not correspond with the ethnographic facts of social organisation. Levi-Strauss
provided a method for structural analysis of myth. The latter studies of myth point
out the fact that myth interprets the reality but does not necessarily represent the
social order.
Reflection and Action 1
You can find rituals and myths in your own cultural lore. Try to find their relationship,
if there is any.
1.2.10 Cult
The concept of cult is derived from French culte meaning worship or a particular
form of worship. It has been used in both neutral and negative sense. In the
neutral sense of the term it means ‘care’, ‘cultivation’ and ‘tended’, it is a deity
or idol or image of a saint who is venerated and it is concerned with devotion.
However, in the negative sense it refers to the practice of a deviant religious group
or new religious dogma arising out of syncretism, cultural mix of ideas and practices
of different religions. The Cargo cults of Melanesia and Papua New Guinea weave 9
Religion Christian doctrine with native beliefs, in which it is believed that the spirits of dead
would bring the manufactured European goods in ships and airplanes. Similarly,
Caribbean vodum or ‘voodoo’, Cuban santeria and Afro-Brazilian candomble`
deities are referred to as cults.
1.3 RELIGIOUS SYMBOLISM

In a general sense of the term, symbol may be an object, picture, written word,
sound, idea, and colour that represent something else in association, resemblance
or convention. The religious symbolism refers to the idea of how symbols are
employed in religious context. Cross or Swastika or Crescent Moon are religious
symbols found in Christianity, Hinduism, and Islam, respectively. Symbols are
communicative, convey meanings shared by the community. They are associated
with human interests, purposes, ends and means. They are explicitly formulated.
The symbols are dynamic as they evoke moods and emotions and create complex
philosophical contexts in mind. Sacred art, pictures, drawings and designs used in
ritual and religious context convey religious meanings. Turner identifies three
properties of these religious or ritual symbols: condensation, unification of disparate
significata, and polarised meanings. Condensation means representing many ideas,
actions and meanings into a single symbol. For example, the Shiva Ling is
representation of Lord Shiva, divine destruction, male potency, creation and so
on. The unification of disparate significata means unifying diverse elements as in
case of Ndembu ritual the milk tree representing women’s breasts, motherhood,
and principle of matriliny, learning and unity of society. Polarization refers to two
distinguishing poles of meanings as matriliny and patriliny in case of Ndembu
puberty ritual.
1.4 RELIGIOUS KNOWLEDGE AND PRACTICES

Religious knowledge in most of the cases is institutionalised. It is developed and
contained in the form of doctrines and practices which anthropologists categorize
as little traditions and great traditions. The little traditions deal with the mundane
issues, whereas the great traditions deal with the philosophical and other worldly
issues. Different institutions are developed in these traditions; in the former case
there is shamanism (a system of belief cantering on the shaman, a religious personage
having curative and psychic powers), spirit possession, oracle or prophecy and in
the latter case, there are institutions of formal learning of religious matters, priesthood
of various orders, monasteries, and so on. In little traditions the knowledge is
passed on orally and by subjective experience, whereas in great tradition the
literature and sacred texts contain the spiritual knowledge. Thus, there is division
between those who have specialised knowledge of supernatural things and those
who are ordinary members of the community.

Worship of deities through rituals is though common practice, the ancestor worship
is more often associated with the little tradition. The great tradition generally
includes the worship of single or multiple deities. However, in Asia, Africa and
other parts of the world, there is the common practice of venerating ancestors; it
is believed that the ancestors continue to hold power over their progeny and affect
the society. This may be understood under the premise that human soul continues
to survive after the death. It is not the same as that of worshiping the dead; it is
10 the respect given to the deified dead person or the transformed spirit of the dead.
The funerary rites are performed for this purpose. In many of the religious practices, Concepts and Approaches to
only a few become ancestors and receive ritual attention. Where descent is through (Evolutionary,
males, the ancestors would be male only. In matriliny, as in case of Nayar in India Psychological, Functional
or Ashanti in Africa, the ancestorhood is bestowed upon the mother’s brother who and Marxist)
holds jurisdiction over lineage as lineage head. In some cases, ancestor shrines are
built where regular offerings are made and sacrifices offered. Functionalists like
Malinowski explain this phenomenon as emotional reassurance against the loss.
Meyer Fortes offers explanation in structuralist framework and says that ancestor
worship belongs to the domain of kinship and descent structure supported by the
jural and political order. The ancestor worship is an extension of authority over
successive generations; it is the supernatural idiom of supportive relationship
manifested in religious ideology.

Often religious practices include or is supplemented by magic. Magic refers to
certain activity or method by which the supernatural is believed to interfere in the
affairs of humans and bring about particular outcome. Magic and religion are
closely related to each other, though both can be distinguished. There are similarities
between the two as both are related to supernatural, rich in symbolism and involve
in rituals, and yet there are differences. While religion is supplicative, as one seeks
intervention of supernatural and requests for favours, magic is manipulative, one
uses set of formulas which force supernatural to intervene. Durkheim says while
we do not find a single religion without a church (place of worship), there is no
church for magic. Magic is frequently used for public good. According to Frazer,
(1890) magic works on the Law of Sympathy which refers to the association or
agreements of things and it has two parts: Law of Similarity and Law of Contagion.
The Law of Similarity states that an effect resembles its cause. The Law of
Contagion states that things that are once in contact will continue to be in contact.
The Law of Similarity gives rise to homeopathic or imitative magic – like produces
like - and the Law of Contagion gives rise to contagious magic. In imitative magic,
the magician uses an image or figurine to represent a person or animal on which
magical spells are cast or pricks pins to harm the victim. Sometimes, one imitates
totemic species and symbolically acts out copulation for increasing the population
of the species which is practiced among the Australian tribes. In Contagious
magic, a body part of an animal or anything that belongs to a person under the
magical spell affects the animal or the person. In some societies, the claw of tiger
when worn as garland makes a man skilled hunter or an amulet having the image
of god keeps away the bad spirits or demons.
Frazer believed that magic is closer to science, the primitive man’s thinking was
pre-logic. Malinowski observed that the Trobrianders possess sound empirical
and rational knowledge about their environment, they use technology developed
by them to grow gardens and crops and use skills to sail in the sea and involve
in kula exchange. But despite all this knowledge the Trobrianders believe that
there are agencies that influence the natural order. In order to control these forces
and agencies, they use magic. According to him, the function of magic is to
ritualise man’s optimism over fear or ill-luck.

Magic is mostly used for the public good, witchcraft and sorcery are used for
harming the individuals, and seen as anti-social. Black magic is equated with
witchcraft and sorcery, and these have negative sanction of the society and individuals 11
Religion on whom it is practised. The witch is distinguished from the sorcerer by the fact
that the source of supernatural in case of a witch remains in the body of the witch
that is often inherited also. The sorcerer acquires the art and does not necessarily
pass on to the next generation. The witch generally wills in death and destruction,
whereas the sorcerer performs magical rites to achieve evil ends. Witchcraft is
seen as an evil force bringing misfortune to members of a community. These
religious phenomena are found in many parts of the world, including the scientifically
and technologically developed countries. Christianity recognises the existence of
evil spirits which function under the lordship of Satan or Devil who is hostile to
God, and the witches and sorcerer maintain close liaison with Satan. Evans-
Pritchard (1937) provides a classical example of witchcraft among the Azande in
Africa. According to him, witchcraft provides explanation for the unexplainable
events; it is cultural behaviour dealing with misfortunes; and it helps defining morality.
Try to find the differences among ritual, magic, witchcraft and sorcery. Do they overlap?
1.4.4 Evil Eye

The belief in evil eye states that some individuals with an evil eye cause illness or
some misfortune by simply looking at others. This explanation is mostly offered
when children become sick in several societies. It is not only by looking but also
praise or any complementary comments. The victims of evil eye are mostly children.
In some cases when prosperous individual or household suddenly encounters
misfortunes, people attribute it to evil eye. Dundes (1981:266-267) identifies some
structural principles that operate in the concept of evil eye. Life depends on non-
renewable resources like semen, milk, blood, saliva, etc. which are liquid, and
drying them up cause illness, which is due to evil eye. There is limited amount of
good, such as health, wealth, etc., and any gain of one individual can only come
at the expense of the other. So, if a person of evil eye acquires more of limited
good, the other will lose. In the equilibrium model of life the haves and have-nots
co-exist in a balanced manner. But the have-nots when become envious, the haves
lose their health or wealth. Further, eyes symbolise breasts or testicles and an evil
eye threatens the supply of such precious liquids like milk or semen.
1.5 ANTHROPOLOGICAL APPROACH TO

RELIGION
After introducing various concepts found in religious discourses, we draw your
attention to the anthropological theories about religion. These include evolutionary,
psychological, functional, Marxist and symbolic perspectives.
John Lubbock (1834–1913), an English anthropologist, made an early attempt to
combine archaeological evidence of prehistoric people, on the one hand, and
anthropological evidence of primitive people, on the other, to trace the origin and
evolution of religion (Encyclopædia Britannica Online). In this scheme, in the
beginning there was absence of religious ideas and development of fetishism,
followed by nature worship, and totemism (a system of belief involving the
relationship of specific animals to clans), shamanism, anthropomorphism,
monotheism (belief in one god), and finally ethical monotheism. This has
foreshadowed, other forms of evolutionism, which were to become popular later.
In the late nineteenth century with the influential works of Max Muller, W. Robertson
12 Smith, Edward B. Tylor, Marrett, and Sir James G. Frazer, anthropological study
on religion grew at a fast pace. These scholars were first to suggest that tribal Concepts and Approaches to
religions might be amenable to study, following the rules of scientific method, and (Evolutionary,
to posit specific methodological procedures for the comparative analysis of religious Psychological, Functional
beliefs and practices. All of them sought to understand religious belief and practices and Marxist)
at most fundamental or basic level.
The anthropology of religion owes a great debt to Emile Durkheim who put
forward the concept of sacred, profane orders, and the so-called supernatural and
natural categories, which have proved to be more beneficial in better understanding
the concept of religion. A strong impetus to subsequent application of Durkheimian
theory is found among the British structural-functionalists, such as Radcliffe-Brown,
E.E. Evans-Pritchard, Meyer Fortes, and Melford Spiro, etc., who also made
significant contributions towards understanding religion. They primarily focussed
on the religion of tribal groups. However, many of the contemporary exponents of
anthropology of religion like Clifford Geertz, Melford Spiro, Victor Turner, Sherry
Ortner, Mary Douglas and Stanley Tambiah have devoted bulk of their attention
to local variants of major world religions – Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism, and
Christianity and the impact of the world religions in developing countries like Java,
Indonesia, Morocco, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Nepal, and Burma, instead of the
religions of isolated tribal groups. Contemporary ethnographers concentrate on
examining religious diversity in complex societies rather than providing further
documentation for uniformity in tribal religions. Herein, you are provided with a
brief account of each of the dominant theoretical perspectives of anthropology on
religion.

Like so much else in anthropology, the study of the religious notions of primitive
people arose within the context of evolutionary theory. Besides their evolutionary
assumption about religion, the followers of evolutionary theory show overwhelming
Eurocentric biases. But it is true that they made valuable contributions to the study
of religion. Most of the nineteenth century anthropologists derive assumptions
about religion from the Judeo-Christian heritage and from their own religious
experiences within that tradition. E.B. Tylor, expounds in his book, Primitive
Culture (1871), that animism is the earliest and most basic religious form. Out of
this evolved fetishism, belief in demons, polytheism, and, finally, monotheism is
derived from the exaltation of a great god, such as the sky god, in a polytheistic
context. He defines religion in such a way that all forms of it could be included,
namely, as ‘the belief in Spiritual Beings’. He firmly states that religion is a cultural
universal, for no known cultures are without such beliefs. Belief in spirits began as
an uncritical but nonetheless rational effort to explain such puzzling empirical
phenomenon as death, dreams and possessions. Herbert Spencer advocated
ancestor worship, a relatively similar system to Tylor’s animism.
The 19th century anthropologists were deeply influenced by the presumptions of
their own society so called ‘Western’. R.R. Marrett (1909), on the other hand
regarded animatism as beginning of religious ideas. As discussed earlier, his derivation
is from ideas as mana (power), mulungu (supreme creator), orenda (magic
power), concepts found in the Pacific, Africa, and America, respectively, referring
to a supernatural power (a kind of supernatural ‘electricity’) that does not
necessarily have the personal connotation of animistic entities and that becomes
especially present in certain men, spirits, or natural objects. Marrett criticizes Tylor
for an overly intellectual approach, as though primitive men used personal forces
as explanatory hypotheses to account for dreams, natural events, and other 13
Religion phenomena. For Marrett, primitive religion is ‘not so much thought out as danced
out,’ and its primary emotional attitude is not so much fear as awe.
For Sir James Frazer human thought is best understood as a progression from
magic to religion to science. By publishing his two volume book titled The Golden
Bough (1890), he attempts to construct a universal theory of magic, religion and
science. According to Frazer, magic is the primordial form of human thought. He
further postulates early man was dominated by magic, which viewed nature as ‘a
series of events occurring in an invariable order without the intervention of personal
agency’. These magicians, according to Frazer, believed in nature and developed
imaginary laws, which are of course, not real. However, in course of time the more
intelligent members of the society, in the state of disillusionment, conceived of
spiritual beings with powers superior to man, who could be induced by propitiation
to alter the course of nature to his advantage. According to Frazer, this was the
stage of religion. Later on this was seen to be an illusion and men entered the
final, the scientific stage of development. Magic, according to Frazer, is based on
the principle of contagion or on ‘sympathy’ or the notion of imitation, said to be
the earliest form. In more advanced societies, Frazer contends, magic eventually
is replaced by religion, and both are finally replaced by science.
For Durkheim, evolutionary advancement consists in the emergence of specific,
analytic, profane ideas about the ‘cause’ or ‘category’ or ‘relationship’ from
diffuse, global, sacred images. These ‘collective representations,’ as he calls them,
of the social order and its moral force included such sacra as ‘mana’, ‘totem’ and
‘god’ (Sills, 1968). The above postulates on religion come from intellectual
theorisation made from the existing reports, travelogues, and Christian missionary
works. These anthropologists never had firsthand experience of non-western cultures
nor did they theorise on the basis of systematic study of culture of the people in
totality and, therefore, they were called armchair anthropologists.
Anthropologists like Franz Boas, Ruth Benedict, Margaret Mead and Alfred
Kroeber discredit the speculative evolutionary perspective and seek explanations
for similarities of rituals, myths and symbols found in different cultures through
culture contact. For them cultural dispersion, instead of independent evolution of
religious thoughts and actions, is the reason for such similarities. They emphasise
need for understanding culture as an integrated whole and interpreting the cultural
elements in that pattern, including the religious activities, in a meaningful way.
But, there are others like Emile Durkheim who thinks that emotions of the individuals
and collective consciousness in social environment shape the individuals’ religious
feeling. While, on other hand, Max Weber believes that the beliefs and emotions
have evolved into rational religion and higher thinking in religion. Others such as
Meyer Fortes and Clifford Geertz also recognise the psychological component in
religious behaviour. However, after the evolutionary perspective, psychological
approach to religion based on Sigmund Freud’s approaches of psychoanalysis and
neurotic symptoms has become a dominant approach to understand religion in
anthropology.

Few years before World War I, there was the rise of systematic psychologism of
psychoanalysis of Sigmund Freud. His thesis is that religious rituals and beliefs are
homologous with neurotic symptoms (Eriksen, 1950). According to him, a deep
subconscious psychological conflict within social groups is responsible for the
14
development of religion. He explains that the psychological conflict between the Concepts and Approaches to
father and son, the hatred of son towards father, his desire for killing him and the (Evolutionary,
guilt feeling are the reasons for the creation of totem based on the Oedipus myth. Psychological, Functional
The worship or respect shown to the totemic animal is the reflection of subconscious and Marxist)
conflict between the son and father and the latter’s kinsmen. The psychological
defence mechanisms involve projections to avoid conflict and reduce anxiety. This
is like “I hate X because you hate X”, which can be analysed at cultural level.
Further, the childhood experiences carried out through out adult life in the forms
of images and in this regard dependency of children on parents is significant. The
dependency on parents by the children in the latter part of life is projected on the
spiritual beings.
But Carl Jung takes a different approach taking the projections to cultural level of
a group’s collective consciousness and Oedipus is just one example, and others
include the Trickster, the Hero, Orphan, the Creator, the Sage or Fool, etc.
Following this line of thinking, Kardiner, who is considered as a neo-Freudian,
sought to demonstrate that religious institutions of tribal people are projections of
a “basic personality structures,” formed not by the action of an unconsciously
remembered historical trauma but by the more observable traumas produced by
child-training practices.
Many others like Eriksen (1950) have also been influenced by Freud’s concept.
Eriksen, drawing upon developments in ego personality to be a joint product of
psychobiological maturation, cultural context, and historical experience, interpreted
the religious notions of the Yurok and the Sioux in terms of certain basic modes
of relating to the world. The basic Freudian premise is that religious practices can
be usefully interpreted as expressions of unconscious psychological forces, and
this has become, amid much polemic, an established tradition of enquiry. Ruth
Benedict (1934) in her work has provided a background for all later culture-
personality studies using the same method. She explains cultural patterns of some
American Indians in terms of configurations from certain personality types.
The psychological approach has been superseded by functionalist approach but
recently the significance of psychology once again came to light in a different route
as symbolic anthropology. The context is that there has been a considerable
discussion on ‘primitive thought’ which is different from that of the ‘modern rational
thought’. The former is associated with lack of written language, technology, small
in number and lack of uniformity, etc., and its religion is expressed in ritualistic
activity and magic. The latter is associated with the scriptures, standard religious
activities, rationalisation of behaviour and philosophical approach to life. However,
there are commonalities and continuities in these two forms of thoughts and actions.
In this respect, the approach of Clifford Geertz to religion is significant, as modern
or primitive religion can be understood in an integrated system of thought through
symbolism.

Various forms of functionalism in anthropology—which focus on social patterns
and institutions with reference to their functions in the larger cultural context—
have proved illuminating for wider understanding of religion. This has helped to
discover interrelations between differing aspects of religion as it connects various
institutions. Functionalism emphasises on the interrelations between the various
elements of a social system, and, therefore, pays less attention to evolutionary
origins and the notion of “survivals” – the continuation of primitive elements in a 15
Religion culture. Society is seen as a self-regulating system in which religion, economic
organisation, and kinship form parts of an organic whole. The realm of the sacred
is defined by the attitude people have towards it – rituals are sacred if they are
performed with reverence and awe. Numerous functional aspects of religion include
providing explanation or comfort; sanctions on social, economic and political norms
and institutions; and aiding ecological adaptation and unifying the social group.
Anthropologists like Malinowski, Evans-Pritchard, Radcliffe-Brown, etc., who
approached religion from functionalist perspective provide explanation that satisfies
human needs and solidarity of the group. Malinowski, for instance, in his work on
the Trobriand Islanders emphasises on the close relationship between myth and
ritual. He puts forward the idea of psychological functionalism, religious acts fulfilling
the psychological need and satisfaction. A mortuary ritual, for instance, is intended
to release the soul and prevent it from returning to haunt the living. Like Frazer,
he distinguishes magic from religion which aims at something beyond itself. Its
object is not performance of the rite. In magic the end is the efficacious magic
itself. Evans-Pritchard observes that while emotions, desires, and impulses
undoubtedly play a part in religion, the performance of a religious or magical act
need not automatically produce the psychological effects, as Malinowski supposes.
He argues in Azande religion that witchcraft has to be understood in social context.
In this sense, he agrees with Durkheim but disagrees with the notion that religion
is illusion.
Radcliffe-Brown (1922) provides an account of Andamanese religious beliefs and
ceremonies. He asserts that the Andaman Islanders’ main supernatural beings are
spirits of the dead, associated with the sky, forest, and sea, and nature spirits,
which are thought of as personifications of natural phenomena. Applying Durkheimian
analysis he presents an organic picture of society; religion integrates society and
rituals bring in solidarity of the group. Many anthropologists followed this stream
of approach which however slowly has died out with the criticisms from the newer
theorists. In India M.N. Srinivas’ (1952) study of society and religion among the
Coorgs is an outstanding contribution to the study of religion in functionalist
perspective. He very innovatively integrates social structure with religion which he
finds it operating at different levels – local, regional, peninsular and all India.
Drawing the difference between Indological and sociological approach, he adopts
the latter for a meaningful treatment of religion in relation with the social structure
of the Coorg. He demonstrates that various rituals organised at family, patrilineal
joint family (okka), village and nad level bring in solidarity and unity among
different social segments.

Rejecting functionalist, sociological and psychological approaches as being too
light in interpreting mythology, Levi-Strauss’ (1958) new “structuralism” posited a
universal logical pattern to the human mind and in this perspective religion is of a
totally different phenomenon in nature. He has been unswerving in his search for
the universal structures of human thought and social life. He points out that although
anthropologists have tried studying mythology it has not been successful as myths
are still widely interpreted in conflicting ways: as collective dreams, as the outcome
of a kind of esthetical play, or as the basis of ritual. Mythological figures are
considered as personified abstractions, divinised heroes, or fallen gods. He further
laments that study of mythology has been reduced to either an idle play or a crude
kind of philosophical speculation. His formalistic structuralism tends to reinforce
16
analogies between “primitive” and sophisticated thinking and also provides a new
method of analysing myths and stories. Taking cue from structural linguistics, in Concepts and Approaches to
particular the work of Ferdinand Saussure, Levi-Strauss has sought to reveal a (Evolutionary,
grammar of the mind, a kind of universal psychology with a genetic base, which Psychological, Functional
gives rise to social structures. He explains that myth is language: to be known, and and Marxist)
to be told; it is a part of human speech. He further elaborates saying that in order
to provide its specificity we must be able to show that it is both the same thing
as language, and also something different from it. He interestingly analyses myth
with Saussure’s distinction between langue and parole, one being the structural
side of language, and the other the statistical aspect, langue belonging to a reversible
time, parole being non-reversible. Just as there are limits to linguistic variation, so
there are certain basic innate patterns of culture based on a series of binary
oppositions. Thus, all societies distinguish between the raw and the cooked, the
raw standing for nature (and women) and the cooked for culture (and men).
Myths reveal common story lines that can be used to understand the limited
number of ways in which human beings interpret the world. The structural analysis
of myth, which is a pioneering work of Levi-Strauss in anthropology, has influenced
many scholars in the 21st century. Levi-Strauss contends that primitive religious
systems are like all symbolic systems, fundamentally communication systems.
In Indian context Dumont (1959) takes the structuralist perspective of religion
manifested in the worship of village deities. He finds the opposition between
‘purity’ and ‘impurity’ and interdependency of both the values in the religious
thoughts. The ‘purity’ is strongly associated with vegetarian food offered to the
sanskritic gods and ‘impurity’ associated with non-saskritic gods and other spiritual
beings that receive the offering of non-vegetarian foods. The purity is superior to
impurity, and these values have transcended to form the basis of caste system.

Karl Marx has been an influential theorist who was very critical of religion, and
his approach depicts religion and religious belief as fictions that support the status
quo and that maintained class differences. Religion reflects false consciousness of
people that diverts their attention from the miseries of their lives. It is the outcome
of human distress that may have been the consequences of human’s struggle with
the nature in the past, but now it is a way to get along with capitalist culture. He
said, “Religious distress is at the same time the expression of real distress and the
protest against real distress. Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the
heart of a heartless world, just as it is the spirit of a spiritless situation. It is the
opium of the people.” (1844 http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1844/
df-jahrbucher/law-abs.htm accessed on 2.5.2011).
Maurice Godelier finds Marx’s view of religion as reflection of the real world in
the human mind; the nature is personified unconsciously as objective realities, and
it is both transcendent and independent of human mind. In dealing with the nature,
he says, there is internal structure of relations in which humans alienate themselves.
Godelier (1975) explains this position while analysing the Mbuti Pygmy’s relation
with the forest as hunters. The forest provides animal as well as plant food, but
the Mbuti imagine the forest as kinsman and offer prayer of thanks, as forest is
considered as omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient divinity as it yields food
that sustain them. When a Mbuti dies, his or her breath leaves and mixes with the
wind, which is the breath of the forest. Various rituals that they organise and their
belief patterns show social and organic unity with the nature. Thus, he argues that
the religion of the Mbuti represents both a real and a symbolic action upon the
real and imaginary conditions. The real causes are transformed into the effects of 17
Religion imaginary, and the transcendent causes personified into imaginary omnipotent being
- god. In this nexus of forest, food and society, there is alienation of human
agency. Further, with other examples, Godelier argues that the shamans in the
simple societies mediate between the nature and society in the imaginary conditions
set, and thus shamans acquire power over the equals. With some other examples
he explains that the shamans or priests or the chiefs, who are also priests, exercise
control over the nature and dominate over the people in their collective enterprise
of political and economic dealings. Thus, the class differentiation and exploitative
social relations are inherent in the small societies though such relations are
unconsciously accepted as natural. The religion or ritual is basically used for
maintaining this kind of social order.
Maurice Bloch (1986) views society and culture as natural and these are governed
by general laws of the nature or earthly characters but not divine. Espousing
Robertson-Smith’s ideas on sacrifice, which is essentially social in nature, he
begins his argument that the functionalist perspective of ritual to bring solidarity of
a social group is only one aspect of ritual. The ritual which is very complex is more
stable historically than the beliefs which continue over a period of time. Therefore,
the historical construction of ritual unravels the social determination of ritual. The
functionalists who followed Robertson-Smith reduced every aspect of religion or
ritual to the purpose of providing solidarity to the group implying that ritual is the
outcome of an intentional attempt of the group for solidarity. But for others, such
as Durkheim, ritual is the device by which categories of understanding organising
our perception of nature and of society is created. Thus, there is ontological
problem of ritual, whether the ritual creates solidarity of the group or the group
create the ritual for solidarity, and this has not been resolved so far. For some
others such as Evans-Pritchard, religion offers explanation of the world and
accommodates the things beyond the human perception; it is an intellectualist’s
exercise. Still there is a need to explain why rituals are powerful and why
participation is so important? The Marxist writers offered the explanation of ideology
created phenomenologically and historically by the dominant group. Bloch argues
that ritual must be placed in social context. Symbolism with emotional content and
sociological aspects are to be brought together. The link between the history of
social formation and the ritual has to be established that can help understanding
the social determination of ritual. Further, ritual has propositional force expressed
in the special ritual communication through symbolism as well as speeches and
narratives, and it is necessary to understand the contents of the ritual in order to
grasp what ritual means to the participants and the onlookers.

Evans-Pritchard (1956) first recognised the symbolic aspect of religion, and this
has inspired several anthropologists to approach religion through symbols, the
meanings given by the participants to the elements of religion and rituals, and
interpretations that anthropologists can offer. Victor Turner (1967), Mary Douglas
(1970) and Clifford Geertz (1973) are the important anthropologists that have
contributed for our understanding of religion from symbolic perspective.
Victor Turner’s work on the Ndembu rituals provides a highly detailed and enormous
work on Ndembu religious life which consists of rituals falling under these two
categories – Life cycle crisis ritual and ritual of affliction. His work shows that the
Ndembu society is greatly marked by different ceremonies replete with symbolic
meanings in every act and performance. Along with that his powerful analytic
18 concepts of ‘structure’ and ‘anti-structure’ in analysing the Ndembu society brought
about new dimension in looking at rituals and its symbolic relevance in ritual Concepts and Approaches to
context. (Evolutionary,
According to Mary Douglas, there is an enormous literature on religion in the and Marxist)
modern world, but little guidance on how to relate its understandings to the other
branches of social thought. Douglas emphasises that the idea of the dangerous and
powerful sacred is formed by living together and trying to coerce one another to
conform to a moral idea. The sacred can be engraved in the hearts and mind of
the worshippers in more than one way. It represents the society, as experienced;
it is divine order, and what distorts it is unholy and polluting. Human body is the
most appropriate symbol of the society; functioning of bodily parts represents the
social order and disorder. For her, symbols fit well with the empirical experience
of group and individual into a consistent whole. She also worked extensively in
understanding about symbols. She says that symbol has meaning from its relation
to other symbols in a pattern, the pattern gives the meaning. Therefore, no one
item in the pattern can carry meaning by itself isolated from the rest. She further
puts forward that a basic question for understanding natural symbolic systems will
be to know what social conditions are the prototype for the one or the other set
of attitudes to the human body and its fitness or unfitness for figuring godhead.
What are the limits within which the disdain of organic processes can be used as
an idiom for social distance? Douglas also has tried to show that dimensions of
social life that govern the fundamental attitude to spirit and matter. According to
her, symbolic acts accurately convey information about the intentions and commitment
of the actor. She declares that anthropologists are in the habit of using ritual to
mean action and beliefs in the symbolic order without reference to the commitment
or non-commitment of the actors. Symbolic approach is one of the most popular
approaches used by anthropologists to study about human religious behaviours.
Dissatisfied with earlier approaches, Geertz proposes religion as the part of the
cultural system. For him, a symbol means any object, act, event, quality or relation
that serves as a vehicle for a conception. His conception of religion rests on the
notion that people act basically according to the systems of meanings that they
have and the job of anthropologist is to interpret these meanings and provide for
their description. The system of meanings engages continuous dialogue between
the meanings acting upon people and people’s actions upon meaning – the cultural
system shapes and gets shaped by the people. He says, “For an anthropologist,
the importance of religion lies in its capacity to serve, for an individual or for a
group, as a source of general, yet distinctive, conceptions of the world, the self,
and the relations between them, on the one hand—its model of aspect—and of
rooted, no less distinctive “mental” dispositions—its model for aspect—on the
other. From these cultural functions flow, in turn, its social and psychological ones”
(1973:123).
The functional and symbolic approaches have dominated the anthropological study
of religion in the late twentieth century as researchers have become increasingly
concerned with the concept of meaning. Biological, neurological and cognitive
approaches, which have not been dealt here, are gradually gaining popularity and
may dominate the future studies in anthropology of religion.
1.6 SUMMARY
The anthropology of religion has been concerned with the significance of religion
and its role in the lives of people in belief and practice, whether they are
technologically less or more advanced. Given its complexity in forms, variations 19
Religion and practices no precise definition could be given, and as such the anthropologists
have developed new concepts and used some known terms with specific meanings
in the discourse of comprehending religion. Some of the important ones considered
in this unit are: supernatural beings, animism, animatism, naturism, totemism, ritual,
myth, symbols, ancestor worship, magic, witchcraft, sorcery and evil eye. These
are interrelated and often fine distinction has been made between some concepts.
In order to explain this universal phenomenon, the anthropologists offered various
theoretical perspectives, and some of them considered include evolutionary,
psychological, functional, structural, Marxist and symbolism. While all these
frameworks attempt to explain religion in their own terms and tried to grasp the
reality, no single framework explains everything.
References
Bloch, Maurice. 1992. Prey into Hunter: the Politics of a Religious Experience.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Benedict, Ruth. 1934. Patterns of Culture. New York: Houghton Mifflin.
Douglas, Mary. 1970. Natural Symbols: Explorations in Cosmology with a
New Introduction. 1st ed., London and New York: Routledge.
Durkheim, Emile. 1912. Elementary Forms of Religious Life. London: Hollen
Street. Reprint 1961.
Dundes, Alan. 1981. ‘Wet and dry, the evil eye’. In Alland Dundes (ed.) The Evil
Eye: A Case Book. New York and London: Garland. Pp 257-312.
Dumont, Louis. 1959. ‘A structural definition of a folk deity of Tamilnad: Aiyanar
the Lord’. Contributions to Indian Sociology 3: 75-87.
Encyclopædia, Britannica. “The Origin of Civilization and the Primitive Condition
of Man.” Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Accessed on 2nd May. 2011
Eriksen, Erik H. 1950. Childhood and Society. 2nd ed. 1964. rev. & enl. New
York: Norton.
Evans-Pritchard, E.E. 1937. Witchcraft, Oracles and Magic among the Azande.
Oxford: Oxford Clarendon Press.
_______________ 1956. Nuer Religion. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Frazer, James. 1890. The Golden Bough. London: Macmillan.
Geertz, Clifford. 1973. The Interpretation of Cultures. New York: Basic Books.
Godelier, M. 1975. ‘Towards a Marxist Anthropology of Religion’. Dialectical
Anthropology. Vol-1 no. 1: 81-5.
Levi-Strauss, Claude. 1958/1963. Structural Anthropology. New York: Basic
Books. Reprint 1963.
_______________ 1963. Totemism. New York: Basic Books.
Marett, R.R. 1909. The Threshold of Religion. London: Meuthen and Co.
Marx, Karl. 1844. ‘Contribution to the Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of
Right’, Deutsch-Franzosische Jahrbiicher, February.
20
http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1844/df-jahrbucher/law-abs.htm. Concepts and Approaches to
accessed on 2.5.2011. (Evolutionary,
Radcliffe-Brown, A.R. 1922. The Andaman Islanders: A Study in Social and Marxist)
Anthropology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Sills, David L. 1968. ‘Religion: Anthropological Study’ (ed.): International
Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences (16 volume edition). New-York: Macmillan
& Co., vol. 13 (Psyc-Samp), pp. 398-406
Srinivas, M.N. 1952. Religion and Society among the Coorgs of South India.
New Delhi: Oxford University Press.
Turner, Victor. 1967. The Forest of Symbols: Aspects of Ndembu Ritual. New
York: Cornell University Press.
Turner, Victor. 1982. ‘From Ritual to Theatre: The Human Seriousness of Play’.
New York: PAJ Publications.
Tylor, E.B. 1871. Primitive Culture. 2 Vols. London: John Murray.
Suggested Reading
Durkheim, Emile. 1912/1961. Elementary Forms of Religious Life. London:
Hollen Street
Sample Questions
1) How do you conceptualise religion with the help of various concepts presented
in this chapter?
2) Based on the meanings associated with each of the religious concepts what
is the relevance of religion in human societies?
3) Are humans rational or irrational with reference to religion? Make your point
from the anthropological theories of religion.
4) Discuss how Marxist approach is closely related to functionalist theory of
religion.
5) In what ways the symbolic approach is an extension of psychological approach
to religion?
21
UNIT 2 RITUALS AND SYMBOLISM
Contents
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Symbols and Social Life
2.2.1 Ritual
2.2.2 Key Symbols
2.3 Functional Study of Rituals

2.4 Rituals of Liminality
2.5 Rituals as Protest and Change
2.6 Rituals as Communication
2.7 The Nature of Rituals
2.8 Summary
References
Suggested Reading
Sample Questions
Learning Objectives

After reading this unit, you would be able to understand the:
 typology of rituals;
 relevance and functions of rituals; and
 continuity and dynamism of rituals.
2.1 INTRODUCTION
In this unit, we shall discuss the significance of rituals as the performative aspect
of religion. We shall define rituals, discuss their functional aspects and see how
they operate as vehicles of symbolic communication. To be able to describe rituals
in a symbolic frame, we will also understand what symbols mean, how they
operate within human social life. The student will thus gather understanding of the
utilitarian as well as abstract nature of rituals.
2.2 SYMBOLS AND SOCIAL LIFE

Human life consists of a series of symbolic communications that enables us to
weave a meaningful world around us. If we reflect, there is almost nothing in our
lives that is not symbolically constructed – our language, our relationships, our
material culture and the environment. Everything is made meaningful by us and not
by any intrinsic property that it may have, but by the meaning bestowed on it by
the cultural system.
According to Clifford Geertz (1973), sacred symbols instil deep emotional moods
in people that in turn may lead to strong motivations for action. Even in the present
22 day world when humans have made great advances in the field of science, the
most extreme forms of action and even wars are undertaken for the sake of Rituals and Symbolism
religion.
Geertz (1973) has given his theory of thresholds to explain this deeply motivating
power of religious symbols. Humans look towards religion to overcome three
critical thresholds of every human’s life experience, the threshold of reason or the
limits of analytical ability, where on so many occasions we are left only with the
question, “Why?”. It may be when a loved one dies an untimely death or some
event not foreseen takes place. The second is the threshold of suffering; religion
does not give us relief from suffering but only a support to enable us to bear it.
Thus, every religion in its own way tries to explain the reason for suffering thereby
giving the sufferer a psychological strength to bear it, it may be one’s karma or
it may be a promise to inherit the kingdom of heaven. The third threshold is that
of evil or the lack of explanation of not only why evil exists but that it also gives
good dividend. The explanation of why the evil and corrupt prosper in this world
can only be given by religion and nothing else. It is only when we are told about
the separation of Satan from God or about bad karma leading ultimately to a bad
return even if it is in another world that most people feel committed to leading a
moral life.
The power of rituals, therefore, lies in the strong impression they make on the
minds of people. They evoke awe, commitment and a sense of accomplishment.
Rituals are enactments that without apparently accomplishing any instrumental end,
nevertheless, have been analysed as having multiple functions and serving several
ends. Let us first see how we can define ritual.
2.2.1 Ritual
A ritual is first of all a performance and to be socially meaningful, it must have a
public content. In other words, as Spiro (1966) points out, the private rituals of
the compulsive neurotic do not qualify to be studied by anthropologists, they are
the subject matter of psychologists. Thus, even if a person is performing a ritual
individually, he/she follows a pattern that is publicly recognised and followed, like
a Hindu woman blowing the conch shell and lighting a lamp under the tulsi (basil)
tree in the evening. Every culture prescribes a format for performance of rituals
that must be followed by everyone whether or not the ritual is actually performed
publicly. In other words, there is both public recognition and approval within any
culture for any ritual that is performed. Yet, rituals are rarely seen to have an
instrumental function. As Gilbert Lewis puts, the rituals are a “category of
standardized behaviour in which the relationship between the means and the end
is not ‘intrinsic’, i.e. is either irrational or non-rational” (Lewis 1980:13).
Edmund Leach has defined rituals as culturally defined behaviour that can be
regarded as a form of social communication, such a view of ritual as a cognitive
category has been taken up by other scholars such as Rappaport (1999). Mircea
Eliade (1987) and Rudolph Otto (1958) who have emphasised the sacred dimension
of rituals, in that rituals express an encounter with the supernatural and, therefore,
have a numinous character that sets them apart from the ordinary actions of the
world. Eliade (1987) has emphasised upon the bodily aspect of ritual, in that the
bodily movements and the ritual status given to it recreate the cosmological
conceptions and give meaning to them. Thus, rituals often recreate the archetypical
conceptualisations by which people give meaning to the world and rituals recreate
the cognitive dimensions like in Totemic rituals. The primordial relationship with
23
Religion the totemic ancestor is recreated and gives meaning to the existing relationships,
such as clans and ecological relations.
Eliade divides rituals into two types, the confirmatory, that is those that recreate
existing world views, and transformatory, that is those that bridge gaps and serve
to renew the world order when it is threatened by internal or external conflicts.
We shall take up these aspects in the later part of the unit.
Rituals also must have a structure, in that they follow a given script and adhere
to some very stringent rules and regulations. They also follow a time frame and
are usually repetitive or occur at specific designated points in a life cycle or natural
processes, like a birth or an eclipse. The structure also includes a designated
space and time, spatial organisation, personnel, their ritual status and a material
infrastructure. Most of these have no apparent rational content and, if any explanation
exists, it is always mythical, like the myths associated with rituals, such as pilgrimage
to Mecca or Sabarimalai or the myths associated with Totemic or annual rituals
like Dussehera. The verbal dimensions of rituals likewise have no specific meaning
and, especially as Bloch points out, are not comprehended by the lay public, and
because of their mystical and authoritative rendering serves to establish the power
of the ritual specialists. However, to many analysts the rituals have symbolic
significance in that they convey both condensed and elaborated meanings, either
encapsulating dense meanings like in the Christian mass or elaborating social scripts
in a manner in which the entire social normative structure is presented as a social
drama as in the Ramayana or similar story enactments. Here, it is highly relevant
to take a look at what Sherry Ortner has defined as Key Symbols.
2.2.2 Key Symbols

According to Ortner (1973), a key symbol is that which plays a central role in any
culture. From the point of view of the anthropologist, a key symbol can be
identified if it is prominently and publicly displayed in many places, if it frequently
occurs in conversation, or is referred to in public discourses, events and occasions,
and, if it plays a central role in language, in the form of metaphors and tropes. The
Key symbols can be of two types: the Summarizing Symbol and the Elaborating
Symbol.
Summarizing symbols are those in which a wide range of meaning is condensed
and which evokes a range of emotions when encountered. The summarizing symbols
are both multidimensional and multi-vocal, like the Christian cross, the Nazi
swastika, the Hindu swastika (with its opposed meaning to the Nazi symbol), the
Japanese chrysanthemum and the various national flags. The elaborating symbols
are those that expand and clarify symbolic meanings to the audience; they are
again of two types: key scenarios and root metaphors.
The former refer to enactments, or narratives that simplify and chalk out lines of
action or values that are contained in the key symbols that in turn are interconnected
to the world view and values contained in the culture. Let us take, for example,
the enactment of the Ramayana, where through a narrative all possible values
contained in Hindu society are worked out clearly. For instance, the story of king
Dasarath inadvertently killing Sravan Kumar indicates the inevitability of the karma
cycle, as you sow so shall you reap, at the same time the same story upholds the
virtue of filial devotion. The life of Rama designated as the most perfect man
(purushottama), indicates the values and virtues of a son, a mother, a wife, a
brother, a servant, a friend and so on through the various episodes and sub-plots.
24
Root metaphor is a metaphor or central symbol that may be used in various Rituals and Symbolism
situations and various occasions serving as both metaphor and simile to indicate
the multidimensional aspects of any culture. A good example of a root metaphor
is the Bible for the Christians, where we find that biblical references are found in
every aspect of western culture, like considering the number thirteen as inauspicious
or keeping Sunday as a holiday. The cattle among the Nuer can be taken as
another example of a root metaphor. The daily routine of the cattle set the time
for the Nuer daily activity, the colour of the cattle set the metaphors for Nuer
aesthetics and relationship with cattle set the norms for Nuer emotions.
Thus, these symbols both manifest themselves in rituals and also make the enactment
of the rituals meaningful to the participants. The functions of rituals have been
understood by various scholars in various ways.
2.3 FUNCTIONAL STUDY OF RITUALS

Foremost among the functional interpretation of rituals is the work of Emile
Durkheim, whose work Elementary Forms of Religious Life (1912) set the
stage for functional analysis from the earlier emphasis on evolution. Durkheim
showed how the totemic rituals establish within the participants a sense of oneness
with the sacred totemic ancestor, thereby creating a consciousness of the sacred
as within and not outside of the self. It is because of this that the people belonging
to a clan claiming descent from a common totem feel a sense of solidarity with
each other and also a sense of commitment to the norms governing the totem,
thereby establishing a stable society that has internal coherence and a sense of
morality that upholds the very sentiments out of which the society is forged,
namely the system of clans. Thus, Durkheim was led to comment that God is
nothing but society writ large. He also showed how the totemic rituals led to a
harmonious relationship between humans and nature where humans were committed
to preserving some parts of nature that was important to them. Every time the
totemic rituals were performed all the values became reemphasised and reaffirmed,
thus the repetitive nature of rituals was to recreate the collective sentiments of the
people, a process necessary for the survival of society.
Durkheim also gave a name to certain kind of rituals that are universal and which
perform a very significant function, namely the rituals associated with death, that
he calls Piacular rituals. In every human society, death rituals are very important
and among the most elaborate of all life cycle rituals. The reason given by Durkheim
is that piacular rituals enable human beings to overcome any sense of guilt that
they may have with respect to the dead person and also to overcome grief. By
the time a mourner has exhausted himself or herself by performing all the elaborate
rituals, he/she feels that they have not only done as much as they could for the
dead person but also undergo catharsis to come to a sense of closure and overcome
grief to carry on with day to day living. Thus piacular rituals perform a social
function of returning the mourner to normalcy and rehabilitate him or her as a
functioning member of society.
Critically assess piacular rituals. Do you agree with Durkheim’s view?
A.R. Radcliffe-Brown followed Durkheim to give a structural-functional analysis

of collective rituals that uphold the social structure by reinforcing sentiments and
also by the emphasis given to socially important aspects like food, relationships
and events that reintegrate these within the social fabric so that society remains 25
Religion harmonious. Radcilffe–Brown used the term social solidarity to denote this stage
of harmony. He introduced the terms ritual value and ritual status to describe the
symbolic significance of collective rituals.
He showed the significance of taboos or prescriptions and prohibitions in creating
a ritual status and thereby giving a ritual value to an object that could be anything,
including a person. This ritual value is nothing but a social value necessary for
maintaining necessary sentiments essential for social reproduction and solidarity.
Thus, the rituals and taboos surrounding a puberty ritual have many functions.
They emphasise the sense of responsibility that a child who is becoming an adult
must feel in order to fulfil his or her role in society. Thus contained within the
puberty rituals are many messages that initiates future roles and responsibilities,
like fertility, being a good husband or wife, etc. Also he showed that for the
Andaman Islanders, for example, the enhanced ritual value of some food created
through taboos is to show the value of conserving such rare and precious foods
in the environment; in other words, to have a respectful attitude towards them. The
value of rituals such as couvade, where the husband of a pregnant woman simulates
the symptoms of pregnancy and pretends to go into labour pain, instils the
importance of fatherhood in the man, who may not otherwise feel it, as he is not
physically pregnant like his wife. Such is also the function of various taboos
imposed on various kin of the unborn child, who through the practices of avoidance
and many constraints put on their actions begin to realise the importance of the
social relationships that they have with the coming child. In other words, Radcliffe-
Brown put forward the hypothesis that rituals by their restrictions on action create
anxiety that is just right to make a person realise the importance of a relationship.
While in this analysis importance is given to the function of rituals for social
structure, in the analysis of B. Malinowski rituals have been seen in the perspective
of their function for individuals.
In a sense Malinowski’s analysis is opposite to that of Radcliffe-Brown as it
explains rituals as relieving rather than creating anxiety. All human beings have
certain amount of rational knowledge about tasks that they are required to do, but
in spite of even the most extensive knowledge and skill, a certain degree of
uncertainty prevails for all the tasks that we undertake. The role of rituals is to
take care of this grey area of uncertainty that no amount of skill or knowledge can
cover, take for example the failure of space missions, such as the Challenger, in
spite of the best material and intellectual resources to back it up. Therefore, one
is not surprised when one hears of space scientists offering rituals at Tirupati or
otherwise invoking supernatural help for their missions. The more dangerous the
result of failure, the greater is the anxiety. For example, in his study of the
Trobrianders, a seafaring community of the pacific islands, Malinowski showed
that when they are fishing in back waters, or otherwise safe zones, the fishermen
perform little rituals, but they always perform elaborate rituals when they are
venturing out in the deep sea or on any long distance voyage where the risk factor
is high. The performance of rituals can be rationalised by the positive mind set or
confidence it builds up in the individual, who feels satisfied at having done all that
he or she could do, to take care of all the aspects, including those that are beyond
human control and which only the supernatural can take care of.
In his famous work, The Coral Gardens and their Magic, (1935) Malinowski
has also shown how the rituals performed by the magician help to regulate agricultural
work and imposes a rational time schedule that actually helps in the scientific
management of productive activities. Once activities are projected as sacred duty
26
there is greater compliance and less chances of people defaulting.
Rituals and Symbolism
2.4 RITUALS OF LIMINALITY
The concept of liminality in rituals was introduced by Van Gennep (1909) and
elaborated by Victor Turner and Edmund Leach. A liminal period is ‘a betwixt and
between’ period where normal life and time stands still or is reversed. According
to Van Gennep, who analysed the role of lifecycle rituals for individuals and for
society, these rituals such as those of birth, puberty, marriage and death, mark
stages of transition in an individual’s life, where a person makes a transition from
one status to another. Beginning from birth where one enters society as an individual
and has pre-existing relationships like with one’s parents, aunts and cousins, etc.
The birth of a child also changes the status of many others too, from being
husband and wife a couple become parents, and some may become grandparents,
aunts and uncles, etc. In the same way, social statuses change with marriage and
even with death. Puberty rituals make an adult member out of a child. According
to Van Gennep, every such ritual has three stages, a stage of separation, a liminal
stage and a final stage of incorporation. Thus, in the first stage an individual is
removed from normal life, often giving up on normal daily activities, is surrounded
by taboos and often enters a ritual status of sacredness. For example, just before
getting married a person may take leave from work, a girl is not allowed to go
out of the house, and they are treated like special people. In India, girls and boys
may be given oil baths, confined to the house, surrounded by relatives and
restrictions placed on activities, dress and food. This is then the liminal period
when a person is kept away from society. Sometimes they may be physically
hidden away, almost a person is kept away from normal day to day activities.
Thus, they are in society but not a part of it, this is the bewixt and between
situations when one is suspended as it were in social space and time. After the
transition is made, say, for example, one gets married one gets back to ordinary
life and comes out of the liminal period. This is the ritual of incorporation, like, for
example, a new bride may be asked to cook a dish in her in-law’s house, thereby
incorporating her into the daily routine of everyday life.
Almost all life cycle rituals, rituals that mark life stage transitions, are marked by
these three stages. Edmund Leach has used the concept of liminality to describe
what he calls the marking of structural time, or intervals where important social
events mark the oscillations of time, from one period to another. For example,
harvest rituals mark the interval between one agricultural cycle and another. Thus,
time begins with one sowing and ends with the reaping of the crop, then going
back to a new season of sowing. This sowing-reaping-sowing cycle is marked at
each phase by a ritual. Leach calls this oscillating time as against the concepts of
lineal time and even cyclical time.
Since this kind of liminality is compared to the swinging of a pendulum, there is
a sense of reversal, where ordinary life is reversed or stopped, a typical example
being a carnival celebrated during harvest festivals and such annual cycles as the
coming of spring. For example, during the festival of Holi in India, we find that all
social norms are reversed, people perform revelry where normal social distances
are abandoned. The young people take over and the old look on indulgently. In
the festival of Gajan as described by Okos Astor, the strict observances of caste
norms of purity and pollution are abandoned. Such rituals have also been analysed
as having a cathartic effect, where hostilities and inequalities are abandoned and
the injustices suffered in every day life are acted out in reverse. For example, in
one kind of Holi celebrations in India, the women take brooms and beat men, who
are not supposed to protest. This is a reversal of usual role play where women 27
Religion may be subjected to abuse by men in a patriarchal set up. Thus, at least on one
day in a year the role reversal allows women to vent their pent up resentment.
Discuss liminality taking cues from the works of Van Gennep and Leach.
2.5 RITUALS AS PROTEST AND CHANGE

In situations of change and oppression, people may resort to some kinds of rituals
to register their protest and also to address the injustice they feel they are subjected
to. Jean Comaroff’s (1985) work in colonised South Africa among the Tshidi is
a classical example of the interpretation of the use of rituals to express both
contradictions and transformation. Thus, as Comaroff puts it, while in the 19 th
century the Tshidi expressed their universe, their collective values and predispositions
through the symbolic management of their bodies in ritual, by the twentieth century
under the impact of colonial rule and the influx of capitalism collective rituals
themselves became arenas of contestation of the ‘real’ and the ‘valued’ and was
an effort to transform the world. Thus, the church in Africa combined biblical
symbolism with African nationalism. The “Zionism” that was constituted, was in
opposition to Protestant orthodoxy and the rationalist dualism inherent in it that
had constituted the ‘scientific’ world view of the West. It was replaced in Africa
with the use of the Church to reconstruct a holistic community by which to resist
the imposition both of a colonial and a capitalist market dominated social order.
These Zionist organisations were composed mostly of illiterate congregation as
well as leaders who were viewed more as healers than priests. Rather than follow
the bureaucratic organisation of the Christian Church, the Africans followed a
more personalised relationship in tune with their own social organisation. The
rituals were marked by special dresses where the men wore gleaming white skirts
following the Tshidi colour code, where white represents active power (Zion) and
black represents normative control. Thus, the Zionist rituals emphasised the
regenerative and active exercise of power, therefore, representing resistance, rather
than the usual normative function, of the church.
As a result, while the people in the third world often accepted Christianity from
the colonisers, they used it in opposition to orthodox Christianity in a way that
their rituals were a protest and symbolic communication of opposition to the
imposition of the market and global industrial culture.
Hence, the rituals enable the performers to act upon an external source of power
to construct themselves as moulded but not in a determinate way. Therefore,
rituals can manipulate and present a difference that serves to give strength to a self
constructed and dissenting identity.
2.6 RITUALS AS COMMUNICATION

The cognitive dimension of ritual as communication was made explicit in the works
of many scholars, of which Roy Rappaport is one of the foremost. He identifies
both form and structure in ritual and is of the opinion that the ritual form is a
distinctive and unique mode of expression that cannot be conflated with any other
medium. Although, in essence, a ritual is, according to him, an invariant sequence
of formalised acts and utterances, the substance of which distinguishes a specific
ritual from a generalised form. Thus, the form is what distinguishes ritual as a
general category, while the substance of this form is the substantial instances, say
28 the initiation ritual of a particular tribe or the rain making ritual of a community.
Consequently, while the ritual contents can be infinite, the ritual form is a generalised Rituals and Symbolism
universal that defines the ritual. The ritual form is “frame” (Goffman: 1967) or meta
message. Also, while no single feature of ritual, such as invariant sequence,
formalisation, stylisation, etc., are unique to it, the combination is unique and is
found only in ritual. Another important feature of ritual is that the performers follow
more or less a given blueprint and innovations, if any, are on an existing pattern.
Completely new rituals are very rare.
The performative aspect of ritual emerges as the most important, as the meaning
communicated through performance cannot be conveyed by any other means. Yet
theatre is also a performance but what sets ritual apart from theatre is that those
who are present at a ritual are all participants, even if they appear as spectators;
but in a theatre (especially the conventional ones) the separation of performer and
audience is radical. Moreover, a ritual is not really efficacious, only assumed to be
so. For example, a rain making ritual does not actually produce rain. Yet, rituals
are often taken by the performers to be means of producing a result, of altering
the world, of making an impact upon the universe.
The power of ritual as communication lies in its uniqueness in conveying meanings
that are powerful, being clothed in the aura of the supernatural or the sacred. It
is the very formality and non-instrumental nature of ritual that contributes to its
power of communication. But this communication can only be received by the
community of believers, or for whom the message is meaningful. It does not have
a universal scope, and meaning conveyed is not encoded by the performers but
by the participants. Thus, tourists who form an audience for a performance of
ritual are not receivers of any message for they are not a part of the system of
meanings shared by the participants, both as performers and as audience.
Let us take, for example, the performance of Ramlila in Ram Nagar, as described
by Schechner (1987). The cosmological dimensions of space, the use of that
space by the local ruler and by the audience that belongs to that culture and
system of meanings is very different than if one were to enter that space as an
outside tourist. The audience participates as performers of story as it unfolds, they
are the subjects of the king Rama, they are the part of the army of Rama, and they
are the members of the king’s court and so on, as they move within the symbolic
space of the performance.
Lewis (1980) has also described rituals as vehicles of expression, where all three
parties to the communication, the emitter, the message and the recipient are involved
in a system of symbols, where the meaning conveyed may be both public and
private, and not self evident, thus, to him, rituals express more than what seems
apparent or represent something other than what is manifest. It is their very
ambiguity that invests rituals with deeper significance and meaning, that cannot
even be conveyed by linguistic usage, as much of it is in the emotional content,
what Geertz has distinguished as ‘perception’ and ‘disposition’.
2.7 THE NATURE OF RITUALS

While ritual is usually seen as action and dichotomized from thought, it is at the
same time, especially as a tool of cognition or communication, seen as integrating
thought and action. Thus, the ritual in its communicative or functional dimension
is often seen as communicating or transmitting some values, norms or principles.
It may also, as Schechner has shown for the Ram Lila, transmit values, such as
nationalism, or the power of the king, spatial integrity and social hierarchies. 29
Religion Victor Turner (1969) has shown how rituals may provide a creative space for the
creation of an anti-establishment or anti-structural space that communicates a
criticism of the established social norms and values. Thus, ritual may act either
way both to functionally establish values and to create a situation by which the
tensions of oppression are released. According to Clifford Geertz, ritual is also a
point of entry for the observer, for, while the participants perform, those observing
them think. Here, the role of the theorist also becomes clear for it is the scholar
who creates a meaning system that is his/her own construction, not necessarily that
of the performer. For example, the analysis of ancestor worship rituals of the
Tsembaga, have been analysed by Roy Rappaport as a negative feedback system
where the rituals act as a thermostat to regulate the human environment relationships.
Such is, of course, the way the performers look upon their rituals. Thus, the
communicative dimension of the rituals is different for the community of participation
and for the outside observer.
Bell (1992: 31) makes a three level classification of rituals, 1) ritual as a separation
of activity and thought, 2) ritual as a fusion of thought and activity, and 3) one
“where the dichotomy between a thinking theorist and an acting actor is
simultaneously affirmed and resolved”. However, critical thinking would see this as
an imposed hierarchy where the analyst is privileged over the actor. For example,
Levi-Strauss’s analysis of ritual is his own and not the actor’s view.
A more subjective point of view, like that of Marcus and Fischer, suggests that
rituals can be read like a text, as they are public performances. Through ritual the
ordinary acts become special and communicate the significance of the situation.
The knowledge of converting something to a ritual is a socially acquired knowledge
that is present in all of us. Thus, an ordinary tea party can become a birthday party
when someone brings in a cake and candles and every one sings “Happy Birthday”.
It is a shared system symbols, a socially acquired knowledge when put in practice
makes it a ritual.
2.8 SUMMARY
Rituals may appear to be meaningless in a rational framework yet on analysis as
presented in this unit, we find them not only to be full of symbolic meaning but also
linked to practice. Rituals may help to maintain existing structures of society or
they may challenge them. They may appear in many forms and sometimes be a
script for reading the deep seated values of society. They merit in all instances of
a study of any society, deep and focussed attention on both their symbolic and
performative dimensions.
References
Bell, Catherine. 1992. Ritual Theory, Ritual Practice. New York: Oxford
University Press.
Comaroff, Jean. 1985. Body of Power: Spirit of Resistance: The Culture and
History of a South African People. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
Durkheim, Emile. 1912. Elementary Forms of Religious Life. Tr. From French
by Joseph Ward Swan, 1965, New York: The Free Press.
Eliade, Mircea. 1987. ‘Ritual’ in The Encyclopaedia of Religion (ed.) Mircea
Eliade, New York: Mac Millan Pub. Co. Vol.12. pp 405-422.
30
Geertz, Clifford. 1973. The Interpretation of Cultures: New York: Basic Books, Rituals and Symbolism
A Member of the Perseus Books Group.
Goffman, Irving. 1967: Interaction Ritual: Essays on Face-to-Face Behaviour.
New York: Anchor Books.
Leach, Edmund. 1968. ‘Ritual’ In The International Encyclopaedia of the Social
Sciences. Vol. 13. Ed. David L Sills; New York; Macmillan; p.526.
Lewis, Gilbert. 1980. Day of Shining Red: An Essay on Understanding Ritual.
Malinowski, Broninslaw. 1935. Coral Gardens and Their Magic: A Study of
the Methods of tilling the Soil and Agricultural Rites in The Trobriand Islands.
London: Routledge.
Malinowski, Broninslaw. 1948. Magic, Science and Religion and Other Essays.
Reprint 1992. Illinois: Waveland Press.
Marcus, George and Michael Fischer. 1986. Anthropology as Cultural Critique.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Ortner, Sherry. 1973. ‘On Key Symbols’. In American Anthropologist. Vol 75,
No.5 pp 1338-1346.
Otto, Rudolph. 1958. The Idea of the Holy: An inquiry into the Non-Rational
Factor in the Idea of the Divine and Its Relation to the Rational. Oxford:
Radcliffe-Brown A.R. 1922. The Andaman Islanders. Illinois: The Free Press.
Rappaport, Roy. 1999. Ritual and Religion in the Making of Humanity.
Cambridge Studies in Social Anthropology: Cambridge University Press.
Schechner, Richard. 1983. Performative Circumstances from the Avant Garde
to Ramlia. Calcutta: Sea Gull Books.
Schechner, Richard. 1987. ‘The Future of Ritual’. in Journal of Ritual Studies.
Vol.1, no.1.
Spiro, Melford. E. 1966. ‘Religion: Problems of Definition and Explanation’. In
Anthropological Approaches to the Study of Religion. ed Michael Banton,
Taylor and Francis. Reprint 2004. London: Routledge.
Tambiah, Stanley. 1979. ‘A Performative Approach to Ritual’. Proceedings of the
British Academy. Vol.65: 113-69.
Turner, Victor. 1969. The Ritual Process: Structure and Anti-Structure. Chicago:
Aldine.
Van Gennep, Arnold. 1909. Les Rites de Passage Tr. The Rites of Passage in
1960 reprint 2004. London: Routledge.
Suggested Reading
Lewis, Gilbert. 1980. Day of Shining Red: An Essay on Understanding Ritual.
Rappapo rt , Ro y. 1999. Ritual and Religion in the Making of
Humanity.Cambridge Studies in Social Anthropology: Cambridge University Press.
Van Gennep, Arnold. 1909. Les Rites de Passage Tr. The Rites of Passage 1960
reprint 2004. London: Routledge.
31
Religion Sample Questions
1) Give a broad definition of rituals as described by various scholars.
2) Describe the role of rituals in maintaining social order.
3) What are taboos? How do they help maintain social relationships?
4) What is liminal phase in a ritual? What is its significance?
5) What do you understand by dynamism of rituals? Explain with examples.
32
UNIT 3 RELIGIOUS SPECIALISTS
Contents
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Categories of Specialists
3.3 Shaman
3.3.1 Siberian Shamanism
3.3.2 Tapirape Shamanism
3.3.3 Korean Shamanism
3.3.4 Neo-shamanism
3.4 Informal Specialists

3.4.1 Medium
3.4.2 Witch and Sorcerer
3.4.3 Prophet
3.4.4 Diviner
3.5 Formal Specialists

3.5.1 Priest
3.5.2 Clergy
3.5.3 Saint or Seer
3.5.4 Monk
3.5.5 Missionary
3.6 Modes of Religious Specialisations

3.7 Summary
References
Suggested Reading
Sample Questions
Learning Objectives

Once you have studied this unit, you will achieve familiarity with:
 various religious specialists;
 functional differences among specialists;
 relationship among the specialists; and
 specialisation in relation to the scale of the society.
3.1 INTRODUCTION
Religious knowledge is neither possessed uniformly nor equally shared among all
the members of a society. It cannot be the monopoly of one individual. Similarly,
no one can claim total expertise in the ways the religious performances or rituals
are ought to be organised. Some individuals are more knowledgeable than the
others, and similarly some have acquired special knowledge or special training to
carry out religious performances or impart religious knowledge to others. Not all
rituals require the presence of religious experts, but in some their presence is 33
Religion indispensable. Those who are trained or have acquired special knowledge are
qualified to perform certain religious activities. They may also have certain distinctive
personality traits that make them capable of performing such works. Such persons
have ritual authority, esoteric knowledge or spiritual gifts and are considered
competent to find religious solutions. They are authorized to interpret religious
codes, holy laws and ecclesiastical rules and even social norms. These religious
specialists or leaders may be one of these different types – shaman, medium,
witch, sorcerer, prophet, priest, clergy, saint, monk, missionary, etc. They are
given certain status in the society. In reality, some individuals may at times perform
the functions of more than one of these specialists and change roles depending on
the circumstances and need. These are religious intermediaries that mediate between
the super-humans and humans. Religious intermediaries may be part-time or full-
time specialists. This unit is devoted to examine the characteristics and
interrelationships among these religious specialists.
3.2 CATEGORIES OF SPECIALISTS

Shamanism is most common, and is duly recognised among localised religions but
it has not attained reputed status in the world religions which are more organised
and it is often relegated to the folk religion. In the modern industrial societies or
those developing where the organised world religion dominates, religious
specialisation takes place. There are two broad categories of specialists, formal
and informal: the specialist who has been conferred by religious authority, which,
in turn, has various ranks, are formal specialists which include priests, clergy, saint
or seer, monk and missionary. The specialists of informal category are client
oriented, such as faith healers, prophets, mediums, etc. Herein, first we will take
up shaman’s followed by informal and formal specialists.
3.3 SHAMAN
The term shaman seems to have been derived from the Tungus language of Central
Siberia, but some claim its origin to be Sanskrit. Whatever be its roots, the
concept covers many disparate things rather than a clear unified concept. There
are some who restrict the term to the northern-Arctic phenomenon, but others use
it broadly to cover any ecstatic behaviour. It has, however, been accepted in
anthropology as the term for a unique sort of spiritual-medical-political specialist.
These specialists are found among the Siberians, Greenlanders, North American
tribes, Chinese and other Asian societies. From around 1970s new shamanistic
movements have sprung in USA and Europe among the urbanised people with the
motifs of western culture drawing upon the indigenous “other” and ancient wisdom
which may be called neo-shamanism. Different shamanistic practices are discussed
below:
3.3.1 Siberian Shamanism

In the Arctic shamanism, the shaman is a master or mistress of spirits. She or he
uses hand-held drums, performs dance and uses elaborate costumes and engages
in rituals which are dramatic aided by the use of various theatrical techniques of
shaman. The ritual is meant to contact and establish a relationship with a
supernatural entity, and the success of a shaman lies not in memorisation of prayer
or performance of ritual but in the ability to successfully establish contact and
exercise control over the supernatural. Each shaman keeps in control a few spirits
34 who give powers or particular qualities to the shaman. The world is divided into
three realms: the upper realm is one of good spirits; the middle realm is the home Religious Specialists
of the people of the earth; the lower realm is one of darkness and evil spirits. In
the altered state of consciousness, the shaman journeys to one of the other realms
with the help of spirits. The main function of the shaman is healing; the disease is
believed to have been caused due to loss of soul that has been snatched away by
a spirit. The shaman deals with the disease causing spirit or retrieves the lost soul
with the help of his familiar or favoured spirits. The ritual is also conducted for
successful hunt; the shaman contacts the spirits of an animal species and makes
a deal with them; the animal spirits supply food to the humans by enriching hunting,
and the humans supply the spirits with human flesh and blood which is the cause
of sickness and death. Shamans are frequently chosen by the spirits to become
shaman (Stein and Stein 2008:124-126).
3.3.2 Tapirape Shamanism

The unseen world of the Tapirape Indians of Central Brazil consists of spirits
known by generic term ancunga that consist ghosts – iunwera, the disembodied
souls of the dead and malevolent beings of many classes and descriptions. The
former live in abandoned villages but they visit the inhabited villages in rainy
season, and the ghosts also die and become changed into animals. The other class
of spirits live deep in forests and these kill those who visit their habitations. The
shaman of Tapirape derives power by dreaming and he travels to the world of the
spirits; the soul, iunga, frees itself from the body in sleep and move freely in time
and space. The power of shaman depends upon the number of demonic familiars
and their strength; he also seeks support of the spirits from the attacks of the
spirits of other shamans. Treating sickness is the most common duty of the shaman.
The curing is most frequently done by extraction of a malignant object by sucking
which is aided by ‘eating the tobacco smoke’ and vomiting of the stomach. Another
important duty of the shaman is protecting the members from the ghosts, and some
shamans control and increase the bands of pigs by travelling to the ‘home of wild
pigs’ and by copulating with the female pigs. The wild pigs are believed to be pets
of the spirits and the shaman brings the pigs of the familiar spirit to the vicinity of
the habitation. Shamans often are destructive by sending familiar spirits against
another shaman or any member of the society out of jealousy or for revenge
(Wagley 1971).
3.3.3 Korean Shamanism

The Korean society believes in the spirits that possess individuals and trouble
them causing illnesses to the living. Even though the Koreans are converted to
Buddhism that has no place for pre-Buddhist beliefs, the traditional beliefs have
not been totally replaced by Buddhist beliefs. The shamanism here is known as
Muism or Sinism (religion of gods) and encompasses a variety of Korean indigenous
religious beliefs and practices, and the shaman is called mudang, usually a woman
who acts as intercessor between god(s) and people. The shaman is chosen by
spirits, and experienced shaman performs initiation ritual for transforming the novice
into a full-fledged shaman, who organises services independently. These are public
performances organised for clients for curing illnesses by exorcising lost spirits that
cling to people, or propitiate local or village gods. Such services are also held to
guide the spirit of a deceased person to reach heaven. For some shaman women
it is a good source of income and the practice gives certain degree of influence
over the community also.
35
Religion 3.3.4 Neo-shamanism
Urbanites of United States of America and Europe started showing interest in
shamanism since 1970s. Its popularity is drawn largely from Native American
traditions. The drug culture of 1960, interest in non-Western religions,
environmentalism, the New Age, self-help, self realisation movement, etc., have
contributed to this development. Anthropologists Carlos Castaneda and Michael
Harner who studied Yaqui of Arizona (USA) and Jivaro of Amazon have promoted
neo-shamanism by publishing relevant material and organising workshops in USA,
Europe and Latin America and also training interested people. The aim is to
achieve altered states of self consciousness using drugs or drums and have the
experience of meeting spirits and power animals. Here bits and pieces of different
cultures are put together by each practitioner for such an experience.
Shamans or similar religious specialists are also found in major religions of the
world such as Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism and Christianity. In India and many
south Asian countries, where Hinduism and Islam are commonly professed, there
is belief in Pir/holy man or Baba or Ma/Matha who acts as a mediator between
God/spirits and man. Both Hindus and Muslims revere the Pir whereas Baba and
Ma/Matha is well respected by Hindus. In the Philippians and in some American
Philippine communities, there are individuals who perform “spirit surgery.”
Evangelical Christian “faith healers” can be fitted into the definition of shaman also.
It depends on what they believe in the source of their “power.” They are shamans
if they personally have power to compel their God to cure people. They are
intermediaries having independent authority, and use altered state of consciousness
to directly contact the supernatural world for healing or solving problems of another
individual. They are not associated with any formalised religious institutions. They
may or may not engage themselves in or organise any ritual.
Finally, it may be concluded that a shaman is a kind of intermediary who has
independent authority, and is not part of an organised religion and is in direct
contact with the spirit world, usually through a trance state. One who has charisma
and ability to deal with the supernatural powers becomes shaman. There is a
special relationship between a shaman and the society. A successful shaman can
amass a significant degree of social authority. A shaman is essentially a religious
entrepreneur who acts for human clients. She or he intervenes on behalf of a
human client to influence supernatural beings to perform some acts such as curing
an illness or discovering the cause of an unexpected suffering. One acquires
Shamanic power individually, mostly in physical and/or mental solitude and isolation
from other humans.
Questions in shamanistic experience can be difficult to answer – such as, are there
really animal guardian spirits with which human beings can make contact? Is
psychic healing a reality, and, if so, what is the relationship between the capacities
of the human mind and external forces? Bowie (2000) agrees that this type of
question is not easy to assess empirically, but acknowledges that anthropologist
can study what people say and think about their beliefs and practices, and the role
that these beliefs and practices play in structuring, people’s lives. Shamans belonging
to different communities would use different means to achieve their ends. Certain
factors are, however, found in common. They are as follows: a) usually the office
is hereditary but occasionally a person’s personality can also make him the chosen
one to the office, (b) The shaman may possess a unusual mental state or even a
physical shortcoming so that he may be considered neurotic or epileptic, (c) The
36 above abnormal qualities make him the chosen one (d) One takes up apprenticeship
under an older shaman to learn and develop the skills, (e) the shaman may go into Religious Specialists
a trance or enter into an excited condition to make her/his predictions, or to cure
the illness or get rid of a spirit, and (f) hallucinogens, such as drugs or weeds or
smoke, are used to go into trance.
One becomes shaman in various ways. In case of Siberian or Korean shamanism
the spirit(s) choose the shaman; among the Tapirape one has to dream. Among the
Zulu of South Africa the spirit troubles the person chosen to be a shaman with
sickness and an experienced shaman finds it through divination and confirms the
selection as shaman by the spirit. Among the Zinacanteco Indians one gets a call
when one looks into the realms of gods and ancestors in dreams and visions.
Often shaman combines, in some cases, the functions of priest, prophet and
magician, all in one. Shaman also performs rituals of sacrifice and appeases the
gods or spirits once they have been forced to submit to the shaman’s needs.
Because of the power possessed, the shaman acquires a charismatic personality
and leadership similar to a prophet. In order to enhance the image of supernatural
powers, one wears unusual jewelry and clothing, sport long and matted hair, paint
the body with colour or ash and carry either musical instruments or bones etc. The
typical methods for inducing a trance or altered consciousness involve: fasting, the
use of narcotic drugs, tobacco, dancing, singing or drumming to a hypnotic rhythm,
etc.
3.4 INFORMAL SPECIALISTS

3.4.1 Medium
Close to shaman is medium. A medium is a human channel of either sex through
which god or ancestor or spirit communicates with the living members of the
society. The supernatural being possesses the human agency, the medium, that
goes into trance or enters an altered consciousness of ecstasy, and the spirit
publicly speaks to the living, and that whatever is spoken is attributed to the spirit
but not to the human agency. It is believed that the spirit suppresses the human
spirit and uses the body of the human agent to communicate directly with the
living, and listens with the ears of the human agent whatever spoken by the living.
The medium does not recount the revelation and does not even remember what
has been uttered after the dispossession of the spirit. The speech of the spirit
would be different from the agent with shrill or squeaking voice and delivered with
convulsions, rhythmic or frenzy body movements and so on. The message given
by the spirit is called oracle, which also means a device used in divination. Even
a medium is often called as an oracle.
Mediums existed among the Greeks and Romans of ancient times and they are
present in several contemporary societies as well. The temple of Apollo at Delphi
was an ancient place of mediums in Greece which dates back to 1400 BC. The
famous Oedipus myth mentions the oracle at Delphi about killing his father and
marrying the mother Jocasta. The oracle was delivered through a medium called
Pythia. In Brazil, the Candomblé and Umbanda religious forms are based on the
orisha deities of Yoruba religion of Nigeria that have mediums. These forms are
developed within the last fifty years, which have been heavily influenced by
Catholicism. The phenomenon is now called as Spiritism. The Brazilians visit these
medium to find out solutions to their problems, mostly related to their romance
(St. Clair 1971), healing, overcoming financial difficulties, etc.
The Western society has been witnessing new mediumship in the latter half of the
37
20th century. This is called channel and the channeler goes into a trance, or leaves
Religion the body or get possessed by a specific spirit, who then talks with the living
through the channeler. The spirit answers the questions of those present. A widely
known channeler is Jane Roberts who gets the spirit of Seth, Esther Hicks, Margaret
McElroy of Maitreya, Grandbois of Kris (Klimo 1987 referred by Van Rheenen
1996).
Shamanisms are of various kinds. Sometimes they overlap. Distinguish between the
shaman and medium.
3.4.2 Witch and Sorcerer

As pointed out by Evans-Pritchard, a Witch is different from a Sorcerer in Africa.
But it may not be the case everywhere. Witches have antisocial characters or
behaviour; may practice cannibalism or incest in order to enhance their powers.
They show deep sense of greed, jealousy and hatred. A witch is always a woman
in Nupe, whereas in Gwari, a neighbour with similar culture, a witch can be man
or woman. The witch’s power is internal and inherited whereas the sorcerer uses
external power to harm others. Both are believed to be causing untimely death.
The sorcerer is a magician, an evil figure; in many religions healers use black
magic, but a sorcerer is internally evil that works for illegal and antisocial ends.
Some ailments are attributed to sorcery, such as kuru in Fore of New Guinea.
Usually the sorcerer employs contagious magic with hair, nail, clothes, etc., of the
victim. The sorcerer learns the art and uses different techniques and rituals for
causing an effect of the power on others. Another sorcerer is engaged to undo the
sorcery or a witch may be allowed to do the same. The practices of witch differ
from society to society and even within the same society. In Cameroon, witchcraft
is known as ekong or kupe or famla and is practiced across ethnic lines. Even
rural France is no exception to the belief in witches. The occurrence of a series
of misfortunes to an individual or family is attributed to the works of a witch
(Bowie 2000). In Kipsigis of Kenya there are various kinds of sorcerers and
witches, and the most powerful one who could perform sorcery against the whole
tribe is called orgoiyat and the less powerful one is bonnindet. There is another
specialist called chepsogeiyot that determines who is the bonnindet in a particular
case. The acts of a witch are attributed when no explanation is readily available.
Even in modern times, as in case of Sub-Saharan Africa, HIV/AIDS is termed as
consequences of witchcraft. In Christian theology the witches and sorcerers are
the agents of the Devil or Satan.
Distinguish between witch and sorcerer; they are not the same. These specialists may
be found in every traditional society. Find out if there are such specialists in your own
society.
3.4.3 Prophet
In his book on religion, Weber has devoted a whole chapter to the understanding
of what a prophet is. He defines the prophet as an individual who is capable of
proclaiming a religious doctrine or a divine commandment because of his charismatic
qualities. The major difference between the priest and prophet is that the prophet
regards his mission as a “personal call” and derives his authority from personal
revelation and charisma or an exceptional quality. The core of the prophet’s mission
is to carry forward the commandment or doctrine he has received as revelation.
38 Often the prophet may use magic to establish his authority. The prophet is usually
successful and respected till his ability to convince and prove his uniqueness of Religious Specialists
purpose is intact. One may say a prophet is a person who receives divine revelation
concerning a restructuring of a religion and usually society as well. Prophets are
usually outside the priesthood and are seen by priest as irritating, disruptive trouble
makers. The prophet could be of either sex and as a charismatic innovator may
reject traditional rituals and improvise or advocate those right in her or his sight.
The rise of prophets is seen during the adverse times, cultural stress and anxiety.
The prophet speaks at the spiritual as well as this worldly level in correcting the
society, and, thus, becomes an agent of social change. Evans-Pritchard says in the
priest man speaks to God and in the prophet God speaks to man.
Among the African tribes there are prophets among the Nuer, as noted by Evans-
Pritchard, that are believed to have been chosen by God to predict future, cure
the sickness and ensure fertility of women. Among the Bantu, Zulu, the Zionists
of Ethiopia the impact of Protestant Christianity and colour discrimination in the
Church brought out the prophets who assumed leadership in the society to establish
separate churches. Similar situation is observed among the Housa of Nigeria with
the impact of Islam. Orunmila is prophet of Yoruba religion who has tremendous
role in organising religion that has been spread to Brazil and other South American
societies. Christian prophets established new churches in Yoruba having got
separated from the church of the Whites.
When Jews or Christians think of prophets, people like Moses, Noah, Isaiah,
Jeremaih, Eziekiel, and Daniel usually come to mind. However, the most striking
example of a biblical prophet was Jesus which is a debated reality as the Jews and
Muslims consider him to be a prophet while the Christians take him to be God.
If a prophet is successful in convincing enough people that he or she is right, a new
religion is usually established. The case in point is Joseph Smith’s divine relation
and subsequent prophetic teaching in the 1830’s and early 1840’s led to the
creation of the Church of the Latter Day Saints (the Mormons) in USA. To put
it simply, the prophet may be seen as an individual who is an instrument for
carrying forward the will of God and he/she is obeyed because of the ethical
nature of his mission. He/she may also be a person who individually sets an
example of attaining salvation, as did Buddha. This latter form of exemplary
prophetism has been found particularly in India.
In Islam it is believed that God sent several prophets at different times and places
to communicate his message, and they are human beings who are not God
incarnates. The Quran mentions a total of 1 lakh 24 thousand prophets (124000),
and of them the last is Prophet Muhammad. There are no prophets in Hinduism
the way the concept finds its place in Judaism, Islam and Christianity. There are
scriptural texts that contain prophetic message such as Vedas and Bhagavad Geeta
about kaliyug, the dooms day and seers who prophesied the future of the world
events as in case of Sri Potuluri Veerabramham of 18th Century who lived and is
much venerated in Andhra Pradesh. One of the modern day prophets in India can
be Sathya Sai Baba whose predictions are believed to have come true, and they
had advocated for social harmony and spiritual equality. However, these seers
have claimed themselves as Gods.
3.4.4 Diviner
One who engages in techniques that inform about the unknown causes or future
is known as diviner. The divination is magical and involves in rituals. It is based
on the belief that the world consists of things and events that are interconnected 39
Religion and as such the magic is to manipulate things and observe the connections. The
diviner often interprets the dreams and omens, contacts the spirits and ancestors
through trance. Sometimes the viscera of animals or birds are examined to find out
the cause of illness. In many ways the diviner gets to know the unknown causes
or future events that affect the individuals and community. The diviner could be an
ordinary member of the society or has a position of shaman or medium or prophet
or priest or healer.
3.5 FORMAL SPECIALISTS

3.5.1 Priest
A religious leader who is authorised to be part of an organised religion is considered
to be a priest or priestess. Different religions have different terms for these individuals.
They may be known as Rabbis, Ministers, Mullahs, Lamas, Imams, or something
else. These individuals are the keepers of the sacred law and tradition. They are
found mostly in large-scale societies. Priests are initiated and ceremonially inducted
members of an established religious organisation as a full-time specialist. Priests
are sometimes distinguished from people by the way they dress, etc. The training
of a priest can be rigorous and long, which includes not only fasting, prayer, and
physical labour but also learning the dogma and the rituals of his religion. Priests
are authorised to perform religious rituals designed to influence the supernatural
world and to guide the believers in their religious practices. They personally do not
have supernatural power of their own by the rituals but the rituals that they perform
are believed to be effective. In societies where there is a hierarchy of spirits and
gods and the chief gods, they must not be approached directly but through the
priest.
The community deals with deity or deities through the priest who acts as a
representative of the community. The latter performs various rituals on behalf of
the community, which include periodical or rituals of calendar usually related to
agricultural cycles and seasons, disasters, epidemic diseases and well being of the
community. Priests also perform the rites of passage associated with birth, puberty,
wedding and death. They are also to legitimize authority of the community through
rituals, as in case of coronation and they are usually taken as protectors of ethics
and morals of the community and set high standard for the entire community. By
virtue of this and their association with the sacred place which may be a shrine
or sacred space where deities or spirits dwell, they remain symbols of sacred.
Sometimes priests may have received divine unction (anointing of the sick) through
dreams, visions or trance. The priests usually enjoy highest status in the society
because of the above which are special to them. Usually the priests undergo
rigorous training, memorising texts, obtain religious knowledge, skills of performing
rituals and so on. Such training may have been institutionalised or informal, as the
case may be. While in some cultures both men and women can be priests but in
some, such as Islam or Hinduism, women cannot be priests. As in Catholic
Christianity and Buddhism the priests remain unmarried but in several other religions
priests are married.
Anthropologists have observed that societies with full-time religious specialists
(priests) are likely to be dependent on food production rather than food collecting.
They are also likely to have economic exchange involving the use of money, class
stratification, and high levels of political integration. These are all features indicative
of cultural complexity. Female religious specialists are likely to be found in those
40
societies where women are acknowledged to contribute in a major way to the Religious Specialists
economy and where gods and goddesses are both recognised. In Western Europe
and North America, for instance, where women are now wage earners, in almost
every profession they occupy leadership position in the work force and they have
an increasing presence in the leadership of many Judeo-Christian religious groups
(Lehman, 2002).
In Aztec society, the priesthood was very complex and the priests were arranged
in a hierarchical order. In Nahuatl language, the word priest, tlamacazqui means
“giver of things” to gods for their favour. They were engaged in human sacrifice,
especially to Sun, providing the sacred food. Most of the rituals involve in animal
or human sacrifices. It was believed that the humans who were sacrificed would
become deities. The priests enjoyed great respect in the society. The Zuni, the
Pueblos of America, are very ceremonious people. There are different types of
priests in Zuni society – Sun priest, Bow priests, Rain priests, etc. The Sun Priest
is considered to be the most respected holy man. Women are also included into
the category of priests. The rituals and ceremonies are held in kevas and plazas.
In Okinawa society of Ryukyu Islands women lead the religious matters and the
women specialists or priestesses are called kaminchu. They communicate with
and make offerings to the ancestors, local gods and more powerful deities. Their
primary duty is to officiate at community wide festivals and rituals which take
place in a sacred space, usually in a grove or ong, at a cave or by the sea, and
men are not allowed to enter these sacred spaces. Their duty includes the protection
and fuelling of the communal fire, which was used to establish new households.
They would also perform divination to determine the best days for sacred
ceremonies, for social functions, such as marriage or funeral, and for agricultural
pursuits.
Priesthood is not open for every one as in case of Hinduism where it is restricted
to Brahmin castes. The priest in traditional India may assist in the performance of
a ritual-at home, or in a temple. In Hinduism, he is born into a priestly caste, by
virtue of which he gains these functions. The Vedas say that the social group of
Brahmana is the priestly class, and the Rig Veda describes the priestly activities
of some of the families of the Vedic tribes. Priests are most often found in
hierarchical societies and generally hold a higher status in their societies than those
they preside over. A Hindu priest performs the pujas (rituals) such as Sri
Satyanarayana Katha, Rudrabhisekam, Chandi Patham, Navgrah, Vastu pooja,
Bhoomi pooja, Grih Pravesh, Mool and Grah shanty, Sundar Kand Path, Kaal
Sarpa Yog Shanti, Garbhadan, Punsavana (foetus protection), Simanta (satisfying
the wishes of pregnant mother), Jaat Karma (child birth), Naam Karma (naming
child), Nishkramana (taking child outdoor), Anna Prashana (Giving the child solid
food), Mundan or Choula (hair cutting), Karnavedh (ear piercing), Yagyopaveet
(sacred thread), Vidyarambha (Study of Vedas and Scriptures), Samaavartana
(completion of education), Vivaah (marriage), Sarvasanskaar (preparing for
renouncing), Sanyas (renouncing), Antyesti, Ayush homam, Sudarshan homam,
Maha Mrityunja homam, Navgrah homam, Ganpati homam, Maha Lakshmi homam,
Santan Gopal homam, Grih Shanti homam, etc. Priests hold power due to their
association with their respective religious institutions. The traditional Judaism also
restricts it to Levites.
Similarly, in the widespread practiced rituals of Catholicism, the role of priest is
to officiate or organise baptism (the first sacrament of Christian initiation), penance
(confession and reconciliation), confirmation (the second sacrament of Christian
41
Religion initiation), Eucharist (the third sacrament of Christian initiation), marriage, unction
(anointing of the sick) and sacrament, etc. Buddhist priests are to perform certain
roles required of their calling.
3.5.2 Clergy
Though the term clergy is closely associated with Christianity, the social scientists
have also been using the term to include full time religious functionaries in major
world religions. Clergy is a broader category that includes priest or priestess and
the priesthood is attached to the status conferred by the religious authority within
the religious institutional framework. But the priesthood is not same in Christianity
or Islam. In these cases clergy do not mediate between God and people. However,
in Judaism there are roles of priest and rabbi, and, in fact, the latter means a
teacher and they were divided into Sadducees and Pharisees. In Christianity the
clergy is divided into several ranks as bishop, pastor, deacon, etc. Islam does not
accept priesthood but there are specialists who are known as ‘men of God’ like
ulema, which mean who knows or who has knowledge of Quran and God,
learned and are proficient in sharia law. This category include imams, and in the
Shiite branch there is the category of ayatollah.
In Christianity, the pastor is one of clergy ordained functionary of the Christian
church. Though it was restricted to men, it has been extended to women also, and
the church in the West is now struggling to accommodate the clergy with same sex
orientation. The pastors do not mediate between a person/group and God as in
case of priests. Their main responsibility is to provide spiritual leadership and help
the congregation developing deep personal relationship with Jesus Christ. They go
beyond the spiritual realm to help in social life of the church members for the
spiritual and social dimension are dependent on each other and well being of the
members of the church are his concerns too. In Orthodox Judaism women are
forbidden to become a rabbi. Traditionally, in Islam women have not been the
imam or teacher, but gradually the change is taking place as in Morocco.
3.5.3 Saints or Seer

Saints are a specific group of individuals who maintain pious, ascetic or austere
and devote life found in all religions, but more significant part of Catholicism. They
are individuals who led devout Christian life who had done amazing things with
their lives and performed miracle during their life time and believed to have caused
miracles after death. They are recognised by the Church as Saints and the sainthood
is instituted by Pope. The Jehovah’s Witnesses, a Protest organisation, recognises
the Latter-day Saints who are no more, and contemporary saints as well.
In Hinduism the equivalent concepts are rishi or sage or seer, who has acquired
rightful vision accomplished actions. They see things through spiritual eye, perceives
the hidden truth and bear truth. They are model of religion and role models for
others to lead spiritual life. Besides the rishis of Vedic times, there are well known
seers and saints such as Kabir, Tulsi, Surdas, Tuka Ram, Srikrishna Chaitanya,
Eknath, Narsi Mehta, Tyagaraja, Dhyaneshwar, Tiruvalluvar, Namdev, Mirabai,
Dayanand, Guru Nanak, Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa, Vivekananda, Swami
Ram, Shri Sai Baba of Shirdi, Ramana Maharishi, Sri Satya Sai Baba, and Sri
Aurobindo. Sufism of Islam and Sikhism honours saints and seers. In Islam too
saint worship is practised. Pir reverence is found widely practised all over the
Islamic world.
42
3.5.4 Monk Religious Specialists
The term “monk” has Greek origin meaning single or solitary. It is used to describe
a religious specialist who conditions the mind and body in favour of the spirit. This
conditioning often includes seclusion from those who do not follow the same
beliefs, abstinence, silence, and prayer. Monk symbolises asceticism and austere
life. The concept is ancient and can be found in many religions and philosophies.
It seems Monks were originally present solely in Christianity, but through a looser
definition created by modern westerners, the term has been applied to more
religions (for example bhikkhu in Buddhism, hermit in Hinduism). The term is also
often used interchangeably with the term “ascetic,” which describes a greater
focus on a life of abstinence, especially from sex, alcohol, and material wealth. In
Ancient Greece, “monk” referred to both men and women. Though in modern
English, the term “nun” is used to describe a female monk. The monks living
together under one roof and under the rule of a single person is known as monastery
and the way of life is called monasticism. Separate monasteries are maintained for
males and females. In Christianity, the monastery of females is called convent. The
Christian monasteries are spread throughout the world. There is a wide variety of
monasticism across various Roman Catholic Churches where monastery is the
common feature, which is absent among the Protestant Christianity.
Before becoming a monk in a monastery, nearly every monk must take some sort
of vow, the most famous being the Roman Catholic vow of “poverty, chastity, and
obedience.” It is also common to have a hierarchy within a monastery through
which a monk can rise over time with the growth of spiritual excellence. Monks
are often confused with friars. Although they are very similar, the main difference
between the two is that the friar is associated with community development and
aid to the poor.
Though the term monk is applied in Buddhism also, the situation of asceticism is
different. There is a trial period before one is ordained as monk. There are male
and female monks in Buddhism that live separately. In Thervada Buddhism the
monks live the life of mendicancy and collect alms. In Chinese Buddhism, the
monks are linked with the Chinese martial art, Kung fu. In Thailand and Myanmar
the young boys live for some time in monastery and may not return to the monastery
but remain as celibate and monks. The contemporary example of monk can be the
Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lama is the head monk of Tibetan Buddhism and traditionally
he has been responsible for the governing of Tibet. The Dalai Lama belongs to the
Gelugpa tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, which is the largest and most influential
tradition in Tibet. The institution of the Dalai Lama is a relatively recent one. There
have been only 14 Dalai Lamas in the history of Buddhism, and the first and
second Dalai Lamas were given the title posthumously. According to Buddhist
belief, the current Dalai Lama is a reincarnation of a past lama who decided to
be reborn again to continue his important work. The Dalai Lama essentially chooses
to be reborn again instead of passing onward. A person who decides to be
continually reborn is known as tulku. Buddhists believe that the first tulku in this
reincarnation was Gedun Drub, who lived from 1391-1474, and the second was
Gendun Gyatso. However, the name Dalai Lama meaning Ocean of Wisdom was
not conferred until the third reincarnation in the form of Sonam Gyatso in 1578.
The current Dalai Lama is Tenzin Gyatso.
There are monks in Jainism also in both the traditions of Shvetambar and Digambar.
They are of different orders such as acharya, upadhyaya, muni, ailak, etc. Both
male and female monks renounce all relations and possessions, practice strict and 43
Religion complete non-violence, and follow strict vegetarianism avoiding root vegetables.
They travel from city to city crossing forest and desert bare foot.
In Hinduism Madhvaacharya, the dwaita philosopher that propagated the love of
Lord Krishna established eight mathas, monasteries. Each matha is headed by
a swamiji who may be called as monk. It is known popularly through Hare
Krishna movement and International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON),
monks outside India. The Ramkrishna mission has monastic organisation shaped
by Swamy Vivekananda, chief disciple of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, the founder
of the mission. Like the Christian monasteries, the Ramakrishna mission is concerned
not only with the Hindu religion and philosophy but also engaged in Educational
works, Healthcare, Cultural activities, rural upliftment, Tribal welfare, Youth
movement, etc.
Differentiate between saint/seer and monk. They appear to be the same but functionally
different.
3.5.5 Missionary
Though the term missionary is closely associated with Christianity, the function of
missionary has been found in all major world religions. Whoever has been engaged
with the spread of a particular faith across the national or cultural boundary can
be termed as missionary. Thus, there are Hindu, Buddhist and Islamic missionaries.
They are advocates of God or divine being and teach how one should come into
personal relationship with the divine being(s). The missionary is different from
prophet whose focus is the same society, but are involved in change. While the
former is concerned with the change of the foreign society, the latter is engaged
in the change of the same society. A missionary will have to necessarily know and
understand the beliefs, practices, cosmology and religious dogma of others before
she/he teaches one’s own faith to others. In case of the Christian missionaries they
learned the language of others in order to translate Bible or gospel of Jesus Christ
and also propagate the Christian faith. Their learning of other’s language and
interest in the religion led to production of ‘pagan’ religious beliefs which had
facilitated anthropologists in theorising religion. The missionary after planting church
could become or known as a pastor or one of the ranks of the clergy.
3.6 MODES OF RELIGIOUS SPECIALISATION

The above mentioned religious specialists are not found in all societies but some
are present everywhere. Victor Turner (1989) notes certain socio-cultural correlates
existing with these specialists and are also found related to the scale and complexity
of the society. He draws distinction among priest – prophet, priest – shaman, and
shaman – medium. The priest is mainly concerned with the conservation and
maintenance of beliefs and practices and mediates between the transhumans and
people. Her or his powers rest with the religious knowledge. The prophet is
charismatic and maintains personal relation with the transhumans and as a result
acquires personal power and is able to bring change in the religious practices, and
may even well stand outside the cultural system to propose new doctrines, ethics,
etc. Shaman is a sub-type of priest, flexible and mobile. She or he acquires power
for the ability of controlling the spirits and provides profound role in curing rites.
The shaman is not radical and does not bring change in the social or cultural
system. There is a thin margin between shaman and medium; the former exercises
44 control over the spirits, the later gets possessed by the spirits and becomes vessel
or oracle of the spirit and delivers oracles. Turner notes that sometimes the two Religious Specialists
functions of priest and shaman are found in the same individual and similarly
mediums, shamans and prophets also form a single subtype of religious functionary.
While the priest communicates with the transhuman entities through ritual along
with cultural objects and activities, the medium, shaman, and prophet communicate
in a person-to-person manner. Between the priest and the deity intervenes the
institution. As the priest presides over a rite, the shaman or medium conducts a
séance.
According to Turner, as the scale and complexity of society increases, the division
of labour develops and, accordingly, the degree of specialisation changes in the
religious domain. In simple societies all adult men and women have some religious
function, and particularly women tend towards more religious function with their
capacity to enter the state of altered consciousness. The knowledge of herbs gives
some special knowledge and such of them are known as medicine men. Therefore,
the specialists lead normal life as other men and women in the habitation. In this
type of society we find shamans and mediums.
In a complex society where there is advanced division of labour, religion no longer
pervades all social domains; it is rather limited to its own domain. There is
considerable specialisation in the religious activities. There exists impersonal social
relations, bureaucratization, rationality in decision making, etc. In this society there
is ranking of religious specialists and organised established religious institutional
system. Priests, clergy and other religious orders are found. It also supports the
missionary activities with the support of the state or individuals. Different religious
cults, sects, religious movement, etc., are found in these societies.
There are intermediaries between the small scale and complex societies which
exhibit religion with certain degree of bureaucratisation, specialised roles and
functions. These are found in Africa, Asia, Central and South America. In these
cases, religious dichotomy has been found where national and tribal gods are
worshipped in larger towns whereas in villages minor deities, demons and ancestral
shades are worshipped. The national level gods are being mediated by the priests
and official religious servants in the temples or shrines. The mediums and priests
coexist but the latter control the former.
In many small scale societies, religion and politics are inseparable. In centralised
political systems chiefs and kings also take up the role of the priests engaged in
rain making, sowing and harvest rites. The duties of priests are also bound up with
the office of the kinship with specialised ritual functions. Among the Bemba of
Zambia, priests of shrines undertake the burial rituals of the king. These priests
called the Bakabilo constitute a council that exerts check on the powers of the
king (Turner 1989:7). In stateless societies, certain ritual positions have functions
of maintaining order and resolution of conflicts as in case of Nuer’s “leopard-skin
chief” or “priest of the earth” (Evans- Pritchard 1956).
3.7 SUMMARY
Religious specialists are important personnel that hold authority in religious domain.
They are also charismatic, uphold the faith attending to various needs of the faithful
and keep the flock together by their leadership. Since studying religion is relatively
new in anthropology, various concepts developed in course are often overlapping
and strict distinction cannot be maintained. This is true particularly in case of
religious specialists. The difficulty gets compounded when the same person engages 45
Religion in more than one special activity. Religion is so interconnected with several aspects
of life and institutions that it gets influenced externally and influences various aspects
of life. Therefore, the anthropologists could identify certain socio-cultural correlates
with religion, and certain religious forms and institutions are found in certain levels
of social forms and societies. The world religions are more associated with the
state societies than the tribal societies.
References
Bowie, Fiona. 2000. Anthropology of Religion. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers
Ltd.
Evans-Pritchard, E.E. 1956. Nuer Religion. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Klimo, Jon. 1987. ‘The Psychology of Channeling.’ New Age Journal. (Dec.)
32-40, 62-67.
Lehman, E, C, Jr. 2002. Women’s path into the ministry. Durham, NC: Pulpit
and Pew.
St. Clair. 1971. Drum and Candle. New York: Bell Publishing Company.
Stein, R.L and Philip L. Stein. 2008. The Anthropology of Religion, Magic, and
Witchcraft. New York: Pearson Education Inc.
Van Rheenen, Gailyn. 1996. Communicating Christ in Animistic Contexts.
Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library
Wagley, Charles. 1971. ‘Tapirape Shamanism’. In Morton H. Fried (ed.) Readings
in Anthropology. New York: Crowell Company. Pp 618-635.
Turner, Victor. 1989. ‘Religious Specialists’. In Lehmann, Arthur C. and James E.
Myers (eds.). Magic, Witchcraft, and Religion. 2nd ed. California: Mayfield
Publishing Co.
Suggested Reading
Bowie, Fiona. 2000. Anthropology of Religion. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers
Ltd.
Lambeck, Michaelin. (2002). A Reader in the Anthropology of Religion. Malden:
Blackwell Publishing.
Stein, R.L. and Philip L. Stein. 2008. The Anthropology of Religion, Magic and
Witchcraft. Ney York: Pearson Education Inc.
Turner, Victor. 1989. ‘Religion Specialists’. In Lehmann, Arthur C. and James E.
Myers (eds.). Magic, Witchcraft, and Religion. 2nd ed. California: Mayfield
Publishing Co.
Sample Questions
1) What are the general characteristics of a shaman?
2) Trace connections among shaman, medium and priest.
3) How would you conceptually differentiate medium, oracle and prophet?
4) How priest, clergy and monk are interrelated?
5) Discuss the relationships between the scale of society and the religious
specialisation.
46
UNIT 1 CONCEPTS AND APPROACHES TO
THE STUDY OF RELIGION
(Evolutionary, Psychological,
Functional and Marxist)
Contents
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Concepts of Religion
1.2.1 Supernatural Beings
1.2.2 Animism
1.2.3 Animatism
1.2.4 Naturism
1.2.5 Totemism
1.2.6 Taboo
1.2.8 Ritual
1.2.9 Myth
1.2.10 Cult
1.3 Religious Symbolism

1.4 Religious Knowledge and Practices
1.4.4 Evil Eye
1.5 Anthropological Approach to Religion

1.6 Summary
References
Suggested Reading
Sample Questions
Learning Objectives

This reading should enable you to understand:
 various concepts in the discourse of religion;
 development of anthropological perspective of religion;
 various approaches to study religion; and
5
 contribution of anthropology to the understanding of religion.
Religion
1.1 INTRODUCTION
The subject matter of religion is dealt with in anthropology differently from the
other disciplines, such as philosophy, theology, comparative religion, religious studies
and so on. It tries to explain not what religion is but why is religion important in
the lives of the people. It basically takes people’s perspective and seeks to find
out how it is important to the people. There is no society that is known so far
without any religious idea. As early as nineteenth century, anthropologists made
attempts to search for earlier forms of religion and religious thoughts and the
courses of change therein. Some intellectuals thought that religion will have no
place where science and technology flourish, but the reality is to the contrary.
Even today in the age of computers, robots and inter-planetary travel religion
plays important roles in the lives of people. Anthropologists are trying to know the
relevance of religion in human societies whether they are technologically advanced
or primitive hunter and gatherers. This obviously raises the question of the
significance of religion in human societies. This unit basically attempts to orient
students to the anthropological perspective of religion.
Anthropological approach of studying human societies as integrated wholes,
considers religion as a part of culture. Each culture is unique in its own way and
each culture can be studied and described. The recent thinking is that the world
can be viewed in multiple ways and, therefore, the representation of culture cannot
be monological, authoritative and bounded. Thus, the anthropological perspective
of religion is the way its practitioners see the world, interpret and see themselves
different from others.
One may begin to have an understanding of the domain of religion with the question
what constitutes religion? And how do we define religion? Anthropologists defined
religion in different ways. But none of these well known definitions adequately
cover all aspects of religion practiced by all human societies. There has been
criticism on each of these definitions for their failure of accounting for one aspect
or the other.
In this unit, the students will be introduced to basic concepts found in anthropological
discourse on religion, and various approaches to study religion such as evolutionary,
psychological, functional, Marxist and symbolic. First, each of the basic concept
is discussed, followed by discussion on anthropological approaches to study religion.
Box No. 1 Definition of Religion
For Edward B. Tylor (1832-1917) religion is the belief in spiritual beings (1871).
Emile Durkheim (1858-1917) defines religion as “a unified system of beliefs and

practices relative to sacred things, that is to say, things set apart and forbidden
- beliefs and practices which unite into one single moral community called Church,
all those who adhere to them” (1961:62).
Clifford Geertz defines religion as (1) a system of symbols which acts to (2)
establish powerful, pervasive, and long-lasting moods and motivations in men
[and women] by (3) formulating conceptions of a general order of existence and
(4) clothing these conceptions with such an aura of factuality that (5) the moods
and motivations seem uniquely realistic (1973:90).
1.2 CONCEPTS OF RELIGION

The important concepts that appear in the study of religion include supernatural
6 beings – of polytheistic and monotheistic beliefs, forms of religion – animism,
animatism, totemism, ritual, myth, religious symbolism, ancestor worship, magic, Concepts and Approaches to
witchcraft and sorcery. Each of these concepts is briefly explained below: (Evolutionary,
1.2.1 Supernatural Beings and Marxist)
There is dichotomy of world into: natural and supernatural. The natural world is
explained in terms of cause and effect relations, whereas the supernatural world
cannot be explained in causal relations alone. Gods, goddesses, god-lings, dead
ancestors, spirits who may be benevolent or malevolent; ghosts, demons, and
other forms, which are usually malevolent, and are powerful than human beings in
their movements and actions that constitute the world of the supernatural beings.
The supernatural beings may be visible at particular point of time, not for all but
for a few, or remain invisible. They are not subject to natural laws and principles,
whereas the natural beings necessarily follow the natural or physical laws and
principles. Theism refers to the beliefs and ideas that focus on supernatural beings
within the religious practices. When the society holds belief in multiple supernatural
beings it is called as polytheistic religion. Hinduism is the best example of having
a number of gods and goddesses in its pantheon. Monotheistic religions are those
having belief in one supreme supernatural being that may be called God or Yahweh
or Allah as in case of Christianity, Judaism and Islam.
In several religious practices, the interaction between humans and spiritual beings
are through spirit possession, vision and dreams. The spiritual beings possess
some humans who become media through which other humans and spirit enter into
dialogue. Sometimes, the spirits speak to the human agent who conveys the message
to people. In some cases, the humans get visions or the spirits appear in dreams
to interact with them. Also individuals get into trance for interacting with the spirits.
Thus, links are established between humans and supernatural world.
1.2.2 Animism
The term is coined by E. B. Tylor (1871) to describe the belief in soul or life force
and personality existing in animate and inanimate objects as well as human beings.
Several of the tribal religions hold such beliefs. His theory is that human beings are
rational beings, and attempt to interpret mysterious phenomena like sleeping, dreams
and death with the idea of soul.
1.2.3 Animatism
R. R. Marett (1866-1943) considered that humans believed in impersonal forces
in nature and certain objects. This sort of belief had created in humans religious
feelings of awe, fear, wonder, respect, admiration, and other psychical effects. He
believed that primitive man could not distinguish between the natural and supernatural
and also between living and dead. This condition that prevailed before the
development of the idea of soul is called animatism, which Marrett named after
mana which means power in Polynesia.
1.2.4 Naturism
Max Muller contended that since the gods in various societies were originally from
natural phenomenon, such as sun, thunder, trees, animals, mountains, forests, lakes,
rivers, oceans and so on, the human perception of nature must have had very
powerful agencies for origin of religion. Nature was the greatest surprise, a terror,
a marvel, a miracle which has also been permanent, constant and regular occurrences,
7
Religion and these could not be explained with the known facts. They are believed to have
great influence on the affairs of human beings. The religious thoughts must have
originated from the conceptualisation of nature itself and worship of nature.
1.2.5 Totemism
It is a system of belief in which certain objects, plants or animals have kinship
relationship with social groups. Such animate and inanimate objects stand as
emblems giving identity to the groups and form representations of the groups.
They create religious feelings among the members and form the objects of worship,
reverence and sacredness. According to Durkheim, totemism is the earliest form
of religion and it is quite prominently found among the Australian tribes, and such
phenomena are also noted among the American tribes as well.
1.2.6 Taboo
Taboo a Polynesian concept (tabu/tapu) but widely used in anthropological
literature. It refers to something, use of which is collectively and strictly forbidden
in religious context. The violation of a taboo has different consequences of temporary
defilement, crime to be punished and attracts the sanctions of supernatural beings
and so on. Taboo is associated with mana and Totems are considered taboos.

According to Durkheim, these are central concepts of religion. The sacred refers
to the things or spaces which are set apart for religious purposes, and against
these the profane refers to those considered secular in nature. However, in several
religions there are no equivalent terms and often they overlap also.
1.2.8 Ritual
Ritual, like religion, is difficult to define due to diverse forms and complexity of
the phenomenon. However, one may understand it as a set of formalised actions
performed with symbolic value in a socially relevant context or worshiping a deity
or cult. It is also a customary observance involving stereotyped behaviour. Rituals
vary in form and in content within a particular religion and across religions. They
involve participation of one or more individuals, physical movements or actions,
verbal and non-verbal or symbolic mode of communication based on certain
shared knowledge. Often ritual actions are infused with certain moods and emotional
states and the participants may inwardly assent or dissent from the ritual process.
Box No. 2
Victor Turner defines ritual as “prescribed formal behaviour for occasions not given over
to technical routine, having reference to beliefs in mystical (or non-empirical) beings or
powers regarded as the first and final causes of all effects” (1982:79).
Gluckman and Turner differentiate ritual from ceremony, though both of them are
forms of religious behaviour. Ritual involves social status and transition of one’s
status and, therefore, it is ‘transformative’, while the ceremony is associated with
social status and ‘confirmatory’. But such fine distinction often gets blurred and
difficult to maintain the difference. Rituals are classified as religious, magical,
calendrical, sacred, secular, private, public, sacrificial and totemic and so on.
Anthropologists most often use in their discourses on religion the ‘rites de passage’
of Arnold van Gennep, who analytically isolated a set of rituals called rites of
passage. The rites are organised recognising the change of status of individual in
8
one’s life time, and each of the rites employs three phases: separation; margin (or Concepts and Approaches to
limen); and incorporation. Turner elaborates the transitional phase liminality in his (Evolutionary,
study of Ndembu in Zambia. Psychological, Functional
and Marxist)
1.2.9 Myth
Believed to be truthful accounts of the past, the narrative that gives religious
sanctity and sacred character to the account, and is often associated with ritual is
called myth. Well, all myths may not actually depend on the past and necessarily
do not deal with sacred, yet they refer to or hinge upon such putative factors
providing social credibility and acceptability of the account. Well-known myths
are creation myths. Myth is different from legend as the characters in the myth are
usually not humans. They may be supernatural beings or animals or other animate
and inanimate objects and sometimes they are ambiguous characters. Myths
generally offer explanations for the customs and practices. On the other hand,
legends are about culture heroes, historical figures located in historical events,
which are believed to have taken place, that very easily transit into the contemporary
life. Folk tales are not considered sacred but regarded as stories or fiction meant
basically for entertainment. These tales may also include supernatural elements, yet
are essentially secular in nature. The characters in these tales may be human and/
non-humans. The tales exist independent of time and space. There is a strong
relationship between myth and ritual, and there was a debate as to which came
first. It is so because some argued that ritual is the enactment of myth whereas
others had argued that myth arises out of rites. The contemporary studies on
myths find no strict correspondence between the two.
Franz Boas tried to understand the social organisation, religious ideas and practices
of people from their myths. Malinowski argued that myth is a powerful social force
for the native which is relevant to their pragmatic interests. It expresses and
codifies beliefs and works towards efficacy of ritual and provides a practical
guide. However, for Levi-Strauss, myth is a logical model, it is a cultural artefact.
The human mind structures reality and imposes form and content on it. According
to him, myth is an area where human mind enjoys freedom and unrestrained
creative thinking expressed in it. Taking into consideration several limiting factors,
humans think certain conceivable possibilities about the critical problems that they
face. Therefore, myth provides the conceptual frame for social order, but it need
not correspond with the ethnographic facts of social organisation. Levi-Strauss
provided a method for structural analysis of myth. The latter studies of myth point
out the fact that myth interprets the reality but does not necessarily represent the
social order.
You can find rituals and myths in your own cultural lore. Try to find their relationship,
if there is any.
1.2.10 Cult
The concept of cult is derived from French culte meaning worship or a particular
form of worship. It has been used in both neutral and negative sense. In the
neutral sense of the term it means ‘care’, ‘cultivation’ and ‘tended’, it is a deity
or idol or image of a saint who is venerated and it is concerned with devotion.
However, in the negative sense it refers to the practice of a deviant religious group
or new religious dogma arising out of syncretism, cultural mix of ideas and practices
of different religions. The Cargo cults of Melanesia and Papua New Guinea weave 9
Religion Christian doctrine with native beliefs, in which it is believed that the spirits of dead
would bring the manufactured European goods in ships and airplanes. Similarly,
Caribbean vodum or ‘voodoo’, Cuban santeria and Afro-Brazilian candomble`
deities are referred to as cults.
1.3 RELIGIOUS SYMBOLISM

In a general sense of the term, symbol may be an object, picture, written word,
sound, idea, and colour that represent something else in association, resemblance
or convention. The religious symbolism refers to the idea of how symbols are
employed in religious context. Cross or Swastika or Crescent Moon are religious
symbols found in Christianity, Hinduism, and Islam, respectively. Symbols are
communicative, convey meanings shared by the community. They are associated
with human interests, purposes, ends and means. They are explicitly formulated.
The symbols are dynamic as they evoke moods and emotions and create complex
philosophical contexts in mind. Sacred art, pictures, drawings and designs used in
ritual and religious context convey religious meanings. Turner identifies three
properties of these religious or ritual symbols: condensation, unification of disparate
significata, and polarised meanings. Condensation means representing many ideas,
actions and meanings into a single symbol. For example, the Shiva Ling is
representation of Lord Shiva, divine destruction, male potency, creation and so
on. The unification of disparate significata means unifying diverse elements as in
case of Ndembu ritual the milk tree representing women’s breasts, motherhood,
and principle of matriliny, learning and unity of society. Polarization refers to two
distinguishing poles of meanings as matriliny and patriliny in case of Ndembu
puberty ritual.
1.4 RELIGIOUS KNOWLEDGE AND PRACTICES

Religious knowledge in most of the cases is institutionalised. It is developed and
contained in the form of doctrines and practices which anthropologists categorize
as little traditions and great traditions. The little traditions deal with the mundane
issues, whereas the great traditions deal with the philosophical and other worldly
issues. Different institutions are developed in these traditions; in the former case
there is shamanism (a system of belief cantering on the shaman, a religious personage
having curative and psychic powers), spirit possession, oracle or prophecy and in
the latter case, there are institutions of formal learning of religious matters, priesthood
of various orders, monasteries, and so on. In little traditions the knowledge is
passed on orally and by subjective experience, whereas in great tradition the
literature and sacred texts contain the spiritual knowledge. Thus, there is division
between those who have specialised knowledge of supernatural things and those
who are ordinary members of the community.

Worship of deities through rituals is though common practice, the ancestor worship
is more often associated with the little tradition. The great tradition generally
includes the worship of single or multiple deities. However, in Asia, Africa and
other parts of the world, there is the common practice of venerating ancestors; it
is believed that the ancestors continue to hold power over their progeny and affect
the society. This may be understood under the premise that human soul continues
to survive after the death. It is not the same as that of worshiping the dead; it is
10 the respect given to the deified dead person or the transformed spirit of the dead.
The funerary rites are performed for this purpose. In many of the religious practices, Concepts and Approaches to
only a few become ancestors and receive ritual attention. Where descent is through (Evolutionary,
males, the ancestors would be male only. In matriliny, as in case of Nayar in India Psychological, Functional
or Ashanti in Africa, the ancestorhood is bestowed upon the mother’s brother who and Marxist)
holds jurisdiction over lineage as lineage head. In some cases, ancestor shrines are
built where regular offerings are made and sacrifices offered. Functionalists like
Malinowski explain this phenomenon as emotional reassurance against the loss.
Meyer Fortes offers explanation in structuralist framework and says that ancestor
worship belongs to the domain of kinship and descent structure supported by the
jural and political order. The ancestor worship is an extension of authority over
successive generations; it is the supernatural idiom of supportive relationship
manifested in religious ideology.

Often religious practices include or is supplemented by magic. Magic refers to
certain activity or method by which the supernatural is believed to interfere in the
affairs of humans and bring about particular outcome. Magic and religion are
closely related to each other, though both can be distinguished. There are similarities
between the two as both are related to supernatural, rich in symbolism and involve
in rituals, and yet there are differences. While religion is supplicative, as one seeks
intervention of supernatural and requests for favours, magic is manipulative, one
uses set of formulas which force supernatural to intervene. Durkheim says while
we do not find a single religion without a church (place of worship), there is no
church for magic. Magic is frequently used for public good. According to Frazer,
(1890) magic works on the Law of Sympathy which refers to the association or
agreements of things and it has two parts: Law of Similarity and Law of Contagion.
The Law of Similarity states that an effect resembles its cause. The Law of
Contagion states that things that are once in contact will continue to be in contact.
The Law of Similarity gives rise to homeopathic or imitative magic – like produces
like - and the Law of Contagion gives rise to contagious magic. In imitative magic,
the magician uses an image or figurine to represent a person or animal on which
magical spells are cast or pricks pins to harm the victim. Sometimes, one imitates
totemic species and symbolically acts out copulation for increasing the population
of the species which is practiced among the Australian tribes. In Contagious
magic, a body part of an animal or anything that belongs to a person under the
magical spell affects the animal or the person. In some societies, the claw of tiger
when worn as garland makes a man skilled hunter or an amulet having the image
of god keeps away the bad spirits or demons.
Frazer believed that magic is closer to science, the primitive man’s thinking was
pre-logic. Malinowski observed that the Trobrianders possess sound empirical
and rational knowledge about their environment, they use technology developed
by them to grow gardens and crops and use skills to sail in the sea and involve
in kula exchange. But despite all this knowledge the Trobrianders believe that
there are agencies that influence the natural order. In order to control these forces
and agencies, they use magic. According to him, the function of magic is to
ritualise man’s optimism over fear or ill-luck.

Magic is mostly used for the public good, witchcraft and sorcery are used for
harming the individuals, and seen as anti-social. Black magic is equated with
witchcraft and sorcery, and these have negative sanction of the society and individuals 11
Religion on whom it is practised. The witch is distinguished from the sorcerer by the fact
that the source of supernatural in case of a witch remains in the body of the witch
that is often inherited also. The sorcerer acquires the art and does not necessarily
pass on to the next generation. The witch generally wills in death and destruction,
whereas the sorcerer performs magical rites to achieve evil ends. Witchcraft is
seen as an evil force bringing misfortune to members of a community. These
religious phenomena are found in many parts of the world, including the scientifically
and technologically developed countries. Christianity recognises the existence of
evil spirits which function under the lordship of Satan or Devil who is hostile to
God, and the witches and sorcerer maintain close liaison with Satan. Evans-
Pritchard (1937) provides a classical example of witchcraft among the Azande in
Africa. According to him, witchcraft provides explanation for the unexplainable
events; it is cultural behaviour dealing with misfortunes; and it helps defining morality.
Try to find the differences among ritual, magic, witchcraft and sorcery. Do they overlap?
1.4.4 Evil Eye

The belief in evil eye states that some individuals with an evil eye cause illness or
some misfortune by simply looking at others. This explanation is mostly offered
when children become sick in several societies. It is not only by looking but also
praise or any complementary comments. The victims of evil eye are mostly children.
In some cases when prosperous individual or household suddenly encounters
misfortunes, people attribute it to evil eye. Dundes (1981:266-267) identifies some
structural principles that operate in the concept of evil eye. Life depends on non-
renewable resources like semen, milk, blood, saliva, etc. which are liquid, and
drying them up cause illness, which is due to evil eye. There is limited amount of
good, such as health, wealth, etc., and any gain of one individual can only come
at the expense of the other. So, if a person of evil eye acquires more of limited
good, the other will lose. In the equilibrium model of life the haves and have-nots
co-exist in a balanced manner. But the have-nots when become envious, the haves
lose their health or wealth. Further, eyes symbolise breasts or testicles and an evil
eye threatens the supply of such precious liquids like milk or semen.
1.5 ANTHROPOLOGICAL APPROACH TO

RELIGION
After introducing various concepts found in religious discourses, we draw your
attention to the anthropological theories about religion. These include evolutionary,
psychological, functional, Marxist and symbolic perspectives.
John Lubbock (1834–1913), an English anthropologist, made an early attempt to
combine archaeological evidence of prehistoric people, on the one hand, and
anthropological evidence of primitive people, on the other, to trace the origin and
evolution of religion (Encyclopædia Britannica Online). In this scheme, in the
beginning there was absence of religious ideas and development of fetishism,
followed by nature worship, and totemism (a system of belief involving the
relationship of specific animals to clans), shamanism, anthropomorphism,
monotheism (belief in one god), and finally ethical monotheism. This has
foreshadowed, other forms of evolutionism, which were to become popular later.
In the late nineteenth century with the influential works of Max Muller, W. Robertson
12 Smith, Edward B. Tylor, Marrett, and Sir James G. Frazer, anthropological study
on religion grew at a fast pace. These scholars were first to suggest that tribal Concepts and Approaches to
religions might be amenable to study, following the rules of scientific method, and (Evolutionary,
to posit specific methodological procedures for the comparative analysis of religious Psychological, Functional
beliefs and practices. All of them sought to understand religious belief and practices and Marxist)
at most fundamental or basic level.
The anthropology of religion owes a great debt to Emile Durkheim who put
forward the concept of sacred, profane orders, and the so-called supernatural and
natural categories, which have proved to be more beneficial in better understanding
the concept of religion. A strong impetus to subsequent application of Durkheimian
theory is found among the British structural-functionalists, such as Radcliffe-Brown,
E.E. Evans-Pritchard, Meyer Fortes, and Melford Spiro, etc., who also made
significant contributions towards understanding religion. They primarily focussed
on the religion of tribal groups. However, many of the contemporary exponents of
anthropology of religion like Clifford Geertz, Melford Spiro, Victor Turner, Sherry
Ortner, Mary Douglas and Stanley Tambiah have devoted bulk of their attention
to local variants of major world religions – Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism, and
Christianity and the impact of the world religions in developing countries like Java,
Indonesia, Morocco, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Nepal, and Burma, instead of the
religions of isolated tribal groups. Contemporary ethnographers concentrate on
examining religious diversity in complex societies rather than providing further
documentation for uniformity in tribal religions. Herein, you are provided with a
brief account of each of the dominant theoretical perspectives of anthropology on
religion.

Like so much else in anthropology, the study of the religious notions of primitive
people arose within the context of evolutionary theory. Besides their evolutionary
assumption about religion, the followers of evolutionary theory show overwhelming
Eurocentric biases. But it is true that they made valuable contributions to the study
of religion. Most of the nineteenth century anthropologists derive assumptions
about religion from the Judeo-Christian heritage and from their own religious
experiences within that tradition. E.B. Tylor, expounds in his book, Primitive
Culture (1871), that animism is the earliest and most basic religious form. Out of
this evolved fetishism, belief in demons, polytheism, and, finally, monotheism is
derived from the exaltation of a great god, such as the sky god, in a polytheistic
context. He defines religion in such a way that all forms of it could be included,
namely, as ‘the belief in Spiritual Beings’. He firmly states that religion is a cultural
universal, for no known cultures are without such beliefs. Belief in spirits began as
an uncritical but nonetheless rational effort to explain such puzzling empirical
phenomenon as death, dreams and possessions. Herbert Spencer advocated
ancestor worship, a relatively similar system to Tylor’s animism.
The 19th century anthropologists were deeply influenced by the presumptions of
their own society so called ‘Western’. R.R. Marrett (1909), on the other hand
regarded animatism as beginning of religious ideas. As discussed earlier, his derivation
is from ideas as mana (power), mulungu (supreme creator), orenda (magic
power), concepts found in the Pacific, Africa, and America, respectively, referring
to a supernatural power (a kind of supernatural ‘electricity’) that does not
necessarily have the personal connotation of animistic entities and that becomes
especially present in certain men, spirits, or natural objects. Marrett criticizes Tylor
for an overly intellectual approach, as though primitive men used personal forces
as explanatory hypotheses to account for dreams, natural events, and other 13
Religion phenomena. For Marrett, primitive religion is ‘not so much thought out as danced
out,’ and its primary emotional attitude is not so much fear as awe.
For Sir James Frazer human thought is best understood as a progression from
magic to religion to science. By publishing his two volume book titled The Golden
Bough (1890), he attempts to construct a universal theory of magic, religion and
science. According to Frazer, magic is the primordial form of human thought. He
further postulates early man was dominated by magic, which viewed nature as ‘a
series of events occurring in an invariable order without the intervention of personal
agency’. These magicians, according to Frazer, believed in nature and developed
imaginary laws, which are of course, not real. However, in course of time the more
intelligent members of the society, in the state of disillusionment, conceived of
spiritual beings with powers superior to man, who could be induced by propitiation
to alter the course of nature to his advantage. According to Frazer, this was the
stage of religion. Later on this was seen to be an illusion and men entered the
final, the scientific stage of development. Magic, according to Frazer, is based on
the principle of contagion or on ‘sympathy’ or the notion of imitation, said to be
the earliest form. In more advanced societies, Frazer contends, magic eventually
is replaced by religion, and both are finally replaced by science.
For Durkheim, evolutionary advancement consists in the emergence of specific,
analytic, profane ideas about the ‘cause’ or ‘category’ or ‘relationship’ from
diffuse, global, sacred images. These ‘collective representations,’ as he calls them,
of the social order and its moral force included such sacra as ‘mana’, ‘totem’ and
‘god’ (Sills, 1968). The above postulates on religion come from intellectual
theorisation made from the existing reports, travelogues, and Christian missionary
works. These anthropologists never had firsthand experience of non-western cultures
nor did they theorise on the basis of systematic study of culture of the people in
totality and, therefore, they were called armchair anthropologists.
Anthropologists like Franz Boas, Ruth Benedict, Margaret Mead and Alfred
Kroeber discredit the speculative evolutionary perspective and seek explanations
for similarities of rituals, myths and symbols found in different cultures through
culture contact. For them cultural dispersion, instead of independent evolution of
religious thoughts and actions, is the reason for such similarities. They emphasise
need for understanding culture as an integrated whole and interpreting the cultural
elements in that pattern, including the religious activities, in a meaningful way.
But, there are others like Emile Durkheim who thinks that emotions of the individuals
and collective consciousness in social environment shape the individuals’ religious
feeling. While, on other hand, Max Weber believes that the beliefs and emotions
have evolved into rational religion and higher thinking in religion. Others such as
Meyer Fortes and Clifford Geertz also recognise the psychological component in
religious behaviour. However, after the evolutionary perspective, psychological
approach to religion based on Sigmund Freud’s approaches of psychoanalysis and
neurotic symptoms has become a dominant approach to understand religion in
anthropology.

Few years before World War I, there was the rise of systematic psychologism of
psychoanalysis of Sigmund Freud. His thesis is that religious rituals and beliefs are
homologous with neurotic symptoms (Eriksen, 1950). According to him, a deep
subconscious psychological conflict within social groups is responsible for the
14
development of religion. He explains that the psychological conflict between the Concepts and Approaches to
father and son, the hatred of son towards father, his desire for killing him and the (Evolutionary,
guilt feeling are the reasons for the creation of totem based on the Oedipus myth. Psychological, Functional
The worship or respect shown to the totemic animal is the reflection of subconscious and Marxist)
conflict between the son and father and the latter’s kinsmen. The psychological
defence mechanisms involve projections to avoid conflict and reduce anxiety. This
is like “I hate X because you hate X”, which can be analysed at cultural level.
Further, the childhood experiences carried out through out adult life in the forms
of images and in this regard dependency of children on parents is significant. The
dependency on parents by the children in the latter part of life is projected on the
spiritual beings.
But Carl Jung takes a different approach taking the projections to cultural level of
a group’s collective consciousness and Oedipus is just one example, and others
include the Trickster, the Hero, Orphan, the Creator, the Sage or Fool, etc.
Following this line of thinking, Kardiner, who is considered as a neo-Freudian,
sought to demonstrate that religious institutions of tribal people are projections of
a “basic personality structures,” formed not by the action of an unconsciously
remembered historical trauma but by the more observable traumas produced by
child-training practices.
Many others like Eriksen (1950) have also been influenced by Freud’s concept.
Eriksen, drawing upon developments in ego personality to be a joint product of
psychobiological maturation, cultural context, and historical experience, interpreted
the religious notions of the Yurok and the Sioux in terms of certain basic modes
of relating to the world. The basic Freudian premise is that religious practices can
be usefully interpreted as expressions of unconscious psychological forces, and
this has become, amid much polemic, an established tradition of enquiry. Ruth
Benedict (1934) in her work has provided a background for all later culture-
personality studies using the same method. She explains cultural patterns of some
American Indians in terms of configurations from certain personality types.
The psychological approach has been superseded by functionalist approach but
recently the significance of psychology once again came to light in a different route
as symbolic anthropology. The context is that there has been a considerable
discussion on ‘primitive thought’ which is different from that of the ‘modern rational
thought’. The former is associated with lack of written language, technology, small
in number and lack of uniformity, etc., and its religion is expressed in ritualistic
activity and magic. The latter is associated with the scriptures, standard religious
activities, rationalisation of behaviour and philosophical approach to life. However,
there are commonalities and continuities in these two forms of thoughts and actions.
In this respect, the approach of Clifford Geertz to religion is significant, as modern
or primitive religion can be understood in an integrated system of thought through
symbolism.

Various forms of functionalism in anthropology—which focus on social patterns
and institutions with reference to their functions in the larger cultural context—
have proved illuminating for wider understanding of religion. This has helped to
discover interrelations between differing aspects of religion as it connects various
institutions. Functionalism emphasises on the interrelations between the various
elements of a social system, and, therefore, pays less attention to evolutionary
origins and the notion of “survivals” – the continuation of primitive elements in a 15
Religion culture. Society is seen as a self-regulating system in which religion, economic
organisation, and kinship form parts of an organic whole. The realm of the sacred
is defined by the attitude people have towards it – rituals are sacred if they are
performed with reverence and awe. Numerous functional aspects of religion include
providing explanation or comfort; sanctions on social, economic and political norms
and institutions; and aiding ecological adaptation and unifying the social group.
Anthropologists like Malinowski, Evans-Pritchard, Radcliffe-Brown, etc., who
approached religion from functionalist perspective provide explanation that satisfies
human needs and solidarity of the group. Malinowski, for instance, in his work on
the Trobriand Islanders emphasises on the close relationship between myth and
ritual. He puts forward the idea of psychological functionalism, religious acts fulfilling
the psychological need and satisfaction. A mortuary ritual, for instance, is intended
to release the soul and prevent it from returning to haunt the living. Like Frazer,
he distinguishes magic from religion which aims at something beyond itself. Its
object is not performance of the rite. In magic the end is the efficacious magic
itself. Evans-Pritchard observes that while emotions, desires, and impulses
undoubtedly play a part in religion, the performance of a religious or magical act
need not automatically produce the psychological effects, as Malinowski supposes.
He argues in Azande religion that witchcraft has to be understood in social context.
In this sense, he agrees with Durkheim but disagrees with the notion that religion
is illusion.
Radcliffe-Brown (1922) provides an account of Andamanese religious beliefs and
ceremonies. He asserts that the Andaman Islanders’ main supernatural beings are
spirits of the dead, associated with the sky, forest, and sea, and nature spirits,
which are thought of as personifications of natural phenomena. Applying Durkheimian
analysis he presents an organic picture of society; religion integrates society and
rituals bring in solidarity of the group. Many anthropologists followed this stream
of approach which however slowly has died out with the criticisms from the newer
theorists. In India M.N. Srinivas’ (1952) study of society and religion among the
Coorgs is an outstanding contribution to the study of religion in functionalist
perspective. He very innovatively integrates social structure with religion which he
finds it operating at different levels – local, regional, peninsular and all India.
Drawing the difference between Indological and sociological approach, he adopts
the latter for a meaningful treatment of religion in relation with the social structure
of the Coorg. He demonstrates that various rituals organised at family, patrilineal
joint family (okka), village and nad level bring in solidarity and unity among
different social segments.

Rejecting functionalist, sociological and psychological approaches as being too
light in interpreting mythology, Levi-Strauss’ (1958) new “structuralism” posited a
universal logical pattern to the human mind and in this perspective religion is of a
totally different phenomenon in nature. He has been unswerving in his search for
the universal structures of human thought and social life. He points out that although
anthropologists have tried studying mythology it has not been successful as myths
are still widely interpreted in conflicting ways: as collective dreams, as the outcome
of a kind of esthetical play, or as the basis of ritual. Mythological figures are
considered as personified abstractions, divinised heroes, or fallen gods. He further
laments that study of mythology has been reduced to either an idle play or a crude
kind of philosophical speculation. His formalistic structuralism tends to reinforce
16
analogies between “primitive” and sophisticated thinking and also provides a new
method of analysing myths and stories. Taking cue from structural linguistics, in Concepts and Approaches to
particular the work of Ferdinand Saussure, Levi-Strauss has sought to reveal a (Evolutionary,
grammar of the mind, a kind of universal psychology with a genetic base, which Psychological, Functional
gives rise to social structures. He explains that myth is language: to be known, and and Marxist)
to be told; it is a part of human speech. He further elaborates saying that in order
to provide its specificity we must be able to show that it is both the same thing
as language, and also something different from it. He interestingly analyses myth
with Saussure’s distinction between langue and parole, one being the structural
side of language, and the other the statistical aspect, langue belonging to a reversible
time, parole being non-reversible. Just as there are limits to linguistic variation, so
there are certain basic innate patterns of culture based on a series of binary
oppositions. Thus, all societies distinguish between the raw and the cooked, the
raw standing for nature (and women) and the cooked for culture (and men).
Myths reveal common story lines that can be used to understand the limited
number of ways in which human beings interpret the world. The structural analysis
of myth, which is a pioneering work of Levi-Strauss in anthropology, has influenced
many scholars in the 21st century. Levi-Strauss contends that primitive religious
systems are like all symbolic systems, fundamentally communication systems.
In Indian context Dumont (1959) takes the structuralist perspective of religion
manifested in the worship of village deities. He finds the opposition between
‘purity’ and ‘impurity’ and interdependency of both the values in the religious
thoughts. The ‘purity’ is strongly associated with vegetarian food offered to the
sanskritic gods and ‘impurity’ associated with non-saskritic gods and other spiritual
beings that receive the offering of non-vegetarian foods. The purity is superior to
impurity, and these values have transcended to form the basis of caste system.

Karl Marx has been an influential theorist who was very critical of religion, and
his approach depicts religion and religious belief as fictions that support the status
quo and that maintained class differences. Religion reflects false consciousness of
people that diverts their attention from the miseries of their lives. It is the outcome
of human distress that may have been the consequences of human’s struggle with
the nature in the past, but now it is a way to get along with capitalist culture. He
said, “Religious distress is at the same time the expression of real distress and the
protest against real distress. Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the
heart of a heartless world, just as it is the spirit of a spiritless situation. It is the
opium of the people.” (1844 http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1844/
df-jahrbucher/law-abs.htm accessed on 2.5.2011).
Maurice Godelier finds Marx’s view of religion as reflection of the real world in
the human mind; the nature is personified unconsciously as objective realities, and
it is both transcendent and independent of human mind. In dealing with the nature,
he says, there is internal structure of relations in which humans alienate themselves.
Godelier (1975) explains this position while analysing the Mbuti Pygmy’s relation
with the forest as hunters. The forest provides animal as well as plant food, but
the Mbuti imagine the forest as kinsman and offer prayer of thanks, as forest is
considered as omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient divinity as it yields food
that sustain them. When a Mbuti dies, his or her breath leaves and mixes with the
wind, which is the breath of the forest. Various rituals that they organise and their
belief patterns show social and organic unity with the nature. Thus, he argues that
the religion of the Mbuti represents both a real and a symbolic action upon the
real and imaginary conditions. The real causes are transformed into the effects of 17
Religion imaginary, and the transcendent causes personified into imaginary omnipotent being
- god. In this nexus of forest, food and society, there is alienation of human
agency. Further, with other examples, Godelier argues that the shamans in the
simple societies mediate between the nature and society in the imaginary conditions
set, and thus shamans acquire power over the equals. With some other examples
he explains that the shamans or priests or the chiefs, who are also priests, exercise
control over the nature and dominate over the people in their collective enterprise
of political and economic dealings. Thus, the class differentiation and exploitative
social relations are inherent in the small societies though such relations are
unconsciously accepted as natural. The religion or ritual is basically used for
maintaining this kind of social order.
Maurice Bloch (1986) views society and culture as natural and these are governed
by general laws of the nature or earthly characters but not divine. Espousing
Robertson-Smith’s ideas on sacrifice, which is essentially social in nature, he
begins his argument that the functionalist perspective of ritual to bring solidarity of
a social group is only one aspect of ritual. The ritual which is very complex is more
stable historically than the beliefs which continue over a period of time. Therefore,
the historical construction of ritual unravels the social determination of ritual. The
functionalists who followed Robertson-Smith reduced every aspect of religion or
ritual to the purpose of providing solidarity to the group implying that ritual is the
outcome of an intentional attempt of the group for solidarity. But for others, such
as Durkheim, ritual is the device by which categories of understanding organising
our perception of nature and of society is created. Thus, there is ontological
problem of ritual, whether the ritual creates solidarity of the group or the group
create the ritual for solidarity, and this has not been resolved so far. For some
others such as Evans-Pritchard, religion offers explanation of the world and
accommodates the things beyond the human perception; it is an intellectualist’s
exercise. Still there is a need to explain why rituals are powerful and why
participation is so important? The Marxist writers offered the explanation of ideology
created phenomenologically and historically by the dominant group. Bloch argues
that ritual must be placed in social context. Symbolism with emotional content and
sociological aspects are to be brought together. The link between the history of
social formation and the ritual has to be established that can help understanding
the social determination of ritual. Further, ritual has propositional force expressed
in the special ritual communication through symbolism as well as speeches and
narratives, and it is necessary to understand the contents of the ritual in order to
grasp what ritual means to the participants and the onlookers.

Evans-Pritchard (1956) first recognised the symbolic aspect of religion, and this
has inspired several anthropologists to approach religion through symbols, the
meanings given by the participants to the elements of religion and rituals, and
interpretations that anthropologists can offer. Victor Turner (1967), Mary Douglas
(1970) and Clifford Geertz (1973) are the important anthropologists that have
contributed for our understanding of religion from symbolic perspective.
Victor Turner’s work on the Ndembu rituals provides a highly detailed and enormous
work on Ndembu religious life which consists of rituals falling under these two
categories – Life cycle crisis ritual and ritual of affliction. His work shows that the
Ndembu society is greatly marked by different ceremonies replete with symbolic
meanings in every act and performance. Along with that his powerful analytic
18 concepts of ‘structure’ and ‘anti-structure’ in analysing the Ndembu society brought
about new dimension in looking at rituals and its symbolic relevance in ritual Concepts and Approaches to
context. (Evolutionary,
According to Mary Douglas, there is an enormous literature on religion in the and Marxist)
modern world, but little guidance on how to relate its understandings to the other
branches of social thought. Douglas emphasises that the idea of the dangerous and
powerful sacred is formed by living together and trying to coerce one another to
conform to a moral idea. The sacred can be engraved in the hearts and mind of
the worshippers in more than one way. It represents the society, as experienced;
it is divine order, and what distorts it is unholy and polluting. Human body is the
most appropriate symbol of the society; functioning of bodily parts represents the
social order and disorder. For her, symbols fit well with the empirical experience
of group and individual into a consistent whole. She also worked extensively in
understanding about symbols. She says that symbol has meaning from its relation
to other symbols in a pattern, the pattern gives the meaning. Therefore, no one
item in the pattern can carry meaning by itself isolated from the rest. She further
puts forward that a basic question for understanding natural symbolic systems will
be to know what social conditions are the prototype for the one or the other set
of attitudes to the human body and its fitness or unfitness for figuring godhead.
What are the limits within which the disdain of organic processes can be used as
an idiom for social distance? Douglas also has tried to show that dimensions of
social life that govern the fundamental attitude to spirit and matter. According to
her, symbolic acts accurately convey information about the intentions and commitment
of the actor. She declares that anthropologists are in the habit of using ritual to
mean action and beliefs in the symbolic order without reference to the commitment
or non-commitment of the actors. Symbolic approach is one of the most popular
approaches used by anthropologists to study about human religious behaviours.
Dissatisfied with earlier approaches, Geertz proposes religion as the part of the
cultural system. For him, a symbol means any object, act, event, quality or relation
that serves as a vehicle for a conception. His conception of religion rests on the
notion that people act basically according to the systems of meanings that they
have and the job of anthropologist is to interpret these meanings and provide for
their description. The system of meanings engages continuous dialogue between
the meanings acting upon people and people’s actions upon meaning – the cultural
system shapes and gets shaped by the people. He says, “For an anthropologist,
the importance of religion lies in its capacity to serve, for an individual or for a
group, as a source of general, yet distinctive, conceptions of the world, the self,
and the relations between them, on the one hand—its model of aspect—and of
rooted, no less distinctive “mental” dispositions—its model for aspect—on the
other. From these cultural functions flow, in turn, its social and psychological ones”
(1973:123).
The functional and symbolic approaches have dominated the anthropological study
of religion in the late twentieth century as researchers have become increasingly
concerned with the concept of meaning. Biological, neurological and cognitive
approaches, which have not been dealt here, are gradually gaining popularity and
may dominate the future studies in anthropology of religion.
1.6 SUMMARY
The anthropology of religion has been concerned with the significance of religion
and its role in the lives of people in belief and practice, whether they are
technologically less or more advanced. Given its complexity in forms, variations 19
Religion and practices no precise definition could be given, and as such the anthropologists
have developed new concepts and used some known terms with specific meanings
in the discourse of comprehending religion. Some of the important ones considered
in this unit are: supernatural beings, animism, animatism, naturism, totemism, ritual,
myth, symbols, ancestor worship, magic, witchcraft, sorcery and evil eye. These
are interrelated and often fine distinction has been made between some concepts.
In order to explain this universal phenomenon, the anthropologists offered various
theoretical perspectives, and some of them considered include evolutionary,
psychological, functional, structural, Marxist and symbolism. While all these
frameworks attempt to explain religion in their own terms and tried to grasp the
reality, no single framework explains everything.
References
Bloch, Maurice. 1992. Prey into Hunter: the Politics of a Religious Experience.
Benedict, Ruth. 1934. Patterns of Culture. New York: Houghton Mifflin.
Douglas, Mary. 1970. Natural Symbols: Explorations in Cosmology with a
New Introduction. 1st ed., London and New York: Routledge.
Durkheim, Emile. 1912. Elementary Forms of Religious Life. London: Hollen
Street. Reprint 1961.
Dundes, Alan. 1981. ‘Wet and dry, the evil eye’. In Alland Dundes (ed.) The Evil
Eye: A Case Book. New York and London: Garland. Pp 257-312.
Dumont, Louis. 1959. ‘A structural definition of a folk deity of Tamilnad: Aiyanar
the Lord’. Contributions to Indian Sociology 3: 75-87.
Encyclopædia, Britannica. “The Origin of Civilization and the Primitive Condition
of Man.” Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Accessed on 2nd May. 2011
Eriksen, Erik H. 1950. Childhood and Society. 2nd ed. 1964. rev. & enl. New
York: Norton.
Evans-Pritchard, E.E. 1937. Witchcraft, Oracles and Magic among the Azande.
Oxford: Oxford Clarendon Press.
_______________ 1956. Nuer Religion. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Frazer, James. 1890. The Golden Bough. London: Macmillan.
Godelier, M. 1975. ‘Towards a Marxist Anthropology of Religion’. Dialectical
Anthropology. Vol-1 no. 1: 81-5.
Levi-Strauss, Claude. 1958/1963. Structural Anthropology. New York: Basic
Books. Reprint 1963.
_______________ 1963. Totemism. New York: Basic Books.
Marett, R.R. 1909. The Threshold of Religion. London: Meuthen and Co.
Marx, Karl. 1844. ‘Contribution to the Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of
Right’, Deutsch-Franzosische Jahrbiicher, February.
20
http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1844/df-jahrbucher/law-abs.htm. Concepts and Approaches to
accessed on 2.5.2011. (Evolutionary,
Radcliffe-Brown, A.R. 1922. The Andaman Islanders: A Study in Social and Marxist)
Sills, David L. 1968. ‘Religion: Anthropological Study’ (ed.): International
Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences (16 volume edition). New-York: Macmillan
& Co., vol. 13 (Psyc-Samp), pp. 398-406
Srinivas, M.N. 1952. Religion and Society among the Coorgs of South India.
New Delhi: Oxford University Press.
Turner, Victor. 1967. The Forest of Symbols: Aspects of Ndembu Ritual. New
York: Cornell University Press.
Tylor, E.B. 1871. Primitive Culture. 2 Vols. London: John Murray.
Suggested Reading
Durkheim, Emile. 1912/1961. Elementary Forms of Religious Life. London:
Hollen Street
Sample Questions
1) How do you conceptualise religion with the help of various concepts presented
in this chapter?
2) Based on the meanings associated with each of the religious concepts what
is the relevance of religion in human societies?
3) Are humans rational or irrational with reference to religion? Make your point
from the anthropological theories of religion.
4) Discuss how Marxist approach is closely related to functionalist theory of
religion.
5) In what ways the symbolic approach is an extension of psychological approach
to religion?
21
UNIT 3 RELATIONSHIP OF SOCIAL
ANTHROPOLOGY WITH ALLIED
DISCIPLINES
Contents
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Relationship of Social Anthropology with other Social Sciences
3.2.1 Social Anthropology and Sociology
3.2.2 Social Anthropology and Psychology
3.2.3 Social Anthropology and History
3.2.4 Social Anthropology and Economics
3.2.5 Social Anthropology and Political Science
3.2.6 Social Anthropology and Social Work
3.2.7 Social Anthropology and Cultural Studies
3.2.8 Social Anthropology and Literature
3.2.9 Social Anthropology and Public Health
3.2.10 Social Anthropology and Policy and Governance
3.2.11 Social Anthropology and Management
3.3 Summary
References
Suggested Reading
Sample Questions
Learning Objectives

Once you have studied this unit, you would be able to describe the:
 relation between social anthropology and the various allied sciences; and
 ability of social anthropology to interpret the biological and social factors to
depict man’s culture and behaviour in totality.
3.1 INTRODUCTION
Social anthropology is that branch of anthropology which deals with human culture
and society emphasising cultural and social phenomena including inter personal and
inter group relations especially of non literate people. All social sciences study human
behaviour, but the content, approach and the context of sociology and social
anthropology are very different from other disciplines. Apart from studying the internal
characteristics of the society, social anthropology also studies the external
characteristics of the population and rate and stage of its progress. The problems of
the society are explained using these factors. Secondly, it also studies institutions like
– political, economic, social, legal, stratification, etc. It studies the features that these
institutions share and the features that are different. Their degree of specialisation and
level of autonomy are also studied. Durkheim, one of the pioneers of social
anthropology called social anthropology as the study of social institutions. Thirdly,
social anthropology is the study of social relationships. By social relationship we
mean the interactions between individuals. Interactions between individuals are mediated
by norms and values of the society and are intended to achieve goals.
30
Relationship of Social
3.2 RELATIONSHIP OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY Anthropology with Allied
Disciplines
WITH OTHER SOCIAL SCIENCES
The social and cultural anthropologists include a broad range of approaches derived
from the social sciences like Sociology, Psychology, History, Economics, Political
Science, Social Work, Cultural Studies, Literature, Public Health, Policy and
Governance Studies, Management, etc. Social anthropology is, thus, able to relate
all of these disciplines in its quest for an understanding of human behaviour, and
draws upon all of them to interpret the way in which all biological and social factors
enter to depict man’s culture and behaviour in totality.
3.2.1 Social Anthropology and Sociology

Social anthropology usually has been defined as the study of other cultures, employing
the technique of participant observation and collecting qualitative data. Social
anthropology is similar to but not identical with sociology, at least in terms of how
each discipline has developed since the last century. Social anthropology has focused
on pre-industrial societies, sociology on industrial societies; anthropologists conducted
their research in other cultures, employed the technique of participant observation
(collecting qualitative data), and advocated comparative (especially cross-cultural)
analysis; sociologists did research in their own societies, used questionnaires (collecting
quantitative data), and rarely attempted to test their generalisations cross-culturally.
Of course, there have been many exceptions to these patterns with the result that
sociologists have sometimes resembled anthropologists in their labours, and vice
versa (Barrett, 2009).
However, another way of examining the relationship between these two disciplines
is by finding out the important differences. The first major difference is that while
sociology is by definition concerned with the investigation and understanding of social
relations and with other data only so far as they further this understanding, social
anthropologists although they share the concern with sociologists, are interested also
in other matters, such as people’s beliefs and values, even where these cannot be
shown to be directly connected with social behaviour. Social anthropologists are
interested in their ideas and beliefs as well as in their social relationships and in recent
years many social anthropologists have studied other people’s belief systems not
simply from a sociological point of view but also as being worthy of investigation in
their own right.
The second important difference between social anthropology and sociology is simply
that social anthropologists have mostly worked in communities which are both less
familiar and technologically less developed, while sociologists chiefly studied types of
social organisation characteristic of more complex, western –type societies. The
distinction is by no means a hard and fast one; it implies difference in field rather than
in fundamental theory, but it has important implications. It is in the study of small-
scale systems of this kind, where person to person relationships are all important that
the methods of social anthropology have been elaborated, and its main contributions
to sociological knowledge have been in this field.
Finally, the fact that social anthropologists have mostly worked in unfamiliar cultures
has imposed on them a problem of translation which is much less acute for sociologists,
though it certainly exists for them too. Sociologists usually speak the same language
(more or less) as the people they study and they share with them at least some of
their basic concepts and categories. But for the social anthropologist the most difficult
31
Introduction to Social part of his/her task is usually to understand the language and ways of thought of the
Anthropology
people he studies, which may be and probably are very different from his own. This
is why, in anthropological fieldwork, a sound knowledge of the language of the
community being studied is indispensable for a people’s categories of thought and the
forms of their language are inextricably bound together. Thus questions about meanings
and about the interpretation of concepts and symbols usually demand a larger part
of the attention of social anthropologists than of sociologists. Never the less, sociology
is social anthropologists’ closest companion discipline and the two subjects share a
great many of their theoretical problems and interests. Social anthropologists are
sociologists as well, but they are at once something less, because their actual field
of investigation has on the whole been more restricted and something more, because
although they are concerned with social relationships, they are concerned with other
aspects of culture as well. However, the top scholars in both social anthropology and
sociology spend very little time in worrying whether what they are doing is sociology
or social anthropology.
3.2.2 Social Anthropology and Psychology

The study of mind and human behaviour is called Psychology. Psychologists investigate
a diverse range of topics through their theories and research.These topics include-
the relationship between the brain, behaviour and subjective experience; human
development; the influence of other people on the individual’s thoughts, feelings and
behaviour; psychological disorders and their treatment; the impact of culture on the
individual’s behaviour and subjective experience; differences between people in terms
of their personality and intelligence; and people’s ability to acquire, organise, remember
and use knowledge to guide their behaviour.
Thus for the psychologists the focus of study is upon all aspects of human behaviour:
and its personal, social and cultural dimensions which will never be complete without
having the knowledge of social anthropology. Therefore, for understanding the social
processes and meanings in the world around us one has to study social anthropology.
Both Social Psychology and Social Anthropology deals with the manifold relations
between individuals on the one hand and groups, communities, societies and cultures
on the other hand.
According to Barrett (2009:135) British social anthropology has historically been
quite opposed to psychology. Another way of stating this is to say that social
anthropology has been anti-reductionist, which means opposed to reducing the
explanation of social life to other disciplinary levels such as psychology. This perspective
can be traced back to Durkheim, who declared that any time a psychological
explanation is provided for a social phenomenon we may be certain that it is wrong.
American cultural anthropology has been much more receptive to psychology,
especially the focus on the individual. Boas was interested in the relationship between
the individual and society, and eventually there was the culture and personality school,
with its emphasis on modal personality. In more recent years a distinct approach
called psychological anthropology has emerged, with a focus on attitudes and values,
and child-rearing practices and adolescence (Bourguignon 1979).
The only line of difference is that social anthropology examines the group, psychology
the individual. Social anthropologists specialise in social structure or culture
psychologists in the personality system, and in mental process such as cognition,
perception, and learning, and emotions and motives. Social anthropologists take
personality system as constant and look for variation in the social structure as the
32
basis of their investigations whereas, psychologists accept the social structure as Relationship of Social
Anthropology with Allied
constant and look for variations in the personality system as the basis of their analysis. Disciplines
Barrett (2009) in his work has stated that for both psychologists and anthropologists
the only real entity is the individual human being. Social anthropologists abstract and
generalise at the level of the social system whereas psychologists also abstract and
generalise, but in their case at the level of the personality system. Finally, the work
of some social anthropologists, sociologists and psychologists, occupies a common
ground, reflecting shared interests in integrating social structure and personality.
3.2.3 Social Anthropology and History

Historians are chiefly interested in the past, whether remote or recent, their study is
to find out what happened and why it happened. On the whole, they are more
interested in particular sequences of past events and their conditions, than they are
in the general patterns, principles or laws which these events may exhibit. In both of
these respects their concern is little from that of social anthropologist. For social
anthropologists are centrally (though not exclusively) interested in understanding the
present condition of the culture or community which they are studying. But although
the disciplines are different, social anthropology has a very close relationship with
history in two important ways. First an anthropologist who aims to achieve a complete
understanding as possible of the present condition of the society he is studying can
hardly fail to ask how it came to be as it is. That is not withstanding that his central
interest is in the present, not in the past for its own sake, but often the past may be
directly relevant in explaining the present. A difficulty has been that many of the
societies which social anthropologists have studied have no histories, in the sense of
documented and verifiable accounts of the past or at least they had none before the
often very recent impact of western culture. In such societies, the past sometimes is
thought of as differing from the present only in respect of the individuals who occupy
the different statuses which are institutionalised in the society.
But history may be important to social anthropologists in another sense, that is, not
only as an account of past events leading up to and explaining the present, but also
as the body of contemporary ideas which people have about these events what an
English Philosopher Collingwood aptly called “encapsulated history” people’s ideas
about the past are an intrinsic part of the contemporary situation which is the
anthropologists immediate concern and often they have important implications for
existing social relationships. Also, different groups of people involved in the same
social situation may have very different ideas about the ‘same’ series of historical
events. Myths and traditional histories may sometimes give important clues about the
past events. History is part of the conscious tradition of a people and is operative
in their social life. It is the collective representation of events as distinct from events
themselves. Evans-Pritchard in his work Social Anthropology and Other Essays,
(1950) had stated that the functionalist anthropologists regard history in this sense,
usually a mixture of fact and fancy, as highly relevant to a study of the culture of
which it forms part. Neglect of the history of institutions prevents the functionalist
anthropologist not only from studying diachronic problems but also from testing the
very functional constructions to which he attaches most importance, for it is precisely
history which provides him with an experimental situation.
It is true that some of the early anthropologists such as Radcliffe-Brown denied that
history had any relevance for anthropology, mainly because they thought history dealt
with unique events, and that a scientific study of the past was not possible. But,
33
Introduction to Social Evans–Pritchard (1968) argued that anthropology was not a generalising discipline,
Anthropology
but instead a branch of history. Much earlier Boas (1897), the founder of American
anthropology, had included historical inquiry as a central feature of anthropological
investigation.
Both social anthropologists and historians attempt to represent unfamiliar social
situations in terms not just of their own cultural categories, but, as far as possible,
in terms of the categories of the actions themselves. The main difference between
social anthropology and history lies not much in their subject matter (though generally
this does differ), as in the degree of generality with which they deal with it. Once
again it is very much a question of emphasis. Historians are interested in the history
of particular institutions in particular places. Although in a very general sense it is true
that historians are concerned with what is individual and unique, social anthropologists,
like sociologists, are concerned with what is general and typical, and this dichotomy
is altogether too simple. As so often in the social sciences, the difference is largely
one of emphasis (Ahmad, 1986)
Barrett, (2009) rightly summarises that today; most anthropologists would probably
agree that a historical perspective enriches one’s ethnography. Unlike historians,
however, anthropologists include history not so much in order to document and
explain what happened in the past, but rather to help to understand the present.
There also appears to be a difference in styles of research. Whereas historians often
seem reluctant to draw even modest generalisations from their data, anthropologists
are much less cautious and there is more pressure than in history to tie one’s
ethnography to general theoretical orientations.
3.2.4 Social Anthropology and Economics

As we know economics focuses on a particular institution, and is concerned about
the production, consumption, and distribution of economic goods, and with economic
development, prices, trade, and finance. In anthropology there is an area of
specialisation called economic anthropology. It is a precious fact that an institutionalised
kind of economics first appears in anthropology in direct relation to the field research
among exotic societies. Anthropology has a substantial overlap with economics,
considered as the production and distribution of goods. While not all societies have
a fully developed monetary economy, all societies do have scarce goods and some
means of exchange.
Social anthropologists are interested in exploring the range of production and
distribution systems in human societies and in understanding the particular system in
the society being studied at a given time. Most social anthropologists are not
scientifically interested in the operation of the economy of one’s own society; the
typical non-anthropological economist, on the other, hand is extremely interested in
the operation of one’s own economy. He will not ordinarily show much interest in
the operation of greatly different economic systems. Social anthropology under the
name of “formalist” vs “substantivist” interpretations of the primitive economics, bring
with these terms the following option between the ready-made models of western
economic science, especially the micro-economics taken as universally valid and
therefore applicable to the primitive societies and the necessity – supposing the
formalist position unfounded – of developing a new analysis more appropriate to the
historical societies in question and to the intellectual history of anthropology.
34
3.2.5 Social Anthropology and Political Science Relationship of Social
The foundation of anthropology was evolutionism, biology, and the great social theorists Disciplines
such as Marx, Weber, and Durkheim, whereas the foundation of political science
was classical philosophy. While social anthropology deals with all the sub-systems of
society, political science focuses on the political system and power. It would be a
mistake, however, to assume that anthropology is not concerned with power. Edmund
Leach (1965), a prominent British social anthropologist, has argued that power is the
most fundamental aspect of all social life, and therefore central to the anthropological
endeavour, and in fact there is an area of specialisation in anthropology called political
anthropology.
Social anthropologists do look at something politically. There is a range of
anthropological behaviours depending on the sophistication of the society being studied
and the goals and theoretical awareness of the investigator. The overlap of political
and other activities is greater in simpler societies than in more complex societies. To
put it in a slightly different manner, there is less functional specificity of different
cultural aspects. Or, in simpler societies activities that social anthropologists regard
as clearly and predominantly political are usually embedded in other kinds of activities.
Political activity is an aspect of all human social action and “interest articulation” is
a universal function of all systems. Social anthropologists represents a highly diverse
set of policies for whom political theory should be applicable if such ideas lay claim
to universality. For a political scientist the presence of anthropological literature is not
only a stimulus to theory testing but forms a basis for understanding local political
situations as well. The theoretical contribution that anthropology is making to political
science, related to functionalism, is the evolutionary point of view. Cohen, (1967)
stated that explicitly or implicitly, social anthropologists have almost always ordered
the societies they study into an evolutionary framework. Research on the local areas
and institutions of the new nation brings the political scientist and the social
anthropologist into the same area treating with the same populations and many of the
same behaviours. In many parts of the non-western world, local political systems are
heavily dependent on forms of socio-political structures that are still strongly influenced
by their traditional cultures. Social anthropology can aid political science in the
analysis of ethnicity and in preparing researchers for the use of participant observation
techniques in the field. Social anthropology on its side has a great deal to gain from
political science, in terms of theory and more precise behavioural methods, which at
this point of its development the discipline needs (R. Cohen, 1967).
3.2.6 Social Anthropology and Social Work

According to Keith Hart (1996 : 42) the only thing which can truly distinguish
anthropology from the rest of the social sciences is that it addresses human nature
plus culture plus society. The knowledge about society and culture is very important
to the social worker. Social anthropology is the systematic study of social relationships
at levels ranging from individual interaction to global political and economic relations.
It also examines the cultural, historical, physical, and linguistic behaviour of people
from all parts of the globe both in the past and present. Social workers help people
in a number of ways including: dealing with their relationships with others; solving
their personal, family, and community problems; and growing by learning to cope
with or shape the social and environmental forces affecting their daily lives. Social
workers practice their professions in specific social and cultural contexts which will
definitely influence their mode of practice (Payne, 1997). They have to take into
consideration the values, norms, beliefs, ideologies of the society before they create
programs of action to ameliorate social problems and resolve conflicts. 35
Introduction to Social Equally important is the necessity of the social worker to understand himself or
Anthropology
herself. Social workers are themselves products of the societies that they live in and
are inevitably influenced by it. Knowledge about society and culture is also needed
to help the social worker gain self-awareness about himself or herself. The personality
of the social worker is a major tool used in practice and culture plays a major role
in the development of the personality.
Society and culture are basic concepts used by social anthropologists to understand
the social reality around us. In social anthropology, we usually study the various
comparative components of social system, their structure, their organisation, function,
etc. The social systems are the interdependent activities, institutions, and values by
which people live and it is the job of social anthropologists to identify these components
of social systems. In social anthropology, various theories and concepts have been
developed to understand the meanings of social structure, the social organisation and
the social function.
Social anthropology and social work differ in many aspects. In social anthropology
the approach to society is theoretical and theory building is its major concern. Social
work on the other hand has to be practical and deal with problems. On the other
hand, anthropologists find social worker’s work to be fragmented and oriented only
towards the problem at hand. Another important distinction between social work and
social anthropology is that the latter made claims to be a value free discipline. Being
objective and free from bias was considered a virtue. Social work on the other hand
is a value based profession based on humanitarian principles (Johnson, 1998 : 14).
By going through the above discussion it is very much clear that social work often
borrows from different disciplines from the wider society. Thus we may conclude by
saying that unlike social anthropology, social work knowledge comes from a wider
range of sources which includes precedent, experience and common sense.
3.2.7 Social Anthropology and Cultural Studies

Twenty first century world is moving towards a homogenous culture. Social scientists
define Cultural studies as a combination of sociology, literary theory, film/video studies,
and cultural anthropology to study various cultural phenomena in industrial societies.
Researchers from Cultural studies basically concentrate on how a particular
phenomenon is linked to matters of ideology, race, social class, and/or gender.
Basically, Cultural studies deals with the meaning and practices of everyday life.
Cultural practices comprise of the ways in which people do particular things in his/
her own culture. In every culture specific meanings is attached to the ways people
do things. Thus, cultural studies enable us to meaningfully engage and interact with
the new modes of being and doing. It makes us conscious about the many complex
ways in which power impinges on our lives and constructs our cultures. Cultural
studies have the potential of empowering the society to critically read the media and
other cultural institutions and texts. It also helps us to understand how they shape our
identities and to think about how we could possibly shape them.
Thus, Cultural studies can be viewed as a historical, humanistic discipline, as well as
a natural science, depending upon the method or approach which it is utilised in
studying cultural phenomena. The traditional tendency to understand ‘culture’ as a
naturalised concept is still quite dominant not only among the common folk in general
but also among those engaged in the academic arena of culture. Such an understanding
of culture also has its consequent reflection in the various forms of cultural activism
36
covering documentation, preservation, and conservation of culture. Thus, leading to Relationship of Social
the systematic classification of various cultural items like music, dance, literature, and Disciplines
language etc. and also assembling them in a hierarchy. Recent cultural theories have
shown that classification of cultural objects is not exactly irrelevant, arranging them
in a hierarchy like ‘high’ and ‘low’, ‘great’ and ‘little’ is definitely not desired because
it is based on the celebration of the ‘high’ and ‘elite’ culture at the cost of the ‘low’
or ‘folk’ culture. However, at present, such terms like ‘high’ and ‘low’ are no longer
used in cultural theories, because all cultures are considered as equal. According to
social anthropological knowledge every culture has its own set of perspectives.
3.2.8 Social Anthropology and Literature

The scholars and academician very often question the validity of a strict disciplinary
boundary between social anthropology and literature, at a time when schools and
colleges are hiring faculties and establishing courses that speak to two or more
disciplines. Literature may be used in the preparing of ethnography by social
anthropologists, for example life histories of generations may be used as an important
source of data. Collection of tradition narratives may add values to the ethnography
of people. In studying the approaches to ritual and performance, Victor Turner uses
poetry of contemporary as well as renaissance plays.
In the current attempts to redefine literature as social ‘artifact’ or social ‘discourse’,
and to situate literary studies within cultural criticism, an indispensable role has been
played by those who take society and culture as their primary subjects – sociologists
and anthropologists (Ashley, 1990). Today, social anthropologists have come up with
new ways to represent context and experience in the study of culture. Ethnography
as text, narrative, allegory, and “true fiction” is the new approach.
Social anthropologists also use oral literature to study the unwritten forms which can
be regarded as in some way possessing literary qualities. This avenue covers oral
forms like myths, narratives, epics, lyrics, praise poetry, laments, and the verbal texts
of songs; and also sometimes riddles proverbs and perhaps oratory and drama. This
is an area in which both scholars from the field of literature, linguistic studies and
folklorists have been interacting with social anthropologists for long.
Thus social anthropology and literature study with the purpose to integrate the literature
experience into anthropology and to cultivate themselves as universal citizens. The
intention to break the boundaries between literary study and other field of study and
integrate literary study into cultural study is an evident important trend in the later
20th century. Clifford Geertz’s role in the development of interpretive anthropology
can hardly be overestimated. He remains one of the most productive and well-
known social anthropologists. Yet today, within interpretive anthropology itself, critics
of Geertz are increasing and his influence is waning. What is “thick description”?
What are its main characteristics? How is it done? How do we come to know “the
native’s point of view”, that is, how members of another culture think, feel and
perceive? What is the relationship between “thick description” and anthropological
theory? etc. are some of the rising questions.
Thus it shows similarity to interpretive anthropology which is mainly concerned with
acquiring the native’s point of view. It takes care of some of the pertinent questions
like - How are we to approach and read native history and literature? Can we use
such native expressions as data, as cultural artifacts? What modifications might the
ethnographer have to make in doing so? These are some of the questions which
would involve literature to answer them.
37
Introduction to Social 3.2.9 Social Anthropology and Public Health
Anthropology
Public health is “the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting
health through the organised efforts and informed choices of society, organisations,
public and private, communities and individuals (Winslow, C.E.A.1920).The
relationship between anthropology, medicine and medical practice is well documented.
General anthropology occupied a notable position in the basic medical sciences
(which correspond to those subjects commonly known as pre-clinical). However,
medical education started to be restricted to the confines of the hospital as a
consequence of the development of the clinical gaze and the confinement of patients
in observational infirmaries (Foucault, 1963). Most, not all because ethnography
remained during a large part of the twentieth century as a tool of knowledge in
primary health care, rural medicine, and in International public health. The abandonment
of ethnography by medicine happened when social anthropology adopted ethnography
as one of the markers of its professional identity and started to depart from the initial
project of general anthropology.
The concept of popular medicine, or folk medicine, has been well known to both
doctors and anthropologists since the beginning of the twentieth century. Doctors,
anthropologists and medical anthropologists used these terms to describe the resources,
other than the help of health professionals, which European or Latin American peasants
used to resolve any health problems. The term was also used to describe the health
practices of aborigines in different parts of the world, with particular emphasis on
their local knowledge. Moreover, studying the rituals surrounding popular therapies
served to challenge Western psychopathological categories, as well as the relationship
between science and religion. Doctors were not trying to turn popular medicine into
an anthropological concept; rather they wanted to construct a scientifically based
medical concept which they could use to establish the cultural limits of biomedicine
(Comelles, 2002).
Professional anthropologists started using the concept of folk medicine in the early
twentieth century. They used this concept to differenciate between magical practices,
medicine and religion. In addition, they also applied this concept to explore the role
and the significance of popular healers and their self-medicating practices. The
professional anthropologists looked at popular medicine as specific cultural practice
of some social groups which were distinct from the universal practices of biomedicine.
Thus, it may be assumed that every culture has its own specific popular medicine
based on its general cultural features.
Under this concept, medical systems are seen as the specific product of each ethnic
group’s cultural history. Scientific biomedicine is regarded as another medical system
and therefore a cultural form is studied as such.
Reflection
The proposition of studying cultural form as it is originated in the ‘cultural relativism’ in
cultural anthropology and allows the debate with medicine and psychiatry to revolve
around some fundamental questions like- (i)What is the relative influence of genotypical
and phenotypical factors on personality and what are the forms of pathology; especially
psychiatric and psychosomatic pathologies?(ii) What is the influence of culture on what
a society considers to be normal, pathological or abnormal?(iii)Verifies in different cultures
the universality about the non sociological categories of biomedicine and
psychiatry.(iv)How to identify and describe the diseases belonging to specific cultures
which have not been previously described by clinical medicine? Such culture specific
diseases are known as ethnic disorders and, more recently been termed as culture bound
syndromes, that include the evil eye and tarantism, being possessed or in a state of trance
in many cultures, and nervous anorexia, nerves and premenstrual syndrome across societies.
38
Relationship of Social
The medical anthropologists of twentieth century have a much more sophisticated Anthropology with Allied
understanding of the problem of cultural representations and social practices related to Disciplines
health, disease, medical care and attention.
source: http:en.wikipedia.org/wiki/medical_anthropology#popular_medicine_and_
medical_system.
The imperative of social anthropological perspectives, methods, information, and
collaboration in the understanding and practice of public health is widely reckoned
in the twenty first century. Social anthropologists develop and implement interventions
to address particular public health problems, often working in collaboration with local
participants. Their primary task is to work as evaluators, examining the activities of
public health institutions and the successes and failures of public health programs.
Their job is also to focus on major international public health agencies and their
workings, as well as public health responses to the threats of infectious disease and
other disasters. Thus the role of social anthropologists in public health is to examine
the health related problems with a social anthropological perspective like (i) socio
anthropological understanding of public health problems (ii) socio anthropological
design of public health interventions (iii) socio anthropological evaluations of public
health initiatives (iv) socio anthropological critiques of public health polices and
health care reforms. Thus, the role of social anthropology is to bridge the difference
in culture and society in the practice of public health (Mahn and Inhorn, 2011).
3.2.10 Social Anthropology and Policy and Governance

As we enter the twenty first century, the terrain on which social policy is made is
changing rapidly. This has resulted in anthropologists, in combination with other social
scientists, giving serious attention to the impact of this new phase of globalisation on
changes in social and environmental policies. Social anthropology as a sub field has
contributed, and continues to contribute, to social policy research, practice, and
advocacy in a number of different ways; it has taken on increasing relevance as the
world is rapidly being transformed by the process of globalisation (Okongwu and
Mencher, 2000). Social anthropologists studying globalisation, the state, politics,
development, and elites, among other topics, are discovering the centrality of policy
to their research, and a body of work in the anthropology of policy is developing.
Although some social anthropologists who study policy became involved in public
debates or advocacy, and several movements in anthropology encourage activism,
the anthropology of public policy is devoted to research into policy issues and
processes and the critical analysis of those processes. Though anthropologists have
generally had less influence than economists on public policy, there are a number of
ways in which we have made our opinions known, such as by (a) documenting the
conditions of the people we study, or other poor or disenfranchised people, and
acting as their advocates-including serving as expert witnesses for the homeless (b)
analysing, writing, and making public the effects of government policies and suggesting
alternative policies (c) working with-or against-elected officials; (d) attempting to
influence members of aid agencies in their varied roles and/or working from within
these agencies to pinpoint critical issues (e) working with migrant populations, both
forced and voluntary in terms of both policies to deal with migrants and studies of
cultural capital and its intersection with both formal and informal labour markets in
the north and south and (f) studying strategies of resistance and how the work of
anthropologists can inform and help indigenous people (Wedel, et al. 2005).
There has long been a theoretical and individual divide between anthropologists
focusing on pure research and those focusing on the problems faced by humans,
including the growth of inequality. In a fast changing world, anthropologists’ empirical 39
Introduction to Social and ethnographic methods depicts how policies actively create new categories of
Anthropology
individuals to be governed. Wedel, (2005) suggest that the long-established
frameworks of “state” and “private”, “local” or “national” and “global,” “macro” and
“micro,” “top down” and “bottom up,” and “centralised” and “decentralised” not
only fail to capture current dynamics in the world but actually obfuscate the
understanding of many policy processes.
Although some social anthropologists worked in earlier periods on policy-related
projects in agriculture, the numbers of anthropologists in applied and policy work on
the environment and in the field of agriculture have significantly increased as the
multinational corporations have gained in power over governments. Anthropologists
have been interested in such issues as the scale of farming, water use, use of
petrochemicals and other inputs, increase in mono cropping (with all of its attendant
potential for future famines), and quality- of-life issues. Others have been involved
with issues related to the loss of biodiversity, and especially among ethno botanists
working with centers for international agricultural research to help traditional societies
preserve their native species. Most of the anthropologists working on agricultural and
related issues have “in one way or another [been] critical of the dominant institutions
and trends in food systems (Okongwu and Mencher, 2000), especially those [moving
more and more] toward globalisation. Many others present alternative approaches,
often stressing the importance of strengthening local food systems as a way of trying
to provide not only buffers, but new organisational and institutional models for more
sustainable and just food systems”. Giddens (1990, 1995) has noted that social
anthropology must be ready to contest unjust systems of domination, seeking to
decide along the way what injustice actually is, and to bring potential controversial
issues to light.
Social anthropologists have traditionally had the reputation of working at the grassroot
level and getting to know people and their problems and issues well. We also need
to serve as conduits for solutions. One of the greatest strengths of social anthropologists
is their ability to view systems holistically-in this case to deal not only with the
theoretical issues of political economy, but also to work to influence policymakers to
pay attention to the social, structural, and economic consequences of globalised
agriculture on both farmers and consumers, on communities, and, taking the
environment into account, on the very nature of life on this planet (ibid).
Surely there are many roles for social anthropologists in documenting protests, as
well as in getting onto policy-making boards and into circles where large agency
policy is formulated. The crisis situations created by capitalism today require a real
reinventing of anthropology, with social anthropologists not only studying alternative
policies but also working as advocates and with the people they have studied to put
pressures on governments, international agencies, and multinational corporations to
get them to change. These are issues that are extremely well suited for the involvement
of social anthropology during the twenty first century. It is expected that social
anthropologists, based on their in-depth knowledge and their ability to learn how to
use the language of influence effectively, need to make clear and short statements
available to policymakers. If social anthropologists fail to influence the policy, then
others with far less understanding and insight will do so to the detriment of humanity
(Okongwu and Mencher, 2000).
3.2.11 Social Anthropology and Management

Over the last century, social anthropologists have created a discipline to make sense
out of human behaviour through the culture concept, a holistic analytical approach,
40 and empirical research. Although social anthropological concepts have been defined
largely in academia, the discipline has always had ‘applied’ practitioners working in Relationship of Social
areas like health care, education, business and industry. These practitioners have Disciplines
demonstrated time and again that an anthropological perspective has a great deal to
offer the wider world. At first glance, the two professions – anthropology and
management may appear highly dissimilar. But a closer look reveals many points of
common interest. For example, like social anthropologists, management practitioners
attempt to make sense out of human behaviour as they address the ‘people’ dimensions
of doing business. Hence, there is an opportunity for a valuable exchange between
social anthropologists and management practitioners. To some extent this is already
taking place. Social anthropologists are working as consultants and many consultants
are using an anthropological perspective perhaps without knowing it (NAPA Bulletin,
1990).
The almost exponential rate of change in the contemporary business world challenges
business leaders in many ways. The survival of a business depends on management’s
ability to adjust to change. Social anthropology can help consultants and their clients
respond successfully to five major trends that will shape the way we all live and work
in the future (Giovannini & Rosansky, 1998). They are in the areas of –
1) Increasing Globalisation
2) Demographic Trends
3) Social Issues
4) Technological Innovation
5) Organisational Change
Social anthropology as a field science has great potential for informing multi-disciplinary
research in management both conceptually and methodologically. Anthropology’s
main distinguishing method is participant observation which involves the anthropologist
spending a prolonged period, doing fieldwork in an effort to gain an in-depth
understanding of the organisation under study. By virtue of its eclecticism and experience
of facilitating understanding of the processes of change across institutions and other
social phenomena, anthropology can make a significant contribution to the
implementation of knowledge management. Objective of social anthropology is to
take accurate description of context and precise understanding of how those contexts
are interpreted and experienced by participants. Ethnographic immersion is the
methodology adopted. This enables the capture of elusive, ambiguous and tacit
aspects of research settings, and also allows grounded theory to be generated from
‘thick’ or ‘rich’ data. Social anthropology, having taken into account recent
developments in postmodern and critical thought, can contribute to the study, practice,
and teaching of management in three categories.
Reflection
Linstead (1997) states that the focuses are on the following aspects; (a). culture, new
theoretical lines of enquiry can be developed that reassess the significance of shared
meaning and conflicting interests in specific settings; the concept of the symbolic in
management can be critically elaborated; and modes of representation of management can
be opened up to self-reflexivity; (b). critique, ethnography can be used to defamiliarise the
taken-for-granted circumstances and reveal suppressed and alternative possibilities; new or
unheard voices and forms of information can be resuscitated and used to sensitise managerial
processes; and cognitive, affective, epistemological, ideological and ethical considerations
can be linked in the same framework; (c). change, anthropological ideas and concepts can
shape and reflect change processes and resolve unproductive dilemmas; and managerial
learning can be enhanced by promoting the ethnographic consciousness as a way of
investigating and understanding, an attitude of openness. Thus, we can say that social
anthropology can state an example of the application of the approach in a management
development programme, where teaching and research would progress in harness. 41
Introduction to Social
Anthropology 3.3 SUMMARY
Social anthropology is, thus, able to relate to almost all the disciplines in its quest for
an understanding of human behaviour, and draws upon all of them to interpret the
way in which all biological and social factors enter to depict man’s culture and
behaviour in totality.
References
Ahmad, A.S. 1986. ‘Towards Islamic Anthropology’. The American Journal of
Islamic Social Sciences. Vol. 3, No. 2. I986, 181.
Anderson, Robert. 1996. Magic, Science and Health. The Aims and the
Achievements of Medical Anthropology. Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace.
Ashley, K. M.1990. Victor Turner and the construction of Cultural Criticism;
between Literature and Anthropology. Indian University Press.
Barrett, R. Stanley. 2009. Anthropology: A student’s guide to theory and method.
Toronto:University of Toronto Press.
Boas, F. 1897. ‘The social organisation and secret societies of the Kwakiutl’ in
United States National Museum, Report for 1895. Pp. 311.
Bourguignon, Erika.1979. Psychological Anthropology: An introduction to human
nature and cultural differences. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Cohen, R. 1967. ‘Anthropology and Political Science: Courtship or Marriage’.
American Behavioural Scientist. Nov. 1967. Vol. 11. Pp 21-7.
Comelles, Josep M. & Dongen, Els Van. (eds.) 2002. Themes in Medical
Anthropology. Perugia: Fondazione Angelo Celli Argo.
Ember, Carol R., & Ember, Melvin (ed.) 2004. Encyclopedia of Medical
Anthropology: Health and Illness in the World’s Cultures. New York: Kluwer
Academic/Plenum Publishers, ISBN 0-306-47754-8.
Evans–Pritchard, E. E. 1950. Social Anthropology and Other Essays. Illionis:
The Free Press of Glencoe.
____________________ 1968. Theories of Primitive Religion. USA: Oxford
University Press.
Foucault, Michel. 1963. The Birth of the Clinic: An Archaeology of Medical
Perception. London: Routledge.
Geertz, Clifford. 1988. Works and Lives. The Anthropologist as Author. Stanford:
Stanford University Press.
____________________. 1983. Local Knowledge: Further Essays in Interpretive
Anthropology. New York: Basic Books.
____________________. 1973. The Interpretation of Cultures. New York: Basic
Books.
Giddens, A. 1990. The Consequences of Modernity. Stanford, CA: Stanford
University. Press.
42
____________________. 1995. ‘Epilogue: notes on the future of anthropology’. In Relationship of Social
the Future of Anthropology: Its Relevance to the Contemporary World. ed. A Disciplines
Ahmed, C Shore, pp. 272-77, London: Athlone.
Hall, John. R. & Neitz, Mary Jo.1993. Culture: Sociological Perspectives. New
Jersey: Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs.
James, Clifford and George Marcus. eds. 1986. Writing Culture: Poetics and
Politics of Ethnography Berkeley: University of California Press.
James, Clifford.1988. Predicament of Culture: Twentieth-century Ethnography,
Literature and Art. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
J. Giovannini and L.M.H. Rosansky 1998. ‘Anthropology and Management
Consulting: Forging a new alliance’. (Vol. 9): American Anthropological Association.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1467-8551.00042/abstract
Keith, Hart.1996. ‘Comments’. In Tim Ingold (ed.), Key Debates in Anthropology.
London and New York: Routledge.
Leach, Edmund.1965. Political Systems of Highland Burma-A Study of Kachin
Social Structure. Boston: Beacon Press.
Linstead, S. 1997. ‘The Social Anthropology of Management.’ British Journal of
Management. 8: 85–98. doi: 10.1111/1467-8551.00042
Mahn, Robert A. and Mercia C. Inhorn (Eds).2011. Anthropology and Public
Health- Bridging differences in culture and society. London: Oxford University
Press.
Nadel, S. F. 1951. The Foundations of Social Anthropology. London: Cohen &
West
Okongwu, F.A.and J.P. Mencher. 2000. ‘The Anthropology of Public Policy: Shifting
Terrains’. Annual Review of Anthropology, 29:107-24.
Payne, Malcolm. 1997. Modern Social Work Theory. New York: Palgrave.
Younghusband, Eilleen.1964. Social Work and Social Change. London: George
Allen and Unwin Ltd.
Wedel, Janine R. Cris Shore, Gregory Feldman and Stacy Lathrop. 2005. ‘Toward
an Anthropology of Public Policy’. The ANNALS of the American Academy of
Political and Social Science. 600; 30. DOI: 10.1177/0002716205276734
Winslow, C.E.A.1920. The Untitled field of Public Health, Science, n.s.51.pp.23
(1990), Introduction/The Background/The Field of Management Consulting/The
Consulting Process/The Contributions of Anthropology/Management Consulting
Knowledge and Skills/Becoming a Management Consultant/A Note to Managers/
Benefits from the Exchange/Notes/References Cited. NAPA Bulletin, 9: 1–48.
doi: 10.1525/napa.1990.9.1.1
Suggested Reading
Beattie, J. 1964. Other Cultures: Aims, Methods and Achievements in Social
Anthropology. London: Routledge Kegan Paul.
43
Introduction to Social Evans–Pritchard, E.E. 1951. Social Anthropology. London: Cohen and West.
Anthropology
Herskovits, Melville J. 1952. Man and His Works. New York: Knopf.
Hoebel, E. A. and Frost, E. L. 1976. Cultural and Social Anthropology. New
Delhi. Tata McGraw-Hill Publishing Company Ltd.
Mair, Lucy. 1965. An Introduction to Social Anthropology. New Delhi: Oxford
University Press.
Sample Questions
1) Which disciplines are considered cognate disciplines of Social anthropology?
2) What is the contribution of Social anthropology in Sociology and Psychology?
3) Can the Historians study the particular sequences of past events and their
conditions without incorporating social anthropological approach?
4) How are the disciplines of Cultural Studies and Literature related to Social
anthropology?
5) What are the diverse roles of Social anthropologists in solving various problems
of the traditional as well as contemporary society?
44
UNIT 1 SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY:
NATURE AND SCOPE
Contents
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Social Anthropology: A Branch of Anthropology
1.2.1 What is Social Anthropology
1.2.2 Cultural Anthropology
1.2.3 How Social Anthropology Developed
1.2.4 Methods of Social Anthropology
1.3 Nature and Scope of Social Anthropology

1.3.1 Scope of Social Anthropology
1.3.2 Future Perspective
1.3.3 Social Anthropology in India
1.3.4 Present Scenario
1.4 Summary
References
Suggested Reading
Sample Questions
Learning Objectives

The unit will enable you to understand:
 what does social anthropology mean;
 the subject matter of social anthropology;
 how social anthropology had developed;
 the journey of social anthropology in India; and
 future perspective and present scenario.
1.1 INTRODUCTION
This unit will trace the emergence of social anthropology and its scope. It is important
to know the development and scope of social anthropology as a subject. We know
social anthropology today has many stages of development. The subject has not
obtained today’s form overnight. It has many theoretical debates since its emergence
and till today all the matters of debate have not come to an end. So, it is very much
important to the students of anthropology to understand these issues and also to
know the history related to the subject.
1.2 SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY: A BRANCH OF

ANTHROPOLOGY
To understand the emergence of social anthropology as a branch of Anthropology,
we need to explore the historical facts related to the debates between social
anthropology and cultural anthropology. The term social anthropology has a historical 5
Introduction to Social background in the field of anthropology. We need to explore to some extent the
Anthropology
theoretical framework as well to trace the emergence of the term social anthropology.
Along with this the term cultural anthropology would also come in our discussion, as
these two terms have a close interpretation. Sometimes these two terms overlap in
the fields of practice.
Though we have subjective debate over the term social anthropology and cultural
anthropology, sometimes we find interchangeable use of these two terms. People use
the term socio-cultural anthropology to replace these two terms. But historically there
is a debate over the ideology of these two terms and as a student of anthropology
we need to know these issues.
Anthropology basically has two dominant schools of thought. One is British school
of thought and the other is American school of thought. British school of thought
braches out Anthropology into three basic branches
1) Biological or physical anthropology.
2) Social anthropology.
3) Archaeology.
American school defines four branches of Anthropology:
1) Physical anthropology
2) Cultural anthropology.
3) Archaeology
4) Linguistic anthropology.
Thus, we see that there are many issues related to the terminology. It is surrounded
with many historical debates. We will try to unfold these debates in our next sections.
1.2.1 What Is Social Anthropology

The most common and basic definition of Anthropology is to say that Anthropology
is the study of man across time and space. Anthropology deals with every aspect of
human being. It not only studies human beings in present context but also studies
human beings journey through the path of evolution from Pleistocene period till
today’s globalised world and also tries to trace the future path. Anthropology studies
man irrespective of any geographical boundary. It studies human being as a whole
and also tries to study differences within it. Man is the most wonderful creature in
the world with cultural, social, and habitational variation in it. Unlike any other
species Homo sapiens represents a diverse population in itself in respect of culture.
Culture variation gives a diverse look to the same species Homo sapiens. Biologically
defined Homo sapiens are an interbreeding population; but culturally man creates
different rules for marriage. Same species does not contain interbreeding population.
Cultural prohibition defines matting pattern. Likewise, biologically all the members of
the same species i.e. Homo sapiens have equal potentialities in its individuals. But
human being differentiates themselves on the basis of race. We can mention many
such examples that convince us to define anthropology as a unique science to study
man comprising all the differences and similarities within it. Anthropologists find out
the differences and at the same time it tries to find out the general characteristics
within the same species Homo Sapiens. Anthropology professes systematically to
6
research all the manifestations of human being and human activity in a unified way.
Man live in society following a certain culture pattern. In different societies the culture Social Anthropology:
Nature and Scope
norms differ. Generally speaking social anthropology deals with the study of this
aspect of man. But, as a discipline, social anthropology has different meaning in
different countries. Reflecting diversity and variation in human thought we find different
thought surrounding social anthropology.
The term social anthropology is generally used in Great Britain and other commonwealth
countries. With support from Prof. Claude Levi-Strauss, the term is also extensively
used in France, Netherland and the Scandinavian countries. Social anthropology
refers to different meaning in the countries like USA, England and the other countries
of European continent. So, we often see a diverse nature referred by the term social
anthropology in different countries. In Great Britain Anthropology refers to physical
anthropology which studies biological aspect of man. In England social anthropology
is understood as ethnology or sociology as in other countries of the European continent.
In short, in Europe itself social anthropology has two different meanings. On the
other hand in USA, social anthropology is considered as a larger and comprehensive
discipline. It covers up the study of man from different aspects. It not only considers
man as a sociological being but also puts emphasis on the cultural aspect.
In nineteenth century, ‘ethnology’ was the term used instead of social or cultural
anthropology. The Greek term ethos means race and logia means study. Thus,
ethnology was referred to be the study of diverse behaviour of ethnic groups. Cultural
distinction covered a major part of such study. Along with this, it also studied culture
change. Sometimes, social anthropology is defined in the context of ethnology.
Ethnologists, who concentrate on social relations, such as family, and kinship, age
groups, political organisation, law and economic activities (what is called social
structure) is called social anthropology. Supporting the position of A.R. Radcliffe-
Brown the English anthropologists denied the usefulness of historical studies in
anthropology and concentrated on social structure. In this context, social anthropology
is non historical in their view while ethnology is historical. Distinctly, social anthropology
represents the thought following the British school which can rightly be defined as the
study of social structure and social organisation.
1.2.2 Cultural Anthropology

The split in socio-cultural Anthropology is not readily accepted all over the world.
We have already stated how Social anthropology has different terms of reference in
different countries. Likewise the term socio-cultural Anthropology has also different
domain of practice in different countries. Cultural anthropology is a term of reference
popular in America. In America, the stress on cultural anthropology is laid with the
objective that man is more than merely organic man, but a cultural being also. Culture
of a particular society helps us to understand civilisation irrespective of time and
space. The American cultural anthropology also includes Archaeology. Stress on
culture study created a specialty to American school of thought which resulted into
the creation of ethnology – the science of people.
Anthropology as knowledge about ‘cultivated human’ that is, knowledge about those
aspects of humanity which are not natural, but which are related to that which is
acquired. According to Herskovits, Cultural Anthropology is to study the ways man
has devised to cope up with his natural settling and has social milieu and how bodies
of customs are learned, retained and handed down from one generation to the next.
The term ‘culture’ itself is a complex one. Culture has been defined by different
anthropologists differently. The most accepted and briefed definition of culture can
7
Introduction to Social be stated as ‘culture is anything acquired by members of society’. Whatever material
Anthropology
and non-material things man has acquired as a member of society that constitutes the
subject matter of cultural anthropology. The works of man include everything created
by man-traditions, folkways, social institutions and other social networks. Thus, it
can be said that American Anthropologists study things not only with cultural orientation
but also socially oriented under the domain of cultural anthropology. It can be stated
that cultural anthropology is a broader term covering all social aspects of man but
emphasises on cultural aspects. For cultural anthropologists, social system is a part
of society and culture cannot emerge without a social system. David Bidney says in
this context that social and cultural anthropology are then understood as few branches
of a common discipline of anthropology, covered with the study of man and his
culture in society.
Reflection
Anthropology is a large and diversified subject, which is practiced somewhat differently

in different countries, although it retains its distinctive character everywhere. Since the
Second World War, the core areas have been Great Britain, the US, France and Australia.
British anthropology, which is generally spoken of as social anthropology and which also
enjoys a strong position in Scandinavia and India, emphasises the study of social process
and is thus close to social anthropology. The British social anthropologist Edmund Leach
(1982) once characterised this subject as a comparative micro-sociology. In the US, one
speaks of cultural anthropology wherein, the general sociological underpinning
characteristics are dominant. On the other hand, linguistics and pre history have formed
American anthropology in different ways. Several important specialisations such as cultural,
ecology, linguistics anthropology and various approaches in psychological and interpretive
or hermeneutic anthropology have developed in the US.
1.2.3 How Social Anthropology Developed

From the very beginning of human life, people have been wondering about themselves
and their surroundings. Therefore, it is futile to talk about the beginning of the study
of man. For the genesis of systematic thinking all usually refer back to the Greek
Civilisation especially to the writings of Herodotus in fifth century B.C. Some also
call him ‘the father of Anthropology’. He did not merely record what he saw, and
what people told him about the different countries around the shores of the
Mediterranean. He asked some basic questions which at present is the subject
matter of social anthropology like ‘what made people so different?’
To trace the development of social anthropology, we will talk about the scholars
whose pioneering works gave the shape to the present day discipline ‘Social
Anthropology’. But to begin with, we will go through the works of different travelers
who actually collected the basic data which eventually build the foundation of
Ethnographic study. Many early social anthropologists followed these travel accounts
to frame their social anthropological study.
Every age of geographical discovery has seen a burst of interest in the new kind of
society that the explorers have found. The travelers and also the colonisers considered
these newly founded societies as “other culture”. The first and foremost thing they
recognised about these new society or cultures was that these were completely
different from their own society and culture. The explorers and colonisers being
accustomed to their own ways, set the standard of what people ought to be like,
were always prompted to ask why other people were so unlike themselves. The
sixteenth and eighteenth century were such periods. The French essayist Montaigne
(1553-92) was much interested in the apparently paradoxical constraints between
the customs of his own country and others. Theoretical arguments were also there
8
at that time whether people with brown skin who wear no cloths could really be Social Anthropology:
Nature and Scope
descendants of Adam.
Eighteenth century Europeans were less certain than sixteenth century ones that all
the advantages were on their side. North America and Polynesia became the point
of interest. Rousseau described the Indians as ‘noble savage’ of the golden age of
natural man and interestingly these same people were described by the Spanish
missionaries as people having no soul. Hobbes in the seventeenth century had already
thought the American Indians approached pretty closely to his imagined state of
nature where every man’s hand was against his neighbours and man’s life were
‘solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short.’
During this period only, the reports of the manner and customs of distant lands
collected by these travelers and missionaries began to be treated not just as interesting
information about other cultures but a data for constructing historical schemes of the
development of society. Some writers started the history of the comparative ethnography
with the Jesuit missionary Lifitau, who in 1724 published a book comparing American
Indian customs with those of the ancient world as described by Latin and Greek
writers. A little later Charles de Brosses wrote on parallels between ancient Egyptian
religion and that of West Africa. In 1748 Montesquieu published his Esprit des Lois,
based on reading and not on travel, and thus became for some the first theorist of
social anthropology. He considered that differences in legal systems could be explained
by relating them to differences in other characteristics of the nations which possessed
them, population, temperament, religious beliefs, economic organisation, and customs
generally, as well as to their environment. Considering this we can entitle him to be
the first functionalist.
Adam Ferguson and Adam Smith from Scotland based their generalisation, as did
Montesquieu, on the widest reading about the institutions of different societies that
was available at that time. This perspective of evolution became popular with the
discovery of Darwin’s principle of natural selection in the evolution of biological
species. It greatly influenced the study of society and culture. Before this also the
concept of evolution was there. People like Henry de Saint Simor, August Comte,
and Herbert Spencer spoke about evolution in philosophical terms. But they didn’t
offer any empirical evidence of how evolution had taken place. But in the latter half
of the nineteenth century we find a set of scholars both in USA and UK who are
concerned with the stages of evolution.
According to some historians, the origin of social anthropology is traced to David
Hume and Immanuel Kant who were the first philosophers to define social
anthropology. As already mentioned some consider, Herodotus as the father of
Anthropology, who did raise some basic questions of social anthropology. But, it is
believed that the systematic History of social anthropology rightly begins from Henry
Maine and Lewis Henry Morgan. These two thinkers are considered as founding
father of social anthropology. They also followed the works of travelers and
missionaries.
The 19th century social anthropologists were greatly influenced by the work of
Darwin and his associates. They established that the origin of man has passed
through several stages from apes to Homo Sapiens. The Anthropologists tried to
follow the logic of Darwinism and applied it to establish the origin of social institutions.
This trend prevailed throughout the 19th century and the first quarter of the 20th
century.
9
Introduction to Social The definitions of social anthropology given by social Darwinists is a landmark in the
Anthropology
development of this discipline. The foundation of present Anthropology goes back to
Henry Maine’s Ancient law (1861) and Lewis Henry Morgan’s books, including
Ancient Society (1877). Both of them were the profounder of evolutionary theory
in Anthropology. This theory is considered to be the theoretical beginning in social
anthropology. Maine worked in India. He proposed a distinction between status and
contract societies. In status based or traditional societies, Maine argued, kinship was
usually crucial in determining one’s position in society; in a contract-based society,
it would rather be the individual achievements of persons that provided them with
their positions. On the other hand Morgan’s contribution to early Anthropology
formed the theoretical background. It resulted into the formation of evolutionary
theory. It supports the notion of social evolution stating that human society has
passed through the stages of savagery, barbarism and civilisation. Each stage has also
been characterised by a certain economy. Savagery had an economy characterised
by subsistence. During this stage man earned his livelihood through hunting and food
gathering. Agriculture and animal husbandry were the source of living at the stage of
barbarism. While those societies which reached the stage of civilisation, developed
literacy, technology, industry and the state. This theory expounded by Morgan got
support of many other scholars. Westermarck set out the theory of human marriage
while Briffault propounded the theory of family. Evolutionary theory of religion also
came out with the study of Tylor. Evolutionists like W.H.R. Rivers, Sir James Frazer,
A.C. Haddon and Charles Seligman contributed to different fields. All these early
social anthropologists defined social anthropology as a science of social evolution.
When evolutionary theory emerged in Anthropology many schools came up with an
anti-evolutionary idea. They criticised evolutionists for depending on travel accounts,
which they claimed to be unscientific. This school of thought is often referred to as
structural–functional school of thought represented by the work of British Anthropologist
Radcliffe-Brown. Another school that came up before this was the school of
diffusionists. They were also critics of evolutionary school, who were not convinced
by the concept of evolutionary progress of society and culture. According to their
view, culture not only developed, but it also degenerated. Again, they followed that
man was basically uninventive, and important inventions were made only once at a
particular place from where it was diffused, migrated, borrowed and initiated, to the
other parts of the world. There were three schools of diffusion – British school,
German school and American school of diffusion. Smith, W.J. Perry, Rivers, Franz
Boas, Clerk Wissler, Kroeber etc. were the scholars of this school.
Franz Boas and Bronislaw Malinowski are regarded as the first modern
Anthropologists, who argued the necessity of doing fieldwork. Boas, a profound
critic of classical evolutionists argued the necessity of doing field work. He emphasised
in collecting empirical data and conducted fieldwork in USA to study American
Indians in 1880. He founded Modern American Cultural Anthropology. He began to
study the influence of culture on personality and vice versa and ultimately formed a
school. The pioneers of this school are Ruth Benedict, Margaret Mead, Linton,
Kardiner and Cora Du Bois. Boas contributed substantially to the field of Anthropology.
The most important contribution seems to be the doctrine of ‘cultural relativism’. It
is the concept which argues that each group should be studied according to its own
culture. In other words, culture is specific to a group. Today also, Boas’ contribution
of cultural relativism is considered to be an indispensable Anthropological tool of
social and cultural anthropology. Boas defined anthropology as a social science of
culture study. This is one of the aspects of modern Anthropology.
10
Malinowski, founder of functional school of thought is known for his work on the Social Anthropology:
Nature and Scope
Trobrianders living in the island of New Guinea. He conducted fieldwork among
these tribals between 1915 and 1918. According to Malinowski, social anthropology
is concerned with the interrelationship of various parts of tribal society. In other
words, tribal economy, politics, kinship etc. are all interrelated. According to him,
social anthropology is interested in studying functional relations among the member
of tribal society. Malinowski contributed a lot to the fieldwork tradition in anthropology.
His ethnographic account based on his fieldwork ‘Argonauts of Western Pacific’
is a landmark publication in Anthropology. The concept of participant observation
was developed by him. He emphasised the importance of studying the interrelationships
of various aspects of society, and therefore held the view that intensive field study
was absolutely necessary.
Radcliffe-Brown, contemporary of Malinowski, developed the social structure concept
to explain forms. It is another important development in social anthropology. According
to him, social structure deals with the study of status and role of a person within an
institution. In other words, it deals with network of social relation within an institutional
framework. Radcliffe-Brown, criticising classical evolutionists said that the study of
change is also essential. But, unlike classical evolutionist study, these must be based
on reliable document. He said that classical evolutionism was based on conjectural
history. It is nothing but a conjectural speculation of the life of the people. He called
it pseudo historical. So, he argued that classical evolutionism has no place in scientific
investigation.
Anthropologists study pre-literate society. Therefore, whatever knowledge, they have
of their tradition; it exists on the oral level. The oral history may mix up with myth
and other stories. Therefore, it may not be totally relied upon as an authentic source.
The early twentieth century scholars, those who are critical of evolutionary theory
thought rather than studying how society has evolved, all must study how society
lives and functions. It is a shift of paradigm. The approach which was born out of
it is popularly known as structural–functional approach. The founder of this theoretical
trend argued that instead of understanding a diachronic study of society social
anthropologists should carry out synchronic study – the study of present society.
Radcliffe-Brown called anthropology as the study of here and now. He also stressed
upon doing first hand fieldwork. Thus, social anthropologists started studying present
social structure focusing on interrelationship of social institutions and their functions.
But this trend also faced certain criticisms like – (1) it does not account for social
change. It is concerned with order. (2) Whatever it has considered change, the
change is adaptive. But every society goes through a process of change. Sometimes
change comes following a revolutionary path. So, structural functional study was
unable to cover this area and it opened the door for criticism. Therefore, by 1940s
anthropologists revived the need to study evolution. The approach of neo-evolutionism
was introduced in the field of archeology. V. Gordon Childe, Leslie White and Julian
Steward represent this school of thought. They defined social evolution with new
perspective. Various new approaches to the study of evolution called attention to the
question, how to combine particulars with general. The issue became sharpened by
the writings of Marvin Harris who emphasised upon Radcliffe-Brown’s earlier
distinction between nomothetic and ideographic approach to the study of culture.
In between, Robert Redfield introduced the study of civilisation to social anthropology.
Redfield developed the concepts of folk–urban continuum and great and little traditions
which were very useful concepts for studying a civilisation and its various dimensions
such as tribal, folk, semi-urban and urban. Thus, village, town and city studies were 11
Introduction to Social introduced. The other scholars who contributed to this field are – Morris E. Opler,
Anthropology
Milton Singer, Meckim Marriot, Mandel Baum etc.
Like any other discipline Anthropology has also been experiencing many new trends.
In the theoretical dimensions many new theories like symbolism, new ethnography
etc. have come up with new promises. This field has been continuously expanding
with many other new theories and ideas. Along with this applied aspects, social
anthropology has also been expanding. Developmental studies in social anthropology
are occupying a major area. New field methods and techniques are also coming up
enriching the research pattern. Ideas like postmodernism are creating new platform
for the social anthropologists to explore. Several Anthropological sub-fields are coming
up, stressing separate and specific cultural aspects and all using the prefix ‘Ethno’ to
indicate their alliance with culture, such as ethno-science, ethno musicology, ethno-
psychology, ethno-folklore and so forth. Thus, social anthropology has constantly
been developing as a branch of Anthropology.
1.2.4 Methods of Social Anthropology

Social anthropology may be described as a scientific study of man, culture and
society. The objective is to know the truth about the affairs of society. It seeks to
develop skills so that human beings can live a better life. For this employment of
scientific method is essential. If there is a science, there is certainly a method. Theory,
method and data go together. Social anthropology has a well developed methodology
for learning about society.
What is unique to social anthropology ‘in the realm of Social Sciences’ is its fieldwork
methodology which is the guiding force of this discipline. Method is logic. What
anthropologists do when they face a problem – they try to solve it logically. In short,
they make a logical understanding for the problem. They argue how the problem can
be approached logically so that the desired objective is fulfilled. It is this logic which
leads to attainment of the objectives of logic to put forward the research problem.
In short, method is the logic of inquiry; it is the role of accomplishing an end.
In social anthropological research fieldwork and empirical tradition have been constant
characteristics of social anthropology. It started with the travel accounts written by
the travelers who had been traveling to distant corners of the globe for about four
hundred years, since ‘the age of Columbus’. As already discussed, these travel
accounts provided the basic data for the early social anthropologists. The facts
gathered by these travelers, missionaries, and government officials were valuable to
make the other Europeans aware about the varied human life on earth. Many European
thinkers became interested about the non-European cultures and gradually ‘study of
man’ was initiated basing on the accounts of travelers, missionaries and government
officials.
The Anthropologists of nineteenth century were totally involved in exploring the
variety of human culture but they were apart from the rigorous life of actual field.
Sitting in their home they simply looked into the accounts served by other people.
The value of fieldwork was realised at the beginning of twentieth century when the
outlook of social anthropology changed. It was understood that experiencing the real
life situation was very important for the social anthropologists, to get accurate and
relevant data. So many anthropologists of this time engaged themselves with the
groups of aborigines. E.B. Tylor was the first scholar who emphasised the need of
direct data-collection in Anthropology, but Boas was the first to begin with this
practice. The earliest attempt of professional data gathering, as mentioned previously,
12
was made in America by Franz Boas. He conducted Jessup North Pacific Expedition Social Anthropology:
Nature and Scope
in 1897. The second attempt at fieldwork was made in England under joint leadership
of Haddon, Rivers and Seligman in 1898. It is known as Cambridge Expedition to
Torres Straits.
The most outstanding fieldwork tradition in Anthropology was developed by
Malinowski. He believed that the various aspects in the life of people were interrelated.
Malinowski also stressed on fieldwork as primary way of anthropological data
gathering. According to Malinowski (1922 : 6), a cultural anthropologist must “possess
real scientific aims and know the values and criteria of modern ethnography … he
has to apply a number of special methods of collecting, manipulating and fixing his
evidence”. Malinowski established participation as an important technique of fieldwork.
Next to Malinowski, we can put the name of A.R. Radcliffe–Brown who did extensive
fieldwork in Andaman Islands.
The early fieldworkers tried to understand how all the parts of a society fit together
to make a working whole. They emphasised on detailing. They tried to gather each
and every information available on the field. They developed the habit of filling their
notebooks with details of what they saw and heard, and those unprecedented
ethnographic activities resulted into ethnographic monographs. As a matter of fact,
a social anthropologist has to live and work in two worlds. Field becomes the
laboratory where one collects data and leads a very different life living with the
aborigines far away from his/her own world. Once he/she comes back from the field
one sits with the gathered data and starts analysing those to come up with a conclusion.
Subjectivity became a big issue in this ethnographic description. Since social
anthropology is an empirical discipline, it languishes for the absence of a deep
respect for facts and for loose attention to their observation and description. A self-
indulgent attitude may produce a disastrous effect. But, beyond all these, fieldwork
became an essential part of social anthropology and the tradition developed with
certain new methods and techniques making itself relevant to the present day context.
Qualitative research that involves huge descriptive accounts has become very useful
and important in today’s world. Not only Anthropology but also other disciplines like
Sociology and Management studies have also indulged into this type of research. But
fieldwork remains unique to social anthropology.
Fieldwork is a part of training in social-cultural anthropology. Every anthropologist
should undergo this training in course of his/her preliminary study. It enables a student
to perceive an alien culture with objectivity. Learning about two different societies
(including his own) gives a student a comparative view i.e. he acquires competency
to estimate the similarity or dissimilarity between any two societies or cultures.
Comparative method holds a very important place in fieldwork tradition in
Anthropology. During nineteenth century extensive comparisons were attempted by
social anthropologists. This pertains to the whole society and also to particular
institutions and practices such as kinship system, marriage practices, magical practices,
and religious beliefs and so on.
There is a clear mark of history as a method in Anthropological monograph. There
are two classical streams in social anthropology to the employment of history as a
method of study. One use of history is non-chronological. The evolutionary
Anthropologists used this kind of history as a method to study society. The second
stream is Marxian.
Another important method in Anthropology is the functional method. Functionalism,
13
Introduction to Social as a method of study in social anthropology, came up as a revolt against historical
Anthropology
method. Interestingly, the evolutionary historicism came into disrepute owing to the
emergence of empiricism. Empiricism is experience. When social anthropologists
took to holistic studies through empiricism, functionalism came to be known as a new
idiom of methodology. Functionalism advocated the holistic study of society through
fieldwork.
New methods have been emerging in social anthropology with new demands in
response to the new challenges. Techniques related to these methods are also changing.
New techniques have also been designed to suit the methodological demands. The
traditional techniques are – observation, schedules, questionnaire, interview, case
study, survey, genealogy etc. With the new methods like ethnography, new techniques
have been coming out. Emergence of new branches like developmental anthropology,
visual anthropology etc. is also demanding new methodological framework. Like any
other discipline Anthropology is also experiencing new dimensions with the passage
of time. Methodological dimension is also not exclusive of such changes.
1.3 NATURE AND SCOPE OF SOCIAL

ANTHROPOLOGY
Generally speaking, social anthropology aims to study human society as a whole. It
is a holistic study necessarily and covers all parts related to human society. Culture
comes naturally under this, as it is an integral part of human society. So, the basic
aim of social anthropology is to study human being as a social animal. Thus, to fulfill
its aim it explores, in a broad area, covering almost every aspects of human social
life.
The aim of modern social anthropology is just not to study human society but also
to understand the complex issues of modern human life. As primitive people have
been the focus of anthropological study, the problems faced by these people in the
process of development in modern days become very important for the anthropologists
to study. Anthropologists not only deal with the study of these problems but also try
to find out a solution for this. Developmental anthropology and Action anthropology
etc. are the specialised fields within social anthropology which deal with such problems.
Therefore, we can say that the scope and aim of social anthropology go together;
one influences the other. As much as the scope increases a new aim comes out of
it.
1.3.1 Scope of Social Anthropology

According to Evans–Pritchard (1966), social anthropology includes the study of all
human cultures and society. In basic, it tries to find out the structure of human society.
Social anthropology considers every human society as an organised whole. Customs,
beliefs whole pattern of working, living, marrying, worshipping, political organisation
– all these differ from society to society. As the structure and the idea working behind
it are different, societies also vary a lot. Social anthropology first tries to find out
these differences and then tries to establish the similarities as well. As we can see
different cultures and societies, we also see similarity among these different cultures
and societies. So, anthropologists study these differences as well as the similarities.
Basically, the study revolves around the social structure. We can take up the example
of studying religion. People in different parts of the world practice different religions.
Every religion has different rituals to perform and people perform these rituals according
to their own religious roles. The common thing among these different religions is the
14
belief in super-natural. So, both the differences and similarities become the study Social Anthropology:
Nature and Scope
matter of social anthropology.
Evans-Pritchard, by comparing social anthropology with Sociology, states that Social
anthropology has primitive society as its subject matter. In other words, it is concerned
with the study of the primitives, indigenous people, hills and forest people, scheduled
tribes and other such groups of people. Fieldwork is another integral part of social
anthropology. Data in social anthropology are collected from the field. Thus, social
anthropology can be defined in respect of two broad field of study – (1) Primitive
Society (2) Fieldwork.
John Beattie (1964) advocated that social anthropologists should study other cultures.
This makes Anthropology a comparative discipline of the study of social institutions.
Thomas Hylland Eriksen (1995) supports the study of small places in social
anthropology. Eriksen says that social anthropology does not remain restricted to
primitive people; it studies any social system and the qualification of such a social
system is that it is of a small scale, non-industrial kind of society. According to
Eriksen, social anthropology studies:
1) Small scale society
2) Non-industrial society
3) Small and larger issues of the society.
Different theoretical frameworks came out as social anthropology started exploring
its matter of study– the primitive society. Morgan postulated Evolutionary theory and
propounded the study of evolution in human society. According to him human society
has come across three basic stages – savagery, barbarism and civilisation. With such
evolutionary approach social anthropologists started examining human society in the
light of evolution. The theoretical framework of structural – functionalism became a
popular approach in Britain. The British anthropologists using the term Social
anthropology have emphasised on the concept of society, which is aggregate of
individuals who live in face to face association and share same common sentiments.
Different social interrelationships and interactions are their object of study.
Functionalism propounded the functional study of social institutions. On the other
hand, American anthropologists preferring the term Cultural anthropology have
concentrated on the concept of culture which is the sum total of human behaviour,
verbal or non-verbal, and their products- material or non-material. Cultural
anthropologists try to analyse each and every intervention and interrelationship by
judging the value behind it.
The term civilisation was known to Anthropologists since the postulation of evolutionary
theory, but it was the pioneering work of Robert Redfield, who brought a movement
in the history of development of social anthropology by introducing the study of
civilisation. He made study of folk villages and urban centers and attempted to
understand the patterns and processes of interception between them. Thus, he
developed the concept of folk society, urban society and folk–urban continuum.
Since then the study of village as a unit of rural civilisation and town as a center for
urban civilisation came into existence. Thus, Anthropology is not the study of primitive
people only. The subject matter of social anthropology covers a vast area. It studies
tribal society as well as urban society. It studies change as well. No culture and
society regardless of circumstances, is beyond change. Isolated / primitive societies
also change over time. Sometimes with due pressure of circumstances also society
15
Introduction to Social does not change. It follows strictly a traditional path, constantly trying to keep alive
Anthropology
the tradition. Social anthropology studies why or why not society/ culture changes.
But, change is must, whether it is a remote and isolated village or industrialised city,
everywhere people experience a variety of changes in their pattern of living, which
is manifested with the passage of time.
The life of man has several dimensions and the attempts to study each one in detail
has resulted in the origin and growth of several sub-branches from the elementary
branch of Social anthropology such as Economic anthropology, Political anthropology,
Psychological anthropology, Anthropology of Religion and so on and so forth. Many
new sub-branches are also coming up like – Communication and Visual anthropology,
with the new demands of society. Social anthropology has to accommodate all the
new changes in human society to maintain the relevance of its study. Thus, new areas
would expand its field.
1.3.2 Future Perspective

Anthropology has been playing a very important role in each and every sphere of
human society. During colonial times, it was used as an administrative tool. Social
anthropology came out of that colonial impression and now had created a new
disciplinary path. As an academic discipline it has a firm theoretical base and unique
practical dimension. In the near future also it is truly capable of accommodating
disciplinary changes with new theoretical frameworks. Anthropology covers not only
contemporary patterns of human life but also carefully records the changes in human
society and life. It covers historic and prehistoric account of human life as well. So,
it becomes very relevant for each and every stage of human civilisation.
Claude Levi-Strauss envisages the future of social anthropology as a study complete
by itself in terms of communications between persons and groups. The study of
communication, of words and symbols conveying meanings between persons in a
society would constitute the study of linguistics, knowledge, art etc. The study of
communication of spouses (man in matrilocal society and woman in patrilocal society)
between various groups would constitute the study of marriage, kin groups and
kinship usages. And communication of goods and services between persons and as
also groups would constitute the scope of study of economic organisation and material
culture. Thus, studies of human society may be studied not in terms of culture but
in terms of structures which embody culture. Many such innovative ideas are coming
up in the field of social anthropology and its scope is increasing in terms of both
theory and practice.
1.3.3 Social Anthropology in India

In the scenario of World Anthropology, Indian anthropology appears as very young.
Andre Beteille (1996) used the term ‘Indian Anthropology’ to mean the study of
society and culture in India by anthropologists, irrespective of their nationality. Indian
society and culture are being studied by various Anthropologists from inside and
outside of the country. However, Anthropology owes its origin to the latter half of
the nineteenth century with the ethnographic compilation of traditions and beliefs of
different tribes and castes in various provinces of India. It was only during the British
colonial rule that Anthropological data was gathered. With no academic interest
government officials and missionaries first collected some anthropological data in the
eighteenth century. But, the motive behind this was not to study the Indian societies
and cultures but to help the British administration for smooth governance. Missionaries
16 had a religious motive. However, both the administrators and missionaries were
baffled when they came across various types of people having entirely different Social Anthropology:
Nature and Scope
cultures. They tried to communicate their strange experience through writing, by
describing the people and their facts. At the end of nineteenth century, the administrators
and missionaries in India wrote a lot about the Indian people and their life. Trained
British officials namely Risley, Dalton, Thurston, O’Malley, Russell, Crook, Mills etc.
and many others who were posted in India, wrote compendia on tribes and castes
of India. During this time some British anthropologists like Rivers, Seligman, Radcliffe–
Brown, Hutton came to India and conducted Anthropological fieldwork. Throughout
the whole century after this, Anthropologists in India proceeded successfully. Indian
anthropologists borrowed the ideas, frameworks and procedures of work from western
anthropologists and practiced these studying their own culture and society instead of
other cultures.
Different scholars like S.C. Roy, D.N. Majumdar, G.S. Ghurye, S.C. Dube, N.K.
Bose, L.P. Vidyarthi and S. Sinha had tried to find out the genesis and development
of Social Anthropology in India. S.C. Roy’s paper Anthropological Researches in
India (1921) reflects upon the works on tribes and castes published before 1921.
The anthropological accounts consisted of the writings of British administrators and
missionaries as before 1921 anthropological work in India was mainly done by these
people. After this, D.N. Majumdar tried to trace the development of Anthropology
in India. This attempt was made after twenty five years of S.C. Roy’s work. D.N.
Majumdar tried to relate the developing discipline of Anthropology in India with the
theory of culture that originated in Britain and America. American influence was first
recognised besides the works of British administrators and missionaries.
G.S. Ghurye, in his article The teaching of Sociology, Social Psychology and
Social Anthropology (1956), wrote, ‘Social Anthropology in India has not kept
pace with the developments in England, in Europe or in America. Although Social
Anthropologists in India are, to some extent, familiar with the work of important
British Anthropologists or some continental scholars, their knowledge of American
Social Anthropology is not inadequate’. S.C. Dube in (1952) discussed the issue in
the light of research oriented issues. He stated that Indian Anthropology needed
more attention from the social workers, administrators or political leaders, so that the
research oriented issues can be dealt with properly. N.K. Bose in 1963 discussed
the progress of Anthropology in India under headings - Prehistoric Anthropology,
Physical Anthropology and Cultural Anthropology. Recent trends like village studies,
caste studies, study of leaderships and power structure, kinship and social organisation
of tribal village and Applied Anthropology came to the Indian scenario in 1970s and
L.P. Vidyarthi discussed these issues, tracing the growth of Anthropology in India. He
felt the need of an integrated effect from various disciplines for a proper understanding
of man and society. His main stress was laid on ‘Indianess’. According to him ideas
of Indian thinkers as reflected in ancient scriptures were full of social facts and so
those could be explored in the understanding of cultural process and civilisation
history of India. Surajit Sinha (1968) supporting the view of L. P. Vidyarthi stated
that the Indian Anthropologists readily responded to the latest developments of the
west but they had laid logical priority to the Indian situation.
In India, Anthropology started with the work of missionaries, traders and administrators
where the prime focus was the different cultural backgrounds of Indian people. The
rich tribal culture attracted the study of social anthropology. Tribal culture became a
dominant field for Social anthropological research. This continued along with the
changing trend and accommodated the study of village system, and Indian civilisation.
Other social institutions like – religion, kinship, marriage etc. also came to the field
17
Introduction to Social of research. The variety of customs and diversity of Indian culture created a unique
Anthropology
area of research among the social anthropologists of India. Different ideas like dominant
caste, sacred complex, tribe-caste continuum, little and great tradition, sankritisation
etc. came up, giving a new direction to Indian Anthropology. Thus, a body of strong
Indian anthropological thought was created. Development of Indian anthropology is
continuing with additions of new ideas. Emerging areas like ecology, developmental
study etc., are also coming up. Anthropologists in India take keen interest in tribal
studies. The new challenges in the era of globalisation are also coming up and Indian
social anthropologists are focusing on that.
1.3.4 Present Scenario

After independence India faced new challenges of social reform, as a new government
took charge. The whole notion of Indian culture had to be rebuilt, as diverse culture
areas had come under one roof. Various tribal societies and cultures were unable to
cope up with this changing situation. Apart from administrative policies, Indian social
anthropologists took initiatives to overcome such crisis and showed interest in the
study of diverse cultures in India under the common roof of Indian civilisation.
Government policies were influenced with these social anthropological works as
these works dealt with the sensitive issues like tribal development. This trend continues
in the field of Indian anthropology. Today, in the era of globalisation, social
anthropologists in India deal with the new challenges in front of the tribal communities.
Identity and gender issues are popular among them, along with development studies.
Study of folk culture occupies a major area. With development studies, issues like
tribal displacement and rehabilitation have also been a prime focus for social
anthropologists. Tribal art, study of indigenous knowledge system etc. are gaining
popularity with the new global issues like – global warming.
1.4 SUMMARY
In this unit the focus was on how social anthropology has developed as a discipline
covering the different aspects of human life. Social anthropology thus, developed
through various time periods with various goals and perspectives and it has covered
almost all the aspects of human life.
You learnt about different theoretical frameworks of social anthropology. Along with
these theoretical frameworks, how social anthropology deals with the various issues
of human life was also discussed. Different approaches have also been discussed
considering the geographical variations.
Present and future scenario of social anthropology have also been discussed. You
would be able to conceptualise about the Indian and world scenario of social
anthropology after going through this unit.
References
Bidney, D. 1953. Theoretical Anthropology. Columbia: Columbia University Press.
Beattie, J. 1964. Other Cultures: Aims, Methods and Achievements in Social
Anthropology. London: Routledge Kegan Paul.
Beteille, Andre. 1996a. Caste, Class and Power: Changing Patterns of
Stratification in a Tanjore Village. Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2nd ed.
Beteille, Andre. 1996b. ‘Inequality’, in Alan Barnard and Jonathan Spencer (eds),
18 Encyclopaedia of Social and Cultural Anthropology. London: Routledge.
Bose, N.K. 1963. ‘Fifty Years of Science in India: Progress of Anthropology and Social Anthropology:
Nature and Scope
Archaeology’. Indian Science Congress Association.
Dube, S.C. 1952. ‘The Urgent Task of Anthropology in India’, in the proceedings
of the 1Vth International Congress of Anthropology and Ethnological Sciences,
held at Vienna, 1952, published in 1956, pp. 273-75.
Dube, S.C. 1962 ‘Anthropology in India’, in Indian Anthropology: Essays in
Memory of D.N. Majumdar. ed. T.N. Madan and Gopala Sarana. Bombay: Asia
Publishing House.
Eriksen, Thomas Hylland. 1995. Small Places, Large Issues: An Introduction to
Social and Cultural Anthropology. 2nd edition 2001, London: Pluto Press.
Evans-Pritchard, E. E. 1966. Social Anthropology and Other Essays. New York:
Free Press.
Ghurye, G.S. 1956. ‘The Teachings of Sociology, Social Psychology and Social
Anthropology’. The Teachings of Social Sciences in India. UNESCO Publication.
1956 pp 161-73.
Haddon, A. C. 1934. History of Anthropology. London: Watts and Co. chapter1.
Majumdar, D.N. and T.N. Madan. 1957. An Introduction to Social Anthropology.
Bombay: Asia Publishing House.
Malinowski, Bronislaw. 1922. Argonauts of the Western Pacific. Sixth impression
1964. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd.
University Press.
Roy, S.C. 1923. ‘Anthropological Researches in India’. Man in India. Vol-1 1921.
Pp 11-56.
Sinha, Surajit. 1968. ‘Is There an Indian Tradition in Social Cultural Anthropology:
Retrospect and Prospect’. Presented in a conference. The Nature and Function of
Anthropological Traditions. New York: Wenner Gren Foundation for Anthropological
Research.
Vidyarthi, L.P. 1978. Rise of Anthropology in India. Delhi: Concept Publishing
Company.
Suggested Reading
Eriksen, Thomas Hylland. 1995. Small Places, Large Issues: An Introduction to
Social and Cultural Anthropology. 2nd edition 2001, London: Pluto Press.
University Press.
Vidyarthi, L.P. 1978. Rise of Anthropology in India. Delhi: Concept Publishing
Company.
Sample Questions
1) Describe the history and development of social anthropology.
2) How social anthropology has developed in India?
3) Briefly describe the aim and scope of social anthropology.
4) Describe history as a method in social anthropology. 19
UNIT 1 CONCEPTS AND DEFINITIONS
Contents
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Types of Political Organisation
1.2.1 Band Societies
1.2.2 Tribal Societies
1.2.3 Chiefdoms
1.2.4 State Societies
1.2.5 Youth Dormitories
1.3 Social Control and Resolution of Conflicts

1.4 Economic Organisation
1.5 Traditional Economic Organisation
1.5.1 Communal Ownership
1.5.2 Division of Labour
1.5.3 Major Economic Activities
1.5.3.1 Hunting-Gathering
1.5.3.2 Horticulturalists
1.5.3.3 Shifting Cultivation
1.5.3.4 Pastoralism
1.5.3.5 Settled Agriculture
1.6 Traditional Economic System

1.6.1 Barter System
1.6.2 Silent Trade
1.6.3 Jajmani System
1.6.4 Ceremonial Exchange
1.6.5 Reciprocity
1.6.6 Redistribution
1.6.7 Market or Commercial Exchange
1.7 The Distribution of Goods and Services: Two Case Studies

1.7.1 Kula
1.7.2 Potlatch
1.8 Summary
References
Suggested Reading
Sample Questions
Learning Objectives

Once you have studied this unit, you would be able to:
 understand the various types of traditional political and economic organisations
and economic systems studied in social anthropology; and
 describe different forms of “distribution of goods and services” among the
simple societies. 5
Economic and Political
Organisations 1.1 INTRODUCTION
Every society, be it a simple or traditional society or complex or modernised
society has certain rules and regulations to maintain social order. Human societies
have developed a set of customs and procedures for making and implementing
decisions in order to resolve disputes, and for regulating the behaviour of its
member in their day-to-day life. They have also developed collective decisions
about its relationship with other neighbouring societies. The first part of this unit
deals with the general features of political organisation, social control, conflict
resolution and the cultural arrangement by which societies continue and maintain
social order for the betterment of society. While, the second part of the unit will
deal with the economic organisations in social anthropology.
1.2 TYPES OF POLITICAL ORGANISATIONS

Let us now discuss the mechanisms in our society for making and enforcing
political decisions as well as the collective efforts about its relationship with the
neighbouring people for the well being of society. As we know, political organisation
is found in all societies. However the degree of specialisation and formal mechanisms
in functioning of political systems may vary considerably from one society to the
other. As mentioned by Ferraro, Gary P (1992) all societies differ in their political
organisations based on three important dimensions:
1) The extent to which political institutions are distinct from other aspects of the
social structure; that is, in some societies, political structures are
indistinguishable from economic, kinship, or religious structure.
2) The extent to which authority is concentrated into specific political roles.
3) The level of political integration (i.e. the size of the territorial group that
comes under the control of political structure). Ferraro, Gary P (1992, 220)
In order to understand how effectively the political organisations administer
themselves and maintain social order, the above three dimensions are useful. These
dimensions also form the basis for the classification of societies into four important
types of political structures like band societies, tribal societies, chiefdoms, and
state societies. Let us now discuss briefly about the conceptual meaning of these
four important types of political structure.

Band organisation is considered to be the least complex form of political
arrangement which is characterised by small group, also known as local groups,
usually among the nomadic population of hunter and gatherers. The size of a band
can range from 30-50 people or more. However, the size of a band may vary
from one band to the other depending upon the food gathering techniques and the
availability of the food in their natural environment. Band may have little or no
concept of individual property ownership and place a high value on sharing,
cooperation and reciprocity. They may also loosely associate with a specific
territory of their own in the sense that the members of one territory can seek
membership in a neighbouring territory. The members of each band have less role
specialisation and are highly egalitarian. Band organisation is predominantly found
among the hunting and gathering communities representing the oldest form of
political organisation. Common language and common cultural features bound
6
band members together. In band societies, no political allegiance occurs with any Concepts and Definition
one or more supreme authority or with other similar bands of their own ethnic
community. Their political decisions are frequently embedded in the wider social
structure of the local group. It is difficult to distinguish purely political decisions
from those related to the family, economic or religious decisions. In other words,
political life is simply one part of social life.
Leadership roles are iterative within the band; there be could several leaders and
each leader’s role may end with the accomplishment of a particular task. Leadership
tends to be informal having no authoritarian political roles or leaders with designated
authority. But the elderly are respected for their experience, wisdom, good judgment
and knowledge of hunting. So, adult men gave decision. The headman can persuade
and give advice but has no power to impose his will on the group.
Bands may have a headman, as in case of Eskimo bands and the Chenchu who
are recognised by the band members for their special skills in making implements,
hunting, ritual, judgment acumen, folklore, world view, magic, medicinal and
ecological knowledge etc. There were no strict rule of succession to the position
of headman; sometimes it is hereditary as in case of the Kung bushman and a fresh
person can be chosen as in case of the Chenchu.

The tribal political organisations are predominantly associated with food production
i.e. horticulture and pastoralism. Tribal societies are little bigger or larger in size
than the band societies. Egalitarian principle is the common feature of both tribe
and band organisations. Both of them are similar in several important aspects as
the political leaders have no marked differences in status, rank, power and wealth.
In addition to these, both of them have local leaders but do not have permanent,
centralised leadership.
However, tribal political forms can be distinguished from bands by the presence
of some impermanent and informal pan-tribal associations that can bring together,
whenever necessary, a number of local groups into one larger unit. Each of these
associations operate autonomously but integrate themselves into one or more
larger units when an external threat arises. The larger unit breaks back into
original local units once the threat is nullified.
The tribal associations emerge based on kinship and kin units like clan, and age
grades, or secret societies. In many tribal societies, the kinship unit called Clan,
a group of kin who consider themselves to be descended from a common ancestor,
serves a mechanism for political integration. Clan elder usually looks after the
affairs of their clan like settlement of dispute between the clan members, negotiating
with other clan groups, etc.
Segmentary lineage system is another form of tribal association where individuals
of different genealogical levels integrate to form a bigger unit in opposition to
another such unit. Genealogical connections bring groups with closer affiliation
together. Such political integration of closely affiliated groups within the tribal
societies is important in order to mobilise their military force in defending themselves
from outside forces or for expanding into the territories of weaker societies. As
mentioned by Evan-Pritchard (1940), the pastoral Nuer of southern Sudan serves
as a good example of a tribal form of political organisation.
7
Economic and Political 1.2.3 Chiefdoms
Organisations
Ferraro, Gary P (1992: 223) has mentioned that the band and the tribal societies
are economically and politically autonomous, authority is not centralised and they
tend to be egalitarian having no specialised role, small population in size depending
largely on subsistence economy. However, societies become more complex as the
population increases with higher technology for fulfilling their subsistence needs. In
Chiefdoms, a number of local communities are integrated into a more formal and
permanent political unit but the political authority rests with single individual, either
acting alone or in conjunction with an advisory council. Chiefdoms may also
comprise more than one political unit, each one is headed by a chief and/or
councils. Societies with chiefdoms are socially ranked and the chief and his family
enjoy higher status and prestige. The chief ship is mostly hereditary and the chief
along with his or her kinfolk comprises social and political elite within their society.
Subsequently, the chiefs have considerable power and authority in resolving or
pronouncing judgments over internal disputes, issues, etc. In addition to these, he
may distribute goods, supervise religious ceremonies and functions military activities
on behalf of the chiefdom. Hawaii and Tahiti are the examples of chiefdom societies.

Of all the above mentioned societies, state societies have more complex and
advance form of political organisation. According to Sahlins (1963: 297), state
is defined as “an autonomous political unit, encompassing many communities within
its territory and having a centralised government with the power to collect taxes,
draft men for work or war, and decree and enforce laws”. It is also mentioned
by Robert L Carneiro (1970: 733) that the state societies have complex, centralised
political structure, which include a wide range of permanent institutions having
legislative, executive, and judicial functions, and a large bureaucracy.
The state societies have class stratification with unequal access to economic
resources. These societies are generally supported by intensive agriculture. The
high productivity of the agriculture presumably allows for the emergence of cities,
a high degree of economic and other kinds of specialisation, market or commercial
exchange, and extensive foreign trade. The people pay taxes. (Carol R. Ember,
Melvin Ember, 1995: 375)
The rulers may use force but the threats of force alone do not ensure the legitimacy
of the rulers. Legitimacy of rulers is said to accrue owing to different factors like
divine origin of the rulers, socialisation of children to accept all forms of authority,
the perceived advantage of state by the people in ensuring protection, employment,
security to property etc. If state fails in its duty, the rulers lose their credibility and
ability to control, eventually leading to the fall of state. Nupe kingdom in West
Africa and also the Roman Empire are examples of state societies.

Youth Dormitories are important institutions among the tribal society. These
institutions are quite common among the tribes of North East India, central India.
They are known by different names in different tribes like Morung of Naga tribes,
Gothul of Muria and Gond tribe, Dhoomkuriya of Oraon tribe, etc. The youth
dormitories are centered in big building of straw and thatch having separate houses
for boys and girls. All the members of the dormitories pass their night in the
dormitories. If there is no dormitory for girls, they usually sleep in the house of
8
some old woman. They learn their way of life through their elders. They follow the Concepts and Definition
rules and regulations of the dormitories. They carry out different activities together
like construction of house on the occasion of marriage or village festivals, helping
the villagers in crisis, construction of roads, etc. The boys and girls stay in their
dormitories till they marry. A widow can re-enter the dormitory as its member.
Strictly speaking, youth dormitories are not political bodies. However, youth
dormitories serve to train the youth in various socio-cultural, economic, religious
and political activities. For example among the Dimasa Kachari of Assam, Hangsao
- the bachelor’s dormitory is an important institution of the village. The unmarried
youths of the village spend night in this house. Unlike Nagas, the Dimasas do not
have separate dormitory for maidens. Dormitory youths organise into labour force
to carry out several public works in the village (e.g. construction of the village
path, water hole, etc.) as well as to help the needy villagers in agricultural works
like weeding, harvesting, etc. They also serve as the village defenders. They get
trained to become leaders and organisers to undertake public works and community
works. In this sense youth dormitories can be regarded as quasi political units.
1.3 SOCIAL CONTROL AND RESOLUTION OF

CONFLICTS
Social control and conflict resolution mechanism are those practices such as
customary law for reward and punishment, physical coercion, and various sanctions
(ostracism, avoidance, denial of favours) which a community of people adopt to
safeguard social order and to sustain the behavioural conformity to the accepted
norms. Like any other societies, the simple societies also have rudimentary system
of providing justice. They have their own social control and resolution of conflict
mechanism. Mostly the chief or the elders of the group or kinship take the
responsibilities for identifying and punishing the criminals in their society. When
they face complex problems, they take advice from the council of elders about
the type and nature of punishment to be given to the offenders. They follow the
Oath and Ordeals. The offenders have to take an oath, after which they are asked
if he or she had committed the offence or not. It is generally believed among the
simple society that if the offender tells a lie before their elders, he or she will be
a prey to the supernatural anger for taking a false oath. Sometimes, the accused
person is asked to dip or put his hand in boiling water or oil to justify his innocence
as they believe that the supernatural powers help an innocent person.
1.4 ECONOMIC ORGANISATION

The simple societies of different places in the world passed through various stages
of socio-economic development in due courses of time. It can be mentioned that
hunting-gathering, horticulture, cattle herding, shifting cultivation, settled agriculture,
etc. are different stages of socio-economic development among different tribes in
India.
Food gathering and hunting is said to be the oldest type of economic activity.
During 2 to 5 million years of human existence on this planet Earth, 99 percent
of the time was spent in food gathering, hunting and fishing. Agriculture is said to
have originated some 10,000 years ago. Industrial economy is said to have been
in existence for the past 400 years only.
Human communities of the world practice various types of economic activities.
9
Economic and Political When we say economic activity, it includes subsistence technologies, division of
Organisations
labour, organisation of labour, various customary ways of distribution of goods
and services and consumption and utility and decision-making at various stages in
the processes of production, distribution and consumption. Basing on the subsistence
technologies, the economic activities can be broadly categorised into food collection
and food production. Under food collection, hunting gathering, intensive foraging
and fishing are the major activities. Under food production, we can include
horticulture or incipient cultivation, pastoralism and intensive cultivation or plough
cultivation.
Many communities studied by anthropologists practice more than one of the above
economic activities. Most of the tribes dwelling in the forest and hills like Kadar
of Kerala, Birhor and Kharia of Bihar, Nagas of Nagalands, Kukis of Manipur,
etc. depend on food gathering, hunting small games, fishing, shifting cultivation
activities for their sustenance. These activities form their main source of subsistence
economy. In the same way, the Konda Reddy and the Savara of Andhra Pradesh
depend on horticulture, shifting cultivation and hunting and gathering. The Todas
known for buffalo herding also practice cultivation of crops. The Santals, the
Oraon, and the Gonds practice settled agriculture along with hunting gathering.
Each type of economic activity is organised more or less systematically so that
goods and services are produced, distributed or exchanged and consumed or
utilised in order to satisfy a variety of wants.
1.5 TRADITIONAL ECONOMIC ORGANISATION

According to Hoebel and Weaver (1979: 453), “Economic organisation involves
the behaviours that center upon the production, the allocation and distribution, and
the use and consumption of goods”. The above authors emphasise culturally
defined behavioural networks that operate in various economic activities. Achieving
some rhythm and order in the provision of material goods and services for the
satisfaction of wants is essential for the survival and continuity of society. In
almost all societies, economic organisation exists in one form or the other.
Simple societies have simple mode of production which include simple technology
and most of the labour constitute family members or relatives. It varies from
society to society. The mode of economic organisation is very simple mostly
embedded in direct face to face relationship. Each type of economic organisation
ensures some role to all members of the community by means of creating some
space in the pursuits related to economic activities. Every member has a purpose
to participate in such organised activities.
The major types of distribution of goods and services are reciprocity, redistribution,
and market. Reciprocity is further divided into 3 types: generalised reciprocity,
balanced reciprocity and negative reciprocity. Let’s examine some of the other
components of economic organisation which are very important in understanding
the basic concept of economic organisation in anthropology.

In every society, simple or complex, property has important functions. Property
signifies social or economic status of a person or a group. Property can be either
individually owned (private property) or communally owned (communal property).
The concept of property keeps changing with the changes of time. Among simple
10 society, communal ownership is more prevalent over land resources, forest
resources, etc. It can be mentioned that these simple society enjoys the available Concepts and Definition
resources from the forest, river, etc. Hunting and gathering societies do not have
personal properties of their own except some objects like hunting tools, etc. but
the cattle rearing societies consider their cattle as their property.
In some societies, both communal ownership as well as individual ownership of
land is present. The Podu or Jhuming land or shifting cultivation land are community
owned where as the wet land and horticulture lands are individually owned. The
people are issued with pattas (a legal document assigning ownership) with regard
to the individual lands.
Reflection
Property: A Social Creation
Property in its full sense is a web of social relations with respect to the utilisation of some
object (material or non-material) in which a person or group is tacitly or explicitly
recognised to hold quasi exclusive and limiting rights of use and disposition
E. Adamson Hoebel and Thomas Weaver. 1979. Anthropology and The Human Experience.
McGraw-Hill : 262

Most economic activities, and for that matter any physical activity of some purpose
(be it cooking, child rearing ritual etc.), are accomplished by sharing work between
a group of workers or participants. Division of labour is a form of “customary
assignment of different kinds of work to different kinds of people” (Ember and
Ember 1990: 272). Universally men and women, adults and children do not engage
in same kinds of work. In our society, it is usual for the man to plough and woman
to engage in cooking. Adults perform arduous works whereas children do light
works. Division of labour based on age and sex is universal though there is
variation across cultures. Further, it must be remembered that as the societies
modernise, role reversals and complex specialisations emerge.
In simple society, the division of labour is based on certain factors like sex, age,
etc. Men and women carry out different types of jobs. In certain activities, men
and women perform the same activities without any division of labour. Though
women folk observe certain taboos during times such as menstruation and child
birth, etc., they do not take part in the day to day chores, as during such times
they are considered impure.
For better understanding of division of labour, let us take an example of the
Savara tribe of Andhra Pradesh during their shifting cultivation. In the Savara
community both sex wise and age wise division of labour is observed. All the
family members work collectively as a unit of production under the guidance of the
head of the family. The family functions as an economic and social unit except the
small children and aged old members. The pattern of division of labour can be
classified on the basis of their age and sex. In their daily activities, children from
their early age start helping their parents. From the age of 9-10 years, the parents
ask their children to watch the field, fetch water, fetch tools etc. As they enter
adulthood they start playing a major role in subsistence by taking up labour
intensified works. The men and women have different and corresponding roles to
be played in various activities according to their age. The following statement gives
sex wise and age wise division of labour among the Savara tribe of Andhra
Pradesh:
11
Economic and Political Sex wise and age wise division of labour
Organisations
Name of the Activities in the Associated member in labour
podu field division
1. Selection of podu field Adult male
2. Cutting of large trees Adult male
3. Cutting of small trees and
Adult female and children
bushes
4. Burning of the podu field Adult male
5. Broadcasting of seeds Adult male and adult female
6. Weeding operation Adult male and adult female
7. Watching of crops Adult male and male children
8. Harvesting of crops Adult male, female and children

As pointed out earlier, the tribal societies practice various types of economic
activities, it must be remembered that each tribe may pursue a major economic
activity supplemented by other types of economic activities. The following account
gives a brief description of each of the major economic activity.
A hunter-gatherer society is a society whose primary subsistence method of
livelihood is based on the direct procurement of edible plant, animals, birds, etc.
from their surrounding forest and water bodies. They depend on the nature for
their subsistence. The tribes in the dense forests uses bows and arrows, spears,
net for catching the animals. They also have customs of hunting in group as a
collective activity. They hunt wild birds, fowl, rabbits, deer, rats, etc. During the
rainy season, they carry out fishing from the streams and other water bodies. They
share the hunt equally among themselves. Some important features of hunting
gathering society are; lowest population density; small community size; nomadic or
semi-nomadic; infrequent food shortage; minimal trade; no full-time craft specialists;
least or no individual differences in wealth; informal political leadership; no
domesticated animals except dog; day to day consumption and little storage of
food; minimal planning for the future (the last three are not true with some
communities who are in contact with pastorals or agriculturists). Surplus foraging
is very much limited though some minor forest produce is collected for exchange
or sale in the local /weekly markets or government run agencies.
Horticulture in anthropology means growing of all types of crops with relatively
simple tools like hoe and methods like sprinkling of seeds on un-ploughed fields.
These fields are cultivated for a few years and then abandoned for new fields.
Thus permanently cultivated fields are absent in horticulture. Horticultural
communities are said to lie in the transition stage of human communities from
nomadic community i.e. hunting-gathering to horticultural communities by
domesticating different varieties of crops like tubers, yams, maise, wheat, rice,
pulses, vegetables, etc. around their dwelling or in a particular plot for their
12 domestic consumption. They select different useful trees, vegetable crops, etc and
plants for their uses. As discussed under political organisation in such societies Concepts and Definition
land is usually communal property and for horticulture the land is redistributed
among the group members. In such a society, women are equally engaged in
horticultural activities. In some case, women are more specialised in growing
crops. Some important feature of horticultural communities are: low – moderate
population density; small - moderate community size; more sedentary but may
move after several years; infrequent food shortage; minimal trade; none or few
craft specialists; minimal wealth differences; part-time political functionaries and
exhibit incipient social differentiation.
Horticulture includes shifting cultivation and growing tree crops like plantain,
coconut, breadfruit tree etc. The latter type of horticulture can be seen among the
Samoans.
Reflection
Samoan horticulture involves mostly three tree crops requiring little work except in
harvesting. Once planted, and requiring hardly more than a few years of waiting, the
breadfruit tree continues to produce about two crops a year for upto half a century.
Coconut trees may continue to produce for hundred years. And banana trees make new
stalks of fruit, each weighing more than fifty pounds, for many years (Ember & Ember,
1990:249)
Sometimes, horticulture is separated from shifting cultivation as the latter has

attracted special attention. In the following section, we will focus on shifting
cultivation.
Shifting cultivation is an age old socio-economic practice among many tribal
communities inhabiting the world. It is a distinct type of agricultural practice generally
practiced on the hill slopes. Since the days of early civilisation several groups of
tribal communities in India are practicing this method of cultivation as their primary
source of subsistence. The beginning of shifting cultivation goes back to the Neolithic
times i.e.8, 000-10,000 years ago (Hasnain, 1994: 193). This process resulted in
a new socio-economic situation for the Neolithic people when they shifted from
nomadic way of living to settled way of life. These groups tried to emerge as food
producers from food gathering stage.
Shifting cultivation is considered as the natural way of eking out livelihood by
some tribal groups. In fact, it is considered as a traditional technique of farming
adopted by different tribal communities in many parts of the Indian Sub-Continent.
Shifting cultivation is prevalent in other parts of the world, especially Sumatra,
North Burma, Borneo, New Guinea, and in many parts of the African continent.
Shifting cultivation is also referred to as slash-and-burn or swidden cultivation.
In India, shifting cultivation is known by different names in tribal regions. In North
East India, it is denoted as jhum, in Orissa as podu, dabi, koman or bringa, in
Bastar as deppa, in Western Ghats as kumari, in South East Rajasthan - the
Matra and Maria tribal groups call it penda, in Madhya Pradesh as bewar or
dahia, (Bhowmick P .K., 1990: I02).
Shifting cultivation is an impermanent cultivation practiced on hill slopes, often
steep, rugged and elevated places. After cutting and burning the vegetation known
as slash and burning method, seeds are sown by using the simple digging stick.
They raise crops for few years and then abandon the field as the soil loses its
fertility due to burning of the vegetation. The people then move on to another 13
Economic and Political place to begin a new cycle. After some years, they return to the same patch of
Organisations
land for shifting cultivation which they had left fallow for the natural vegetation to
grow and also for the soil to regain its fertility. The duration of fallow period
depends upon the availability of land with forest vegetation and the size of the
group practicing shifting cultivation. At present, on an average, the fallow period
by the tribal groups practicing shifting cultivation has come down from few decades
to few years.
1.5.3.4 Pastoralism
Pastoralism is a type of subsistence technology in which procuring food is based
directly or indirectly on maintenance of domesticated animals. Hoebel and Weaver
writes, “ Historically this (pastoralism) occurred in the Neolithic Age, at the same
time that incipient agriculture was developing in regions more suitable to the raising
of crops” (1979: 224). Pastoralist is concerned with the raising of livestock like
tending and use of animals such as goats, sheep, yak, buffalo, etc. They are
usually found in many variations in different parts of the world with different
composition of herds, social organisation and management practices. They move
the herds from one place to another in search of fresh pasture and water for their
animals. They also tend to adapt to the changing environment due to their frequent
movement from one place to another. So, the territory of pastoral nomads far
exceed than that of most horticulturalist societies. Pastoralism is quite popular in
Africa and Asia.
Some important features of pastoral communities are: low population density;
small community size; generally nomadic or transhumant; frequent food shortages;
trade is popular; presence of some full-time craft specialists; moderate individual
differences in wealth; presence of part-time and full-time political leaders.
Settled agriculture involves use of a variety of techniques like ploughing, bundling,
use of draught animals, fertilisation, irrigation, weeding, land parceling, crop rotation
etc. that enable cultivation of fields permanently and also to augment productivity.
Many communities practice settled agriculture as one of the major economic
activities. The production is mostly for their own consumption and whatever surplus
production is exchanged for other goods and services. Basically, the unit of
production and consumption in their society is the family. Most of the family
members are engaged in the process of cultivation especially during the period of
weeding and harvesting.
General features of settled agriculture are presence of high degree of craft
specialisation, well developed technology, complex political organisation, marked
social differentiation in terms of wealth, power, status etc. Societies practicing
settled agriculture are prone to food shortage. This is paradoxical because
compared to other subsistence technologies, settled agriculture is more productive.
Then why do frequent food shortages occur in communities professing settled
agriculture? Two possible answers are : (1) in settled agriculture, growing a single
crop as staple crop and /or as commercial crop is a common practice though
other minor crops may be essentially used as supplement to the main staple crop.
If such crops fail due to pests, drought, failure of seasonal rains, food shortage
results; (2) in settled agriculture, it is quite likely to grow commercial crops. If
market demand is very feeble or inadequate, losses are incurred leading to food
shortage. Earlier, the paddy cultivation in settled field was less productive due to
14
the dependence of rain fed irrigation. The situation has improved considerable with Concepts and Definition
irrigation system, use of pesticides and high yield varieties of paddy.
1.6 TRADITIONAL ECONOMIC SYSTEM

Traditional economic system is usually associated with the simple societies like the
tribal societies, rural societies, etc. It is chiefly characterised by subsistence mode
of production with little surplus production. This economy is usually supplemented
by other minor occupations like collection of forest produce etc. However the
most important features of the traditional economic system is that of various modes
of exchange.
Let us now discuss different mode of exchanges prevailing among different societies.
1.6.1 Barter System

Barter system is the direct exchange of goods and services i.e an exchange may
be goods for goods, goods for services, service for service etc. It is considered
to be the earliest form of exchange in Human society. Barter usually replaced
money as the method of exchange during crisis like war, natural calamity, etc.
1.6.2 Silent Trade

Silent trade (also known as silent barter or trade and dumb barter) is a peculiar
form of exchange where the exchanging parties do not come into face to face
interaction during the process of exchange. The exchanging partners could be
enemies or antagonised. One group of people leaves certain quantity of products
at a customary place to be taken by another group, who in turn leaves back some
other products. The pygmy Semang and Sakai of Malaya and the Vedda and
Sinhalese of Sri Lanka practice silent trade.

William H Wiser (1988) has introduced the term Jajmani system in his book, The
Hindu Jajmani System: A Socio-Economic System Interrelating Members Of
A Hindu Village Community In Services, where he described in detail how
different caste group interact with each other in the agriculture based system of
production, distribution and exchange of goods and services. In different parts of
India different terms are used to describe this economic interaction among the
castes, for example in Maharashtra the term Balutadar or bara batute and mera
or mirasi in rural Rayalaseema of Andhra Pradesh, jajmani in North India,
mirasi in Tamil Nadu and adade in Karnataka.
Jajmani system, (Hindi: deriving from the Sanskrit yajamana, “sacrificial patron
who employs priests for a ritual”) is reciprocal (usually asymmetrical and some
scholars term it non-reciprocal) social and economic arrangements between families
of different castes within a village community in India for the exchange of goods
and services. Here, one family exclusively performs certain services for the other,
such as ministering to the rituals or providing agricultural labour, or some goods
such as agricultural implements, pots, baskets etc in return for payment, protection,
and employment security. These relations are supposed to continue from one
generation to the next, and payment is normally made traditionally, in the form of
a fixed share in the harvest rather than in cash.
Speaking about the composition of villages Williams 1988 stated that each village
15
Economic and Political is composed of a number of jatis/castes each having its occupational specialty.
Organisations
Through jajmani relations these occupational jatis get linked with the land owning
dominant caste. The jajmani system operates around the families belonging to the
land owning dominant caste the members of which are called jajmans and the
occupational/artisanal and service castes called Kameens in North India and panollu
in Andhra Pradesh. The term Kameen or panollu means one who works for
somebody or serves him.
Williams further delineated the characteristics of the jasmani system as stated
below:
 Unbroken relationship: Under the jajmani system the kameen remains obliged
to render the services throughout his life to a particular jajman and the jajman
in turn has the responsibility of hiring services of a kameen.
 Hereditary relationship: Jajmani rights are enjoyed hereditarily. After the death
of a man his son is entitled to work as kameen for the same jajman family
or families. The son of a jajman also accepts the son of the kameen as his
kameen.
 Multidimensional relationship: Due to the permanency of relationship both the
jajman and kameen families become mutually dependent on each other. They
often take part in the personal and family affairs, family rituals and ceremonies.
 Barter exchange: Under jajmani system the payments are made mainly in
terms of goods and commodities. The kameen gets his necessities from the
jajman in return for his services. [William H Wiser (1988)]
The system has been regard as essentially exploitative, characterised by a latent
conflict of interest which could not crystallise due to the prevalent social setup.
The jajmani system has gradually decayed in modern society due to many reasons.
Modern economic systems measure everything in terms of its monetary value. The
decline of belief in caste system and hereditary occupation has given a strong blow
to the system. Growth of better employment opportunities outside the village and
introduction of new transport options have also led to the downfall of jajmani
system.

It is a kind of social system in which goods and services are given to relatives,
friends and neighbours on various social occasions like birth ritual, marriage, death
rituals, etc. The basic initiative of this exchange is to establish good relations
between the various social groups in the society.
1.6.5 Reciprocity
Reciprocity consists of giving and taking goods and services in a social medium
without the use of money, which ranges from pure gift giving to equal exchange
to cheating or deceitful. Under reciprocity, there are again three forms: general
reciprocity (the gift giving without any immediate or planned returned), balanced
reciprocity (the exchange with the expectation of return that involves a
straightforward immediate or limited-time span) and negative reciprocity (an attempt
to take advantage of another or something for nothing).
16
1.6.6 Redistribution Concepts and Definition
It involves the accumulation of wealth or labour or goods by a particular individual

for the purpose of subsequent distribution. This type of accumulation for redistribution
is seen in societies having political hierarchies with specialised or privileged political
positions or political agencies. Centralised accumulation and redistribution require
a suitable political organisation. Such a system was reported among the Creek
Indians, the Buniyaro of Western Uganda, the Buin of Melanesia. Here, certain
amount of agricultural produce is deposited in the community granary by each
family. Such accumulated grains can be redistributed to those who lack food or
during lean seasons or famines or on special occasions. The chief or the king is
responsible to oversee redistribution though in some cases the chief may get
benefitted. Besides grains, labour services and crafts are also redistributed.

A market is any one of a variety of systems, institutions, procedures, social relations,
and infrastructure whereby parties engage in exchange. While in some cases goods
and services are exchanged by barter, most commonly these exchanges take place
through the medium of money. It may also involve the transaction of labour, land,
rental and credit and also other services. A transaction becomes a market or
commercial exchange, if the factors of supply and demand determine the price or
nature of exchange. Market exchanges develop when trade increases and barter
becomes increasingly inefficient; when the level of economic development becomes
higher; surplus production is specifically meant for exchange; external trade
develops; kin based reciprocal relations become weak and difficult to operate in
situations of dense population size and complex societal arrangements etc.
Modern trade exchange provides a trading platform system for its members or
clients. The member companies within the network participate in buying and selling
of their products and services to each other using an internal currency. For an
effective method of increasing sales, conserving cash, moving inventory, and making
use of excess production capacity for businesses around the world, markets have
evolved as an arrangement to become a common platform for them. They deposited
into their account as they have the purchasing power of goods and services from
other members utilising their trade credit, etc. Such an exchange plays an important
role by providing the record-keeping, brokering expertise, and so on.
1.7 THE DISTRIBUTION OF GOODS AND

SERVICES: TWO CASE STUDIES
As we learnt in the above account, there are different practices of the distribution
of goods and services. Two important cases are discussed below:
1.7.1 Kula
According to Malinowski (1922), Kula is a ceremonial exchange among Trobriand
Islanders of New Guinea. Kula is also known as kula exchange or kula ring. It
is a complex system of visits and exchange of two kinds of ornaments as well as
trading of food and other commodities with the people of other (nearby or far-
off) islands. Because the islands are differentially endowed with different natural
resources, each island could produce only a few specialised products or commodities
and have to depend upon other islands for other essential things and objects.
Because trading involves visiting distant and strange islands which may be risky, 17
Economic and Political the Trobrianders have worked out kula for a safe and secure trade by establishing
Organisations
trade partnership by means of exchanging kula ornaments and also gift giving.
The essence of such trade relations is not the trade in itself but it is subdued or
embedded in a ceremonial exchange of valued shell ornaments.
The Kula ornaments are of two types. One consists of shell-disc necklaces (veigun
or Soulava) that are traded to the north (circling the ring in clockwise direction)
and the other are shell armbands (Mwali) that are traded in the southern direction
(circling counter-clockwise). Mwali was given with the right hand, the Soulava
given with the left hand, first between villages then from island to island. If the
opening gift was an armband, then the closing gift must be a necklace and vice
versa. These are exchanged in a ceremonial ambience purely for purposes of
enhancing mutual trust relationships, securing trade, and enhancing one’s social
status and prestige. The Kula ornaments are not in themselves remarkably valuable.
However, these ornaments are loaded with folklore, myths, ritual, history etc
which generate a lot of enthusiasm and bind together the trading partners. Exchange
of these ornaments facilitates trading of goods with ease in the island visited as the
trading partner in the host island helps the visitor(s). However, people participating
in the Kula ring never indulge in any bargaining on the objects given and taken.
Individual members trade goods while circulating the Soulava and Mwali in a
cordial atmosphere. (Malinowski, 1922 Sixth Impression: 1964)
1.7.2 Potlatch
Potlatch is an elabourate feast among the American Indian groups of Northwest
Coast at which huge quantities of food and valuable goods (such as blankets,
copper pieces, canoes, etc.) are pompously and competitively distributed to the
guests in order to humiliate them as well as to gain prestige for the host. Burning
huge quantities of goods is also common. Potlatches are organised by individuals
like village chiefs or a group of individuals or villages. The chief of a village invites
a neighbouring village to attend the potlatch which the latter invariably has to
accept. The guests in turn invite the hosts to attend the potlatch to be given by
them. Though such distribution of gifts take place in a competitive way, it also
serves as a leveling mechanism where food and gifts get equally distributed among
various villages in a wide area in the long run.
Similar feasts are organised among the Melanesian societies (New Guinea) wherein
large number of (in hundreds) pigs are slaughtered. Several villages attend these
feasts. It appears that such large scale feasts are a waste. But these feats serve
the mechanism of ‘storing’ surplus food produced during good seasons, not by
storing in bins, but by feeding the pigs. Thus pigs become food-storing repositories
which can be used as food during lean seasons. If successive years are also good,
there will be over production of food that goes to pigs. As a result, the size of
drove grows into an unmanageable proportion, pigs destroy crops. In order to
reduce the drove size, a large number of pigs are slaughtered and a huge feasts
is organised by inviting guests from other villages. As a result, the pig population
gets drastically reduced and their menace on the fields also gets reduced. Such
feasts take place between villages reciprocally and the excess food (pigs) gets
redistributed. These feasts are not necessarily competitive but in a few cases, in
order to keep up one’s status, some ‘Big men’ of Melanesian societies organise
such huge feasts.
18
Concepts and Definition
1.8 SUMMARY
In summing up this unit, we can say that every society (be it a simple or complex
society) has a political organisation that provides the ways of living as a social
being by maintaining social order and resolve conflicts. The level of the organisation
and its structure differs from society to society. In addition to political organisation,
every society has economic organisation that involves different customary or
traditional ways of transferring economic exchange of goods and services, and
also the customs for distributing them.
References
Bhowmick, P.K. 1990. Applied Action-Development-Anthropology. Calcutta:
Sri Indranath Majumdar.
Carol R. Ember and Melvin Ember. 1990. Anthropology. Englewood Cliffs, New
Jersey: Prentice Hall. P.249.
__________________ 1995. Anthropology. New Delhi: Prentice-Hall of India
Private Limited. (Page No-375).
Carneiro, Robert L. 1970. ‘A Theory of the Origin of the State’. in Science. pp.
733-38.
Ferraro, Gary P. 1992. Cultural Anthropology. New York, Los Angeles, San
Francisco: West Publishing Company.
Hasnain, Nadeem. 1994. Tribal India. Delhi: Pal aka Prakashan.
Hoebel, A. E. and Weaver. T. 1979. Anthropology and The Human Experience.
New York: McGraw Hill Book Company.
Mauss, Marcel. 1925. The Gift: The Form and Reason for Exchange in Archaic
Societies. Originally published as Essai sur le don. Forme et raison de l’échange
dans les sociétés archaïques.
Polanyi, Karl. 1957. ‘The Economy as Instituted Process’, in Karl Polanyi, Conrad
Arensberg, and Harry W. Pearson, eds., Trade and Market in the Early Empires.
New York: Free Press. Page no. 243-70.
Sahlins, Marshall. 1963. ‘Poor Man, Rich Man, Big-Man, Chief: Political Types
in Melanesia and Polynesia.’ In Comparative Studies in Society and History.
Pp. 285-303.
__________________ 1972. Stone Age Economics. Chicago: Aldine Transaction.
Wiser, William. H. 1988. The Hindu Jajmani System: A Socio-Economic System

Interrelating Members Of A Hindu Village Community In Services. Delhi:
Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt Ltd.
Suggested Reading
Harris, Marvin. 1975. Cows, Pigs, Wars and Witches: The Riddles of Culture.
New York: Random House.
Malinowski, Bronislaw. 1954. Magic, Science and Religion and Other Essays.
Garden City, New York: Doubleday Anchor Book.
19
Economic and Political Radcliffe-Brown, A. R. 1922. The Andaman Islander: A Study in Social
Organisations
Sample Questions
1) What are the similarities and differences between tribal society and band
societies?
2) Compare and contrast the Chiefdoms and State societies?
3) What are the different form of distribution of goods and services among the
simple society? Describe their components briefly.
20
UNIT 3 PRODUCTION, CONSUMPTION
AND EXCHANGE
Contents
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Main Theories in Economic Anthropology: A Brief Overview
3.3 Key Components of an Economic System
3.3.1 Production
3.3.1.1 Food Collection
3.3.1.2 Food Production
3.3.2 Distribution and Exchange
3.3.3 Utilisation or Consumption
3.4 Summary
References
Suggested Reading
Sample Questions
Learning Objectives

Once you have studied this unit, you should able to:
 understand the two main schools in economic anthropology and the fundamental
differences in their approach to the study of economic systems in simple
societies;
 describe the main socio-cultural characteristics of hunters-gatherers, pastoralists
and intensive agriculturists; and
 define reciprocity, redistribution, market/market exchange, utilisation.
3.1 INTRODUCTION
Broadly, an economic system may be defined as the one by which goods are
produced, distributed, exchanged and utilised or consumed. However, interpreting
the same for other cultures is not that simple. There is always a natural inclination
towards interpreting the cultures of others through our ethnocentric assertion which
is guided by our own values, beliefs and rationality. Therefore, it is important to
view economy not in isolation but as part of a larger whole, that is, an integral
component of the culture of the people, adopting an emic (insider’s) perspective.
To cite an example, participation of a large number of community members in
jhum (shifting or swidden cultivation) in Meghalaya (India) and its associated
rituals and community feasting could be viewed as unsustainable, unnecessary,
unproductive and a sheer waste of time by someone living in metropolitan cities
like Mumbai or Delhi, where neighbours hardly interact or get to interact with each
other. But the same practices, developed over generations and influenced by the
particular ecological locale and the adaptive challenges faced by the particular
community hold great relevance in their economic life.
33
Economic and Political In this unit, we will learn about some fundamental concepts of economic
Organisations
anthropology. Economic anthropology may be regarded as a subfield of cultural
anthropology pertaining to the study of human economic systems, across different
cultures. When we talk about economic systems, we generally deal with four
important aspects: production, making goods or money; distribution or the
allocation of the goods or money between different people, exchange, which refers
to the transfer of goods or money between people or institutions; and utilisation
or consumption, which involves the using up of goods or money.
3.2 MAIN THEORIES IN ECONOMIC

ANTHROPOLOGY: A BRIEF OVERVIEW
Before going straight into the concepts of production, distribution, exchange and
utilisation, it will be beneficial to have a broad overview of the main theories and
schools of thought in economic anthropology, in order to have a better understanding
of these concepts.
Till the 1920s, anthropologists did not pay much attention to the study of what
later became ‘economic anthropology’ or the anthropological study of the working
of economic systems in human society. The term ‘economic anthropology’ was
coined by N.S.B.Gras (1927:10), an economic historian, who defined it as a
‘synthesis of anthropological and economic studies’ dealing with ‘the study of the
ways in which primitive people obtained a living.’ Gras made a distinction between
economic anthropology and ‘anthropological economics’. According to him, the
latter, in contrast to the former, deals with the ‘study of the ideas that primitive
people held about economic matters’. He strongly advocated greater research
collabourations between anthropologists and economists, as in his view,
‘anthropologists could provide those in the economic field with facts in return for
ideas and the fundamental issues involved in getting a living’ (1927:22). Despite
his pioneering work, Gras did not have much impact upon later anthropologists
working on economic systems.
Malinowski’s Argonauts of the Western Pacific (1922) is regarded as one of the
pioneering works in this sub-field. The crux of Malinowski’s argument was that
societies like that of the Trobriand Islanders did not fit the classic economists’
model. In such societies, the motive of economic activities was not confined to the
satisfaction of material wants but embraced much more such as gains in terms of
enhanced social prestige. Further the boundaries between economic activities and
other aspects like religion were interlinked and overlapped . Malinowski’s ‘anti-
economics’ (Honnigman, 1973) approach continued to profoundly influence
anthropologists working in this sub-field till about the late 1930s and then made
a reappearance as a basic tenet of the substantivist position of the 1950s.
A different perspective to the issue came about with the publication of some
seminal works by Goodfellow (1939), Herskovits (1940) and Firth (1965a). This
perspective is basically premised around the belief that anthropologists could stand
to gain by studying certain attributes of conventional economics and putting them
to application to the economies of simple societies. This evolved into what is
known as the ‘formalist’ stance, which centres on the argument that the neo-
classical model of economics based on the study of utility maximisation under
conditions of scarcity, can be applied to any society, with appropriate modifications.
The neo-classical model of economics views material behaviour as an organised
34 way of using means to arrive at certain valued goals or ends. The assumptions are
that man is a self-interested and rational being and that land, labour and capital Production, Consumption
and Exchange
are scarce and productive components in the economy. According to Burling
(1962), all human cultures are, therefore, a collection of ‘choice making individuals
whose every action involves conscious or unconscious selections among alternatives
means to alternative ends’, whereby the ends are culturally defined goals. Goals
refer not only to economic value or financial gain but to anything that is valued by
the individual, be it leisure, solidarity or prestige.
The 1960s witnessed a big controversy in economic anthropology owing to the
conflict between the formalists and the substantivists. In the ‘substantivist revolution’
(Le Clair and Schneider, eds., 1968) of the 1950s, we see the reappearance of
a new version of Malinowski’s ‘anti-economics’ position, with substantivism
advocating the non-applicability of conventional economic theory to the study of
non-western, nonindustrial economies. The so-called substantivist revolution was
heralded by the political economist Karl Polanyi in his famous work The Great
Transformation (1944). According to Polanyi, there are two meanings of economy
– the substantive, which refers to a category of observable behaviour, e.g.,
production, consumption, distribution; and the formal, which refers to the logic of
rational choice. In his view, the logic of rational choice occurs only in modern
market societies and not pre-market societies. In Polanyi’s words (1944: 43), ‘the
outstanding discovery of recent historical and anthropological research is that
man’s economy, as a rule, is submerged in his social relationships. He does not
act so as to safeguard his individual interest in the possession of material goods;
he acts so as to safeguard his social standing, his social claims, and his social
assets. He values material goods only in so far as they serve this end. Neither the
process of production nor that of distribution is linked to specific economic interests
attached to the possession of goods; but every single step in that process is
geared to a number of social interests which eventually ensure that the required
step be taken. These interests will be very different in a small hunting or fishing
community from those in a vast despotic society, but in either case the economic
system will be run on non-economic motives’. The works of Polanyi’s successors
like Sahlins (1965) and Dalton (1968) reinforced the substantive position that the
economy is merely the process of provisioning society or the sociocultural system
and that no social relation, institution, or set of institutions is economic but that it
can only serve economic purposes.
Thus, it would not be wrong to state that till the early 1970s, the growth and
evolution of economic anthropology has basically revolved around these two schools
of thought- formalism and substantivism. On the one hand, there have been the
formalists who seek to study social relations as concomitant to the process of
resource utilisation. On the other hand, the substantivists have consistently argued
that rational choice is only ‘instituted’ in the socio-cultural and political systems
of capitalist societies, and that in other societies, economic behaviour is guided by
non-economic principles.
The 1970s witnessed the influence of Marxian thought on economic anthropology.
Scholars like Wolf (1982) highlighted the fact that European capitalist expansion
had brought about remarkable transformation among traditional economies, which
could no longer be studied in isolation, but in relation to the capitalist world
systems. This perhaps holds even greater relevance in the present time of
globalisation and a world order where market forces reign supreme.
There has also been the growth of other theories in economic anthropology such
as culturalism propounded by Gudeman (1986). He argues that the central processes 35
Economic and Political of making a livelihood are culturally constructed. Therefore, models of livelihoods
Organisations
and related economic concepts such as exchange, money or profit must be analysed
through the locals’ ways of understanding them.
With this brief introduction to the basic theories of economic anthropology, we will
now discuss in detail the concepts of production, distribution, exchange, utilisation
and consumption, with examples from across the world.
3.3 KEY COMPONENTS OF AN ECONOMIC

SYSTEM
Production refers to the process by which human beings transform, through their
work, matter or natural resources into some goods, which is consumable or capable
of being used to satisfy their need or want. Distribution is the process of allocation
of goods between different individuals or groups while exchange helps an individual
or group acquire particular products into which he/she wishes to convert the
quantity allocated to him through distribution. Consumption, as the word indicates,
refers to the use of the goods or services. As far as the inter-relationship between
these components of an economic system goes, Marx (1904a: 274-75) provides
a very apt description which is as follows: ‘Production yields goods adapted to
our needs; distribution distributes them according to social laws; exchange distributes
further what has already been distributed, according to individual wants; finally, in
consumption the product drops out of the social movement becoming the direct
object of the individual want which it serves and satisfies in use. Production, thus,
appears as the starting point; consumption as the final end; and distribution and
exchange as the middle; the later has a double aspect, distribution being defined
as a process carried on by society, while exchange, as one proceeding from the
individual’.
3.3.1 Production
Economic anthropologists, particularly the substantivist scholars, have generally
displayed a tendency towards over-emphasising on the study of exchange processes
and relations, with the result that study of production modes has not been accorded
much priority. To cite Honnigman (1973), ‘they do not analyse or theorise about
the forces and relations of production or about the creation of commodities, but
invariably restrict themselves to the circulation and destination of commodities
already produced’. He further opines that Polanyi’s tripartite scheme of reciprocity,
redistribution, and market exchange presupposes production modes but does not
link up with them; the social concomitants of transactional modes, not of production
modes are of dominant concern to him and his followers.
In economic anthropology, production has been given its due importance by the
Marxian anthropologists, with Marx emphasising on the centrality of production to
the economy. According to Dalton (1961:6), Marx perceives the economy as a
process of interaction between men and their environment, a process through
which men as producers ‘integrate the use of natural resources and techniques and
assure continuous cooperation in the provision of material goods’. Also, according
to Marx (1904a:11), the economic base or mode of production in every society
is made up of two components: (i) the force of production, the physical and
technological arrangement of economic activity, and (ii) the social relations of
production, the interpersonal and intergroup relationships that men must establish
with one another as a consequence of their roles in the production process.
36
To state in simple terms, production involves human-nature interaction, with human Production, Consumption
and Exchange
beings interacting with nature through the means of their culture to wrest their
material means of existence. It is perhaps for this reason that Godelier (1967a:
259) argues that production embraces all kinds of production operations regardless
of the specific societal context in which they are performed and that economies
ranging from the very simple (hunting, gathering and fishing) to more advanced
agricultural and industrial economies can be studied within the same analytical
framework.
We would now be looking into the various modes of production ranging from the
‘simple’-hunting, gathering and fishing, where human beings occupy and wrest
from nature their sustenance without transforming it, to the more complex such as
animal husbandry and followed by cultivation, which involves the transformation of
nature. In the evolutionary scheme of society, cultivation and animal husbandry
invariably appear after hunting, gathering and fishing (Lowie 1938:282). Production,
for the purpose of simple societies, may be basically studied under the two heads:
food collection and food production.
Food collection, encompassing the production strategies of hunting, fishing and
gathering, refers to all forms of subsistence technology in which food is secured
from naturally occurring resources such as wild plants and animals, without significant
domestication of either. Food collection is the oldest survival strategy known to
man. But in the present day, there are very few communities left in the world who
are entirely dependant on hunting and gathering for livelihood such as the Australian
aborigines, the Inuits living in the arctic regions of Canada, the Andamanese tribes
like the Onge and Jarawa etc. However, a number of communities continue to
practice hunting-gathering and fishing to supplement their nutrition from agriculture.
For instance, in the state of Assam, many of the tribes such as the Karbis, Tiwas,
Mishings, Rabhas etc. are experts in the art of fishing and hunting, which they
practice in conjunction with agriculture.
While the study of exclusively hunter-gatherer communities may help us arrive at
some understanding of man’s life in the past, Ember and Ember (1994) cautions
against the excessive use of contemporary observations to draw inferences about
the past for a number of reasons. In their view, we must understand that the earlier
hunter-gatherers lived in almost all types of environments, including some very
bountiful ones and not like the contemporary ones who live mostly in marginal
areas and, therefore, are not comparable. Moreover, the contemporary hunter-
gatherers are not relics of the past and like us have evolved continuously. Nor in
the past did hunter-gathering communities have the opportunity to interact with
agriculturists, pastoralists, industrial/capitalist societies.
Contemporary hunters-gatherers live in a variety of geographical locations and
climates but mostly in marginalised areas where agriculture is not feasible.
Nevertheless, such groups seem to share a number of cultural attributes like the
fact that most live in small groups in sparely populated areas and adhere to a
nomadic lifestyle. For them, the camp is the main center of daily activity and the
place where food sharing actually occurs. According to Honigmann (1973), the
hunter-gatherer society is egalitarian, does not recognise individual land rights and
do not accumulate surplus foodstuffs, often an important source of status in
agricultural societies. Such communities usually do not have a class system or
specialised or full-time political officials. Division of labour is largely on the basis 37
Economic and Political of age and sex. Ethnographic and archaeological evidence indicate that with few
Organisations
exceptions, such societies generally have a sexual division of labour, where men
hunt and usually do the fishing while women gather wild plant foods. Sahlins
(1968) calls them the ‘original affluent society’ despite the fact that hunter-gatherers
consume less energy per capita per year than any other group of human beings.
According to Sahlins, ethnographic data indicates that hunter-gatherers worked
far fewer hours and enjoyed more leisure than typical members of industrial society,
and they still ate well. Their ‘affluence’ came from the idea that they are satisfied
with very little in the material sense.
The origins of food production began about 10,000 years ago in the Neolithic
period when man took the first steps from merely utilising to transforming nature
through the cultivation and domestication of plants and animals. Archaeological
data indicate that various forms of domestication of plants and animals arose
independently in six separate locales worldwide during the period from 8000 to
5000 BC, with the earliest known evidence found throughout the tropical and
subtropical areas of southwestern and southern Asia, northern and central Africa
and Central America (Gupta, 2010). According to anthropologists, on its own, the
physical environment has more of a limiting rather than a determining impact on
the kinds of subsistence choices made. For instance, according to Binford (1990),
further away from the equator, food collectors depends much less on plants for
food and much more on animals and fish.
Food production systems may be generally divided into three main kinds: horticulture,
pastoralism and intensive agriculture.
i) Horticulture
The term ‘horticulture’, denotes a simple food production strategy involving the
growing of crops using simple hand tools such as the digging stick and hoe, in the
absence of permanently cultivated fields. Horticulture generally does not involve
any efforts at fertilisation, irrigation, or other means to restore the fertility of the
soil once the growing season is over. As far as the cultural attributes of horticulturist
societies are concerned, land is generally owned by the community or kin groups.
Horticultural practices are generally of two kinds. The most common one is extensive
or shifting cultivation also known as swidden or slash-and-burn (jhum in the
Indian context). This method of horticulture involves the cultivation of a particular
plot of land for a short time, followed by a long fallow period, when the land is
left alone to regain its fertility. The process of preparation of a piece of land for
shifting cultivation involves clearing the undergrowth and felling of trees which are
then left to dry. Just before the seasonal rains are to begin, they are set afire. The
ash is also supposed to rejuvenate the soil and immediately after the first shower
of the season, a mix of crop seeds such as maise, gourd etc. are sown with the
help of the digging stick. Generally, all adults are involved in food production, with
a division of labour based on sex. This particular form of cultivation has been
derided by many as a main reason for deforestation and decimation of forests, and
a number of environmental problems stemming from it. In India, shifting cultivation
continues to be widely practiced in many states of the North-East like Assam,
Meghalaya etc. and there have been many policy initiatives to wean away
communities from this practice.
38
The other form of horticulture pertains to the planting of long-growing tree crops Production, Consumption
and Exchange
such as coconut and banana, which after a few years, continues to yield crops for
a number of years.
Most horticultural societies, according to Ember and Ember (1994), do not rely
on crops alone for food but rely on a combination of subsistence strategies which
includes hunting, fishing, the raising of domestic animals like pigs, chickens, goats
etc.
ii) Pastoralism
Pastoralism is characterised by a heavy though rarely exclusive reliance on the
herding of domesticated animals for a living. It is usually practised in areas not
particularly amenable to agriculture such as grasslands and other semiarid habitats.
A classic attribute of a pastoral society is mobility of all or part of the society as
a normal and natural part of life. This mobility might be permanent (nomadism) or
seasonal, which is referred to as transhumance. The reason behind the mobile
nature of their lives lies in that fact that their territory, by necessity, has to be
spread over a large area. Once their herds have grazed in an area to the maximum,
it has to be left alone for the grass to renew and they have to move on in search
of newer pastures. Pastoral communities are generally small in size. In India, for
instance, the Bakarwals are a pastoral nomadic community inhabiting the high-
altitude meadows of the Himalayas and the Pir-Panjal ranges. Every year, they
take their sheep high into the mountains, above the tree-line to the meadows,
which are reachable only after a long arduous journey.
Among pastoral nomads, grazing lands are generally held communally and a chief
may be the designated owner of the land. According to Sneath (2000), pastoralist
systems are commonly organised into patrilineal clans and lineages that function as
corporate livestock owning units, with men being typically the owners of livestock
wealth. There is sexual division of labour, with men being in charge of the herding,
while women process the herd’s products such as milk. Such communities,
according to Ember and Ember (1994), often make agreements with settled
agriculturalists about rights to graze unused fields or even to clear a harvested field
of leftover.
While pastoralism has been an effective and sustainable economic strategy in
resource-poor environments, it could lead to overexploitation of the environment
when outside forces constrict the available space.
iii) Intensive Agriculture
Intensive agriculture enables human beings to cultivate fields permanently by
adopting a variety of techniques. It involves the use of fertilizers, both organic such
as cow dung and inorganic chemical fertilisers, the use of technologies ranging
from the humble plough to the tractor and could also incorporate complex systems
of irrigation and water control. Societies practicing intensive agriculture generally
have individual ownership of land. Such societies are also likely to be characterised
by a higher degree of economic specialisation, more complex political organisation,
and disparities in the distribution of wealth and power among different sections of
the society. The basic unit of production is the family and division of labour takes
place according to gender and age. Women in such a society have a number of
duties associated with the food processing stage but they also spend a lot of time
in the fields. In fact, apart from ploughing which is a taboo in many communities
of rural and tribal India, women have an important role in intensive agriculture, 39
Economic and Political particularly wet paddy cultivation, including planting of seedlings in nurseries,
Organisations
transplanting them to flooded fields, weeding, harvesting etc.
While most intensive agriculturists particularly in countries like India live at
subsistence level, with the produce barely enough to cater to their own needs,
others have increasingly grown crops as surplus for the market. In fact, following
the Green Revolution of the 1960s, farmers in the state of Punjab in India grew
increasingly more to cater to the market. Contemporary Indian agriculture is also
characterised by the increased trend of farmers, motivated by the market, to grow
more cash than food crops. Such a trend coupled with the fact that intensive
agriculturists may rely more often on single crops, subject to the vagaries of the
weather, could result in food shortage.

Distribution and exchange has consistently remained the central focus of
anthropologists interested in the study of economic systems and their working in
society. While being closely related concepts, the main point of distinction between
the two is that while distribution determines the proportion of total output that the
individual will receive, exchange determines the specific products into which the
individual wants to convert the share allocated to him by distribution (Honigmann
1973). He further opines that distribution implies a reward system in which produce
is channeled out among individuals or groups by reason of their control over the
factors of production or for the labour they expended in the productive process.
Exchange, on the other hand, refers to the various processes by which goods (and
services) move or are being transferred between individuals or groups, as, for
example, between producer and consumer, buyer and seller, donor and recipient.
Firth’s (1965a) work among the Tikopia is a seminal study on distribution. In his
view, every society has explicit or implicit norms on how the total pool of products
is to be shared among its members and that these norms are geared to address
the issue of division of a joint product and the compensation of the factors of
production, especially labour. His observation of the principles of distribution in
the Tikopia economy, which hold equal relevance for many pre-industrial economies,
led him to certain conclusions. According to him (1965a:313), there is a ‘definite
concept that all participants in a productive activity should receive a share of the
product, but that social considerations do not make it necessary for this share to
be exactly proportionate to the contribution in time, labour, or skill that each
individual has made’. Such inequalities in terms of allocation are particularly evident
in tribal and peasant societies, where social and/or political achievement entitles
some individuals to more than an equal share of material reward. Sahlins’ (1968)
study indicates that despite these ‘inequalities’ in distribution, the relationship between
a chief and the followers in most tribal societies is not exploitative in nature but
based on the principle of generalised reciprocity (we will come to it later in our
discussion).
Now, we shall discuss the ‘action, or act, of reciprocal giving and receiving’
(Gregory, 1998) or exchange. According to Commons (1954), the concept of
exchange, from the anthropological viewpoint, embraces two distinct kinds of
transfer events: physical transfers and jural transactions. While the former involves
locational movement and physical control; the second involves the transfer of
culturally defined ownership and use rights. It is the latter aspect which has aroused
the interests of anthropologists from the very beginning.
40
Significant understanding on exchange and the motives for it came from Malinowski’s Production, Consumption
and Exchange
(1922) work on trade and gift giving among the Trobriand Islanders and Mauss’s
classic essay The Gift published in 1922. Malinowski studied the ceremonial
exchange system- the Kula ring spread over eighteen island communities of the
Massim archipelago, including the Trobriand Islands and involved thousands of
individuals. Members of the Kula ring travelled long distances by canoe to exchange
Kula items - red shell-disc necklaces (veigun or soulava) traded to the north in
clockwise direction and white shell armbands (mwali) traded in the southern or
counter clockwise direction. If the opening gift was an armshell, then the closing
gift must be a necklace and vice versa. Malinowski (1922: 177) came to the
conclusion that exchange among Trobrianders was better seen as a social act than
a transmission of useable objects. Exchange, in his view, did not result in economic
gain; quite the contrary, it represented a superiority of the giver over the receiver
and placed a burden upon the receiver. Similarly, the basic argument of Mauss’s
essay is that gifts are never free and that they always give rise to reciprocal
exchange. According to Gregory (1998), an important notion in Mauss’
conceptualisation of gift exchange is ‘inalienability’ or the fact that the object is
never completely alineated from giver; hence, the act of giving creates a social
bond with an obligation to reciprocate on part of the recipient. To not reciprocate
means not only loss of honour and status, but may also have spiritual connotations
in some societies.
Later on, Polanyi and a group of scholars (eds., 1957) tried to distinguish between
two kinds of processes involved in exchange among simple communities- goods-
handling and goods- receiving, and raised a number of pertinent questions: ‘Who
passed on goods to whom, in what order, how often, and with what response
among those listed under whom?’ Based on the answers arrived at after analysing
a number of ethnographic cases, they identified three kinds of exchange: (1)
reciprocative sequence among fixed partners; (2) redistributive sequence between
a central actor and many peripheral actors; (3) random market sequence (1957:
vii-ix). In a later work, Sahlins (1965b) reduced these three kinds of exchange
into two broad types: (1) ‘reciprocity’ or ‘vice-versa’ movements between two
parties and (2) ‘pooling’ or ‘redistribution’ involving collection from members of
a group, and redivision within this group. We will now try to understand the
concepts of reciprocity and redistribution with a few ethnographic examples. We
will also spend some time understanding market exchange, as in today’s monetised
economy, almost all societies of the world are coming within its ambit.
i) Reciprocity
Reciprocity constitutes the main basis of exchange in most non-market economies.
According to Sahlins (1965b:145-49), reciprocity may be defined into three types
based on the criterion of the stipulation of material returns, which are as follows:
a) Generalised reciprocity, involving unstipulated reciprocation, is gift giving
without consideration of any immediate or planned return. In such a case, the
value of the gift is not calculated and the time of repayment not specified.
Such type of reciprocity generally occurs only among close kin or people
sharing close emotional bonds such as between parents and children, between
siblings, close friends etc.
b) Balanced or Symmetrical reciprocity occurs when someone gives to
someone else, expecting a fair and tangible return - at a specified amount,
time, and place (Bonvillian, 2010). Here, the exchange occurs owing to the 41
Economic and Political desire or need for certain objects. Giving, receiving and sharing constitute a
Organisations
form of social security and according to Honigmann (1973), it promotes an
egalitarian distribution of wealth over the long run. While generally practiced
among equals who are not closely related, balanced reciprocity principles
may also be evident in gift giving among kin. To cite a particular example,
among relatives in many parts of India, it is common practice for kin to give
valuable items and even monetary contribution when a relative’s daughter is
being married off. The implicit expectation being that when their own daughter
is married off, similar contributions could be expected from the receivers.
Sometimes there is a fine line between generalised and balanced reciprocity
particularly gift giving in urban society, where though it might appear to be
generalised reciprocity, there may be strong expectations of balance. For
instance, two families residing in the same neighbourhood in Delhi may try to
exchange gifts of fairly equal value, say based on calculations of what last
year’s Diwali gift’s cost.
While balanced reciprocity generally operates on egalitarian principles, it
could also take on a competitive form. Normally, it might be a means for
villagers to ‘bank’ surplus food by storing up ‘social credit’ with fellow
villagers by giving feasts, with the expectation that the credit will be returned.
But affluent villagers might use this mechanism to enhance their social status
by throwing lavish feasts and giving costly gifts. This seems to be the primary
objective of chiefs among many Native American groups of the Northwest
coast in holding a potlatch (ceremonial festival), where he would give away
gifts, food and even destroy items of value in a spirit of competition with rival
chiefs .
c) Negative reciprocity is the exchange of goods and services where each
party intends to profit from the exchange, often at the expense of the other
(Bonvillian, 2010). Practiced against strangers and enemies, it could range
from barter, deceitful bargaining to theft, and finds social sanction among
many societies. For instance, among the Navajo, to deceive when trading
with foreign tribes is considered morally acceptable (Kluckhohn, 1972). Barter
is believed to fall within the realm of negative reciprocity, as it is a means by
which scarce items from one group are exchanged for desirable goods from
another group. According to Honigmann (1973), relative value is calculated
and despite an outward show of indifference, sharp trading is more the rule.
While talking about the kinds of reciprocity, Sahlins (1965b: 149-74) points out
that reciprocity leans toward generalised extreme on the basis of close kinship and
that it moves towards the negative extreme in proportion to a diminution in kinship
propinquity, and that it varies with other factors such as social rank, relative wealth
and need, and type of goods.
ii) Redistribution
Redistribution refers to a kind of economic exchange characterised by the
accumulation of goods (or labour), with the objective of subsequent distribution
within a social group according to culturally-specific principles. While, redistribution
exists in all societies within the family where labour or products or income are
pooled for the common good, it emerges as an important mechanism in societies
with political hierarchies. In the latter, it requires a centralised political mechanism
to coordinate the collection and distribution of goods. While it serves as a mechanism
42
for dispensing goods within a society, it could also be a means for a chief to
consolidate his political power and gain in prestige. This seems to be an objective Production, Consumption
and Exchange
of the potlatch where chiefs compete with each other to give away and destroy
goods of value.
In less centralised societies that do not have formal chiefs, the economic
entrepreneur or the ‘big man’ may carry out such acts. In modern market economies,
redistribution takes place through taxation by the state, whereby resources are
allocated back to individuals or groups within society, either through the provision
of public services or directly through welfare benefits.
iii) Market/Market Exchange
In very broad terms, a market/ market exchange involves the buying and selling
of goods, labour, land, rentals, credit etc. by persons, using an intermediary token
of common exchange value. According to Honigmann (1973), such a two party
market transaction could very well become a form of negative reciprocity, unless
some sort of arrangement has been made to ensure at least an approach to
balance. Although market exchange need not necessarily involve money, most
commercial transactions, particularly nowadays do involve money (Ember & Ember,
1994). Again, while most of such transactions take place in a specifically designated
market place, a market may exist without a designated physical place. This is
more so in the contemporary world, where significant market transactions take
place on the internet. On the other hand, in simple societies, a market place may
signify much more than a place where economic transactions are performed. In
rural and tribal India, even today, weekly haats or markets provide an opportunity
for people to renew friendships, exchange local gossip, arrange marriages, while
some may also have deep cultural significance. Reliance on the market and the use
of general purpose money is increasing universally, with traditional subsistence
giving way to commercialisation due to factors like demand, increased interaction
with other societies etc. According to Plattner (1985), the substantivist stance in
economic anthropology is rendered redundant in the context of markets in the
present day. In his words, ‘the pretense that theories of markets and marketing
were irrelevant became less viable’ in a world that increasingly resembles a market
system. At the same time, according to Dilley (1992), over-simplistic notions of
economic man as individual maximiser of economic value, as enunciated by the
formalist position, have now receded in the face of theoretical criticism that such
assumptions provide few convincing explanations of socio-economic status.

The third component of the economic system following from production, distribution
and exchange is utilisation or consumption. If we go by what Herskovits (1952:
298-309) says, then, utilisation has to be considered to be broader in scope than
consumption. According to him, the process of utilisation involves two aspects:
those leading to further production by employing the resources obtained as ‘capital’;
and those involving direct, immediate consumption to satisfy current wants.
While scholars like Dalton (1969) and Sahlins (1969) have been critical of extending
the capital concept to pre-industrial societies, scholars like Firth (1965a) have
argued that many simple societies do use capital in the economic process either
as a productive asset or as a means of facilitating control over purchasing power;
or as a fund for investment. However, the comparatively high liquidity or ease of
convertibility of many goods in primitive and peasant economies from one use to
another, creates problems in this. Firth (1965a: 237-38), for instances observes
43
Economic and Political that pandanus mats, on which the Tikopians slept, and bark cloth used for blankets
Organisations
and clothing, were also utilised in the manufacture of objects like canoes, troughs
and sinnet cord, thereby serving both production and consumption purposes.
Coming to the issue of consumption in simple societies, a key concept is that of
the consumption unit which is a kin-based income-pooling or household unit that
typically incorporates males and females of varying ages and is found in all
preindustrial societies (Lee 1969). According to Firth (1965a:33-35) and Epstein
(1967:160-61), variation occurs in consumption within the unit, on the basis of
status and occupational differences. For instance, in many poor rural households
of India, men’s consumption needs may get priority over that of women; on the
other hand, an expectant mother might be given better nutrition than the other
women etc. The patterned way in which a consumer in a simple or peasant
economy makes his consumption decisions over time ultimately represents his
standard of living.
3.4 SUMMARY
From the above unit, we have thus learned that an economic system in simple
societies cannot be studied in isolation but must be understood as part of the
larger culture. Production, distribution, exchange, utilisation and consumption are
not dependant only on pure economic gain, but on a host of social factors. The
formalist school in economic anthropology led by scholars like Raymond Firth
believes that anthropological studies of economic systems could benefit from the
application of the neo-classical model of economics based on the study of utility
maximisation under conditions of scarcity, with appropriate modifications. However,
substantivists led by Karl Polanyi firmly maintain that conventional economic theory
cannot be applied to the study of non-western, non-industrial economies. While
this remains one of the enduring debates on the study of economic systems, it
needs to be borne in mind that the modern world is a global village and simple
societies are increasingly experiencing the impact of globalisation and the market
economy. Modern day anthropologists going to study such societies are bound to
encounter situations where many of their notions gleaned from books and theories
might be challenged. But it is for them to rise to the occasion, document and
maybe, propound new theories on the changes occurring in simple economies
under the impact of modernisation and the market.
References
Binford, Lewis R. 1990. ‘Mobility, Housing, and Environment: A Comparative
Study’. Journal of Anthropological Research. 46, pp. 119-52.
Bonvillain, N. 2010. Cultural Anthropology. Upper Saddle River NJ: Prentice
Hall.
Burling, R. 1962. ‘Maximisation Theories and the Study of Economic
Anthropology’. American Anthropologist. 64, pp. 802–21.
Commons, John R. 1954. ‘Institutional Economics’. In Newman et al., eds.,
Source Readings in Economic Thought. New York: Norton
Dalton, George. 1969. ‘Theoretical Issues in Economic Anthropology’. Current
Anthropology. 10:63-102
44
Dalton, George. ed. 1968. Introduction to Primitive, Archaic, and Modern Production, Consumption
and Exchange
Economies: Essays of Karl Polanyi. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday Anchor.
Dalton, George. 1961. ‘Economic Theory and Primitive Society’. American
Anthropologist. 65: 1-25.
Dilley, R. 1992. Contesting Markets: Analysis of Ideology, Discourse and
Practice. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Ember, Carol R. and Melvin Ember. 1994. Anthropology. New Delhi: Prentice-
Hall of India Private Limited.
Epstein, T.S. 1967. ‘The Data of Economics in Anthropological Analysis’. In A.L.
Epstein, ed. The Craft of Social Anthropology. London: Tavistock.
Godelier, Maurice. 1967a. Racionalidad e irracionalidad en la economia. Mexico
City: Siglo Veintiuno Editores. Originally published in 1966.
Goodfellow, D.M 1939. Principles of Economic Sociology. Philadelphia:
Blakiston.
Gras, N.S.B. 1927. ‘Anthropology and Economics’. In Ogburn, W.F. and A. A.
Goldenweiser. eds. The Social Science and Their Inter-relations. Boston:
Houghton Mifflin.
Gregory, C.A. 1998. ‘Exchange and Reciprocity’. In T. Ingold (ed.), Companion
Encyclopedia of Anthropology. London: Routledge.
Gudeman, S. 1986. Economics as Culture: Models and Metaphors of
Livelihood. London: Routledge.
Gupta, A. 2010. ‘Origin of Agriculture and Domestication of Plants and Animals
Linked to Early Holocene Climate Amelioration’. Current Science. Vol. 87, No.
1, 54-59.
Firth, Raymond. 1965a. Primitive Polynesian Economy. 2nd ed., London:
Routledge & Kegan Paul. Originally published in 1946.
Herskovits, Melville J. 1952. Economic Anthropology. New York: Knopf.
_________________ 1940. The Economic Life of Primitive People. New
York: Knopf.
Honigmann, John J. ed. 1973. Handbook of Social and Cultural Anthropology.
Chicago: Rand McNally and Company.
Kluckhohn, Clyde. 1972. Stone Age Economics. Chicago: Aldine.
Le Clair, Edward E. Jr. and Harold K. Schneider. eds., 1968. Economic
Anthropology: Readings in Theory and Analysis. Holt, New York: Rinehart &
Winston.
Lee, Richard. 1969. ‘Kung Bushman Subsistence: An Input-Output Analysis’. In
D.Damas, ed. Contributions to Anthropology: Ecological Essays. Ottawa:
National Museum of Canada bulletin no. 230. Anthropology Series no. 86.
Lowie, Robert H. 1938. ‘Subsistence’. In F. Boas, ed. General Anthropology.
Boston: D.C.Heath.
45
Economic and Political Malinowski, B. 1922. Argonauts of the Western Pacific. London: George
Organisations
Routledge & Sons Ltd.
Marx, Karl. 1904a. A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy.
Chicago: Kerr.
Mauss, M. 1922. The Gift: Forms and Functions of Exchange in Archaic
Societies. Reprint in 1990. London: Routledge.
Plattner, Stuart. ed. 1985. Markets and Marketing. Monographs in Economic
Anthropology. No. 4, New York: University Press of America.
Polanyi, K. 1944. The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic
Origins of Our Times. USA: Beacon Press.
Sahlins, Marshall D. 1969. ‘Economic Anthropology and Anthropological
Economics’. Social Science Information. 8:13-33.
___________________ 1968. ‘Notes on the Original Affluent Society’. In R.B.
Lee and I. DeVore (eds.). Man the Hunter. New York: Aldine Publishing Company,
pp. 85-89.
___________________ 1965a. ‘Exchange Value and the Diplomacy of Primitive
Trade’. In J.Helm. ed., Proceedings of the 1965 Annual Spring Meeting of the
American Ethnological Society. pp. 95-129, Seattle: University of Washington
Press.
___________________ 1965b. ‘On the Sociology of Primitive Exchange’. In M.
Banton ed. The Relevance of Models for Social Anthropology. pp. 139-227.
London: Tavistock.
Sneath, D. 2000. Changing Inner Mongolia. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Wolf, E. 1982. Europe and the People without History. Berkeley: University of
California Press.
Suggested Reading
Ember, Carol R., and Melvin Ember. 1994. Anthropology (7th ed.). New Delhi:
Prentice-Hall of India Private Limited.
Haviland, William A. 1989. Anthropology (5th ed.).Chicago: Holt, Rinehart and
Winston, Inc.
Routledge & Kegan Paul, Originally published in 1946.
Malinowski, B.1922. Argonauts of the Western Pacific. London: George
46
Sample Questions Production, Consumption
and Exchange
1) What are the two main schools in economic anthropology? What are the
fundamental differences in their approach to the study of economic systems
in simple societies?
2) What are the main socio-cultural attributes of hunters-gatherers, pastoralists
and intensive agriculturists?
3) What is the primary motive, according to anthropologists, for exchange in
simple societies? Elabourate with examples.
4) Is consumption different from utilisation? Do simple societies have the concept
of ‘capital’?
47
MAN-001
Social Anthropology
Indira Gandhi
Block
7
ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL ORGANISATIONS
UNIT 1
Concepts and Definitions 5
UNIT 2
State and Stateless Societies: Political Institutions 21
UNIT 3
Production, Consumption and Exchange 33
UNIT 4
Political Power and Distribution of Resources 48
Expert Committee
Professor I J S Bansal Professor V.K.Srivastava Dr. S.M. Patnaik
Retired, Department of Human Principal, Hindu College Associate Professor
Biology University of Delhi Department of Anthropology
Punjabi University, Patiala Delhi University of Delhi
Professor K K Misra Professor Sudhakar Rao Delhi
Director Department of Anthropology Dr. Manoj Kumar Singh
Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav University of Hyderabad Assistant Professor
Sangrahalaya Hyderabad Department of Anthropology
Bhopal Professor. Subhadra M. Channa University of Delhi
Professor Ranjana Ray Department of Anthropology Delhi
Retired, Department of University of Delhi Faculty of Anthropology
Anthropology Delhi SOSS, IGNOU
Calcutta University, Kolkata Professor P Vijay Prakash
Dr. Rashmi Sinha
Professor P. Chengal Reddy Department of Anthropology
Reader
Retired, Department of Andhra University
Anthropology Visakhapatnam Dr. Mitoo Das
S V University, Tirupati Assistant Professor
Dr. Nita Mathur
Professor R. K. Pathak Associate Professor Dr. Rukshana Zaman
Department of Anthropology Faculty of Sociology Assistant Professor
Panjab University Chandigarh School of Social Sciences Dr. P. Venkatrama
Professor A K Kapoor Indira Gandhi National Open Assistant Professor
Department of Anthropology University, New Delhi
Dr. K. Anil Kumar
University of Delhi, Delhi Assistant Professor
Programme Coordinator: Dr. Rashmi Sinha, IGNOU, New Delhi
Course Coordinator : Dr. Rukshana Zaman, IGNOU, New Delhi
Block Preparation Team

Unit Writers Content Editor
Unit 1 Professor V. Gangadharam
Unit 3 Department of Anthropology
Dr. Kennedy Singh Dr. Ujjal Kr. Sarma
Assistant Professor Sri. Venkateswara University
Assistant Professor Tirupati
Centre for Rural Studies Indian Institute of Forest
Lal Bahadur Shastri National Management, Bhopal Language Editor
Academy of Administration Dr. Parmod Kumar
Unit 4
Mussoorei Assistant Professor
Dr. Romesh Singh
Unit 2 Assistant Professor Discipline of English
Dr. Hari Charan Behera Department of Anthropology School of Humanities
Assistant Professor University of Hyderabad IG NOU, New Delhi
Centre for Rural Studies Hyderabad
Lal Bahadur Shastri National
Academy of Administration
Mussoorei
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BLOCK 7 ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL
ORGANISATIONS
Introduction
The present Block -Economic and Political Organisations aims to introduce the students
to the concepts, definitions, perspectives and various forms of two important aspects
of human society namely economic and political organisation. Our goal is to place the
study of economic and political aspects in the larger social and cultural contexts by
exploring the relations of power, kinship, religion and social transactions. Further, it is
intended to make the student to understand various forms of these two important aspects
in the cross-cultural context. Students, or for that matter any other person who does
not know about socio-cultural variation across different human communities, tend to
think that political and economic organisations are much the same everywhere just as
their own or with the ones with which they are familiar. In this block, we will come to
know about the various types of political and economic systems, several curious practices
concerning social control, conflict resolution, and different ways of non-monetised
exchange of goods and services and, practices of conspicuous consumption and
ceremonial exchange of goods. The students will also have an opportunity for an excellent
exposition to various traditional societies as examples across the world that have
specialised economic and political systems and organisations.
Political organisations are those institutions and /or mechanisms (formal and informal)
which perform various activities concerning decision making and conflict resolution in
order to create and maintain social order and coping with social disorder. Usually when
we hear the word politics or political life, we think of political parties, elections,
government, parliament, assembly or panchayat, police, judiciary, several specialised
political offices, executive, army, and external political dealings etc. However, in many
societies, political sphere is devoid of formal institutions and specialised functionaries.
In the two units on political organisation, we will learn more about the traditional form
of political institutions. The major argument in the study of political organisations is that
politics cannot be isolated from other subsystems of a society. Here we understand
how power and law are put to use in social and cultural environment. The important
components of political systems and organisations are law, political formations (stateless
political societies/formations and state societies/formations), conflict resolution, social
control mechanisms.
Economic organisations are universal aspect of culture; they are seen in all cultures of
the world. Economic organisation means a set of actions and behaviours surrounding
the processes of production, allocation and distribution and the use and consumption of
goods. In social anthropology, we emphasise the economic institutions of traditional
societies where the systems of production, distribution and consumption are socially
regulated, organised and reproduced. However in the recent times, modern economic
institutions are also studied applying the concepts of formal economics like marginal
utility, economising rationality, demand supply etc. Whatever economic institution we
may study, the emphasis is to understand economy as an integral part of the wider
social cultural environment. The student will understand various ways of organising
production, various ways by which goods and services are circulated, exchanged including
market exchange. It is useful to understand various economic institutions with the help
of examples.
UNIT 1 CONCEPTS AND DEFINITIONS
Contents
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Types of Political Organisation
1.2.3 Chiefdoms
1.3 Social Control and Resolution of Conflicts

1.4 Economic Organisation
1.5 Traditional Economic Organisation
1.5.3.4 Pastoralism
1.6 Traditional Economic System

1.6.1 Barter System
1.6.2 Silent Trade
1.6.5 Reciprocity
1.6.6 Redistribution
1.7 The Distribution of Goods and Services: Two Case Studies

1.7.1 Kula
1.7.2 Potlatch
1.8 Summary
References
Suggested Reading
Sample Questions
Learning Objectives

Once you have studied this unit, you would be able to:
 understand the various types of traditional political and economic organisations
and economic systems studied in social anthropology; and
 describe different forms of “distribution of goods and services” among the
simple societies. 5
Organisations 1.1 INTRODUCTION
Every society, be it a simple or traditional society or complex or modernised
society has certain rules and regulations to maintain social order. Human societies
have developed a set of customs and procedures for making and implementing
decisions in order to resolve disputes, and for regulating the behaviour of its
member in their day-to-day life. They have also developed collective decisions
about its relationship with other neighbouring societies. The first part of this unit
deals with the general features of political organisation, social control, conflict
resolution and the cultural arrangement by which societies continue and maintain
social order for the betterment of society. While, the second part of the unit will
deal with the economic organisations in social anthropology.
1.2 TYPES OF POLITICAL ORGANISATIONS

Let us now discuss the mechanisms in our society for making and enforcing
political decisions as well as the collective efforts about its relationship with the
neighbouring people for the well being of society. As we know, political organisation
is found in all societies. However the degree of specialisation and formal mechanisms
in functioning of political systems may vary considerably from one society to the
other. As mentioned by Ferraro, Gary P (1992) all societies differ in their political
organisations based on three important dimensions:
1) The extent to which political institutions are distinct from other aspects of the
social structure; that is, in some societies, political structures are
indistinguishable from economic, kinship, or religious structure.
2) The extent to which authority is concentrated into specific political roles.
3) The level of political integration (i.e. the size of the territorial group that
comes under the control of political structure). Ferraro, Gary P (1992, 220)
In order to understand how effectively the political organisations administer
themselves and maintain social order, the above three dimensions are useful. These
dimensions also form the basis for the classification of societies into four important
types of political structures like band societies, tribal societies, chiefdoms, and
state societies. Let us now discuss briefly about the conceptual meaning of these
four important types of political structure.

Band organisation is considered to be the least complex form of political
arrangement which is characterised by small group, also known as local groups,
usually among the nomadic population of hunter and gatherers. The size of a band
can range from 30-50 people or more. However, the size of a band may vary
from one band to the other depending upon the food gathering techniques and the
availability of the food in their natural environment. Band may have little or no
concept of individual property ownership and place a high value on sharing,
cooperation and reciprocity. They may also loosely associate with a specific
territory of their own in the sense that the members of one territory can seek
membership in a neighbouring territory. The members of each band have less role
specialisation and are highly egalitarian. Band organisation is predominantly found
among the hunting and gathering communities representing the oldest form of
political organisation. Common language and common cultural features bound
6
band members together. In band societies, no political allegiance occurs with any Concepts and Definition
one or more supreme authority or with other similar bands of their own ethnic
community. Their political decisions are frequently embedded in the wider social
structure of the local group. It is difficult to distinguish purely political decisions
from those related to the family, economic or religious decisions. In other words,
political life is simply one part of social life.
Leadership roles are iterative within the band; there be could several leaders and
each leader’s role may end with the accomplishment of a particular task. Leadership
tends to be informal having no authoritarian political roles or leaders with designated
authority. But the elderly are respected for their experience, wisdom, good judgment
and knowledge of hunting. So, adult men gave decision. The headman can persuade
and give advice but has no power to impose his will on the group.
Bands may have a headman, as in case of Eskimo bands and the Chenchu who
are recognised by the band members for their special skills in making implements,
hunting, ritual, judgment acumen, folklore, world view, magic, medicinal and
ecological knowledge etc. There were no strict rule of succession to the position
of headman; sometimes it is hereditary as in case of the Kung bushman and a fresh
person can be chosen as in case of the Chenchu.

The tribal political organisations are predominantly associated with food production
i.e. horticulture and pastoralism. Tribal societies are little bigger or larger in size
than the band societies. Egalitarian principle is the common feature of both tribe
and band organisations. Both of them are similar in several important aspects as
the political leaders have no marked differences in status, rank, power and wealth.
In addition to these, both of them have local leaders but do not have permanent,
centralised leadership.
However, tribal political forms can be distinguished from bands by the presence
of some impermanent and informal pan-tribal associations that can bring together,
whenever necessary, a number of local groups into one larger unit. Each of these
associations operate autonomously but integrate themselves into one or more
larger units when an external threat arises. The larger unit breaks back into
original local units once the threat is nullified.
The tribal associations emerge based on kinship and kin units like clan, and age
grades, or secret societies. In many tribal societies, the kinship unit called Clan,
a group of kin who consider themselves to be descended from a common ancestor,
serves a mechanism for political integration. Clan elder usually looks after the
affairs of their clan like settlement of dispute between the clan members, negotiating
with other clan groups, etc.
Segmentary lineage system is another form of tribal association where individuals
of different genealogical levels integrate to form a bigger unit in opposition to
another such unit. Genealogical connections bring groups with closer affiliation
together. Such political integration of closely affiliated groups within the tribal
societies is important in order to mobilise their military force in defending themselves
from outside forces or for expanding into the territories of weaker societies. As
mentioned by Evan-Pritchard (1940), the pastoral Nuer of southern Sudan serves
as a good example of a tribal form of political organisation.
7
Economic and Political 1.2.3 Chiefdoms
Organisations
Ferraro, Gary P (1992: 223) has mentioned that the band and the tribal societies
are economically and politically autonomous, authority is not centralised and they
tend to be egalitarian having no specialised role, small population in size depending
largely on subsistence economy. However, societies become more complex as the
population increases with higher technology for fulfilling their subsistence needs. In
Chiefdoms, a number of local communities are integrated into a more formal and
permanent political unit but the political authority rests with single individual, either
acting alone or in conjunction with an advisory council. Chiefdoms may also
comprise more than one political unit, each one is headed by a chief and/or
councils. Societies with chiefdoms are socially ranked and the chief and his family
enjoy higher status and prestige. The chief ship is mostly hereditary and the chief
along with his or her kinfolk comprises social and political elite within their society.
Subsequently, the chiefs have considerable power and authority in resolving or
pronouncing judgments over internal disputes, issues, etc. In addition to these, he
may distribute goods, supervise religious ceremonies and functions military activities
on behalf of the chiefdom. Hawaii and Tahiti are the examples of chiefdom societies.

Of all the above mentioned societies, state societies have more complex and
advance form of political organisation. According to Sahlins (1963: 297), state
is defined as “an autonomous political unit, encompassing many communities within
its territory and having a centralised government with the power to collect taxes,
draft men for work or war, and decree and enforce laws”. It is also mentioned
by Robert L Carneiro (1970: 733) that the state societies have complex, centralised
political structure, which include a wide range of permanent institutions having
legislative, executive, and judicial functions, and a large bureaucracy.
The state societies have class stratification with unequal access to economic
resources. These societies are generally supported by intensive agriculture. The
high productivity of the agriculture presumably allows for the emergence of cities,
a high degree of economic and other kinds of specialisation, market or commercial
exchange, and extensive foreign trade. The people pay taxes. (Carol R. Ember,
Melvin Ember, 1995: 375)
The rulers may use force but the threats of force alone do not ensure the legitimacy
of the rulers. Legitimacy of rulers is said to accrue owing to different factors like
divine origin of the rulers, socialisation of children to accept all forms of authority,
the perceived advantage of state by the people in ensuring protection, employment,
security to property etc. If state fails in its duty, the rulers lose their credibility and
ability to control, eventually leading to the fall of state. Nupe kingdom in West
Africa and also the Roman Empire are examples of state societies.

Youth Dormitories are important institutions among the tribal society. These
institutions are quite common among the tribes of North East India, central India.
They are known by different names in different tribes like Morung of Naga tribes,
Gothul of Muria and Gond tribe, Dhoomkuriya of Oraon tribe, etc. The youth
dormitories are centered in big building of straw and thatch having separate houses
for boys and girls. All the members of the dormitories pass their night in the
dormitories. If there is no dormitory for girls, they usually sleep in the house of
8
some old woman. They learn their way of life through their elders. They follow the Concepts and Definition
rules and regulations of the dormitories. They carry out different activities together
like construction of house on the occasion of marriage or village festivals, helping
the villagers in crisis, construction of roads, etc. The boys and girls stay in their
dormitories till they marry. A widow can re-enter the dormitory as its member.
Strictly speaking, youth dormitories are not political bodies. However, youth
dormitories serve to train the youth in various socio-cultural, economic, religious
and political activities. For example among the Dimasa Kachari of Assam, Hangsao
- the bachelor’s dormitory is an important institution of the village. The unmarried
youths of the village spend night in this house. Unlike Nagas, the Dimasas do not
have separate dormitory for maidens. Dormitory youths organise into labour force
to carry out several public works in the village (e.g. construction of the village
path, water hole, etc.) as well as to help the needy villagers in agricultural works
like weeding, harvesting, etc. They also serve as the village defenders. They get
trained to become leaders and organisers to undertake public works and community
works. In this sense youth dormitories can be regarded as quasi political units.
1.3 SOCIAL CONTROL AND RESOLUTION OF

CONFLICTS
Social control and conflict resolution mechanism are those practices such as
customary law for reward and punishment, physical coercion, and various sanctions
(ostracism, avoidance, denial of favours) which a community of people adopt to
safeguard social order and to sustain the behavioural conformity to the accepted
norms. Like any other societies, the simple societies also have rudimentary system
of providing justice. They have their own social control and resolution of conflict
mechanism. Mostly the chief or the elders of the group or kinship take the
responsibilities for identifying and punishing the criminals in their society. When
they face complex problems, they take advice from the council of elders about
the type and nature of punishment to be given to the offenders. They follow the
Oath and Ordeals. The offenders have to take an oath, after which they are asked
if he or she had committed the offence or not. It is generally believed among the
simple society that if the offender tells a lie before their elders, he or she will be
a prey to the supernatural anger for taking a false oath. Sometimes, the accused
person is asked to dip or put his hand in boiling water or oil to justify his innocence
as they believe that the supernatural powers help an innocent person.
1.4 ECONOMIC ORGANISATION

The simple societies of different places in the world passed through various stages
of socio-economic development in due courses of time. It can be mentioned that
hunting-gathering, horticulture, cattle herding, shifting cultivation, settled agriculture,
etc. are different stages of socio-economic development among different tribes in
India.
Food gathering and hunting is said to be the oldest type of economic activity.
During 2 to 5 million years of human existence on this planet Earth, 99 percent
of the time was spent in food gathering, hunting and fishing. Agriculture is said to
have originated some 10,000 years ago. Industrial economy is said to have been
in existence for the past 400 years only.
Human communities of the world practice various types of economic activities.
9
Economic and Political When we say economic activity, it includes subsistence technologies, division of
Organisations
labour, organisation of labour, various customary ways of distribution of goods
and services and consumption and utility and decision-making at various stages in
the processes of production, distribution and consumption. Basing on the subsistence
technologies, the economic activities can be broadly categorised into food collection
and food production. Under food collection, hunting gathering, intensive foraging
and fishing are the major activities. Under food production, we can include
horticulture or incipient cultivation, pastoralism and intensive cultivation or plough
cultivation.
Many communities studied by anthropologists practice more than one of the above
economic activities. Most of the tribes dwelling in the forest and hills like Kadar
of Kerala, Birhor and Kharia of Bihar, Nagas of Nagalands, Kukis of Manipur,
etc. depend on food gathering, hunting small games, fishing, shifting cultivation
activities for their sustenance. These activities form their main source of subsistence
economy. In the same way, the Konda Reddy and the Savara of Andhra Pradesh
depend on horticulture, shifting cultivation and hunting and gathering. The Todas
known for buffalo herding also practice cultivation of crops. The Santals, the
Oraon, and the Gonds practice settled agriculture along with hunting gathering.
Each type of economic activity is organised more or less systematically so that
goods and services are produced, distributed or exchanged and consumed or
utilised in order to satisfy a variety of wants.
1.5 TRADITIONAL ECONOMIC ORGANISATION

According to Hoebel and Weaver (1979: 453), “Economic organisation involves
the behaviours that center upon the production, the allocation and distribution, and
the use and consumption of goods”. The above authors emphasise culturally
defined behavioural networks that operate in various economic activities. Achieving
some rhythm and order in the provision of material goods and services for the
satisfaction of wants is essential for the survival and continuity of society. In
almost all societies, economic organisation exists in one form or the other.
Simple societies have simple mode of production which include simple technology
and most of the labour constitute family members or relatives. It varies from
society to society. The mode of economic organisation is very simple mostly
embedded in direct face to face relationship. Each type of economic organisation
ensures some role to all members of the community by means of creating some
space in the pursuits related to economic activities. Every member has a purpose
to participate in such organised activities.
The major types of distribution of goods and services are reciprocity, redistribution,
and market. Reciprocity is further divided into 3 types: generalised reciprocity,
balanced reciprocity and negative reciprocity. Let’s examine some of the other
components of economic organisation which are very important in understanding
the basic concept of economic organisation in anthropology.

In every society, simple or complex, property has important functions. Property
signifies social or economic status of a person or a group. Property can be either
individually owned (private property) or communally owned (communal property).
The concept of property keeps changing with the changes of time. Among simple
10 society, communal ownership is more prevalent over land resources, forest
resources, etc. It can be mentioned that these simple society enjoys the available Concepts and Definition
resources from the forest, river, etc. Hunting and gathering societies do not have
personal properties of their own except some objects like hunting tools, etc. but
the cattle rearing societies consider their cattle as their property.
In some societies, both communal ownership as well as individual ownership of
land is present. The Podu or Jhuming land or shifting cultivation land are community
owned where as the wet land and horticulture lands are individually owned. The
people are issued with pattas (a legal document assigning ownership) with regard
to the individual lands.
Reflection
Property: A Social Creation
Property in its full sense is a web of social relations with respect to the utilisation of some
object (material or non-material) in which a person or group is tacitly or explicitly
recognised to hold quasi exclusive and limiting rights of use and disposition
E. Adamson Hoebel and Thomas Weaver. 1979. Anthropology and The Human Experience.
McGraw-Hill : 262

Most economic activities, and for that matter any physical activity of some purpose
(be it cooking, child rearing ritual etc.), are accomplished by sharing work between
a group of workers or participants. Division of labour is a form of “customary
assignment of different kinds of work to different kinds of people” (Ember and
Ember 1990: 272). Universally men and women, adults and children do not engage
in same kinds of work. In our society, it is usual for the man to plough and woman
to engage in cooking. Adults perform arduous works whereas children do light
works. Division of labour based on age and sex is universal though there is
variation across cultures. Further, it must be remembered that as the societies
modernise, role reversals and complex specialisations emerge.
In simple society, the division of labour is based on certain factors like sex, age,
etc. Men and women carry out different types of jobs. In certain activities, men
and women perform the same activities without any division of labour. Though
women folk observe certain taboos during times such as menstruation and child
birth, etc., they do not take part in the day to day chores, as during such times
they are considered impure.
For better understanding of division of labour, let us take an example of the
Savara tribe of Andhra Pradesh during their shifting cultivation. In the Savara
community both sex wise and age wise division of labour is observed. All the
family members work collectively as a unit of production under the guidance of the
head of the family. The family functions as an economic and social unit except the
small children and aged old members. The pattern of division of labour can be
classified on the basis of their age and sex. In their daily activities, children from
their early age start helping their parents. From the age of 9-10 years, the parents
ask their children to watch the field, fetch water, fetch tools etc. As they enter
adulthood they start playing a major role in subsistence by taking up labour
intensified works. The men and women have different and corresponding roles to
be played in various activities according to their age. The following statement gives
sex wise and age wise division of labour among the Savara tribe of Andhra
Pradesh:
11
Economic and Political Sex wise and age wise division of labour
Organisations
Name of the Activities in the Associated member in labour
podu field division
1. Selection of podu field Adult male
2. Cutting of large trees Adult male
3. Cutting of small trees and
Adult female and children
bushes
4. Burning of the podu field Adult male
5. Broadcasting of seeds Adult male and adult female
6. Weeding operation Adult male and adult female
7. Watching of crops Adult male and male children
8. Harvesting of crops Adult male, female and children

As pointed out earlier, the tribal societies practice various types of economic
activities, it must be remembered that each tribe may pursue a major economic
activity supplemented by other types of economic activities. The following account
gives a brief description of each of the major economic activity.
A hunter-gatherer society is a society whose primary subsistence method of
livelihood is based on the direct procurement of edible plant, animals, birds, etc.
from their surrounding forest and water bodies. They depend on the nature for
their subsistence. The tribes in the dense forests uses bows and arrows, spears,
net for catching the animals. They also have customs of hunting in group as a
collective activity. They hunt wild birds, fowl, rabbits, deer, rats, etc. During the
rainy season, they carry out fishing from the streams and other water bodies. They
share the hunt equally among themselves. Some important features of hunting
gathering society are; lowest population density; small community size; nomadic or
semi-nomadic; infrequent food shortage; minimal trade; no full-time craft specialists;
least or no individual differences in wealth; informal political leadership; no
domesticated animals except dog; day to day consumption and little storage of
food; minimal planning for the future (the last three are not true with some
communities who are in contact with pastorals or agriculturists). Surplus foraging
is very much limited though some minor forest produce is collected for exchange
or sale in the local /weekly markets or government run agencies.
Horticulture in anthropology means growing of all types of crops with relatively
simple tools like hoe and methods like sprinkling of seeds on un-ploughed fields.
These fields are cultivated for a few years and then abandoned for new fields.
Thus permanently cultivated fields are absent in horticulture. Horticultural
communities are said to lie in the transition stage of human communities from
nomadic community i.e. hunting-gathering to horticultural communities by
domesticating different varieties of crops like tubers, yams, maise, wheat, rice,
pulses, vegetables, etc. around their dwelling or in a particular plot for their
12 domestic consumption. They select different useful trees, vegetable crops, etc and
plants for their uses. As discussed under political organisation in such societies Concepts and Definition
land is usually communal property and for horticulture the land is redistributed
among the group members. In such a society, women are equally engaged in
horticultural activities. In some case, women are more specialised in growing
crops. Some important feature of horticultural communities are: low – moderate
population density; small - moderate community size; more sedentary but may
move after several years; infrequent food shortage; minimal trade; none or few
craft specialists; minimal wealth differences; part-time political functionaries and
exhibit incipient social differentiation.
Horticulture includes shifting cultivation and growing tree crops like plantain,
coconut, breadfruit tree etc. The latter type of horticulture can be seen among the
Samoans.
Reflection
Samoan horticulture involves mostly three tree crops requiring little work except in
harvesting. Once planted, and requiring hardly more than a few years of waiting, the
breadfruit tree continues to produce about two crops a year for upto half a century.
Coconut trees may continue to produce for hundred years. And banana trees make new
stalks of fruit, each weighing more than fifty pounds, for many years (Ember & Ember,
1990:249)
Sometimes, horticulture is separated from shifting cultivation as the latter has

attracted special attention. In the following section, we will focus on shifting
cultivation.
Shifting cultivation is an age old socio-economic practice among many tribal
communities inhabiting the world. It is a distinct type of agricultural practice generally
practiced on the hill slopes. Since the days of early civilisation several groups of
tribal communities in India are practicing this method of cultivation as their primary
source of subsistence. The beginning of shifting cultivation goes back to the Neolithic
times i.e.8, 000-10,000 years ago (Hasnain, 1994: 193). This process resulted in
a new socio-economic situation for the Neolithic people when they shifted from
nomadic way of living to settled way of life. These groups tried to emerge as food
producers from food gathering stage.
Shifting cultivation is considered as the natural way of eking out livelihood by
some tribal groups. In fact, it is considered as a traditional technique of farming
adopted by different tribal communities in many parts of the Indian Sub-Continent.
Shifting cultivation is prevalent in other parts of the world, especially Sumatra,
North Burma, Borneo, New Guinea, and in many parts of the African continent.
Shifting cultivation is also referred to as slash-and-burn or swidden cultivation.
In India, shifting cultivation is known by different names in tribal regions. In North
East India, it is denoted as jhum, in Orissa as podu, dabi, koman or bringa, in
Bastar as deppa, in Western Ghats as kumari, in South East Rajasthan - the
Matra and Maria tribal groups call it penda, in Madhya Pradesh as bewar or
dahia, (Bhowmick P .K., 1990: I02).
Shifting cultivation is an impermanent cultivation practiced on hill slopes, often
steep, rugged and elevated places. After cutting and burning the vegetation known
as slash and burning method, seeds are sown by using the simple digging stick.
They raise crops for few years and then abandon the field as the soil loses its
fertility due to burning of the vegetation. The people then move on to another 13
Economic and Political place to begin a new cycle. After some years, they return to the same patch of
Organisations
land for shifting cultivation which they had left fallow for the natural vegetation to
grow and also for the soil to regain its fertility. The duration of fallow period
depends upon the availability of land with forest vegetation and the size of the
group practicing shifting cultivation. At present, on an average, the fallow period
by the tribal groups practicing shifting cultivation has come down from few decades
to few years.
1.5.3.4 Pastoralism
Pastoralism is a type of subsistence technology in which procuring food is based
directly or indirectly on maintenance of domesticated animals. Hoebel and Weaver
writes, “ Historically this (pastoralism) occurred in the Neolithic Age, at the same
time that incipient agriculture was developing in regions more suitable to the raising
of crops” (1979: 224). Pastoralist is concerned with the raising of livestock like
tending and use of animals such as goats, sheep, yak, buffalo, etc. They are
usually found in many variations in different parts of the world with different
composition of herds, social organisation and management practices. They move
the herds from one place to another in search of fresh pasture and water for their
animals. They also tend to adapt to the changing environment due to their frequent
movement from one place to another. So, the territory of pastoral nomads far
exceed than that of most horticulturalist societies. Pastoralism is quite popular in
Africa and Asia.
Some important features of pastoral communities are: low population density;
small community size; generally nomadic or transhumant; frequent food shortages;
trade is popular; presence of some full-time craft specialists; moderate individual
differences in wealth; presence of part-time and full-time political leaders.
Settled agriculture involves use of a variety of techniques like ploughing, bundling,
use of draught animals, fertilisation, irrigation, weeding, land parceling, crop rotation
etc. that enable cultivation of fields permanently and also to augment productivity.
Many communities practice settled agriculture as one of the major economic
activities. The production is mostly for their own consumption and whatever surplus
production is exchanged for other goods and services. Basically, the unit of
production and consumption in their society is the family. Most of the family
members are engaged in the process of cultivation especially during the period of
weeding and harvesting.
General features of settled agriculture are presence of high degree of craft
specialisation, well developed technology, complex political organisation, marked
social differentiation in terms of wealth, power, status etc. Societies practicing
settled agriculture are prone to food shortage. This is paradoxical because
compared to other subsistence technologies, settled agriculture is more productive.
Then why do frequent food shortages occur in communities professing settled
agriculture? Two possible answers are : (1) in settled agriculture, growing a single
crop as staple crop and /or as commercial crop is a common practice though
other minor crops may be essentially used as supplement to the main staple crop.
If such crops fail due to pests, drought, failure of seasonal rains, food shortage
results; (2) in settled agriculture, it is quite likely to grow commercial crops. If
market demand is very feeble or inadequate, losses are incurred leading to food
shortage. Earlier, the paddy cultivation in settled field was less productive due to
14
the dependence of rain fed irrigation. The situation has improved considerable with Concepts and Definition
irrigation system, use of pesticides and high yield varieties of paddy.
1.6 TRADITIONAL ECONOMIC SYSTEM

Traditional economic system is usually associated with the simple societies like the
tribal societies, rural societies, etc. It is chiefly characterised by subsistence mode
of production with little surplus production. This economy is usually supplemented
by other minor occupations like collection of forest produce etc. However the
most important features of the traditional economic system is that of various modes
of exchange.
Let us now discuss different mode of exchanges prevailing among different societies.
1.6.1 Barter System

Barter system is the direct exchange of goods and services i.e an exchange may
be goods for goods, goods for services, service for service etc. It is considered
to be the earliest form of exchange in Human society. Barter usually replaced
money as the method of exchange during crisis like war, natural calamity, etc.
1.6.2 Silent Trade

Silent trade (also known as silent barter or trade and dumb barter) is a peculiar
form of exchange where the exchanging parties do not come into face to face
interaction during the process of exchange. The exchanging partners could be
enemies or antagonised. One group of people leaves certain quantity of products
at a customary place to be taken by another group, who in turn leaves back some
other products. The pygmy Semang and Sakai of Malaya and the Vedda and
Sinhalese of Sri Lanka practice silent trade.

William H Wiser (1988) has introduced the term Jajmani system in his book, The
Hindu Jajmani System: A Socio-Economic System Interrelating Members Of
A Hindu Village Community In Services, where he described in detail how
different caste group interact with each other in the agriculture based system of
production, distribution and exchange of goods and services. In different parts of
India different terms are used to describe this economic interaction among the
castes, for example in Maharashtra the term Balutadar or bara batute and mera
or mirasi in rural Rayalaseema of Andhra Pradesh, jajmani in North India,
mirasi in Tamil Nadu and adade in Karnataka.
Jajmani system, (Hindi: deriving from the Sanskrit yajamana, “sacrificial patron
who employs priests for a ritual”) is reciprocal (usually asymmetrical and some
scholars term it non-reciprocal) social and economic arrangements between families
of different castes within a village community in India for the exchange of goods
and services. Here, one family exclusively performs certain services for the other,
such as ministering to the rituals or providing agricultural labour, or some goods
such as agricultural implements, pots, baskets etc in return for payment, protection,
and employment security. These relations are supposed to continue from one
generation to the next, and payment is normally made traditionally, in the form of
a fixed share in the harvest rather than in cash.
Speaking about the composition of villages Williams 1988 stated that each village
15
Economic and Political is composed of a number of jatis/castes each having its occupational specialty.
Organisations
Through jajmani relations these occupational jatis get linked with the land owning
dominant caste. The jajmani system operates around the families belonging to the
land owning dominant caste the members of which are called jajmans and the
occupational/artisanal and service castes called Kameens in North India and panollu
in Andhra Pradesh. The term Kameen or panollu means one who works for
somebody or serves him.
Williams further delineated the characteristics of the jasmani system as stated
below:
 Unbroken relationship: Under the jajmani system the kameen remains obliged
to render the services throughout his life to a particular jajman and the jajman
in turn has the responsibility of hiring services of a kameen.
 Hereditary relationship: Jajmani rights are enjoyed hereditarily. After the death
of a man his son is entitled to work as kameen for the same jajman family
or families. The son of a jajman also accepts the son of the kameen as his
kameen.
 Multidimensional relationship: Due to the permanency of relationship both the
jajman and kameen families become mutually dependent on each other. They
often take part in the personal and family affairs, family rituals and ceremonies.
 Barter exchange: Under jajmani system the payments are made mainly in
terms of goods and commodities. The kameen gets his necessities from the
jajman in return for his services. [William H Wiser (1988)]
The system has been regard as essentially exploitative, characterised by a latent
conflict of interest which could not crystallise due to the prevalent social setup.
The jajmani system has gradually decayed in modern society due to many reasons.
Modern economic systems measure everything in terms of its monetary value. The
decline of belief in caste system and hereditary occupation has given a strong blow
to the system. Growth of better employment opportunities outside the village and
introduction of new transport options have also led to the downfall of jajmani
system.

It is a kind of social system in which goods and services are given to relatives,
friends and neighbours on various social occasions like birth ritual, marriage, death
rituals, etc. The basic initiative of this exchange is to establish good relations
between the various social groups in the society.
1.6.5 Reciprocity
Reciprocity consists of giving and taking goods and services in a social medium
without the use of money, which ranges from pure gift giving to equal exchange
to cheating or deceitful. Under reciprocity, there are again three forms: general
reciprocity (the gift giving without any immediate or planned returned), balanced
reciprocity (the exchange with the expectation of return that involves a
straightforward immediate or limited-time span) and negative reciprocity (an attempt
to take advantage of another or something for nothing).
16
1.6.6 Redistribution Concepts and Definition
It involves the accumulation of wealth or labour or goods by a particular individual

for the purpose of subsequent distribution. This type of accumulation for redistribution
is seen in societies having political hierarchies with specialised or privileged political
positions or political agencies. Centralised accumulation and redistribution require
a suitable political organisation. Such a system was reported among the Creek
Indians, the Buniyaro of Western Uganda, the Buin of Melanesia. Here, certain
amount of agricultural produce is deposited in the community granary by each
family. Such accumulated grains can be redistributed to those who lack food or
during lean seasons or famines or on special occasions. The chief or the king is
responsible to oversee redistribution though in some cases the chief may get
benefitted. Besides grains, labour services and crafts are also redistributed.

A market is any one of a variety of systems, institutions, procedures, social relations,
and infrastructure whereby parties engage in exchange. While in some cases goods
and services are exchanged by barter, most commonly these exchanges take place
through the medium of money. It may also involve the transaction of labour, land,
rental and credit and also other services. A transaction becomes a market or
commercial exchange, if the factors of supply and demand determine the price or
nature of exchange. Market exchanges develop when trade increases and barter
becomes increasingly inefficient; when the level of economic development becomes
higher; surplus production is specifically meant for exchange; external trade
develops; kin based reciprocal relations become weak and difficult to operate in
situations of dense population size and complex societal arrangements etc.
Modern trade exchange provides a trading platform system for its members or
clients. The member companies within the network participate in buying and selling
of their products and services to each other using an internal currency. For an
effective method of increasing sales, conserving cash, moving inventory, and making
use of excess production capacity for businesses around the world, markets have
evolved as an arrangement to become a common platform for them. They deposited
into their account as they have the purchasing power of goods and services from
other members utilising their trade credit, etc. Such an exchange plays an important
role by providing the record-keeping, brokering expertise, and so on.
1.7 THE DISTRIBUTION OF GOODS AND

SERVICES: TWO CASE STUDIES
As we learnt in the above account, there are different practices of the distribution
of goods and services. Two important cases are discussed below:
1.7.1 Kula
According to Malinowski (1922), Kula is a ceremonial exchange among Trobriand
Islanders of New Guinea. Kula is also known as kula exchange or kula ring. It
is a complex system of visits and exchange of two kinds of ornaments as well as
trading of food and other commodities with the people of other (nearby or far-
off) islands. Because the islands are differentially endowed with different natural
resources, each island could produce only a few specialised products or commodities
and have to depend upon other islands for other essential things and objects.
Because trading involves visiting distant and strange islands which may be risky, 17
Economic and Political the Trobrianders have worked out kula for a safe and secure trade by establishing
Organisations
trade partnership by means of exchanging kula ornaments and also gift giving.
The essence of such trade relations is not the trade in itself but it is subdued or
embedded in a ceremonial exchange of valued shell ornaments.
The Kula ornaments are of two types. One consists of shell-disc necklaces (veigun
or Soulava) that are traded to the north (circling the ring in clockwise direction)
and the other are shell armbands (Mwali) that are traded in the southern direction
(circling counter-clockwise). Mwali was given with the right hand, the Soulava
given with the left hand, first between villages then from island to island. If the
opening gift was an armband, then the closing gift must be a necklace and vice
versa. These are exchanged in a ceremonial ambience purely for purposes of
enhancing mutual trust relationships, securing trade, and enhancing one’s social
status and prestige. The Kula ornaments are not in themselves remarkably valuable.
However, these ornaments are loaded with folklore, myths, ritual, history etc
which generate a lot of enthusiasm and bind together the trading partners. Exchange
of these ornaments facilitates trading of goods with ease in the island visited as the
trading partner in the host island helps the visitor(s). However, people participating
in the Kula ring never indulge in any bargaining on the objects given and taken.
Individual members trade goods while circulating the Soulava and Mwali in a
cordial atmosphere. (Malinowski, 1922 Sixth Impression: 1964)
1.7.2 Potlatch
Potlatch is an elabourate feast among the American Indian groups of Northwest
Coast at which huge quantities of food and valuable goods (such as blankets,
copper pieces, canoes, etc.) are pompously and competitively distributed to the
guests in order to humiliate them as well as to gain prestige for the host. Burning
huge quantities of goods is also common. Potlatches are organised by individuals
like village chiefs or a group of individuals or villages. The chief of a village invites
a neighbouring village to attend the potlatch which the latter invariably has to
accept. The guests in turn invite the hosts to attend the potlatch to be given by
them. Though such distribution of gifts take place in a competitive way, it also
serves as a leveling mechanism where food and gifts get equally distributed among
various villages in a wide area in the long run.
Similar feasts are organised among the Melanesian societies (New Guinea) wherein
large number of (in hundreds) pigs are slaughtered. Several villages attend these
feasts. It appears that such large scale feasts are a waste. But these feats serve
the mechanism of ‘storing’ surplus food produced during good seasons, not by
storing in bins, but by feeding the pigs. Thus pigs become food-storing repositories
which can be used as food during lean seasons. If successive years are also good,
there will be over production of food that goes to pigs. As a result, the size of
drove grows into an unmanageable proportion, pigs destroy crops. In order to
reduce the drove size, a large number of pigs are slaughtered and a huge feasts
is organised by inviting guests from other villages. As a result, the pig population
gets drastically reduced and their menace on the fields also gets reduced. Such
feasts take place between villages reciprocally and the excess food (pigs) gets
redistributed. These feasts are not necessarily competitive but in a few cases, in
order to keep up one’s status, some ‘Big men’ of Melanesian societies organise
such huge feasts.
18
Concepts and Definition
1.8 SUMMARY
In summing up this unit, we can say that every society (be it a simple or complex
society) has a political organisation that provides the ways of living as a social
being by maintaining social order and resolve conflicts. The level of the organisation
and its structure differs from society to society. In addition to political organisation,
every society has economic organisation that involves different customary or
traditional ways of transferring economic exchange of goods and services, and
also the customs for distributing them.
References
Bhowmick, P.K. 1990. Applied Action-Development-Anthropology. Calcutta:
Sri Indranath Majumdar.
Carol R. Ember and Melvin Ember. 1990. Anthropology. Englewood Cliffs, New
Jersey: Prentice Hall. P.249.
__________________ 1995. Anthropology. New Delhi: Prentice-Hall of India
Private Limited. (Page No-375).
Carneiro, Robert L. 1970. ‘A Theory of the Origin of the State’. in Science. pp.
733-38.
Ferraro, Gary P. 1992. Cultural Anthropology. New York, Los Angeles, San
Francisco: West Publishing Company.
Hasnain, Nadeem. 1994. Tribal India. Delhi: Pal aka Prakashan.
Hoebel, A. E. and Weaver. T. 1979. Anthropology and The Human Experience.
New York: McGraw Hill Book Company.
Mauss, Marcel. 1925. The Gift: The Form and Reason for Exchange in Archaic
Societies. Originally published as Essai sur le don. Forme et raison de l’échange
dans les sociétés archaïques.
Polanyi, Karl. 1957. ‘The Economy as Instituted Process’, in Karl Polanyi, Conrad
Arensberg, and Harry W. Pearson, eds., Trade and Market in the Early Empires.
New York: Free Press. Page no. 243-70.
Sahlins, Marshall. 1963. ‘Poor Man, Rich Man, Big-Man, Chief: Political Types
in Melanesia and Polynesia.’ In Comparative Studies in Society and History.
Pp. 285-303.
__________________ 1972. Stone Age Economics. Chicago: Aldine Transaction.
Wiser, William. H. 1988. The Hindu Jajmani System: A Socio-Economic System

Interrelating Members Of A Hindu Village Community In Services. Delhi:
Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt Ltd.
Suggested Reading
Harris, Marvin. 1975. Cows, Pigs, Wars and Witches: The Riddles of Culture.
New York: Random House.
Malinowski, Bronislaw. 1954. Magic, Science and Religion and Other Essays.
Garden City, New York: Doubleday Anchor Book.
19
Economic and Political Radcliffe-Brown, A. R. 1922. The Andaman Islander: A Study in Social
Organisations
Sample Questions
1) What are the similarities and differences between tribal society and band
societies?
2) Compare and contrast the Chiefdoms and State societies?
3) What are the different form of distribution of goods and services among the
simple society? Describe their components briefly.
20
UNIT 2 STATE AND STATELESS SOCIETIES:
POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS
Contents
2.1 Introduction
2.2 State and Stateless Societies and Contribution of Anthropology
Case-1
Case-2
2.3 Political Unit

2.4 Kinship and Power
2.4.1 Segmentary Lineage System
2.5 Political System among the Indian Tribes

2.5.1 Juang
2.5.2 Hill Kharias
2.5.3 Kondhs
2.5.4 Political Organisation in Other Tribal Inhabited Region
2.6 Summary
References
Suggested Reading
Sample Questions
Learning Objectives

After reading this unit, you would be able to understand:
 the meaning of state and stateless societies and the anthropological contributions
to the study of the same;
 relationship between kinship and power; and
 political organisations in some of the Indian tribes.
2.1 INTRODUCTION
In anthropology we have studied about social system and its subsystems such as
political organisations, economic organisations, religious organisations, etc. In this
unit, we will focus on political systems. We must understand that political institutions
are not isolated components but they are part and parcel of social system and are
interconnected with other subsystems in a society. Thus in any social system, the
economic system, the political system or the kinship system and the ritual life are
all interconnected. While the study of political system seems more concerned to
political science, anthropologists too have studied political system of both state
and stateless societies. Anthropologists are interested in studying political institutions
and the underlying principles on which these institutions act upon. In anthropology,
inductive and comparative approaches are used in studying political institutions
and explaining the uniformities found among them and to interpret their
interdependencies with other features of social organisation (Fortes and Evans-
Pritchard, 1940 : 5). Since long anthropologists like Fortes, Evans-Pritchard and 21
Economic and Political Mary Shepardon have emphasised that both state and stateless political systems
Organisations
are part of social structure through which political action takes place. Southall
(1974: 154) has noted that social anthropologists are gradually more interested in
studying the political aspects of contemporary times and intensive analysis of local
political behaviour and processes. Thus, the interest in studying political pattern,
behaviour and processes is gradually expanded with wider attention in both simple
and complex societies. However, in this unit we are going to emphasise the political
system in simple societies, be it state or stateless societies.
2.2 STATE AND STATELESS SOCIETIES AND

CONTRIBUTION OF ANTHROPOLOGY
Anthropology has noteworthy contribution to the study of traditional societies, the
tribes or peasant communities. The ethnographic contributions of anthropologists
have helped us understand different aspects of social and cultural life and political
system of these communities. Studies of tribes in India, Africa or in Australia have
recorded the fact that every society has definite norms, values and recognised
rules of conduct. Individuals violating such norms or values or breaching rules of
conduct are punished or subjected to various sanctions. Within a locally defined
community, an individual who commit some act which goes against the norms of
the community invites punishment by recognised coercive authority. Political
community, whether or not it is organised in the form of state has its own territory
(Mair, 1962). Protection of defined territory and its individuals, organising social
activities like rituals and religious activities, and organising economic activities
entail organised authority. The authority decides over the level of punishment for
each defied activity which goes against the societal norms or values. Every society
has certain authority, whether centralised, decentralised or lack of centralised
authority. Lucy Mair makes the useful remark that ‘there is no society where rules
are automatically obeyed’. Anthropologists like Gluckman and others have tried to
show that in all primitive societies-ranging from small bands of hunters or fishermen
to kingdoms-there exists some basic mechanism of social control which regulates
the affairs of the tribe and resolves conflicts arising among its component groups
(Eisenstadt, 1959: 201).
The general assumption is that most of these social control mechanisms are in one
way or another common to all types of traditional or preliterate societies-whether
segmentary, centralised or some other (ibid.). According to Fortes and Evans-
Pritchard (1940) the societies which have centralised authority, administrative
machinery, and judicial institutions were labeled as ‘primitive states’. Some groups
like the Zulu, the Ngwato, the Bemba, the Banyankole and the Kede are regarded
as “primitive states”. They observed sharp differences in the distribution of wealth,
status and privileges, corresponding to the distribution of power and authority in
all ‘primitive’ states.
Stateless societies on the other hand, had no great distinctions between the rank,
status, or wealth of their members (Haskell Fain, 1972). But they may not be
egalitarian societies. Fortes and Evans-Pritchard (1940: 5) have defined that the
societies which lack centralised authority, administrative machinery, and constituted
judicial institutions-in short which lack government-and in which there are no
sharp divisions of rank, status, or wealth are called stateless societies. They are
the Logoli, the Tallensi and the Nuer in Africa. Examples of such tribes in India
are some Andaman Islander tribes namely, Jarwa, Sentinelese, etc. Some other
hunters and gatherer groups where there is no centralised political system can be
22
included in the stateless societies. Historically speaking, many other tribes in India
were stateless societies. But the evolution of political system from stateless to state State and Stateless
Societies: Political
has taken place subsequently. Institutions
Like state, in the stateless societies, the political activities are supported by group
behaviour. In stateless societies, the community members select the leader who
possesses dominant characters with strong personalities, well-built physical feature,
and may be with possession of wealth. In the study of the Nuer, Evans-Pritchard
has reported the behaviour of the ‘leopard skin chief’ who is a dominant character
selected from outside the clan group. However, this clan is not necessarily a
dominant clan. He stands outside the lineage and tribal system. The leopard skin
chief possesses bounty wealth in the form of cattle. He is offered cattle by
community members or by the members of the guilty. Murder/killing of a fellow
community member is often regarded as a serious offense to the community as a
whole. Therefore, the leader takes appropriate action to compensate the kin of the
deceased and the community he belongs to. Lucy Mair (1962) pointed out that
in the absence of centralised political system if a man was wronged, his lineage
supported him in seeking redress by force. When they got tired of fighting they
invite an influential man to mediate between the two sides. However, collective
action takes place in war or in maintenance of peace. The community members
support the leaders in war and feud. This could be for protection of territory or
could be for taking on revenge in case of murder of fellow members. While in
more complex state societies, the guilty is punished by appropriate court of law
or well developed judiciary system. In stateless societies there are no obvious
political institutions like that in state. A leader is an institution in these societies. He
also possesses ritual power. Appropriate quantum of punishment is decided by the
leader. He maintains peace in the community. A leader resolves the disputes between
community members both within and outside. In addition, the protection of territory
or resolving territorial disputes is significant part of the decision making authority.
Allocation and distribution of resources takes place with appropriate leadership.
Both state and stateless societies protect social norms and values. Factors like
religion, wealth and other socio-economic factors are closely interconnected with
and determine political behaviour in stateless societies. In stateless societies, both
kinship and politics are often diffused.
Case-1
The Polynesians of the Hawaiian Islands had an exceedingly complex political system
based on hereditary rank and classes, and theocracy and divine right.
Among Polynesians, there are three hereditary social classes-commoners, nobles, and
inferiors. Agriculturists, fishermen and artisans are the commoners, work under the
shadow of nobles. The nobles are warriors, priests and political officials. The hereditary
ranking of nobles was based on descent from the gods, genealogically traced. Rank of
individuals and segments was traced in terms of birth order. The highest rank traced
through first born child. The islands were divided into chiefdoms ruled by a paramount
chief. The paramount chief’s rule was administered and maintained through a cluster of
high ranking nobles who served as priests, counselors and military leaders. The districts
of chiefdom were in turn ruled by local chiefs of high rank. The nobles were supported
almost entirely by tribute extracted from commoners in local areas which in turn were
administered by chosen chiefs and overseers of lower rank. Being of the highest rank
and sacredness himself, the chief approached the status of the god who conveyed on
him these divine rights. This system was stable and immutable. The paramount chief is
however not permanent and is often unstable and flexible. The political fortunes of
paramount chiefs coaxed and waned by with their success in holding their chiefdoms
together in the face of insurrection and intrigue.
Source: Roger M. Keesing, Cultural Anthropology A Contemporary Perspective (2nd
Edition), 1981, CBS College Publishing, New York.
23
Organisations
Case-2
A Nuer tribe is the largest group whose members are duty bound to combine in raiding
and defense. There is no overarching government. The Nuer maintains a measure of unity
and orderly political relations between the territorial divisions. Evans-Pritchard calls tribe
to each territorial sub-division. A tribe is sub divided into segments. The relationship
between segments is conceived in terms of hierarchies of patrilineal descent. There is
fight between territorial divisions but when two neighbouring groups fight with third
party both the neighbouring groups fight together against the third party. Disputes begin
over many grievances such as damage to property, adultery, rights over resources, to
name a few. The Nuers are prone to fighting and many disputes lead to bloodshed.
Confrontation between members of different groups or villages can lead to use of spears
and bloody war between men of each village. A leopard-skin chief is the mediator who
resolves the disputes. Such a chief has ritual powers and a role as mediator and negotiator
but he has no secular authority and no special privileges. His performance in peacemaking
is possible because he stands outside the lineage and tribal system. The leopard skin
chief was also a wealthy leader partly because of the cattle he received for his services
as mediator who could mobilise the support of a substantial coalition of followers.

Edition), 1981, CBS College Publishing, New York, pp. 282-285
Contribution of Anthropologists
In this section, we will briefly outline the contributions of anthropologists to the
study of state and stateless societies. The contribution of anthropology to political
thought has emerged from its apprehension with stateless societies. The growing
interest in political anthropology has been observed in the early writings on
primitive state and stateless societies by M. Fortes and Evans-Pritchard (1940),
J. Middleton and David Tait (1958), David Easton (1959), L. Mair (1962) M.L.
Perlman (1969), Balandier (1967) and recent studies by J. Vincent (1990) and E.
Wolf (2001) amongst others. The series of works by Hegel and Kalr Marx and
their argument on “state” have also contributed substantially to the study in political
anthropology.
Meyer Fortes and E. E. Evans-Pritchard are perhaps the first anthropologists who
have classified the political systems of African communities as state and stateless
societies. The study on ‘African Political System’ by Meyer Fortes and E.E.
Evans-Pritchard (1940) is a monumental piece to theoretical contribution in political
anthropology. In the beginning of the essay the authors have propounded that in
any social system you will find the political institutions, the kinship organisation, the
economic institutions and the ritual life which are interlinked and interdependent.
One institution influences another. Both Fortes and Evans-Pritchard (1940) have
emphasised that the definition of ‘political’ in anthropology has to be marked off
clearly. The political institutions with its true meanings should be established to
make it distinct from other features of social system. Thus the foundation to
theoretical contribution in political anthropology was observed in their writing
which was gradually facilitated the emergence of a separate discipline of Political
Anthropology. Shepardson (1963) pointed out that in African Political Systems,
Fortes and Pritchard have clearly defined the type of social structure through
which political action takes place and revealed the distinctions of political behaviour
whether state or stateless society (kin based, segmentary and state societies).
However, some anthropologists like David Easton and Balandier have raised the
concern with uncertainties of political anthropology, which they believed had not
marked off differently from other areas in anthropology or uncertainties found with
definitions of state. For example, Balandier (1967, 1970) in his book Political
24
Anthropology has pointed out that definitions of state or political institution are State and Stateless
usually too wide and consequently non specific. Institutions
Paige (1974) supported the argument of anthropologists about understanding

relationship between systems of kinship and forms of political organisation. He
further emphasised that the organisation of kinship and the organisation of the
polity are closely integrated in stateless societies. Kinship roles frequently determine
patterns of group interests and solidarity and lines of political cleavage and conflict.
He derived the Gluckman’s (1965) argument that the maintenance of political
order in stateless societies depends on a network of cross cutting kinship ties. He
has particularly cited Murphy (1957), Van Velzen and Vanwetering (1960) and
Otterbein (1968) to argue that matrilocal and patrilocal residence rules produce
different patterns of group ties and consequently, different pattern of political
conflict. It has been assumed that both matrilineal and patrilineal descent rules
should have similar effects on inter-group conflict. Swanson’s original findings that
patrilineal descent correlates with factional polities and matrilineal descent are
consequence of the forms of political organisation has been contrasted by other
anthropologists. Paige has, however, concluded that association between rules of
descent and the organisation of the polity was a special case of a more general
principle underlying patterns of group conflict and cleavage in all political systems.
Hegel and Karl Marx are pioneers in contributing to the study of state and political
systems. Their thoughts still found to be very relevant and contemporary to the
studies in political anthropology. Hegel starts from describing the state and makes
man the subjective aspect of the state. He believed, democracy starts from man
and makes the state into objectified man. People make the constitution. Democracy
has relation with other forms of state. Democracy is the essence of all constitutions
of the state and is considered to be Old Testament in relation to other political
forms. Socialised man is the particular constitution of the state. All that exists, law,
constitution, democracy and other political forms are for the benefits of man. But
it is not that man is there for benefit of law or other political forms. Law has a
human existence and in other political forms man has only a legal existence. That
is the fundamental character of democracy (McLellan, 1971:215).
For Karl Marx state in many ways is a most characteristic institution of man’s
alienated condition. State is a negation of man, similar to religion, law and morality,
and equally based on a particular mode of production. Meanwhile, he also talked
about positive elements of state. The early work of Feuerbach’s critique of Hegel’s
philosophy and his own experience as editor of the Rhheinische Zeitung could
help him in to elabourate his ideas on the state. He narrated his ideas in a manuscript
as a critique of Hegel’s political philosophy. Marx provides an idealistic form of
government where the state and civil society are not separate, but directly
correspond to the ‘essence of socialised man’. He called this ‘true democracy’.
In a democracy the constitution, the law and the state itself are only a self
determination of the people and a particular content of them in so far as it is a
political constitution (KMSW: 29). He viewed state like religion, as a statement
of man’s ideal aims and also a compensation for their lack of realisation (McLellan,
1971). He differentiated between state and polity. He pointed out that the more
political the state is and the more it constitutes separate sphere, the more incapable
it is to solve the society’s problems.
While in early writings, Marx emphasised on gap between the state and society
in later part he focused on analysis of the function of the state in society. He later
25
Economic and Political considered state as a part of society. He discussed about origin of the state and
Organisations
other social institutions. The state is a manifestation of interest of certain dominant
class by which the individuals of a ruling class assert their common interests.
Sometimes Marx says that the state need not be representative of the whole of
a class but only a section of that class. State acts as intermediary among fully
developed classes for benefit of one and other classes and sometimes it acts
independently where the classes are not fully developed. The state acts as an
intermediary in the formation of all communal institutions and gives them a political
form. The state in turn modeled other social institutions.
Marx considered America as a modern state. He considered bureaucracy to be
the most essential part of this modern state apparatus. His manuscript, Critique of
Hegel’s Philosophy of the State in 1843 with special focus on Prussia described
how the bureaucracy had eventually become a caste which claimed to possess,
through higher education, the monopoly of the interpretation of the state’s interests.
The real aim of the state thus appears to bureaucracy as an aim against the state.
2.3 POLITICAL UNIT

Now let us discuss about what should be the unit of study for political system.
While most of the studies have highlighted the tribe as a social unit or as a political
unit, we should remember that the political unit is not only confined to one unit,
the tribe; it could be a horde or clan as well. In seeking to define the political
system, as suggested by Radcliffe-Brown, we have to look for a territorial
community which is united by the rule of law. Thus, it could be a tribe, a local
horde or clan. Middleton and Tait (1958: 8) have noted that “the basic unit of the
political system is also a joint or extended family based on a three or four generation
lineage. Its component families are generally the productive and consuming units,
but the joint family is the largest purely domestic unit and is under the domestic
authority of a single head who may also represent it as a corporate unit in political
and ritual situations”. The units are distinct in case of defined political system such
as state. However, in stateless societies there is no spatially defined distinct political
unit. It is noteworthy that the political unit in the societies with a state organisation
is numerically larger than in those without a state organisation. The largest political
groups among the Tallensi, Logoli, and Nuer cannot compete in numbers with the
quarter to half million of the Zulu state (in about 1870), the 101,000 of the
Ngwato state, and the 140,000 of the Bemba state. But it is suggested that a
stateless political unit need not be very small. But it is probably true that there is
a limit to the size of a population that can hold together without some kind of
centralised government. Similarly, a political unit with state organisation should not
be very large (Fortes and Evans-Pritchard, 1940: 7).
While a political unit could be a tribe, local hoard or clan, the political system
expands beyond one tribe, a local hoard or a clan. One important point discussed
by Fortes and Evans-Pritchard (1940) is that societies which have a high degree
of general cultural resemblance need not have the same type of political system.
Within a single linguistic or cultural area we often find political systems which
differ from each other in important features. Conversely, similar political structures
are found in societies of different cultures.
26
State and Stateless
2.4 KINSHIP AND POWER Societies: Political
Institutions
There is a close relationship between kinship and power. Political anthropologists
have revealed the complex ties between these two systems. They have analysed
and developed the theory of kinship and power relation. There is little differentiation
between political functions and kinship institution. In stateless societies, the kinship
ties often determine the political behaviour. Balandier (1967, 1970) has cited Van
Velsen’s case of Tonga of Malawi that the political relations were expressed in
terms of kinship and the manipulations of kinship are one of the means employed
in political strategy. The relationship between state and kinship often seem to be
complimentary as well as antagonistic as discussed by Durkheim. The most important
characteristics in centralised chiefdoms such as Zulu, Ngoni, Swazi, etc. are that
the political sphere is distinct from that of lineage and kinship relations, and political
positions acquire a certain degree of autonomy. In the above said chiefdoms, the
relative importance of corporate descent groups, lineages, clans and the like for
the definition of the territorial units of society and for the general political life of
the tribe is insignificant than among the various segmentary tribes (Eisenstadt:
210-211).

Smith (1956) pointed out that ‘the lineages are corporate groups of a segmentary
character defined in terms of unilineal descent’. An important feature that
separates political character of lineage system from kinship association is that the
political character of lineage organisation is linked with the corporate character of
lineage groups. This feature normally lacks in kinship associations. Lineages are
local groups which discharge political functions within their areas. This condition
provides a subdivision of the population into territorial segments and the correlation
of these territorial segments with the genealogical segments of the lineage units in
stateless societies. Segmentary lineage system is common feature of every society.
In stateless societies the political authority is often passed through lineage system
or internally organised on a lineage basis. Lineage principles provide substitute for
governmental organisation. The usages of lineage systems vary across societies
with different degree and freedom. This may be used to express and validate
forms of common action, such as reciprocal help and protection, joint responsibility
in bride wealth and blood compensation, help in feud and war, regulation of inter
marriage and observance of responsibility to the dead (Middleton and Tait, 1967:
6). In stateless societies the lineage system possesses key features of political
relations and other social relations. The political power and authority are exercised
between groups and statuses. External political relations of local groups are often
conceived in lineage terms when there is no centralised political authority. The
internal political authority could also be attached to lineages while this could be
attached to other structures such as age-sets and age classes, ritual congregations,
village councils and associations, ritual congregations, secret societies and other
associations (ibid.).
Stateless societies do possess lineages or other type of segments. These grow or
change through fission, accretion, and fusion of various units (Fortes, 1945, Smith,
1956, Easton, 1959). Depending upon the kind of kinship structure, stateless
societies break down into two subclasses. One subclass is characterised by
corporate lineage segments. Order is maintained in such societies by means of
equilibrium of competing lineage segments. The other subclass is distinguished by
a pure kinship structure in which no segmentation takes place. In centralised 27
Economic and Political primitive states, the segmentation may not be corporate lineages but localised
Organisations
groups, age-regiment, or associations. In complex modern ones there is segmentation
and the units of division are quite different and take the form of political parties,
interest groups, political leaders with specific followings, etc. (Easton, 1959: 222).
Middleton and Tait (1959) have identified several ways in which descent groups
may be linked into a single system. First group, a single all inclusive lineage
genealogy, which is sufficient to explain significant political identification of lineage
with territorial segmentation, and the political institution is built upon a framework
of agnatic lineages which are units into a single pyramidal system. This pyramidal
system covers the whole jural community. It need not cover the entire society.
Examples: the Tiv. The societies of this type, like the Lugbara and the Nuer, there
is continual migration and spatial movement of groups. They are relatively
economically and socially autonomous. These societies have little specialised
political authority. The functionaries who are politically important are also primary
holders of domestic or ritual roles. Second group, the political units of these
societies consist of small descent groups, usually of shallow genealogical depth,
which are relatively interdependent. They are grouped into overlapping clusters by
ritual links of various kinds (often by forming the congregations of earth cults and
other cults not based on descent) and by quasi- kinship ties. The internal hierarchical
administrative organisation of any single major political units is based upon a single
lineage genealogy. At the political level units are not linked by a single genealogy
but rather by the recognition of mutual obligations. Exogamy is an essential aspect
of ties of clanship where these provide a framework of political importance. They
may be explained by the people as resulting from common agnatic ancestry, but
they are explained in terms of clanship. Exact genealogical relationship is not
reckoned. Examples of these societies are the Konkomba, the Amba, and the
Tallensi. In these societies lineages are arranged in a segmentary organisation, but
are concerned with inheritance, exogamy and family matters rather than with political
relations proper. Third group, it composed of lineages from different clans, a
compound structure of lineages which cannot be placed into a single pyramidal
system. Relationships between all its territorial segments cannot usually be explained
by reference to a single agnatic genealogy. These systems are characterised by the
lack of an all inclusive lineage genealogy at any level of organisation except that
of the nuclear group itself. They also have chief with certain specialised functions.
Example of such type is the Dinka.
2.5 POLITICAL SYSTEM AMONG THE INDIAN

TRIBES
Many primitive communities in India have transformed their political system from
stateless society to state. The process of formation of state has been discussed by
Southall (1974) and Sinha (1987) amongst others. The change in management of
law and order from family and kinship ties to more centralised authority of the
tribal chief is discussed in many studies. Village councils are the intermediary
political institutions commonly found among the tribes in the country. However,
these village councils have close connection with non-tribals too. F. G. Bailey has
discussed about several political institutions in his study in highland village in
Kandhamal district of Orissa. Village council and caste council are some of the
well defined political institutions by Bailey in his study about political system. He
observed that a village council is engaged in formulating new set of rules, allocating
responsibility, organising labour, decision making in ritual process and festivals,
28
judicial process, etc. He found that formal management of the village lies in the State and Stateless
hands of the village council (panchayat). The council has judicial, legislative, and Institutions
executive functions (Bailey, 1957: 192). Mutha political institution has significant
role in the Kondh tribal villages. A mutha consists of several villages. The political
units like mutha and village councils have also significant role in determining
economic bahaviour. A creation of state, both mutha and village councils are
engaged in collection of land revenues.
The study of political system in India has also been extensively discussed by
Surajit Sinha and Harmann Kulke. They have discussed about formation of state.
Surajit Sinha’s study discusses about political system in eastern India as well as
in the North eastern region of the country. The edited book on ‘Tribal Polities
and State Systems in Pre-Colonial Eastern and North-Eastern India’ is a
collection of essays by contributors who have discussed different aspects of political
systems. Sinha (1987) has primarily focused on the evolution of political system
from pre-state to sovereign states in this book. The levels and types of politics
described in his book are: Small chiefdoms-Miso chieftaincies, evolved chiefdoms
on the hills (mainly following pre-settled agricultural technology): Khasi Siyems,
principalities in the forest regions of eastern India: Orissa Princely States,
Chhotnagpur Raj and Mallabhum, and Archaic sovereign states in North-east
India: Ahom, Jaintia, Manipur and Dimsa State of Sikkim. He stressed that in all
the above cases the higher levels of polities were evolved by coagulation of
lineage or clan based units of one or more ethnic groups and/or by conquest of
segmentary tribes by larger principalities or states. Chiefdoms provide a centralised
direction to a higher tribal society. They do not have true government. The chiefdom
is a development of the segmentary tribal system to a higher level of integration.
A chiefdom is however not a class society (Elman, 1963). Sinha has further
mentioned that in the pre state level structures like the Miso Chiefdoms in North-
East India are entirely dependent on stratification of clan and lineage segments.
But in more complex political formations in Eastern India like Chotnagpur Raj,
Mallabhum, Panchkot, Barahabhum and feudatory states of Orissa, it is observed
that the controlled terrain of the Raja is surrounded by segmentary clan-lineage
based political formations.
2.5.1 Juang
Juang is one of the primitive tribes inhabited in Keonjhar District in Orissa.N.
Pattanaik (1989) has reported that a Pirh is the village council among the Juang.
Each Pirh is headed by a Sardar who maintains law and order, collect land
revenue, etc. Each Pirh is divided into six sub Pirhs and each Sub- Pirh is
headed by a Sardar. Pradhans are the village headmen of the village councils
which are governed under Sub-Pirhs.A Pradhan takes decision on judicial matters
and maintain law and order.A Pradhan also calls meeting which is attended by all
village council members. Sacerdotal chief is called Nigam who takes decision on
ritual and religious matters. The Dangua acts as messenger to the Nigam and the
Pradhan. The village council consists of the formal leader and the Barabhai or
elderly man of the village.
2.5.2 Hill Kharias

Hill Kharias are very primitive. The council of the traditional government consists
of a headman called Pradhan which is mostly hereditary and a sacerdotal head.
Pradhans are actively held and supported by the family heads. Since the family
heads have consanguine or affine relationship with each other, the people under 29
Economic and Political the Pradhan may be considered members of a large family. Decision on disputes
Organisations
at individual level, family level, village level, quarrels, conflicts, contribution for
religious and social affairs, marriage, social crimes and so on are taken up by the
Pradhan. As a rule, the council meetings are arranged in the courtyard or verandah
of the offender. It may also be held at times under a shady tree or in the house
of the Pradhan. Bhandari is the village crier (Vidyarthi and Upadhyay, 1987).
2.5.3 Kondhs
N. Pattnaik (1988) mentions that Mutha Organisation is closely akin to centralised
authority with marginal administrative and judicial institutions. Among Dongria
Kondhs, a Mutha head is called Mandal. Among Dongria Kondhs, a village chief
is called Jani who is also the spokesman of the village. Bismajhi and Barika
work under the Jani. A sacerdotal leader is called Dishari. Among Kutia Kondhs
village chief is called Majhi. Gonda is the village messenger. In the past the
Mutha was an important socio-political organisation. The functions of Mutha
organisation are to arbitrate cases like village boundary disputes, land disputes
and disputes over bride capture.

The traditional political organisation in Inumanda village in Paderu Block in
Vishakhapatnam district of Andhra Pradesh studied by P. V. Rao (1987) has the
similar structure like other tribes. The political organisation is in the hands of the
village headman who works with a group of elders in the village who are collectively
called Peddala Panchayat. Rich influential persons were recognised by the
zamindars and local rulers as their representatives in the village for looking after
collection of revenue and law and order maintenance. Such representatives are
variously called as Naidu or Pettamdar. Naidu or Pettamdar is usually assisted
by a Barika. Chellani acts as attendant to Naidu. Kula Panchayat is the body
consists of all important members of the particular tribe. Village level issues and
issues concerning persons from different tribes fall under the purview of multi tribal
village elder council. Kula Panchayat is absent due to lack of sufficient strength
of the tribe.
2.6 SUMMARY
The political system is a part and parcel of social system. Both state and stateless
societies are part of political system. State is a dominant political feature with
centralised authority, administrative machinery and judicial institutions. The
centralised societies maintain some specificity and shares almost similar basic
political and administrative structure. The stateless societies on the other hand lack
centralised authority and lack well developed administrative machinery or judicial
institutions. There are sharp differences in the distribution of wealth, status and
privileges, corresponding to the distribution of power and authority, in all primitive
states. Kinship is an important constituent of social structure and plays significant
role in determining political behaviour in stateless societies. Lineage group is
primarily segmentary and an important characteristic of stateless societies. However,
lineage connection is also found in non-centralised societies, which is different
from stateless societies and centralised ones. In stateless societies it is often difficult
to differentiate between kinship and polity. Kinship is also an important political
institution in stateless societies. Irrespective of position in both state and stateless
societies, the central purpose in both these societies is maintenance of peace, and
30
stability of the society, protection of territory, values and norms, etc. The state is State and Stateless
powerful force under the political system where more organised behaviour is Institutions
controlled by political institutions.
References
Bailey, F.G. 1957. Caste and Economic Frontier: A Village in Highland Orissa.
Manchester: Manchester University Press.
Balandier. 1967/1970. Political Anthropology. London: Penguin Books.
Critique of Hegel ’s Philosophy of Right (1843); KMSW, p.28. in David McLellan
(1971) 1980 The thought of Karl Marx, P.215.
Easton, David. 1959. “Political Anthropology”. Biennial Review of Anthropology.
Vol.1. Stanford University Press. pp. 210-262.
Eisenstadt, S.N. 1959. “Primitive Political Systems: A Preliminary Comparative
Analysis”, in American Anthropologist. New Series. Vol. 61. No.2. pp. 200-
220
Fain, Haskell. 1972. The Idea of the State. Nous. Vol.No.1, Blackwell Publishing.
pp. 15-26
Fortes, M. 1945. Dynamics of Clanship among the Tallensi. London: Oxford
University Press.
Fortes, M. and E.E. Evans-Pritchard. 1940. African Political Systems. London:
Gluckman, M. 1965. Politics, Law and Ritual in Tribal Society. Oxford:
Blackwell.
Mair, Lucy. 1962. Primitive Government. Indiana: Penguin Publishers.
McLellan, David. 1971/1982. The Thought of Karl Marx an Introduction.
McMillan
Melvin L. Perlman. 1969. “Methodological Problems in Political Anthropology”.
Canadian Journal of African Studies, Vol.3. published by Canadian Association
of African Studies.
Middleton, John and David Tait. 1958. Tribes without Rulers. London: Routledge
& Kegan Paul.
Murphy, R.F. 1957. “Inter-group Hostility and Social Cohesion” in American
Anthropologist. pp. 1018-35
Otterbein, K.F. 1968. “Internal War: A Cross-cultural Study”. in American
Anthropologist. 70: 277-89
Paige, J.M. 1974. “Kinship and Polity in Stateless Societies” in The American
Journal of Sociology. Vol.8. No. 2. The University of Chicago Press, pp.
301-320
Pattnaik, N. 1988. The Kondh. Bhubaneswar: THRTI.
———————— 1988. The Juang. Bhubaneswar: THRTI.
31
Economic and Political Rao, P.V. 1987. Institutional Framework for Tribal Development. New Delhi:
Organisations
Inter India Publication.
Shepardson, Mary. 1963. “Navajo Ways in Government: A Study of Political
Processes” (Menasha, Wisc., 1963), 44 quoted in Melvin L. Perlman (1969)
Methodological Problems in Political Anthropology, Canadian Journal of African
Studies, Vol. 3, published by Canadian Association of African Studies.
Sinha, Surajit. 1987. Tribal Polities and State Systems in Pre-colonial Eastern
and North-eastern India. Calcutta: K.P. Bagchi & Company.
Smith, M.G. 1956. “On Segmentary Lineage Systems” in The Journal of the
Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland. Vol. 86, no.2, pp
39-80
Southall, Aidan. 1974. “State Formation in Africa”. Annual Review of
Anthropology. Vol. 3, pp. 153-165
Van Velzen, H.U.E. Thoden, and W. Van Wetering. 1960. “Residence, Power
Groups and Intra Societal Aggression”. In International Achieves of
Ethnography. 49 (2): 169-200
Vidyarthi, L.P. & V.S. Upadhyay. 1980. The Kharia: Then and Now. New
Delhi: Concept Publishing Company.
Wolf, Eric. 2001. Pathways of Power. California: University of California Press.
Suggested Reading
Blackwell.
& Kegan Paul.
Sample Questions
1) Mention important characteristics of both state and stateless societies.
2) Discuss how lineage segmentation is an important political feature of stateless
society.
3) Identify important political institutions in stateless societies.
4) What are the common features of political organisation discussed among the
Indian Tribes?
32
UNIT 3 PRODUCTION, CONSUMPTION
AND EXCHANGE
Contents
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Main Theories in Economic Anthropology: A Brief Overview
3.3 Key Components of an Economic System
3.3.1 Production
3.4 Summary
References
Suggested Reading
Sample Questions
Learning Objectives

Once you have studied this unit, you should able to:
 understand the two main schools in economic anthropology and the fundamental
differences in their approach to the study of economic systems in simple
societies;
 describe the main socio-cultural characteristics of hunters-gatherers, pastoralists
and intensive agriculturists; and
 define reciprocity, redistribution, market/market exchange, utilisation.
3.1 INTRODUCTION
Broadly, an economic system may be defined as the one by which goods are
produced, distributed, exchanged and utilised or consumed. However, interpreting
the same for other cultures is not that simple. There is always a natural inclination
towards interpreting the cultures of others through our ethnocentric assertion which
is guided by our own values, beliefs and rationality. Therefore, it is important to
view economy not in isolation but as part of a larger whole, that is, an integral
component of the culture of the people, adopting an emic (insider’s) perspective.
To cite an example, participation of a large number of community members in
jhum (shifting or swidden cultivation) in Meghalaya (India) and its associated
rituals and community feasting could be viewed as unsustainable, unnecessary,
unproductive and a sheer waste of time by someone living in metropolitan cities
like Mumbai or Delhi, where neighbours hardly interact or get to interact with each
other. But the same practices, developed over generations and influenced by the
particular ecological locale and the adaptive challenges faced by the particular
community hold great relevance in their economic life.
33
Economic and Political In this unit, we will learn about some fundamental concepts of economic
Organisations
anthropology. Economic anthropology may be regarded as a subfield of cultural
anthropology pertaining to the study of human economic systems, across different
cultures. When we talk about economic systems, we generally deal with four
important aspects: production, making goods or money; distribution or the
allocation of the goods or money between different people, exchange, which refers
to the transfer of goods or money between people or institutions; and utilisation
or consumption, which involves the using up of goods or money.
3.2 MAIN THEORIES IN ECONOMIC

ANTHROPOLOGY: A BRIEF OVERVIEW
Before going straight into the concepts of production, distribution, exchange and
utilisation, it will be beneficial to have a broad overview of the main theories and
schools of thought in economic anthropology, in order to have a better understanding
of these concepts.
Till the 1920s, anthropologists did not pay much attention to the study of what
later became ‘economic anthropology’ or the anthropological study of the working
of economic systems in human society. The term ‘economic anthropology’ was
coined by N.S.B.Gras (1927:10), an economic historian, who defined it as a
‘synthesis of anthropological and economic studies’ dealing with ‘the study of the
ways in which primitive people obtained a living.’ Gras made a distinction between
economic anthropology and ‘anthropological economics’. According to him, the
latter, in contrast to the former, deals with the ‘study of the ideas that primitive
people held about economic matters’. He strongly advocated greater research
collabourations between anthropologists and economists, as in his view,
‘anthropologists could provide those in the economic field with facts in return for
ideas and the fundamental issues involved in getting a living’ (1927:22). Despite
his pioneering work, Gras did not have much impact upon later anthropologists
working on economic systems.
Malinowski’s Argonauts of the Western Pacific (1922) is regarded as one of the
pioneering works in this sub-field. The crux of Malinowski’s argument was that
societies like that of the Trobriand Islanders did not fit the classic economists’
model. In such societies, the motive of economic activities was not confined to the
satisfaction of material wants but embraced much more such as gains in terms of
enhanced social prestige. Further the boundaries between economic activities and
other aspects like religion were interlinked and overlapped . Malinowski’s ‘anti-
economics’ (Honnigman, 1973) approach continued to profoundly influence
anthropologists working in this sub-field till about the late 1930s and then made
a reappearance as a basic tenet of the substantivist position of the 1950s.
A different perspective to the issue came about with the publication of some
seminal works by Goodfellow (1939), Herskovits (1940) and Firth (1965a). This
perspective is basically premised around the belief that anthropologists could stand
to gain by studying certain attributes of conventional economics and putting them
to application to the economies of simple societies. This evolved into what is
known as the ‘formalist’ stance, which centres on the argument that the neo-
classical model of economics based on the study of utility maximisation under
conditions of scarcity, can be applied to any society, with appropriate modifications.
The neo-classical model of economics views material behaviour as an organised
34 way of using means to arrive at certain valued goals or ends. The assumptions are
that man is a self-interested and rational being and that land, labour and capital Production, Consumption
and Exchange
are scarce and productive components in the economy. According to Burling
(1962), all human cultures are, therefore, a collection of ‘choice making individuals
whose every action involves conscious or unconscious selections among alternatives
means to alternative ends’, whereby the ends are culturally defined goals. Goals
refer not only to economic value or financial gain but to anything that is valued by
the individual, be it leisure, solidarity or prestige.
The 1960s witnessed a big controversy in economic anthropology owing to the
conflict between the formalists and the substantivists. In the ‘substantivist revolution’
(Le Clair and Schneider, eds., 1968) of the 1950s, we see the reappearance of
a new version of Malinowski’s ‘anti-economics’ position, with substantivism
advocating the non-applicability of conventional economic theory to the study of
non-western, nonindustrial economies. The so-called substantivist revolution was
heralded by the political economist Karl Polanyi in his famous work The Great
Transformation (1944). According to Polanyi, there are two meanings of economy
– the substantive, which refers to a category of observable behaviour, e.g.,
production, consumption, distribution; and the formal, which refers to the logic of
rational choice. In his view, the logic of rational choice occurs only in modern
market societies and not pre-market societies. In Polanyi’s words (1944: 43), ‘the
outstanding discovery of recent historical and anthropological research is that
man’s economy, as a rule, is submerged in his social relationships. He does not
act so as to safeguard his individual interest in the possession of material goods;
he acts so as to safeguard his social standing, his social claims, and his social
assets. He values material goods only in so far as they serve this end. Neither the
process of production nor that of distribution is linked to specific economic interests
attached to the possession of goods; but every single step in that process is
geared to a number of social interests which eventually ensure that the required
step be taken. These interests will be very different in a small hunting or fishing
community from those in a vast despotic society, but in either case the economic
system will be run on non-economic motives’. The works of Polanyi’s successors
like Sahlins (1965) and Dalton (1968) reinforced the substantive position that the
economy is merely the process of provisioning society or the sociocultural system
and that no social relation, institution, or set of institutions is economic but that it
can only serve economic purposes.
Thus, it would not be wrong to state that till the early 1970s, the growth and
evolution of economic anthropology has basically revolved around these two schools
of thought- formalism and substantivism. On the one hand, there have been the
formalists who seek to study social relations as concomitant to the process of
resource utilisation. On the other hand, the substantivists have consistently argued
that rational choice is only ‘instituted’ in the socio-cultural and political systems
of capitalist societies, and that in other societies, economic behaviour is guided by
non-economic principles.
The 1970s witnessed the influence of Marxian thought on economic anthropology.
Scholars like Wolf (1982) highlighted the fact that European capitalist expansion
had brought about remarkable transformation among traditional economies, which
could no longer be studied in isolation, but in relation to the capitalist world
systems. This perhaps holds even greater relevance in the present time of
globalisation and a world order where market forces reign supreme.
There has also been the growth of other theories in economic anthropology such
as culturalism propounded by Gudeman (1986). He argues that the central processes 35
Economic and Political of making a livelihood are culturally constructed. Therefore, models of livelihoods
Organisations
and related economic concepts such as exchange, money or profit must be analysed
through the locals’ ways of understanding them.
With this brief introduction to the basic theories of economic anthropology, we will
now discuss in detail the concepts of production, distribution, exchange, utilisation
and consumption, with examples from across the world.
3.3 KEY COMPONENTS OF AN ECONOMIC

SYSTEM
Production refers to the process by which human beings transform, through their
work, matter or natural resources into some goods, which is consumable or capable
of being used to satisfy their need or want. Distribution is the process of allocation
of goods between different individuals or groups while exchange helps an individual
or group acquire particular products into which he/she wishes to convert the
quantity allocated to him through distribution. Consumption, as the word indicates,
refers to the use of the goods or services. As far as the inter-relationship between
these components of an economic system goes, Marx (1904a: 274-75) provides
a very apt description which is as follows: ‘Production yields goods adapted to
our needs; distribution distributes them according to social laws; exchange distributes
further what has already been distributed, according to individual wants; finally, in
consumption the product drops out of the social movement becoming the direct
object of the individual want which it serves and satisfies in use. Production, thus,
appears as the starting point; consumption as the final end; and distribution and
exchange as the middle; the later has a double aspect, distribution being defined
as a process carried on by society, while exchange, as one proceeding from the
individual’.
3.3.1 Production
Economic anthropologists, particularly the substantivist scholars, have generally
displayed a tendency towards over-emphasising on the study of exchange processes
and relations, with the result that study of production modes has not been accorded
much priority. To cite Honnigman (1973), ‘they do not analyse or theorise about
the forces and relations of production or about the creation of commodities, but
invariably restrict themselves to the circulation and destination of commodities
already produced’. He further opines that Polanyi’s tripartite scheme of reciprocity,
redistribution, and market exchange presupposes production modes but does not
link up with them; the social concomitants of transactional modes, not of production
modes are of dominant concern to him and his followers.
In economic anthropology, production has been given its due importance by the
Marxian anthropologists, with Marx emphasising on the centrality of production to
the economy. According to Dalton (1961:6), Marx perceives the economy as a
process of interaction between men and their environment, a process through
which men as producers ‘integrate the use of natural resources and techniques and
assure continuous cooperation in the provision of material goods’. Also, according
to Marx (1904a:11), the economic base or mode of production in every society
is made up of two components: (i) the force of production, the physical and
technological arrangement of economic activity, and (ii) the social relations of
production, the interpersonal and intergroup relationships that men must establish
with one another as a consequence of their roles in the production process.
36
To state in simple terms, production involves human-nature interaction, with human Production, Consumption
and Exchange
beings interacting with nature through the means of their culture to wrest their
material means of existence. It is perhaps for this reason that Godelier (1967a:
259) argues that production embraces all kinds of production operations regardless
of the specific societal context in which they are performed and that economies
ranging from the very simple (hunting, gathering and fishing) to more advanced
agricultural and industrial economies can be studied within the same analytical
framework.
We would now be looking into the various modes of production ranging from the
‘simple’-hunting, gathering and fishing, where human beings occupy and wrest
from nature their sustenance without transforming it, to the more complex such as
animal husbandry and followed by cultivation, which involves the transformation of
nature. In the evolutionary scheme of society, cultivation and animal husbandry
invariably appear after hunting, gathering and fishing (Lowie 1938:282). Production,
for the purpose of simple societies, may be basically studied under the two heads:
food collection and food production.
Food collection, encompassing the production strategies of hunting, fishing and
gathering, refers to all forms of subsistence technology in which food is secured
from naturally occurring resources such as wild plants and animals, without significant
domestication of either. Food collection is the oldest survival strategy known to
man. But in the present day, there are very few communities left in the world who
are entirely dependant on hunting and gathering for livelihood such as the Australian
aborigines, the Inuits living in the arctic regions of Canada, the Andamanese tribes
like the Onge and Jarawa etc. However, a number of communities continue to
practice hunting-gathering and fishing to supplement their nutrition from agriculture.
For instance, in the state of Assam, many of the tribes such as the Karbis, Tiwas,
Mishings, Rabhas etc. are experts in the art of fishing and hunting, which they
practice in conjunction with agriculture.
While the study of exclusively hunter-gatherer communities may help us arrive at
some understanding of man’s life in the past, Ember and Ember (1994) cautions
against the excessive use of contemporary observations to draw inferences about
the past for a number of reasons. In their view, we must understand that the earlier
hunter-gatherers lived in almost all types of environments, including some very
bountiful ones and not like the contemporary ones who live mostly in marginal
areas and, therefore, are not comparable. Moreover, the contemporary hunter-
gatherers are not relics of the past and like us have evolved continuously. Nor in
the past did hunter-gathering communities have the opportunity to interact with
agriculturists, pastoralists, industrial/capitalist societies.
Contemporary hunters-gatherers live in a variety of geographical locations and
climates but mostly in marginalised areas where agriculture is not feasible.
Nevertheless, such groups seem to share a number of cultural attributes like the
fact that most live in small groups in sparely populated areas and adhere to a
nomadic lifestyle. For them, the camp is the main center of daily activity and the
place where food sharing actually occurs. According to Honigmann (1973), the
hunter-gatherer society is egalitarian, does not recognise individual land rights and
do not accumulate surplus foodstuffs, often an important source of status in
agricultural societies. Such communities usually do not have a class system or
specialised or full-time political officials. Division of labour is largely on the basis 37
Economic and Political of age and sex. Ethnographic and archaeological evidence indicate that with few
Organisations
exceptions, such societies generally have a sexual division of labour, where men
hunt and usually do the fishing while women gather wild plant foods. Sahlins
(1968) calls them the ‘original affluent society’ despite the fact that hunter-gatherers
consume less energy per capita per year than any other group of human beings.
According to Sahlins, ethnographic data indicates that hunter-gatherers worked
far fewer hours and enjoyed more leisure than typical members of industrial society,
and they still ate well. Their ‘affluence’ came from the idea that they are satisfied
with very little in the material sense.
The origins of food production began about 10,000 years ago in the Neolithic
period when man took the first steps from merely utilising to transforming nature
through the cultivation and domestication of plants and animals. Archaeological
data indicate that various forms of domestication of plants and animals arose
independently in six separate locales worldwide during the period from 8000 to
5000 BC, with the earliest known evidence found throughout the tropical and
subtropical areas of southwestern and southern Asia, northern and central Africa
and Central America (Gupta, 2010). According to anthropologists, on its own, the
physical environment has more of a limiting rather than a determining impact on
the kinds of subsistence choices made. For instance, according to Binford (1990),
further away from the equator, food collectors depends much less on plants for
food and much more on animals and fish.
Food production systems may be generally divided into three main kinds: horticulture,
pastoralism and intensive agriculture.
i) Horticulture
The term ‘horticulture’, denotes a simple food production strategy involving the
growing of crops using simple hand tools such as the digging stick and hoe, in the
absence of permanently cultivated fields. Horticulture generally does not involve
any efforts at fertilisation, irrigation, or other means to restore the fertility of the
soil once the growing season is over. As far as the cultural attributes of horticulturist
societies are concerned, land is generally owned by the community or kin groups.
Horticultural practices are generally of two kinds. The most common one is extensive
or shifting cultivation also known as swidden or slash-and-burn (jhum in the
Indian context). This method of horticulture involves the cultivation of a particular
plot of land for a short time, followed by a long fallow period, when the land is
left alone to regain its fertility. The process of preparation of a piece of land for
shifting cultivation involves clearing the undergrowth and felling of trees which are
then left to dry. Just before the seasonal rains are to begin, they are set afire. The
ash is also supposed to rejuvenate the soil and immediately after the first shower
of the season, a mix of crop seeds such as maise, gourd etc. are sown with the
help of the digging stick. Generally, all adults are involved in food production, with
a division of labour based on sex. This particular form of cultivation has been
derided by many as a main reason for deforestation and decimation of forests, and
a number of environmental problems stemming from it. In India, shifting cultivation
continues to be widely practiced in many states of the North-East like Assam,
Meghalaya etc. and there have been many policy initiatives to wean away
communities from this practice.
38
The other form of horticulture pertains to the planting of long-growing tree crops Production, Consumption
and Exchange
such as coconut and banana, which after a few years, continues to yield crops for
a number of years.
Most horticultural societies, according to Ember and Ember (1994), do not rely
on crops alone for food but rely on a combination of subsistence strategies which
includes hunting, fishing, the raising of domestic animals like pigs, chickens, goats
etc.
ii) Pastoralism
Pastoralism is characterised by a heavy though rarely exclusive reliance on the
herding of domesticated animals for a living. It is usually practised in areas not
particularly amenable to agriculture such as grasslands and other semiarid habitats.
A classic attribute of a pastoral society is mobility of all or part of the society as
a normal and natural part of life. This mobility might be permanent (nomadism) or
seasonal, which is referred to as transhumance. The reason behind the mobile
nature of their lives lies in that fact that their territory, by necessity, has to be
spread over a large area. Once their herds have grazed in an area to the maximum,
it has to be left alone for the grass to renew and they have to move on in search
of newer pastures. Pastoral communities are generally small in size. In India, for
instance, the Bakarwals are a pastoral nomadic community inhabiting the high-
altitude meadows of the Himalayas and the Pir-Panjal ranges. Every year, they
take their sheep high into the mountains, above the tree-line to the meadows,
which are reachable only after a long arduous journey.
Among pastoral nomads, grazing lands are generally held communally and a chief
may be the designated owner of the land. According to Sneath (2000), pastoralist
systems are commonly organised into patrilineal clans and lineages that function as
corporate livestock owning units, with men being typically the owners of livestock
wealth. There is sexual division of labour, with men being in charge of the herding,
while women process the herd’s products such as milk. Such communities,
according to Ember and Ember (1994), often make agreements with settled
agriculturalists about rights to graze unused fields or even to clear a harvested field
of leftover.
While pastoralism has been an effective and sustainable economic strategy in
resource-poor environments, it could lead to overexploitation of the environment
when outside forces constrict the available space.
iii) Intensive Agriculture
Intensive agriculture enables human beings to cultivate fields permanently by
adopting a variety of techniques. It involves the use of fertilizers, both organic such
as cow dung and inorganic chemical fertilisers, the use of technologies ranging
from the humble plough to the tractor and could also incorporate complex systems
of irrigation and water control. Societies practicing intensive agriculture generally
have individual ownership of land. Such societies are also likely to be characterised
by a higher degree of economic specialisation, more complex political organisation,
and disparities in the distribution of wealth and power among different sections of
the society. The basic unit of production is the family and division of labour takes
place according to gender and age. Women in such a society have a number of
duties associated with the food processing stage but they also spend a lot of time
in the fields. In fact, apart from ploughing which is a taboo in many communities
of rural and tribal India, women have an important role in intensive agriculture, 39
Economic and Political particularly wet paddy cultivation, including planting of seedlings in nurseries,
Organisations
transplanting them to flooded fields, weeding, harvesting etc.
While most intensive agriculturists particularly in countries like India live at
subsistence level, with the produce barely enough to cater to their own needs,
others have increasingly grown crops as surplus for the market. In fact, following
the Green Revolution of the 1960s, farmers in the state of Punjab in India grew
increasingly more to cater to the market. Contemporary Indian agriculture is also
characterised by the increased trend of farmers, motivated by the market, to grow
more cash than food crops. Such a trend coupled with the fact that intensive
agriculturists may rely more often on single crops, subject to the vagaries of the
weather, could result in food shortage.

Distribution and exchange has consistently remained the central focus of
anthropologists interested in the study of economic systems and their working in
society. While being closely related concepts, the main point of distinction between
the two is that while distribution determines the proportion of total output that the
individual will receive, exchange determines the specific products into which the
individual wants to convert the share allocated to him by distribution (Honigmann
1973). He further opines that distribution implies a reward system in which produce
is channeled out among individuals or groups by reason of their control over the
factors of production or for the labour they expended in the productive process.
Exchange, on the other hand, refers to the various processes by which goods (and
services) move or are being transferred between individuals or groups, as, for
example, between producer and consumer, buyer and seller, donor and recipient.
Firth’s (1965a) work among the Tikopia is a seminal study on distribution. In his
view, every society has explicit or implicit norms on how the total pool of products
is to be shared among its members and that these norms are geared to address
the issue of division of a joint product and the compensation of the factors of
production, especially labour. His observation of the principles of distribution in
the Tikopia economy, which hold equal relevance for many pre-industrial economies,
led him to certain conclusions. According to him (1965a:313), there is a ‘definite
concept that all participants in a productive activity should receive a share of the
product, but that social considerations do not make it necessary for this share to
be exactly proportionate to the contribution in time, labour, or skill that each
individual has made’. Such inequalities in terms of allocation are particularly evident
in tribal and peasant societies, where social and/or political achievement entitles
some individuals to more than an equal share of material reward. Sahlins’ (1968)
study indicates that despite these ‘inequalities’ in distribution, the relationship between
a chief and the followers in most tribal societies is not exploitative in nature but
based on the principle of generalised reciprocity (we will come to it later in our
discussion).
Now, we shall discuss the ‘action, or act, of reciprocal giving and receiving’
(Gregory, 1998) or exchange. According to Commons (1954), the concept of
exchange, from the anthropological viewpoint, embraces two distinct kinds of
transfer events: physical transfers and jural transactions. While the former involves
locational movement and physical control; the second involves the transfer of
culturally defined ownership and use rights. It is the latter aspect which has aroused
the interests of anthropologists from the very beginning.
40
Significant understanding on exchange and the motives for it came from Malinowski’s Production, Consumption
and Exchange
(1922) work on trade and gift giving among the Trobriand Islanders and Mauss’s
classic essay The Gift published in 1922. Malinowski studied the ceremonial
exchange system- the Kula ring spread over eighteen island communities of the
Massim archipelago, including the Trobriand Islands and involved thousands of
individuals. Members of the Kula ring travelled long distances by canoe to exchange
Kula items - red shell-disc necklaces (veigun or soulava) traded to the north in
clockwise direction and white shell armbands (mwali) traded in the southern or
counter clockwise direction. If the opening gift was an armshell, then the closing
gift must be a necklace and vice versa. Malinowski (1922: 177) came to the
conclusion that exchange among Trobrianders was better seen as a social act than
a transmission of useable objects. Exchange, in his view, did not result in economic
gain; quite the contrary, it represented a superiority of the giver over the receiver
and placed a burden upon the receiver. Similarly, the basic argument of Mauss’s
essay is that gifts are never free and that they always give rise to reciprocal
exchange. According to Gregory (1998), an important notion in Mauss’
conceptualisation of gift exchange is ‘inalienability’ or the fact that the object is
never completely alineated from giver; hence, the act of giving creates a social
bond with an obligation to reciprocate on part of the recipient. To not reciprocate
means not only loss of honour and status, but may also have spiritual connotations
in some societies.
Later on, Polanyi and a group of scholars (eds., 1957) tried to distinguish between
two kinds of processes involved in exchange among simple communities- goods-
handling and goods- receiving, and raised a number of pertinent questions: ‘Who
passed on goods to whom, in what order, how often, and with what response
among those listed under whom?’ Based on the answers arrived at after analysing
a number of ethnographic cases, they identified three kinds of exchange: (1)
reciprocative sequence among fixed partners; (2) redistributive sequence between
a central actor and many peripheral actors; (3) random market sequence (1957:
vii-ix). In a later work, Sahlins (1965b) reduced these three kinds of exchange
into two broad types: (1) ‘reciprocity’ or ‘vice-versa’ movements between two
parties and (2) ‘pooling’ or ‘redistribution’ involving collection from members of
a group, and redivision within this group. We will now try to understand the
concepts of reciprocity and redistribution with a few ethnographic examples. We
will also spend some time understanding market exchange, as in today’s monetised
economy, almost all societies of the world are coming within its ambit.
i) Reciprocity
Reciprocity constitutes the main basis of exchange in most non-market economies.
According to Sahlins (1965b:145-49), reciprocity may be defined into three types
based on the criterion of the stipulation of material returns, which are as follows:
a) Generalised reciprocity, involving unstipulated reciprocation, is gift giving
without consideration of any immediate or planned return. In such a case, the
value of the gift is not calculated and the time of repayment not specified.
Such type of reciprocity generally occurs only among close kin or people
sharing close emotional bonds such as between parents and children, between
siblings, close friends etc.
b) Balanced or Symmetrical reciprocity occurs when someone gives to
someone else, expecting a fair and tangible return - at a specified amount,
time, and place (Bonvillian, 2010). Here, the exchange occurs owing to the 41
Economic and Political desire or need for certain objects. Giving, receiving and sharing constitute a
Organisations
form of social security and according to Honigmann (1973), it promotes an
egalitarian distribution of wealth over the long run. While generally practiced
among equals who are not closely related, balanced reciprocity principles
may also be evident in gift giving among kin. To cite a particular example,
among relatives in many parts of India, it is common practice for kin to give
valuable items and even monetary contribution when a relative’s daughter is
being married off. The implicit expectation being that when their own daughter
is married off, similar contributions could be expected from the receivers.
Sometimes there is a fine line between generalised and balanced reciprocity
particularly gift giving in urban society, where though it might appear to be
generalised reciprocity, there may be strong expectations of balance. For
instance, two families residing in the same neighbourhood in Delhi may try to
exchange gifts of fairly equal value, say based on calculations of what last
year’s Diwali gift’s cost.
While balanced reciprocity generally operates on egalitarian principles, it
could also take on a competitive form. Normally, it might be a means for
villagers to ‘bank’ surplus food by storing up ‘social credit’ with fellow
villagers by giving feasts, with the expectation that the credit will be returned.
But affluent villagers might use this mechanism to enhance their social status
by throwing lavish feasts and giving costly gifts. This seems to be the primary
objective of chiefs among many Native American groups of the Northwest
coast in holding a potlatch (ceremonial festival), where he would give away
gifts, food and even destroy items of value in a spirit of competition with rival
chiefs .
c) Negative reciprocity is the exchange of goods and services where each
party intends to profit from the exchange, often at the expense of the other
(Bonvillian, 2010). Practiced against strangers and enemies, it could range
from barter, deceitful bargaining to theft, and finds social sanction among
many societies. For instance, among the Navajo, to deceive when trading
with foreign tribes is considered morally acceptable (Kluckhohn, 1972). Barter
is believed to fall within the realm of negative reciprocity, as it is a means by
which scarce items from one group are exchanged for desirable goods from
another group. According to Honigmann (1973), relative value is calculated
and despite an outward show of indifference, sharp trading is more the rule.
While talking about the kinds of reciprocity, Sahlins (1965b: 149-74) points out
that reciprocity leans toward generalised extreme on the basis of close kinship and
that it moves towards the negative extreme in proportion to a diminution in kinship
propinquity, and that it varies with other factors such as social rank, relative wealth
and need, and type of goods.
ii) Redistribution
Redistribution refers to a kind of economic exchange characterised by the
accumulation of goods (or labour), with the objective of subsequent distribution
within a social group according to culturally-specific principles. While, redistribution
exists in all societies within the family where labour or products or income are
pooled for the common good, it emerges as an important mechanism in societies
with political hierarchies. In the latter, it requires a centralised political mechanism
to coordinate the collection and distribution of goods. While it serves as a mechanism
42
for dispensing goods within a society, it could also be a means for a chief to
consolidate his political power and gain in prestige. This seems to be an objective Production, Consumption
and Exchange
of the potlatch where chiefs compete with each other to give away and destroy
goods of value.
In less centralised societies that do not have formal chiefs, the economic
entrepreneur or the ‘big man’ may carry out such acts. In modern market economies,
redistribution takes place through taxation by the state, whereby resources are
allocated back to individuals or groups within society, either through the provision
of public services or directly through welfare benefits.
iii) Market/Market Exchange
In very broad terms, a market/ market exchange involves the buying and selling
of goods, labour, land, rentals, credit etc. by persons, using an intermediary token
of common exchange value. According to Honigmann (1973), such a two party
market transaction could very well become a form of negative reciprocity, unless
some sort of arrangement has been made to ensure at least an approach to
balance. Although market exchange need not necessarily involve money, most
commercial transactions, particularly nowadays do involve money (Ember & Ember,
1994). Again, while most of such transactions take place in a specifically designated
market place, a market may exist without a designated physical place. This is
more so in the contemporary world, where significant market transactions take
place on the internet. On the other hand, in simple societies, a market place may
signify much more than a place where economic transactions are performed. In
rural and tribal India, even today, weekly haats or markets provide an opportunity
for people to renew friendships, exchange local gossip, arrange marriages, while
some may also have deep cultural significance. Reliance on the market and the use
of general purpose money is increasing universally, with traditional subsistence
giving way to commercialisation due to factors like demand, increased interaction
with other societies etc. According to Plattner (1985), the substantivist stance in
economic anthropology is rendered redundant in the context of markets in the
present day. In his words, ‘the pretense that theories of markets and marketing
were irrelevant became less viable’ in a world that increasingly resembles a market
system. At the same time, according to Dilley (1992), over-simplistic notions of
economic man as individual maximiser of economic value, as enunciated by the
formalist position, have now receded in the face of theoretical criticism that such
assumptions provide few convincing explanations of socio-economic status.

The third component of the economic system following from production, distribution
and exchange is utilisation or consumption. If we go by what Herskovits (1952:
298-309) says, then, utilisation has to be considered to be broader in scope than
consumption. According to him, the process of utilisation involves two aspects:
those leading to further production by employing the resources obtained as ‘capital’;
and those involving direct, immediate consumption to satisfy current wants.
While scholars like Dalton (1969) and Sahlins (1969) have been critical of extending
the capital concept to pre-industrial societies, scholars like Firth (1965a) have
argued that many simple societies do use capital in the economic process either
as a productive asset or as a means of facilitating control over purchasing power;
or as a fund for investment. However, the comparatively high liquidity or ease of
convertibility of many goods in primitive and peasant economies from one use to
another, creates problems in this. Firth (1965a: 237-38), for instances observes
43
Economic and Political that pandanus mats, on which the Tikopians slept, and bark cloth used for blankets
Organisations
and clothing, were also utilised in the manufacture of objects like canoes, troughs
and sinnet cord, thereby serving both production and consumption purposes.
Coming to the issue of consumption in simple societies, a key concept is that of
the consumption unit which is a kin-based income-pooling or household unit that
typically incorporates males and females of varying ages and is found in all
preindustrial societies (Lee 1969). According to Firth (1965a:33-35) and Epstein
(1967:160-61), variation occurs in consumption within the unit, on the basis of
status and occupational differences. For instance, in many poor rural households
of India, men’s consumption needs may get priority over that of women; on the
other hand, an expectant mother might be given better nutrition than the other
women etc. The patterned way in which a consumer in a simple or peasant
economy makes his consumption decisions over time ultimately represents his
standard of living.
3.4 SUMMARY
From the above unit, we have thus learned that an economic system in simple
societies cannot be studied in isolation but must be understood as part of the
larger culture. Production, distribution, exchange, utilisation and consumption are
not dependant only on pure economic gain, but on a host of social factors. The
formalist school in economic anthropology led by scholars like Raymond Firth
believes that anthropological studies of economic systems could benefit from the
application of the neo-classical model of economics based on the study of utility
maximisation under conditions of scarcity, with appropriate modifications. However,
substantivists led by Karl Polanyi firmly maintain that conventional economic theory
cannot be applied to the study of non-western, non-industrial economies. While
this remains one of the enduring debates on the study of economic systems, it
needs to be borne in mind that the modern world is a global village and simple
societies are increasingly experiencing the impact of globalisation and the market
economy. Modern day anthropologists going to study such societies are bound to
encounter situations where many of their notions gleaned from books and theories
might be challenged. But it is for them to rise to the occasion, document and
maybe, propound new theories on the changes occurring in simple economies
under the impact of modernisation and the market.
References
Binford, Lewis R. 1990. ‘Mobility, Housing, and Environment: A Comparative
Study’. Journal of Anthropological Research. 46, pp. 119-52.
Bonvillain, N. 2010. Cultural Anthropology. Upper Saddle River NJ: Prentice
Hall.
Burling, R. 1962. ‘Maximisation Theories and the Study of Economic
Anthropology’. American Anthropologist. 64, pp. 802–21.
Commons, John R. 1954. ‘Institutional Economics’. In Newman et al., eds.,
Source Readings in Economic Thought. New York: Norton
Dalton, George. 1969. ‘Theoretical Issues in Economic Anthropology’. Current
Anthropology. 10:63-102
44
Dalton, George. ed. 1968. Introduction to Primitive, Archaic, and Modern Production, Consumption
and Exchange
Economies: Essays of Karl Polanyi. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday Anchor.
Dalton, George. 1961. ‘Economic Theory and Primitive Society’. American
Anthropologist. 65: 1-25.
Dilley, R. 1992. Contesting Markets: Analysis of Ideology, Discourse and
Practice. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Ember, Carol R. and Melvin Ember. 1994. Anthropology. New Delhi: Prentice-
Hall of India Private Limited.
Epstein, T.S. 1967. ‘The Data of Economics in Anthropological Analysis’. In A.L.
Epstein, ed. The Craft of Social Anthropology. London: Tavistock.
Godelier, Maurice. 1967a. Racionalidad e irracionalidad en la economia. Mexico
City: Siglo Veintiuno Editores. Originally published in 1966.
Goodfellow, D.M 1939. Principles of Economic Sociology. Philadelphia:
Blakiston.
Gras, N.S.B. 1927. ‘Anthropology and Economics’. In Ogburn, W.F. and A. A.
Goldenweiser. eds. The Social Science and Their Inter-relations. Boston:
Houghton Mifflin.
Gregory, C.A. 1998. ‘Exchange and Reciprocity’. In T. Ingold (ed.), Companion
Encyclopedia of Anthropology. London: Routledge.
Gudeman, S. 1986. Economics as Culture: Models and Metaphors of
Livelihood. London: Routledge.
Gupta, A. 2010. ‘Origin of Agriculture and Domestication of Plants and Animals
Linked to Early Holocene Climate Amelioration’. Current Science. Vol. 87, No.
1, 54-59.
Routledge & Kegan Paul. Originally published in 1946.
Herskovits, Melville J. 1952. Economic Anthropology. New York: Knopf.
_________________ 1940. The Economic Life of Primitive People. New
York: Knopf.
Kluckhohn, Clyde. 1972. Stone Age Economics. Chicago: Aldine.
Le Clair, Edward E. Jr. and Harold K. Schneider. eds., 1968. Economic
Anthropology: Readings in Theory and Analysis. Holt, New York: Rinehart &
Winston.
Lee, Richard. 1969. ‘Kung Bushman Subsistence: An Input-Output Analysis’. In
D.Damas, ed. Contributions to Anthropology: Ecological Essays. Ottawa:
National Museum of Canada bulletin no. 230. Anthropology Series no. 86.
Lowie, Robert H. 1938. ‘Subsistence’. In F. Boas, ed. General Anthropology.
Boston: D.C.Heath.
45
Economic and Political Malinowski, B. 1922. Argonauts of the Western Pacific. London: George
Organisations
Marx, Karl. 1904a. A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy.
Chicago: Kerr.
Mauss, M. 1922. The Gift: Forms and Functions of Exchange in Archaic
Societies. Reprint in 1990. London: Routledge.
Plattner, Stuart. ed. 1985. Markets and Marketing. Monographs in Economic
Anthropology. No. 4, New York: University Press of America.
Sahlins, Marshall D. 1969. ‘Economic Anthropology and Anthropological
Economics’. Social Science Information. 8:13-33.
___________________ 1968. ‘Notes on the Original Affluent Society’. In R.B.
Lee and I. DeVore (eds.). Man the Hunter. New York: Aldine Publishing Company,
pp. 85-89.
___________________ 1965a. ‘Exchange Value and the Diplomacy of Primitive
Trade’. In J.Helm. ed., Proceedings of the 1965 Annual Spring Meeting of the
American Ethnological Society. pp. 95-129, Seattle: University of Washington
Press.
___________________ 1965b. ‘On the Sociology of Primitive Exchange’. In M.
Banton ed. The Relevance of Models for Social Anthropology. pp. 139-227.
London: Tavistock.
Sneath, D. 2000. Changing Inner Mongolia. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Wolf, E. 1982. Europe and the People without History. Berkeley: University of
California Press.
Suggested Reading
Ember, Carol R., and Melvin Ember. 1994. Anthropology (7th ed.). New Delhi:
Prentice-Hall of India Private Limited.
Haviland, William A. 1989. Anthropology (5th ed.).Chicago: Holt, Rinehart and
Winston, Inc.
Routledge & Kegan Paul, Originally published in 1946.
Malinowski, B.1922. Argonauts of the Western Pacific. London: George
46
Sample Questions Production, Consumption
and Exchange
1) What are the two main schools in economic anthropology? What are the
fundamental differences in their approach to the study of economic systems
in simple societies?
2) What are the main socio-cultural attributes of hunters-gatherers, pastoralists
and intensive agriculturists?
3) What is the primary motive, according to anthropologists, for exchange in
simple societies? Elabourate with examples.
4) Is consumption different from utilisation? Do simple societies have the concept
of ‘capital’?
47
UNIT 4 POLITICAL POWER AND
DISTRIBUTION OF RESOURCES
Contents
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Political Power: Some Definitions
4.2.1 Band
4.2.2 Tribe
4.2.3 Big-man and Big-woman System
4.2.4 Chiefdoms
4.2.5 States
4.3 Social Control in Small-scale Societies

4.4 Social Control in States
4.4.1 Specialisation
4.4.2 Trials and Courts
4.4.3 Prison and Death Penalty
4.5 Resolution of Conflicts

4.5.1 Peaceful Resolution of Conflict
4.5.2 Avoidance
4.5.3 Community Action
4.5.4 Negotiation and Mediation
4.5.5 Ritual Reconciliation-Apology
4.5.6 Oaths and Ordeals
4.5.7 Violent Resolutions of Conflict
4.5.8 Individual Violence
4.5.9 Feuding
4.5.10 Raiding
4.5.11 Large-scale Confrontations
4.6 Distribution of Resources

4.6.1 The Allocation of Resources
4.6.2 The Conversion of Resources
4.6.3 Types of Economic Production
4.7 Summary
References
Suggested Reading
Sample Questions
Learning Objectives

The main objective of this unit is to make the students understand the:
 different types of political organisations existing in human society and their
basic features;
 distribution of power and social control mechanisms in simple society;
48  different types of conflict resolution systems;
 allocation and utilisation of natural resources in human society; Political Power and
Distribution of Resources
 distribution of goods and services; and
 marketing exchanges.
4.1 INTRODUCTION
Political organisations refers to groups that exist for the purpose of public decision
making and leadership, maintaining social cohesion and order, protecting group
rights, and ensuring safety from external threats. Political organisations have several
features:
 Recruitment principles: Criteria for determining admission to the unit.
 Perpetuity: Assumption that the group will continue to exist indefinitely.
 Identity markers: Particular characteristics that distinguish it from others, such
as costume, membership card, or title.
 Internal organisation: An orderly arrangement of members in relation to each
other.
 Procedures: Prescribed rules and practices for behaviour of group members.
 Autonomy: Ability to regulate its own affairs. (Tiffany, 1979:71-72)
Social anthropologists cluster the many forms of political organisations that occur
cross-culturally into four major types. The four types of political organisations
(given below) correspond, generally, to the major economic forms. Societies in the
ethnographic record vary in level of political integration- that is, the largest territorial
group on whose behalf political activities are organised- and in the degree to
which political authority is centralised or concentrated in the integrated group.
When we describe the political authority of particular societies, we focus on their
traditional political systems. In many societies known to anthropology, the small
community (band or village) was traditionally the largest territorial group on whose
behalf political activities were organised. The authority structure in such societies
did not involve any centralisation; there was no political authority whose jurisdiction
included more than one community. In other societies political activities were
traditionally organised sometimes on behalf of multilocal groups, but there was no
permanent authority at the top. And in still other societies political activities were
often traditionally organised on behalf of multilocal territorial groups, and these
have been incorporated into some larger, centralised political system (Ember,
2007: 420). Elman Service (1962) suggested that most societies can be classified
into four principal types of political organisations: bands, tribes, chiefdoms, and
states. Although Service’s classification does not fit for all societies, it is a useful
way to show how societies vary in trying to create and maintain social order. We
often use the present tense in our discussion, because that is the convention in
ethnographic writing, but the reader should remember that most societies that used
to be organised at the band, tribe, or chiefdom level are now incorporated into
larger political entities. With a handful of exceptions, there are no politically
autonomous bands or tribes or chiefdoms in the world any more.
49
Organisations 4.2 POLITICAL POWER: SOME DEFINITIONS
4.2.1 Band
Band is the form of political organisation found among foragers and hunters
comprising anywhere between twenty people and a few hundred people, who are
related through kinship. Because foraging has been the most long-standing form of
political organisation, these units come together at certain times of the year,
depending upon their foraging patterns and ritual schedule (Barbara D. Miller,
2002).
Band membership is flexible. If a person has serious disagreement with another
person, one option is to leave that band and join another. Leadership is informal,
and no one person is named as a permanent leader. Depending on events, such
as organising the group to relocate or to send people out to hunt, a particular
person may come to the fore as a leader for that time. This is usually someone
whose advice and knowledge about the task are especially respected. (ibid)
There is no social stratification between leaders and followers. A band leader is
the “first among equals”. Band leaders have limited authority or influence, but no
power. They cannot enforce their opinions. Social leveling mechanisms prevent
anyone from accumulating much authority or influence. Political activity in bands
involves mainly decision making about migration, food distribution, and resolution
of interpersonal conflicts. External conflicts between groups are rare because the
territories of different bands are widely separated and the population density is
low (ibid).
The band level organisation barely qualifies as a form of political organisation
because groups are flexible, leadership is ephemeral, and there are no signs or
emblems of political affiliation. Some anthropologists argue that “real” politics did
not exist in undisturbed band societies. The Guayaki (Amazon basin), the Semang
(Malaya peninsula), Iglulik Eskimo, the Kung (Africa), the Cholanaikans (Kerala),
Andaman tribes are some examples of Band organisation (ibid).
4.2.2 Tribe
A tribe is a political group comprising several bands or lineage groups, each with
similar language and lifestyle and occupying a distinct territory. Kinship is the
primary basis of tribal membership. Tribal groups contain from a hundred to
several thousand people. They are usually associated with horticulture and
pastoralism. Tribal groups may be connected to each other through a clan structure
in which members claim descent from a common ancestor. Tribal political
organisation is more formal than band-level organisation. A tribal headman or
headwoman (most are males) is formally recognised as a leader. Key qualifications
for this position are being hard working and generous and possessing good personal
skills. A headman is a political leader on a part-time basis only, yet this role is
more demanding than that of a band leader. Depending on the mode of production,
a headman will be in charge of determining the times for moving herds, planting
and harvesting, and setting the time for seasonal feasts and celebrations. Internal
and external conflict resolution is also his responsibility. A headman relies mainly
on authority and persuasion rather than on power (Barbara D. Miller, 2002).
Pastoralist tribal formations are sometimes linked in a confederacy, with local
segments maintaining substantial autonomy. The local segments meet usually at an
50 annual festival. In case of an external threat, the confederacy gathers together.
Once the threat is removed, local units resume their autonomy. The equality and Political Power and
autonomy of units, along with their ability to unite and then split, are referred to
as a segmentary model of political organisation. This form of tribal organisation is
found among pastoralists worldwide. The Tiv (Nigeria), the Nuer (Sudan), the
Oran, the Santal, the Bhil, the Gond are examples of Tribal political organisations
(ibid).
4.2.3 Big-man and Big-woman Systems

In between tribe and chiefdom is the big-man system or big-woman system.
Certain individuals develop political leadership following through a system of
redistribution based on personal ties, generosity and grand feasts. Research in
Melanesia, and Papua New Guinea established the existence of the big-man type
of politics, and most references to it are from this region. Personalistic, favour-
based political groupings are found in other regions too.
Unlike a tribal headman, a big-man or big-woman has a wider following across
several villages. A big-man tends to have greater wealth than his followers. Core
supporters of a big-man have heavy responsibilities in regulating internal affairs-
cultivation-and external affairs-intergroup feasts, exchange of goods, and war. In
some instances, a big-man is assisted by a group of respected men hailing from
big-man’s different constituencies.
4.2.4 Chiefdoms
Chiefdom is a form of political organisation with a central leader encompassing
several smaller political units. Chiefdoms have larger populations, often numbering
in thousands, and are more centralised and socially complex. Hereditary systems
of social ranking and economic stratification are found in many chiefdoms, with
social divisions existing between the chiefly lineage or lineages and non-chiefly
groups. Chiefs and their descendents are considered superior to commoners, and
intermarriage between two strata is forbidden. Chiefs are expected to be generous,
but they may have a more luxurious lifestyle than the rest of the people. The chief
ship as “office” must be filled at all times. When a chief dies or retires, he or
she must be replaced. This is not the case with a band leader or big-man or
big-woman. A chief regulates production and redistribution, solves internal conflicts,
and plans and leads raids and warring expeditions. Criteria for becoming a chief
are: ascribed criteria (birth in a chiefly lineage, or being the first son or daughter
of the chief), personal leadership skills, charisma, and accumulated wealth.
Chiefdoms have existed in most parts of the world.
Anthropologists are interested in how and why chiefdom systems evolved as an
intermediary units between tribes and states and what are its political implications.
Several political strategies support the expansion of power in chiefdoms: controlling
more internal and external wealth and giving feasts and gift exchanges that create
debt ties; improving local production systems; applying force internally; forging
stronger and wider external ties; and controlling ideological legitimacy. Depending
on local conditions, different strategies are employed. For example, internal control
of irrigation systems was the most important factor in the emergence of chiefdoms
in prehistoric southeastern Spain; whereas control of external trade was more
important in the prehistoric Aegean region (Gilman 1991).
An expanded version of the chiefdom occurs when several chiefdoms are joined
in a confederacy headed by chief of chiefs, “big chief”, or paramount chief. Many
51
Economic and Political prominent confederacies have existed- for example, in Hawaii in the late 1700s
Organisations
and, in North America, the Iroquois league of five nations that stretched across
New York State, the Cherokee of Tennessee, and the Algonquins who dominated
the Chesaeapeake region in present-day Virginia and Maryland. In Algonquin
confederacy, each village had a chief, and the regional council was composed of
local chiefs and headed by the paramount chief. Confederacies were supported
financially by contributions of grain from each local unit. Kept in a central storage
area where the paramount chief lived, the grain was used to feed warriors during
external warfare that maintained and expanded the confederacy’s borders. A council
building existed in the central location, where local chiefs came together to meet
with the paramount chief to deliberate on questions of internal and external policy.
4.2.5 States
State is a form of political organisation with a bureaucracy and diversified
governmental institutions with varying degrees of centralised control. The state is
now the form of political organisation in which all people live. Band organisations,
tribes, and chiefdoms exist, but they are incorporated within state structures.
Powers of the state: socio cultural anthropologists ask how states operate and
relate to their citizens. In this inquiry, they focus on the enhanced power that states
have over their domain compared to other forms of political organisation. (Barbara
D. Miller, 2002)
 States define citizenship and its rights and responsibilities. In complex
societies, since early times, not all residents were granted equal rights of
citizens.
 States maintain standing armies and police (as opposed to part-time forces).
 States keep track of the number, age, gender, location, and wealth of
their citizens through census system that are regularly updated. A census
allows the state to maintain formal taxation systems, military recruitment, and
policy planning, including population settlement, immigration quotas, and social
benefits such as old-age pensions.
 States have the power to extract resources from citizens through taxation.
All political organisations are supported by contributions of the members, but
variations occur in the rate of contributions expected, the form in which they
are paid, and the return that members get in terms of services. In bands,
people voluntarily give time or labour for “public projects” such as a group
hunt or a planned move. Public finance in states is based on formal taxation
that takes many forms. In-kind taxation is a system of mandatory, non-cash
contributions to the state. For example, the Inca state used a labour tax, to
finance public works such as roads and monuments and to provide agricultural
labour on state lands. Another form of in-kind taxation in early states required
that farmers pay a percentage of their crop yield. Cash taxes, such as the
income tax that takes a percentage of wages, emerged only in the past few
hundred years.
 States manipulate information. Control of information to protect the state
and its leaders can be done directly (through censorship, restricting access to
certain information by the public, and promotion of favourable images via
propaganda) and indirectly (through pressure on journalists and television
52 networks to present information in certain ways).
Symbols of State Power: Religious beliefs and symbols are often closely tied to Political Power and
the power of state leadership: the ruler may be considered a deity or part deity,
or a high priest of the state religion, or closely linked with the high priest, who
serves as advisor. Architecture and urban planning remind the populace of the
power of the state. In pre- Hispanic Mexico, the central plaza of city- states, such
as Tenochtitlan was symbolically equivalent to the center of the cosmos and was
thus the locale of greatest significance. The most important temples and the residence
of the head of state were located around the plaza. Other houses and structures,
in decreasing order of status, were located on avenues in decreasing proximity to
the center. The grandness and individual character of the leader’s residence indicate
power, as do monuments-especially tombs to past leaders and heroes or heroines
(Barbara D. Miller, 2002).
4.3 SOCIAL CONTROL IN SMALL-SCALE

SOCIETIES
Anthropologists distinguish between small-scale societies and large scale societies
in terms of prevalent forms of conflict resolution, social order, and punishment of
offenses. Because bands are small, close-knit groups, disputes tend to be handled
at the interpersonal level through discussion or one-on-one fights.
Group members may act together to punish an offender through shaming and
ridicule. Emphasis is on maintaining social order and restoring social equilibrium,
not hurtfully punishing an offender. Ostracising an offending member (forcing the
person to leave the group) is a common means of formal punishment. Capital
punishment is rare but not nonexistent. For example, in some Australian Aboriginal
societies, a law restrict access to religious rituals and paraphernalia to men who
had gone through a ritual initiation. If an initiated man shared secrets with an
uninitiated man, the elders would delegate one of their groups to kill the offender.
In such instances, the elders act like a court.
In non-state societies, punishment is often legitimised through belief in supernatural
forces and their ability to affect people. Among highland horticulturalists of the
Indonesian island of Sumba, one of the greatest offenses is to fail to keep a
promise which lead to supernatural assault from the ancestors. The punishment
may come in the form of damage to crops, illness or death of a relative, destruction
of the offender’s house, or having clothing catch on fire. When such a disaster
occurs, the only recourse is to sponsor a ritual that will appease the ancestors.
Village fission (breaking up) and ostracism are mechanisms for dealing with
irresolvable conflict. The overall goal in dealing with conflict in small-scale societies
is to return the group to harmony. Data on conflict resolution from nonhuman
primate groups also demonstrate the importance of re-establishing peaceful
interactions between former opponents as a way of promoting small-group harmony.
4.4 SOCIAL CONTROL IN STATES

In densely populated societies with more social stratification and more wealth
increased stress occurs in relation to the distribution of surplus, inheritance, and
rights to land. In addition, not everyone else, and face- to-face accountability
exists mainly in localised groups. Three important factors of state system of social
control are the increased specialisation of roles involved in social control, the
formalised use of trials and courts, and the use of power-enforced forms of
53
Economic and Political punishment, such as prisons and the death penalty. Yet informal mechanism also
Organisations
exists.
The specialisation of tasks related to law and order-police, judges, lawyers-
increases with the emergence of state organisation. Full-time professionals, , such
as judges and lawyers, often come from powerful or elite social groups, a fact
that perpetuates elite bias in the justice process itself. Police carry out the duty
of surveillance, maintain social order, book cases against the culprits and implement
the judgments pronounced in the courts.

In societies where misdoing and punishment are defined by spirits and ancestors,
a person’s guilt is proved simply by the fact that misfortune has befallen him or
her. If a person’s crops were damaged by lightning, then that person must have
done something wrong. In other instances, the guilt may be determined through
trial by ordeal, a form of trial in which the accused person is put through some
kind of test that is often painful. For example, in certain cases, the guilty person
will be required to place a hand in boiling oil, or to have a part of the body
touched by red-hot knife. Being burned is a sign of guilt, whereas not being
burned means the suspect is innocent.
The court system, with lawyers, judge, and jury, is used in many contemporary
societies, although there is variation in how cases are presented and juries
constituted. The goal of contemporary court trials is to ensure both justice and
fairness. Analysis of actual courtroom dynamics and patterns of decision making
in the United States and elsewhere, however, reveals serious problems in achieving
these goals.
4.4.3 Prisons and Death Penalty

Administering punishment involves imposing something unpleasant on someone
who has committed an offence. Socio-cultural anthropologists have examined forms
of punishment cross-culturally, as well as the relationship between types of societies
and forms of punishment. In small-scale societies, punishment is socially rather
than judicially managed. The most extreme form of punishment is usually ostracism
and is rarely death. Another common form of punishment, in the case of theft or
murder, especially in the Middle East, is the requirement that the guilty party pay
compensation to members of the victim’s family.
The prison, as a place where people are forcibly detained as a form of punishment,
has a long history, but it probably did not predate the state. In Europe, long-term
detention of prisoners did not become common until the seventeenth century.
4.5 RESOLUTION OF CONFLICT

Apart from formulation of policies, their administration, and their enforcement,
political life also involves the resolution of conflict, which may be accomplished
peacefully by avoidance, community action, mediation or the negotiation of
compromises, apology, appeal to supernatural forces, or adjudication by a third
party. The procedures used usually vary with degree of social complexity; decisions
by third parties are more likely to exist in hierarchical societies. But peaceful
solutions are not always possible, and disputes may erupt into violent conflicts.
54 When violence occurs within a political unit in which disputes are usually settled
peacefully, we call such violence crime, particularly when committed by an Political Power and
individual. When violence occurs between groups of people from separate political
units- groups between which there is no procedure for settling disputes- we usually
call such violence warfare. When violence occurs between subunits of a population
that had been politically unified, we call it civil war.

Most modern industrialised states have formal institutions and offices, such as
police, district attorneys, courts, and penal systems, to deal with various types of
disputes and conflicts. All these institutions generally operate according to codified
laws- that are, a set of explicit, usually written, rules stipulating what is permissible
and what is not. Transgression of the law by individuals gives the state right to take
action against them. The state has monopoly on the legitimate use of force in the
society, for it alone has the right to coerce subjects into agreement with regulations,
customs, political edicts and procedures.
Many societies lack such specialised offices and institutions for dealing with conflict.
Yet, because all societies have peaceful, regularised ways of handling at least
certain disputes, some anthropologists speak of the universality of law. E.
Adamson Hoebel (1968), for example, stated the principle as follows:
Each people have its system of social control. And all but a few of the poorest
of them have as a part of the control system a complex of behaviour patterns and
institutional mechanisms that we may properly treat as law. For, “anthropologically
considered, law is merely one aspect of culture- the aspect which employs the
force organised society to regulate individual and group conduct and to prevent
redress or punish deviations from prescribed social norms.” (Hoebel, 2006: 4)
Law, then, whether informal as in simpler societies, provides a means of dealing
peacefully with whatever conflicts develop. That does not mean that conflicts are
always resolved peacefully. But that also does not mean that people cannot learn
to resolve their conflicts peacefully. The fact that there are societies with little or
no violent conflict means that it may be possible to learn from them; it may be
possible to discover how to avoid violent outcomes of conflicts.
4.5.2 Avoidance
Violence can often be avoided if the parties to a dispute voluntarily avoid each
other or are separated until emotions cool down. Anthropologists have frequently
remarked that foragers are particularly likely to make use of this technique. People
may move to other bands or move their dwellings to opposite ends of camp.
Shifting horticulturalists may also split up when conflicts get too intense. Avoidance
is obviously easier in societies, such as band societies, that are nomadic or semi
nomadic and in which people have temporary dwellings. And avoidance is more
feasible when people live independently and self sufficiently (for example, in cities
and suburbs). But even if conditions in such societies may make avoidance easier,
we still need to know why some societies use avoidance more than confrontation
as a way of resolving conflict (Ember et. al, 2007).

Societies resort to various methods, to resolve disputes in an amicable way. One
such way involves community action in simpler societies that lack powerful
authoritarian leaders. Among the Inuit, disputes are frequently resolved through
community action. The Inuit believe that spirits, particularly if displeased, can 55
Economic and Political determine much of a person’s fate. Consequently, people carry out their daily
Organisations
tasks within a complex system of taboos. This system is so extensive that the Inuit,
at least in the past, may have had no need for formal set of laws.
Nevertheless, conflicts do arise and needs to be resolved. Accordingly, principles
act as guides to the community in settling trouble cases. An individual’s failure to
heed a taboo or to follow the suggestions of a shaman leads to expulsion from the
group, because the community cannot accept a risk to its livelihood. A person who
fails to share goods voluntarily will find them confiscated and distributed to the
community, and he or she may be executed in the process. A single case of
murder, as an act of vengeance (usually because of the abduction of a wife or as
part of a blood feud), does not concern the community, but repeated murders do
(Ember et. al. 2007: 432). The killing of an individual is the most extreme action
a community can take- we call it capital punishment. The community as a whole
or a political official or a court may decide to impose such punishment, but capital
punishment seems to exist nearly in all societies, from the simple to the most
complex. It is often assumed that capital punishment deters crime. If it did, we
would expect the abolition of capital punishment to be followed by an increase in
homicide rates. But that does not seem to happen. A cross-national study indicated
that the abolition of capital punishment tends to be followed by a decrease in
homicide rates.

In many conflicts, the parties to a dispute may come to a settlement themselves
by negotiation. There aren’t necessarily any rules for how they will do so, but
any solution is “good” if it restores peace. Sometimes an outsider or third party
is used to help bring about a settlement between the disputants. We call it
mediation when the outside party tries to help bring about a settlement, but that
third party does not have the formal authority to force a settlement. Both negotiation
and mediation are likely when the society is relatively egalitarian and it is important
for people to get along.

The desire to restore a harmonious relationship may also explain ceremonial
apologies. An apology is based on deference- the guilty party shows obeisance
and asks for forgiveness. Such ceremonies tend to occur in chiefdoms. Among the
Fijians of the South Pacific, there is a strong ethic of harmony and mutual assistance,
particularly within a village. When a person offends some one of higher status, the
offended person and other villagers begin to avoid, and gossip about, the offender.
If the offender is sensitive to village opinion, he or she will perform a ceremony
of apology called soro. One of the meanings of soro is “surrender”. In the ceremony
the offender keeps her or his head bowed and remains silent while intermediary
speaks, presents a token gift, and asks the offended person for forgiveness (Ember,
1993:241).

Still another way of peacefully resolving disputes is through oaths and ordeals,
both of which involve appeals to supernatural power. An oath is the act of calling
upon a deity to bear witness to the truth of what one says. An ordeal is a means
used to determine guilt or innocence by submitting the accused to dangerous or
painful tests believed to be supernatural control (Ember, 1993:241).
56
4.5.7 Violent Resolutions of Conflict Political Power and
People are likely to resort to violence when regular, effective alternative means of
resolving a conflict are not available. Some societies consider violence between
individuals to be appropriate under certain circumstances; which we generally do
not consider, and call it crime. When violence occurs between political entities
such as communities, districts, or nations, we call it warfare. The type of warfare,
of course, varies in scope and complexity from society to society. Sometimes a
distinction is made among feuding, raiding, and large-scale confrontations (Ember
et. al. 2007:435).

Although at first it may seem paradoxical, violent behaviour itself is often used to
control behaviour. In some societies it is considered necessary for parents to beat
children who misbehave. They consider this punishment and not criminal behaviour
or child abuse. Violence between adults can be similarly viewed. If a person
trespasses on one’s property or hurts someone, some societies consider it
appropriate or justified to kill or maim the trespasser. Is this social control, or is
it just lack of control? Most societies have norms about when such “punishment”
is or is not appropriate, so the behaviour of anyone who contemplates doing
something wrong, as well as the behaviour of the person wronged, is likely to be
influenced by the “laws” of their society (Ember et. al. 2007: 436)
4.5.9 Feuding
Feuding is an example of how individual self-help may not lead to a peaceful
resolution of conflict. Feuding is a state of recurring hostilities between families
or groups of kin, usually motivated by a desire to avenge an offense- whether
insult, injury, deprivation, or death- against a member of the group. The most
common characteristic of the feud is that responsibility to avenge is carried by all
members of the kin group. The killing of any member of the offender’s group is
considered an appropriate revenge, because the kin group as a whole is regarded
as responsible. Nicholas Gubser told of a feud within a Nunamiut Inuit community,
caused by a husband’s killing of his wife’s lover that lasted for decades. Feuds are
by no means limited to small-scale societies; they occur as frequently in societies
with high levels of political organisation (Ember et. al 2007: 436).
4.5.10 Raiding
Raiding is a short-term use of force, planned and organised, to realise a limited
objective. This objective is usually the acquisition of goods, animals, or other
forms of wealth belonging to another, often neighboring community. Raiding is
prevalent in pastoral societies, in which, cattle, horses, camels, or other animals
are prised and an individual’s own herd can be augmented by theft. Raids are
often organised by temporary leaders or coordinators whose authority may not
last beyond planning and execution of the venture. Raiding may also be organised
for the purpose of capturing persons either to marry or to keep as concubines
or as slaves. Slavery has been practiced in about 33 percent of the world’s
known societies, and war has been one way of obtaining slaves either to keep or
to trade for other goods (ibid).

Both feuding and raiding usually involve relatively small numbers of the persons 57
Economic and Political and almost always an element of surprise. Because they are generally attacked
Organisations
without warning, the victims are often unable to muster an immediate defense.
Large-scale confrontations, in contrast, involve a large number of persons and
planning by both sides of strategies of attack and defense. Large-scale warfare is
usually practiced among societies with intensive agriculture or industrialisation.
Only these societies possess a technology sufficiently advanced to support
specialised armies, military leaders, strategies, and so on (Ember, 1993: 494).
4.6 DISTRIBUTION OF RESOURCES

As Ember (1993, 2007) states when one thinks of economies, we think of things
and activities involving money. We think of the costs of goods and services, such
as food, rent, haircuts, and movie tickets. We may also think of factories, farms,
and other enterprises that produce the goods and services we need, or think we
need. All societies have customs specifying how people gain accesses to natural
resources; customary ways of transforming or converting those resources, through
labour, into necessities and other desired goods and services; and customs for
distributing and perhaps exchanging goods and services.

Herein, we would not go into much depth as this part has been discussed in length
in the earlier unit. Thus, a quick recapitulation will be done through an activity. If
help is required please refer to the earlier unit.
Activity
Enumerate with examples how the allocation of resources varies between the
a) food collectors, b) horticulturalists and c) pastoralists.

In all societies, resources have to be transformed or converted through labour into
food, tools and other goods. These activities constitute what economists call
production. In this section, after briefly reviewing different types of production, we
examine what motivates people to work, how societies divide up the work to be
done, and how they organise work. As we shall see, some aspects of the conversion
of natural resources are culturally universal, but there is also an enormous amount
of cultural variation (Ember et. al 2007: 307).

Most societies that anthropologists study had domestic – family or kinship based
– mode of production. People laboured to get food and to produce shelter and
implements for themselves and their kin. Usually families had the right to exploit
productive resources and control the products of their labour. Even part-time
specialists, such as potters, could still support themselves without that craft if they
needed to. At the other extreme are industrial societies, where much of the work
is based on mechanised production, as in factories and mechanised agriculture.
Because machines and materials are costly, only some individuals (capitalists),
corporations, or governments can afford the expenses of production. Therefore,
most people in industrial societies work for others as wage earners. Although
wages can buy food, people out of work lose their ability to support themselves,
unless they are protected by welfare payments or unemployment insurance. Then
there is the tributary type of production system, found in non-industrial societies
58
in which most people still produce their own food but an elite or aristocracy Political Power and
controls a portion of production (including the products of specialised crafts). The
feudal societies of medieval Western Europe were examples of tributary production,
as was czarist Russia under serfdom (Ember et. al, 2007:307).
4.7 SUMMARY
The main functions of political organisation in simple societies are maintaining
social order, promote resolutions for conflicts, to fulfill these functions it has to be
organised and should have hierarchical society to give head position to one, whom
the rest of the dwellers of that particular society will obey. However, the modern
political system has become a threat for the sustenance of the traditional political
system. Being dominant the modern political system is attracting the attention of
many people in the simple societies. But traditional political system has not become
extinct, though there is a possibility that they too might become extinct. When we
talk about traditional economic system of simple societies we observe the exchange
of goods and services not the money that is being transacted as in modern economic
system and in market. These exchanges in simple societies are not merely the
exchanges of goods and services but it is to maintain the human relations by the
exchanges especially to strengthen the kin relations and inter tribe relations. But
again modern market which has more monetary interest rather than maintaining
human relations has become a threat to traditional economic system.
References
Barbara D. Mille. 2002. Cultural Anthropology. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
Ember, Carol. R. 1993. Cultural Anthropology. Prentice Hall.
Ember, Carol. Melvin Ember & Peter N Pererine. 2007. Anthropology. (12th
edition). Dorling Kindersley (India Pvt. Ltd) New Delhi: India Binding House.
__________________ 2003. Anthropology. Patparganj. Delhi: Pearson Education
pte. Ltd.
Gilman, Antonio. 1974. ‘The Development of Social Stratification in Orange Age
Europe’. Current Anthropology. Vol 22:1–23.
Hoebel, E. Adamson. 1968. The Law of Primitive Man: A Study in Comparative
Legal Dynamics. Reprint 2006 (First Harvard University Paperback edition).
New York: Atheneum.
James, Peoples & Garrick Bailey. 1995. Humanity: An Introduction to Cultural
Anthropology. St. Paul New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco: West Publishing
Company.
Service, Elman R. 1962. Primitive Social Organisation: An Evolutionary
Perspective. New York: Random House.
__________________ 1975. Origins of the State and Civilisation: The Process
of Cultural Evolution. New York: Norton.
__________________ 1979. The Hunters. 2nd ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice
Hall.
59
Economic and Political Tiffany, Water.W. 1979. ‘New Directions in Political Anthropology: The Use of
Organisations
Corporate Models for the Analysis of Political Organisations’. Political
Anthropology: State of The Art. S.Lee Seaton and Henri J.M. Claessen (ed.) –
Pp.63-75. Newyork: Houton.
Suggested Reading
Sample Questions
1) Briefly discuss the different types of political organisations and its main features
in human society?
2) Examine the various forms of punishment and conflict resolution mechanism
practiced in human society?
3) Write an essay on distribution of goods and services in simple society?
60
UNIT 2 STATE AND STATELESS SOCIETIES:
POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS
Contents
2.1 Introduction
2.2 State and Stateless Societies and Contribution of Anthropology
Case-1
Case-2
2.3 Political Unit

2.4 Kinship and Power
2.5 Political System among the Indian Tribes

2.5.1 Juang
2.5.2 Hill Kharias
2.5.3 Kondhs
2.6 Summary
References
Suggested Reading
Sample Questions
Learning Objectives

After reading this unit, you would be able to understand:
 the meaning of state and stateless societies and the anthropological contributions
to the study of the same;
 relationship between kinship and power; and
 political organisations in some of the Indian tribes.
2.1 INTRODUCTION
In anthropology we have studied about social system and its subsystems such as
political organisations, economic organisations, religious organisations, etc. In this
unit, we will focus on political systems. We must understand that political institutions
are not isolated components but they are part and parcel of social system and are
interconnected with other subsystems in a society. Thus in any social system, the
economic system, the political system or the kinship system and the ritual life are
all interconnected. While the study of political system seems more concerned to
political science, anthropologists too have studied political system of both state
and stateless societies. Anthropologists are interested in studying political institutions
and the underlying principles on which these institutions act upon. In anthropology,
inductive and comparative approaches are used in studying political institutions
and explaining the uniformities found among them and to interpret their
interdependencies with other features of social organisation (Fortes and Evans-
Pritchard, 1940 : 5). Since long anthropologists like Fortes, Evans-Pritchard and 21
Economic and Political Mary Shepardon have emphasised that both state and stateless political systems
Organisations
are part of social structure through which political action takes place. Southall
(1974: 154) has noted that social anthropologists are gradually more interested in
studying the political aspects of contemporary times and intensive analysis of local
political behaviour and processes. Thus, the interest in studying political pattern,
behaviour and processes is gradually expanded with wider attention in both simple
and complex societies. However, in this unit we are going to emphasise the political
system in simple societies, be it state or stateless societies.
2.2 STATE AND STATELESS SOCIETIES AND

CONTRIBUTION OF ANTHROPOLOGY
Anthropology has noteworthy contribution to the study of traditional societies, the
tribes or peasant communities. The ethnographic contributions of anthropologists
have helped us understand different aspects of social and cultural life and political
system of these communities. Studies of tribes in India, Africa or in Australia have
recorded the fact that every society has definite norms, values and recognised
rules of conduct. Individuals violating such norms or values or breaching rules of
conduct are punished or subjected to various sanctions. Within a locally defined
community, an individual who commit some act which goes against the norms of
the community invites punishment by recognised coercive authority. Political
community, whether or not it is organised in the form of state has its own territory
(Mair, 1962). Protection of defined territory and its individuals, organising social
activities like rituals and religious activities, and organising economic activities
entail organised authority. The authority decides over the level of punishment for
each defied activity which goes against the societal norms or values. Every society
has certain authority, whether centralised, decentralised or lack of centralised
authority. Lucy Mair makes the useful remark that ‘there is no society where rules
are automatically obeyed’. Anthropologists like Gluckman and others have tried to
show that in all primitive societies-ranging from small bands of hunters or fishermen
to kingdoms-there exists some basic mechanism of social control which regulates
the affairs of the tribe and resolves conflicts arising among its component groups
(Eisenstadt, 1959: 201).
The general assumption is that most of these social control mechanisms are in one
way or another common to all types of traditional or preliterate societies-whether
segmentary, centralised or some other (ibid.). According to Fortes and Evans-
Pritchard (1940) the societies which have centralised authority, administrative
machinery, and judicial institutions were labeled as ‘primitive states’. Some groups
like the Zulu, the Ngwato, the Bemba, the Banyankole and the Kede are regarded
as “primitive states”. They observed sharp differences in the distribution of wealth,
status and privileges, corresponding to the distribution of power and authority in
all ‘primitive’ states.
Stateless societies on the other hand, had no great distinctions between the rank,
status, or wealth of their members (Haskell Fain, 1972). But they may not be
egalitarian societies. Fortes and Evans-Pritchard (1940: 5) have defined that the
societies which lack centralised authority, administrative machinery, and constituted
judicial institutions-in short which lack government-and in which there are no
sharp divisions of rank, status, or wealth are called stateless societies. They are
the Logoli, the Tallensi and the Nuer in Africa. Examples of such tribes in India
are some Andaman Islander tribes namely, Jarwa, Sentinelese, etc. Some other
hunters and gatherer groups where there is no centralised political system can be
22
included in the stateless societies. Historically speaking, many other tribes in India
were stateless societies. But the evolution of political system from stateless to state State and Stateless
has taken place subsequently. Institutions
Like state, in the stateless societies, the political activities are supported by group
behaviour. In stateless societies, the community members select the leader who
possesses dominant characters with strong personalities, well-built physical feature,
and may be with possession of wealth. In the study of the Nuer, Evans-Pritchard
has reported the behaviour of the ‘leopard skin chief’ who is a dominant character
selected from outside the clan group. However, this clan is not necessarily a
dominant clan. He stands outside the lineage and tribal system. The leopard skin
chief possesses bounty wealth in the form of cattle. He is offered cattle by
community members or by the members of the guilty. Murder/killing of a fellow
community member is often regarded as a serious offense to the community as a
whole. Therefore, the leader takes appropriate action to compensate the kin of the
deceased and the community he belongs to. Lucy Mair (1962) pointed out that
in the absence of centralised political system if a man was wronged, his lineage
supported him in seeking redress by force. When they got tired of fighting they
invite an influential man to mediate between the two sides. However, collective
action takes place in war or in maintenance of peace. The community members
support the leaders in war and feud. This could be for protection of territory or
could be for taking on revenge in case of murder of fellow members. While in
more complex state societies, the guilty is punished by appropriate court of law
or well developed judiciary system. In stateless societies there are no obvious
political institutions like that in state. A leader is an institution in these societies. He
also possesses ritual power. Appropriate quantum of punishment is decided by the
leader. He maintains peace in the community. A leader resolves the disputes between
community members both within and outside. In addition, the protection of territory
or resolving territorial disputes is significant part of the decision making authority.
Allocation and distribution of resources takes place with appropriate leadership.
Both state and stateless societies protect social norms and values. Factors like
religion, wealth and other socio-economic factors are closely interconnected with
and determine political behaviour in stateless societies. In stateless societies, both
kinship and politics are often diffused.
Case-1
The Polynesians of the Hawaiian Islands had an exceedingly complex political system
based on hereditary rank and classes, and theocracy and divine right.
Among Polynesians, there are three hereditary social classes-commoners, nobles, and
inferiors. Agriculturists, fishermen and artisans are the commoners, work under the
shadow of nobles. The nobles are warriors, priests and political officials. The hereditary
ranking of nobles was based on descent from the gods, genealogically traced. Rank of
individuals and segments was traced in terms of birth order. The highest rank traced
through first born child. The islands were divided into chiefdoms ruled by a paramount
chief. The paramount chief’s rule was administered and maintained through a cluster of
high ranking nobles who served as priests, counselors and military leaders. The districts
of chiefdom were in turn ruled by local chiefs of high rank. The nobles were supported
almost entirely by tribute extracted from commoners in local areas which in turn were
administered by chosen chiefs and overseers of lower rank. Being of the highest rank
and sacredness himself, the chief approached the status of the god who conveyed on
him these divine rights. This system was stable and immutable. The paramount chief is
however not permanent and is often unstable and flexible. The political fortunes of
paramount chiefs coaxed and waned by with their success in holding their chiefdoms
together in the face of insurrection and intrigue.
Edition), 1981, CBS College Publishing, New York.
23
Organisations
Case-2
A Nuer tribe is the largest group whose members are duty bound to combine in raiding
and defense. There is no overarching government. The Nuer maintains a measure of unity
and orderly political relations between the territorial divisions. Evans-Pritchard calls tribe
to each territorial sub-division. A tribe is sub divided into segments. The relationship
between segments is conceived in terms of hierarchies of patrilineal descent. There is
fight between territorial divisions but when two neighbouring groups fight with third
party both the neighbouring groups fight together against the third party. Disputes begin
over many grievances such as damage to property, adultery, rights over resources, to
name a few. The Nuers are prone to fighting and many disputes lead to bloodshed.
Confrontation between members of different groups or villages can lead to use of spears
and bloody war between men of each village. A leopard-skin chief is the mediator who
resolves the disputes. Such a chief has ritual powers and a role as mediator and negotiator
but he has no secular authority and no special privileges. His performance in peacemaking
is possible because he stands outside the lineage and tribal system. The leopard skin
chief was also a wealthy leader partly because of the cattle he received for his services
as mediator who could mobilise the support of a substantial coalition of followers.

Edition), 1981, CBS College Publishing, New York, pp. 282-285
Contribution of Anthropologists
In this section, we will briefly outline the contributions of anthropologists to the
study of state and stateless societies. The contribution of anthropology to political
thought has emerged from its apprehension with stateless societies. The growing
interest in political anthropology has been observed in the early writings on
primitive state and stateless societies by M. Fortes and Evans-Pritchard (1940),
J. Middleton and David Tait (1958), David Easton (1959), L. Mair (1962) M.L.
Perlman (1969), Balandier (1967) and recent studies by J. Vincent (1990) and E.
Wolf (2001) amongst others. The series of works by Hegel and Kalr Marx and
their argument on “state” have also contributed substantially to the study in political
anthropology.
Meyer Fortes and E. E. Evans-Pritchard are perhaps the first anthropologists who
have classified the political systems of African communities as state and stateless
societies. The study on ‘African Political System’ by Meyer Fortes and E.E.
Evans-Pritchard (1940) is a monumental piece to theoretical contribution in political
anthropology. In the beginning of the essay the authors have propounded that in
any social system you will find the political institutions, the kinship organisation, the
economic institutions and the ritual life which are interlinked and interdependent.
One institution influences another. Both Fortes and Evans-Pritchard (1940) have
emphasised that the definition of ‘political’ in anthropology has to be marked off
clearly. The political institutions with its true meanings should be established to
make it distinct from other features of social system. Thus the foundation to
theoretical contribution in political anthropology was observed in their writing
which was gradually facilitated the emergence of a separate discipline of Political
Anthropology. Shepardson (1963) pointed out that in African Political Systems,
Fortes and Pritchard have clearly defined the type of social structure through
which political action takes place and revealed the distinctions of political behaviour
whether state or stateless society (kin based, segmentary and state societies).
However, some anthropologists like David Easton and Balandier have raised the
concern with uncertainties of political anthropology, which they believed had not
marked off differently from other areas in anthropology or uncertainties found with
definitions of state. For example, Balandier (1967, 1970) in his book Political
24
Anthropology has pointed out that definitions of state or political institution are State and Stateless
usually too wide and consequently non specific. Institutions
Paige (1974) supported the argument of anthropologists about understanding

relationship between systems of kinship and forms of political organisation. He
further emphasised that the organisation of kinship and the organisation of the
polity are closely integrated in stateless societies. Kinship roles frequently determine
patterns of group interests and solidarity and lines of political cleavage and conflict.
He derived the Gluckman’s (1965) argument that the maintenance of political
order in stateless societies depends on a network of cross cutting kinship ties. He
has particularly cited Murphy (1957), Van Velzen and Vanwetering (1960) and
Otterbein (1968) to argue that matrilocal and patrilocal residence rules produce
different patterns of group ties and consequently, different pattern of political
conflict. It has been assumed that both matrilineal and patrilineal descent rules
should have similar effects on inter-group conflict. Swanson’s original findings that
patrilineal descent correlates with factional polities and matrilineal descent are
consequence of the forms of political organisation has been contrasted by other
anthropologists. Paige has, however, concluded that association between rules of
descent and the organisation of the polity was a special case of a more general
principle underlying patterns of group conflict and cleavage in all political systems.
Hegel and Karl Marx are pioneers in contributing to the study of state and political
systems. Their thoughts still found to be very relevant and contemporary to the
studies in political anthropology. Hegel starts from describing the state and makes
man the subjective aspect of the state. He believed, democracy starts from man
and makes the state into objectified man. People make the constitution. Democracy
has relation with other forms of state. Democracy is the essence of all constitutions
of the state and is considered to be Old Testament in relation to other political
forms. Socialised man is the particular constitution of the state. All that exists, law,
constitution, democracy and other political forms are for the benefits of man. But
it is not that man is there for benefit of law or other political forms. Law has a
human existence and in other political forms man has only a legal existence. That
is the fundamental character of democracy (McLellan, 1971:215).
For Karl Marx state in many ways is a most characteristic institution of man’s
alienated condition. State is a negation of man, similar to religion, law and morality,
and equally based on a particular mode of production. Meanwhile, he also talked
about positive elements of state. The early work of Feuerbach’s critique of Hegel’s
philosophy and his own experience as editor of the Rhheinische Zeitung could
help him in to elabourate his ideas on the state. He narrated his ideas in a manuscript
as a critique of Hegel’s political philosophy. Marx provides an idealistic form of
government where the state and civil society are not separate, but directly
correspond to the ‘essence of socialised man’. He called this ‘true democracy’.
In a democracy the constitution, the law and the state itself are only a self
determination of the people and a particular content of them in so far as it is a
political constitution (KMSW: 29). He viewed state like religion, as a statement
of man’s ideal aims and also a compensation for their lack of realisation (McLellan,
1971). He differentiated between state and polity. He pointed out that the more
political the state is and the more it constitutes separate sphere, the more incapable
it is to solve the society’s problems.
While in early writings, Marx emphasised on gap between the state and society
in later part he focused on analysis of the function of the state in society. He later
25
Economic and Political considered state as a part of society. He discussed about origin of the state and
Organisations
other social institutions. The state is a manifestation of interest of certain dominant
class by which the individuals of a ruling class assert their common interests.
Sometimes Marx says that the state need not be representative of the whole of
a class but only a section of that class. State acts as intermediary among fully
developed classes for benefit of one and other classes and sometimes it acts
independently where the classes are not fully developed. The state acts as an
intermediary in the formation of all communal institutions and gives them a political
form. The state in turn modeled other social institutions.
Marx considered America as a modern state. He considered bureaucracy to be
the most essential part of this modern state apparatus. His manuscript, Critique of
Hegel’s Philosophy of the State in 1843 with special focus on Prussia described
how the bureaucracy had eventually become a caste which claimed to possess,
through higher education, the monopoly of the interpretation of the state’s interests.
The real aim of the state thus appears to bureaucracy as an aim against the state.
2.3 POLITICAL UNIT

Now let us discuss about what should be the unit of study for political system.
While most of the studies have highlighted the tribe as a social unit or as a political
unit, we should remember that the political unit is not only confined to one unit,
the tribe; it could be a horde or clan as well. In seeking to define the political
system, as suggested by Radcliffe-Brown, we have to look for a territorial
community which is united by the rule of law. Thus, it could be a tribe, a local
horde or clan. Middleton and Tait (1958: 8) have noted that “the basic unit of the
political system is also a joint or extended family based on a three or four generation
lineage. Its component families are generally the productive and consuming units,
but the joint family is the largest purely domestic unit and is under the domestic
authority of a single head who may also represent it as a corporate unit in political
and ritual situations”. The units are distinct in case of defined political system such
as state. However, in stateless societies there is no spatially defined distinct political
unit. It is noteworthy that the political unit in the societies with a state organisation
is numerically larger than in those without a state organisation. The largest political
groups among the Tallensi, Logoli, and Nuer cannot compete in numbers with the
quarter to half million of the Zulu state (in about 1870), the 101,000 of the
Ngwato state, and the 140,000 of the Bemba state. But it is suggested that a
stateless political unit need not be very small. But it is probably true that there is
a limit to the size of a population that can hold together without some kind of
centralised government. Similarly, a political unit with state organisation should not
be very large (Fortes and Evans-Pritchard, 1940: 7).
While a political unit could be a tribe, local hoard or clan, the political system
expands beyond one tribe, a local hoard or a clan. One important point discussed
by Fortes and Evans-Pritchard (1940) is that societies which have a high degree
of general cultural resemblance need not have the same type of political system.
Within a single linguistic or cultural area we often find political systems which
differ from each other in important features. Conversely, similar political structures
are found in societies of different cultures.
26
State and Stateless
2.4 KINSHIP AND POWER Societies: Political
Institutions
There is a close relationship between kinship and power. Political anthropologists
have revealed the complex ties between these two systems. They have analysed
and developed the theory of kinship and power relation. There is little differentiation
between political functions and kinship institution. In stateless societies, the kinship
ties often determine the political behaviour. Balandier (1967, 1970) has cited Van
Velsen’s case of Tonga of Malawi that the political relations were expressed in
terms of kinship and the manipulations of kinship are one of the means employed
in political strategy. The relationship between state and kinship often seem to be
complimentary as well as antagonistic as discussed by Durkheim. The most important
characteristics in centralised chiefdoms such as Zulu, Ngoni, Swazi, etc. are that
the political sphere is distinct from that of lineage and kinship relations, and political
positions acquire a certain degree of autonomy. In the above said chiefdoms, the
relative importance of corporate descent groups, lineages, clans and the like for
the definition of the territorial units of society and for the general political life of
the tribe is insignificant than among the various segmentary tribes (Eisenstadt:
210-211).

Smith (1956) pointed out that ‘the lineages are corporate groups of a segmentary
character defined in terms of unilineal descent’. An important feature that
separates political character of lineage system from kinship association is that the
political character of lineage organisation is linked with the corporate character of
lineage groups. This feature normally lacks in kinship associations. Lineages are
local groups which discharge political functions within their areas. This condition
provides a subdivision of the population into territorial segments and the correlation
of these territorial segments with the genealogical segments of the lineage units in
stateless societies. Segmentary lineage system is common feature of every society.
In stateless societies the political authority is often passed through lineage system
or internally organised on a lineage basis. Lineage principles provide substitute for
governmental organisation. The usages of lineage systems vary across societies
with different degree and freedom. This may be used to express and validate
forms of common action, such as reciprocal help and protection, joint responsibility
in bride wealth and blood compensation, help in feud and war, regulation of inter
marriage and observance of responsibility to the dead (Middleton and Tait, 1967:
6). In stateless societies the lineage system possesses key features of political
relations and other social relations. The political power and authority are exercised
between groups and statuses. External political relations of local groups are often
conceived in lineage terms when there is no centralised political authority. The
internal political authority could also be attached to lineages while this could be
attached to other structures such as age-sets and age classes, ritual congregations,
village councils and associations, ritual congregations, secret societies and other
associations (ibid.).
Stateless societies do possess lineages or other type of segments. These grow or
change through fission, accretion, and fusion of various units (Fortes, 1945, Smith,
1956, Easton, 1959). Depending upon the kind of kinship structure, stateless
societies break down into two subclasses. One subclass is characterised by
corporate lineage segments. Order is maintained in such societies by means of
equilibrium of competing lineage segments. The other subclass is distinguished by
a pure kinship structure in which no segmentation takes place. In centralised 27
Economic and Political primitive states, the segmentation may not be corporate lineages but localised
Organisations
groups, age-regiment, or associations. In complex modern ones there is segmentation
and the units of division are quite different and take the form of political parties,
interest groups, political leaders with specific followings, etc. (Easton, 1959: 222).
Middleton and Tait (1959) have identified several ways in which descent groups
may be linked into a single system. First group, a single all inclusive lineage
genealogy, which is sufficient to explain significant political identification of lineage
with territorial segmentation, and the political institution is built upon a framework
of agnatic lineages which are units into a single pyramidal system. This pyramidal
system covers the whole jural community. It need not cover the entire society.
Examples: the Tiv. The societies of this type, like the Lugbara and the Nuer, there
is continual migration and spatial movement of groups. They are relatively
economically and socially autonomous. These societies have little specialised
political authority. The functionaries who are politically important are also primary
holders of domestic or ritual roles. Second group, the political units of these
societies consist of small descent groups, usually of shallow genealogical depth,
which are relatively interdependent. They are grouped into overlapping clusters by
ritual links of various kinds (often by forming the congregations of earth cults and
other cults not based on descent) and by quasi- kinship ties. The internal hierarchical
administrative organisation of any single major political units is based upon a single
lineage genealogy. At the political level units are not linked by a single genealogy
but rather by the recognition of mutual obligations. Exogamy is an essential aspect
of ties of clanship where these provide a framework of political importance. They
may be explained by the people as resulting from common agnatic ancestry, but
they are explained in terms of clanship. Exact genealogical relationship is not
reckoned. Examples of these societies are the Konkomba, the Amba, and the
Tallensi. In these societies lineages are arranged in a segmentary organisation, but
are concerned with inheritance, exogamy and family matters rather than with political
relations proper. Third group, it composed of lineages from different clans, a
compound structure of lineages which cannot be placed into a single pyramidal
system. Relationships between all its territorial segments cannot usually be explained
by reference to a single agnatic genealogy. These systems are characterised by the
lack of an all inclusive lineage genealogy at any level of organisation except that
of the nuclear group itself. They also have chief with certain specialised functions.
Example of such type is the Dinka.
2.5 POLITICAL SYSTEM AMONG THE INDIAN

TRIBES
Many primitive communities in India have transformed their political system from
stateless society to state. The process of formation of state has been discussed by
Southall (1974) and Sinha (1987) amongst others. The change in management of
law and order from family and kinship ties to more centralised authority of the
tribal chief is discussed in many studies. Village councils are the intermediary
political institutions commonly found among the tribes in the country. However,
these village councils have close connection with non-tribals too. F. G. Bailey has
discussed about several political institutions in his study in highland village in
Kandhamal district of Orissa. Village council and caste council are some of the
well defined political institutions by Bailey in his study about political system. He
observed that a village council is engaged in formulating new set of rules, allocating
responsibility, organising labour, decision making in ritual process and festivals,
28
judicial process, etc. He found that formal management of the village lies in the State and Stateless
hands of the village council (panchayat). The council has judicial, legislative, and Institutions
executive functions (Bailey, 1957: 192). Mutha political institution has significant
role in the Kondh tribal villages. A mutha consists of several villages. The political
units like mutha and village councils have also significant role in determining
economic bahaviour. A creation of state, both mutha and village councils are
engaged in collection of land revenues.
The study of political system in India has also been extensively discussed by
Surajit Sinha and Harmann Kulke. They have discussed about formation of state.
Surajit Sinha’s study discusses about political system in eastern India as well as
in the North eastern region of the country. The edited book on ‘Tribal Polities
and State Systems in Pre-Colonial Eastern and North-Eastern India’ is a
collection of essays by contributors who have discussed different aspects of political
systems. Sinha (1987) has primarily focused on the evolution of political system
from pre-state to sovereign states in this book. The levels and types of politics
described in his book are: Small chiefdoms-Miso chieftaincies, evolved chiefdoms
on the hills (mainly following pre-settled agricultural technology): Khasi Siyems,
principalities in the forest regions of eastern India: Orissa Princely States,
Chhotnagpur Raj and Mallabhum, and Archaic sovereign states in North-east
India: Ahom, Jaintia, Manipur and Dimsa State of Sikkim. He stressed that in all
the above cases the higher levels of polities were evolved by coagulation of
lineage or clan based units of one or more ethnic groups and/or by conquest of
segmentary tribes by larger principalities or states. Chiefdoms provide a centralised
direction to a higher tribal society. They do not have true government. The chiefdom
is a development of the segmentary tribal system to a higher level of integration.
A chiefdom is however not a class society (Elman, 1963). Sinha has further
mentioned that in the pre state level structures like the Miso Chiefdoms in North-
East India are entirely dependent on stratification of clan and lineage segments.
But in more complex political formations in Eastern India like Chotnagpur Raj,
Mallabhum, Panchkot, Barahabhum and feudatory states of Orissa, it is observed
that the controlled terrain of the Raja is surrounded by segmentary clan-lineage
based political formations.
2.5.1 Juang
Juang is one of the primitive tribes inhabited in Keonjhar District in Orissa.N.
Pattanaik (1989) has reported that a Pirh is the village council among the Juang.
Each Pirh is headed by a Sardar who maintains law and order, collect land
revenue, etc. Each Pirh is divided into six sub Pirhs and each Sub- Pirh is
headed by a Sardar. Pradhans are the village headmen of the village councils
which are governed under Sub-Pirhs.A Pradhan takes decision on judicial matters
and maintain law and order.A Pradhan also calls meeting which is attended by all
village council members. Sacerdotal chief is called Nigam who takes decision on
ritual and religious matters. The Dangua acts as messenger to the Nigam and the
Pradhan. The village council consists of the formal leader and the Barabhai or
elderly man of the village.
2.5.2 Hill Kharias

Hill Kharias are very primitive. The council of the traditional government consists
of a headman called Pradhan which is mostly hereditary and a sacerdotal head.
Pradhans are actively held and supported by the family heads. Since the family
heads have consanguine or affine relationship with each other, the people under 29
Economic and Political the Pradhan may be considered members of a large family. Decision on disputes
Organisations
at individual level, family level, village level, quarrels, conflicts, contribution for
religious and social affairs, marriage, social crimes and so on are taken up by the
Pradhan. As a rule, the council meetings are arranged in the courtyard or verandah
of the offender. It may also be held at times under a shady tree or in the house
of the Pradhan. Bhandari is the village crier (Vidyarthi and Upadhyay, 1987).
2.5.3 Kondhs
N. Pattnaik (1988) mentions that Mutha Organisation is closely akin to centralised
authority with marginal administrative and judicial institutions. Among Dongria
Kondhs, a Mutha head is called Mandal. Among Dongria Kondhs, a village chief
is called Jani who is also the spokesman of the village. Bismajhi and Barika
work under the Jani. A sacerdotal leader is called Dishari. Among Kutia Kondhs
village chief is called Majhi. Gonda is the village messenger. In the past the
Mutha was an important socio-political organisation. The functions of Mutha
organisation are to arbitrate cases like village boundary disputes, land disputes
and disputes over bride capture.

The traditional political organisation in Inumanda village in Paderu Block in
Vishakhapatnam district of Andhra Pradesh studied by P. V. Rao (1987) has the
similar structure like other tribes. The political organisation is in the hands of the
village headman who works with a group of elders in the village who are collectively
called Peddala Panchayat. Rich influential persons were recognised by the
zamindars and local rulers as their representatives in the village for looking after
collection of revenue and law and order maintenance. Such representatives are
variously called as Naidu or Pettamdar. Naidu or Pettamdar is usually assisted
by a Barika. Chellani acts as attendant to Naidu. Kula Panchayat is the body
consists of all important members of the particular tribe. Village level issues and
issues concerning persons from different tribes fall under the purview of multi tribal
village elder council. Kula Panchayat is absent due to lack of sufficient strength
of the tribe.
2.6 SUMMARY
The political system is a part and parcel of social system. Both state and stateless
societies are part of political system. State is a dominant political feature with
centralised authority, administrative machinery and judicial institutions. The
centralised societies maintain some specificity and shares almost similar basic
political and administrative structure. The stateless societies on the other hand lack
centralised authority and lack well developed administrative machinery or judicial
institutions. There are sharp differences in the distribution of wealth, status and
privileges, corresponding to the distribution of power and authority, in all primitive
states. Kinship is an important constituent of social structure and plays significant
role in determining political behaviour in stateless societies. Lineage group is
primarily segmentary and an important characteristic of stateless societies. However,
lineage connection is also found in non-centralised societies, which is different
from stateless societies and centralised ones. In stateless societies it is often difficult
to differentiate between kinship and polity. Kinship is also an important political
institution in stateless societies. Irrespective of position in both state and stateless
societies, the central purpose in both these societies is maintenance of peace, and
30
stability of the society, protection of territory, values and norms, etc. The state is State and Stateless
powerful force under the political system where more organised behaviour is Institutions
controlled by political institutions.
References
Bailey, F.G. 1957. Caste and Economic Frontier: A Village in Highland Orissa.
Manchester: Manchester University Press.
Balandier. 1967/1970. Political Anthropology. London: Penguin Books.
Critique of Hegel ’s Philosophy of Right (1843); KMSW, p.28. in David McLellan
(1971) 1980 The thought of Karl Marx, P.215.
Easton, David. 1959. “Political Anthropology”. Biennial Review of Anthropology.
Vol.1. Stanford University Press. pp. 210-262.
Eisenstadt, S.N. 1959. “Primitive Political Systems: A Preliminary Comparative
Analysis”, in American Anthropologist. New Series. Vol. 61. No.2. pp. 200-
220
Fain, Haskell. 1972. The Idea of the State. Nous. Vol.No.1, Blackwell Publishing.
pp. 15-26
Fortes, M. 1945. Dynamics of Clanship among the Tallensi. London: Oxford
University Press.
Blackwell.
McLellan, David. 1971/1982. The Thought of Karl Marx an Introduction.
McMillan
Melvin L. Perlman. 1969. “Methodological Problems in Political Anthropology”.
Canadian Journal of African Studies, Vol.3. published by Canadian Association
of African Studies.
& Kegan Paul.
Murphy, R.F. 1957. “Inter-group Hostility and Social Cohesion” in American
Anthropologist. pp. 1018-35
Otterbein, K.F. 1968. “Internal War: A Cross-cultural Study”. in American
Anthropologist. 70: 277-89
Paige, J.M. 1974. “Kinship and Polity in Stateless Societies” in The American
Journal of Sociology. Vol.8. No. 2. The University of Chicago Press, pp.
301-320
Pattnaik, N. 1988. The Kondh. Bhubaneswar: THRTI.
———————— 1988. The Juang. Bhubaneswar: THRTI.
31
Economic and Political Rao, P.V. 1987. Institutional Framework for Tribal Development. New Delhi:
Organisations
Inter India Publication.
Shepardson, Mary. 1963. “Navajo Ways in Government: A Study of Political
Processes” (Menasha, Wisc., 1963), 44 quoted in Melvin L. Perlman (1969)
Methodological Problems in Political Anthropology, Canadian Journal of African
Studies, Vol. 3, published by Canadian Association of African Studies.
Sinha, Surajit. 1987. Tribal Polities and State Systems in Pre-colonial Eastern
and North-eastern India. Calcutta: K.P. Bagchi & Company.
Smith, M.G. 1956. “On Segmentary Lineage Systems” in The Journal of the
Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland. Vol. 86, no.2, pp
39-80
Southall, Aidan. 1974. “State Formation in Africa”. Annual Review of
Anthropology. Vol. 3, pp. 153-165
Van Velzen, H.U.E. Thoden, and W. Van Wetering. 1960. “Residence, Power
Groups and Intra Societal Aggression”. In International Achieves of
Ethnography. 49 (2): 169-200
Vidyarthi, L.P. & V.S. Upadhyay. 1980. The Kharia: Then and Now. New
Delhi: Concept Publishing Company.
Wolf, Eric. 2001. Pathways of Power. California: University of California Press.
Suggested Reading
Blackwell.
& Kegan Paul.
Sample Questions
1) Mention important characteristics of both state and stateless societies.
2) Discuss how lineage segmentation is an important political feature of stateless
society.
3) Identify important political institutions in stateless societies.
4) What are the common features of political organisation discussed among the
Indian Tribes?
32
UNIT 4 POLITICAL POWER AND
DISTRIBUTION OF RESOURCES
Contents
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Political Power: Some Definitions
4.2.1 Band
4.2.2 Tribe
4.2.3 Big-man and Big-woman System
4.2.4 Chiefdoms
4.2.5 States
4.3 Social Control in Small-scale Societies

4.4 Social Control in States
4.4.3 Prison and Death Penalty
4.5 Resolution of Conflicts

4.5.2 Avoidance
4.5.7 Violent Resolutions of Conflict
4.5.9 Feuding
4.5.10 Raiding
4.6 Distribution of Resources

4.7 Summary
References
Suggested Reading
Sample Questions
Learning Objectives

The main objective of this unit is to make the students understand the:
 different types of political organisations existing in human society and their
basic features;
 distribution of power and social control mechanisms in simple society;
48  different types of conflict resolution systems;
 allocation and utilisation of natural resources in human society; Political Power and
 distribution of goods and services; and
 marketing exchanges.
4.1 INTRODUCTION
Political organisations refers to groups that exist for the purpose of public decision
making and leadership, maintaining social cohesion and order, protecting group
rights, and ensuring safety from external threats. Political organisations have several
features:
 Recruitment principles: Criteria for determining admission to the unit.
 Perpetuity: Assumption that the group will continue to exist indefinitely.
 Identity markers: Particular characteristics that distinguish it from others, such
as costume, membership card, or title.
 Internal organisation: An orderly arrangement of members in relation to each
other.
 Procedures: Prescribed rules and practices for behaviour of group members.
 Autonomy: Ability to regulate its own affairs. (Tiffany, 1979:71-72)
Social anthropologists cluster the many forms of political organisations that occur
cross-culturally into four major types. The four types of political organisations
(given below) correspond, generally, to the major economic forms. Societies in the
ethnographic record vary in level of political integration- that is, the largest territorial
group on whose behalf political activities are organised- and in the degree to
which political authority is centralised or concentrated in the integrated group.
When we describe the political authority of particular societies, we focus on their
traditional political systems. In many societies known to anthropology, the small
community (band or village) was traditionally the largest territorial group on whose
behalf political activities were organised. The authority structure in such societies
did not involve any centralisation; there was no political authority whose jurisdiction
included more than one community. In other societies political activities were
traditionally organised sometimes on behalf of multilocal groups, but there was no
permanent authority at the top. And in still other societies political activities were
often traditionally organised on behalf of multilocal territorial groups, and these
have been incorporated into some larger, centralised political system (Ember,
2007: 420). Elman Service (1962) suggested that most societies can be classified
into four principal types of political organisations: bands, tribes, chiefdoms, and
states. Although Service’s classification does not fit for all societies, it is a useful
way to show how societies vary in trying to create and maintain social order. We
often use the present tense in our discussion, because that is the convention in
ethnographic writing, but the reader should remember that most societies that used
to be organised at the band, tribe, or chiefdom level are now incorporated into
larger political entities. With a handful of exceptions, there are no politically
autonomous bands or tribes or chiefdoms in the world any more.
49
Organisations 4.2 POLITICAL POWER: SOME DEFINITIONS
4.2.1 Band
Band is the form of political organisation found among foragers and hunters
comprising anywhere between twenty people and a few hundred people, who are
related through kinship. Because foraging has been the most long-standing form of
political organisation, these units come together at certain times of the year,
depending upon their foraging patterns and ritual schedule (Barbara D. Miller,
2002).
Band membership is flexible. If a person has serious disagreement with another
person, one option is to leave that band and join another. Leadership is informal,
and no one person is named as a permanent leader. Depending on events, such
as organising the group to relocate or to send people out to hunt, a particular
person may come to the fore as a leader for that time. This is usually someone
whose advice and knowledge about the task are especially respected. (ibid)
There is no social stratification between leaders and followers. A band leader is
the “first among equals”. Band leaders have limited authority or influence, but no
power. They cannot enforce their opinions. Social leveling mechanisms prevent
anyone from accumulating much authority or influence. Political activity in bands
involves mainly decision making about migration, food distribution, and resolution
of interpersonal conflicts. External conflicts between groups are rare because the
territories of different bands are widely separated and the population density is
low (ibid).
The band level organisation barely qualifies as a form of political organisation
because groups are flexible, leadership is ephemeral, and there are no signs or
emblems of political affiliation. Some anthropologists argue that “real” politics did
not exist in undisturbed band societies. The Guayaki (Amazon basin), the Semang
(Malaya peninsula), Iglulik Eskimo, the Kung (Africa), the Cholanaikans (Kerala),
Andaman tribes are some examples of Band organisation (ibid).
4.2.2 Tribe
A tribe is a political group comprising several bands or lineage groups, each with
similar language and lifestyle and occupying a distinct territory. Kinship is the
primary basis of tribal membership. Tribal groups contain from a hundred to
several thousand people. They are usually associated with horticulture and
pastoralism. Tribal groups may be connected to each other through a clan structure
in which members claim descent from a common ancestor. Tribal political
organisation is more formal than band-level organisation. A tribal headman or
headwoman (most are males) is formally recognised as a leader. Key qualifications
for this position are being hard working and generous and possessing good personal
skills. A headman is a political leader on a part-time basis only, yet this role is
more demanding than that of a band leader. Depending on the mode of production,
a headman will be in charge of determining the times for moving herds, planting
and harvesting, and setting the time for seasonal feasts and celebrations. Internal
and external conflict resolution is also his responsibility. A headman relies mainly
on authority and persuasion rather than on power (Barbara D. Miller, 2002).
Pastoralist tribal formations are sometimes linked in a confederacy, with local
segments maintaining substantial autonomy. The local segments meet usually at an
50 annual festival. In case of an external threat, the confederacy gathers together.
Once the threat is removed, local units resume their autonomy. The equality and Political Power and
autonomy of units, along with their ability to unite and then split, are referred to
as a segmentary model of political organisation. This form of tribal organisation is
found among pastoralists worldwide. The Tiv (Nigeria), the Nuer (Sudan), the
Oran, the Santal, the Bhil, the Gond are examples of Tribal political organisations
(ibid).
4.2.3 Big-man and Big-woman Systems

In between tribe and chiefdom is the big-man system or big-woman system.
Certain individuals develop political leadership following through a system of
redistribution based on personal ties, generosity and grand feasts. Research in
Melanesia, and Papua New Guinea established the existence of the big-man type
of politics, and most references to it are from this region. Personalistic, favour-
based political groupings are found in other regions too.
Unlike a tribal headman, a big-man or big-woman has a wider following across
several villages. A big-man tends to have greater wealth than his followers. Core
supporters of a big-man have heavy responsibilities in regulating internal affairs-
cultivation-and external affairs-intergroup feasts, exchange of goods, and war. In
some instances, a big-man is assisted by a group of respected men hailing from
big-man’s different constituencies.
4.2.4 Chiefdoms
Chiefdom is a form of political organisation with a central leader encompassing
several smaller political units. Chiefdoms have larger populations, often numbering
in thousands, and are more centralised and socially complex. Hereditary systems
of social ranking and economic stratification are found in many chiefdoms, with
social divisions existing between the chiefly lineage or lineages and non-chiefly
groups. Chiefs and their descendents are considered superior to commoners, and
intermarriage between two strata is forbidden. Chiefs are expected to be generous,
but they may have a more luxurious lifestyle than the rest of the people. The chief
ship as “office” must be filled at all times. When a chief dies or retires, he or
she must be replaced. This is not the case with a band leader or big-man or
big-woman. A chief regulates production and redistribution, solves internal conflicts,
and plans and leads raids and warring expeditions. Criteria for becoming a chief
are: ascribed criteria (birth in a chiefly lineage, or being the first son or daughter
of the chief), personal leadership skills, charisma, and accumulated wealth.
Chiefdoms have existed in most parts of the world.
Anthropologists are interested in how and why chiefdom systems evolved as an
intermediary units between tribes and states and what are its political implications.
Several political strategies support the expansion of power in chiefdoms: controlling
more internal and external wealth and giving feasts and gift exchanges that create
debt ties; improving local production systems; applying force internally; forging
stronger and wider external ties; and controlling ideological legitimacy. Depending
on local conditions, different strategies are employed. For example, internal control
of irrigation systems was the most important factor in the emergence of chiefdoms
in prehistoric southeastern Spain; whereas control of external trade was more
important in the prehistoric Aegean region (Gilman 1991).
An expanded version of the chiefdom occurs when several chiefdoms are joined
in a confederacy headed by chief of chiefs, “big chief”, or paramount chief. Many
51
Economic and Political prominent confederacies have existed- for example, in Hawaii in the late 1700s
Organisations
and, in North America, the Iroquois league of five nations that stretched across
New York State, the Cherokee of Tennessee, and the Algonquins who dominated
the Chesaeapeake region in present-day Virginia and Maryland. In Algonquin
confederacy, each village had a chief, and the regional council was composed of
local chiefs and headed by the paramount chief. Confederacies were supported
financially by contributions of grain from each local unit. Kept in a central storage
area where the paramount chief lived, the grain was used to feed warriors during
external warfare that maintained and expanded the confederacy’s borders. A council
building existed in the central location, where local chiefs came together to meet
with the paramount chief to deliberate on questions of internal and external policy.
4.2.5 States
State is a form of political organisation with a bureaucracy and diversified
governmental institutions with varying degrees of centralised control. The state is
now the form of political organisation in which all people live. Band organisations,
tribes, and chiefdoms exist, but they are incorporated within state structures.
Powers of the state: socio cultural anthropologists ask how states operate and
relate to their citizens. In this inquiry, they focus on the enhanced power that states
have over their domain compared to other forms of political organisation. (Barbara
D. Miller, 2002)
 States define citizenship and its rights and responsibilities. In complex
societies, since early times, not all residents were granted equal rights of
citizens.
 States maintain standing armies and police (as opposed to part-time forces).
 States keep track of the number, age, gender, location, and wealth of
their citizens through census system that are regularly updated. A census
allows the state to maintain formal taxation systems, military recruitment, and
policy planning, including population settlement, immigration quotas, and social
benefits such as old-age pensions.
 States have the power to extract resources from citizens through taxation.
All political organisations are supported by contributions of the members, but
variations occur in the rate of contributions expected, the form in which they
are paid, and the return that members get in terms of services. In bands,
people voluntarily give time or labour for “public projects” such as a group
hunt or a planned move. Public finance in states is based on formal taxation
that takes many forms. In-kind taxation is a system of mandatory, non-cash
contributions to the state. For example, the Inca state used a labour tax, to
finance public works such as roads and monuments and to provide agricultural
labour on state lands. Another form of in-kind taxation in early states required
that farmers pay a percentage of their crop yield. Cash taxes, such as the
income tax that takes a percentage of wages, emerged only in the past few
hundred years.
 States manipulate information. Control of information to protect the state
and its leaders can be done directly (through censorship, restricting access to
certain information by the public, and promotion of favourable images via
propaganda) and indirectly (through pressure on journalists and television
52 networks to present information in certain ways).
Symbols of State Power: Religious beliefs and symbols are often closely tied to Political Power and
the power of state leadership: the ruler may be considered a deity or part deity,
or a high priest of the state religion, or closely linked with the high priest, who
serves as advisor. Architecture and urban planning remind the populace of the
power of the state. In pre- Hispanic Mexico, the central plaza of city- states, such
as Tenochtitlan was symbolically equivalent to the center of the cosmos and was
thus the locale of greatest significance. The most important temples and the residence
of the head of state were located around the plaza. Other houses and structures,
in decreasing order of status, were located on avenues in decreasing proximity to
the center. The grandness and individual character of the leader’s residence indicate
power, as do monuments-especially tombs to past leaders and heroes or heroines
(Barbara D. Miller, 2002).
4.3 SOCIAL CONTROL IN SMALL-SCALE

SOCIETIES
Anthropologists distinguish between small-scale societies and large scale societies
in terms of prevalent forms of conflict resolution, social order, and punishment of
offenses. Because bands are small, close-knit groups, disputes tend to be handled
at the interpersonal level through discussion or one-on-one fights.
Group members may act together to punish an offender through shaming and
ridicule. Emphasis is on maintaining social order and restoring social equilibrium,
not hurtfully punishing an offender. Ostracising an offending member (forcing the
person to leave the group) is a common means of formal punishment. Capital
punishment is rare but not nonexistent. For example, in some Australian Aboriginal
societies, a law restrict access to religious rituals and paraphernalia to men who
had gone through a ritual initiation. If an initiated man shared secrets with an
uninitiated man, the elders would delegate one of their groups to kill the offender.
In such instances, the elders act like a court.
In non-state societies, punishment is often legitimised through belief in supernatural
forces and their ability to affect people. Among highland horticulturalists of the
Indonesian island of Sumba, one of the greatest offenses is to fail to keep a
promise which lead to supernatural assault from the ancestors. The punishment
may come in the form of damage to crops, illness or death of a relative, destruction
of the offender’s house, or having clothing catch on fire. When such a disaster
occurs, the only recourse is to sponsor a ritual that will appease the ancestors.
Village fission (breaking up) and ostracism are mechanisms for dealing with
irresolvable conflict. The overall goal in dealing with conflict in small-scale societies
is to return the group to harmony. Data on conflict resolution from nonhuman
primate groups also demonstrate the importance of re-establishing peaceful
interactions between former opponents as a way of promoting small-group harmony.
4.4 SOCIAL CONTROL IN STATES

In densely populated societies with more social stratification and more wealth
increased stress occurs in relation to the distribution of surplus, inheritance, and
rights to land. In addition, not everyone else, and face- to-face accountability
exists mainly in localised groups. Three important factors of state system of social
control are the increased specialisation of roles involved in social control, the
formalised use of trials and courts, and the use of power-enforced forms of
53
Economic and Political punishment, such as prisons and the death penalty. Yet informal mechanism also
Organisations
exists.
The specialisation of tasks related to law and order-police, judges, lawyers-
increases with the emergence of state organisation. Full-time professionals, , such
as judges and lawyers, often come from powerful or elite social groups, a fact
that perpetuates elite bias in the justice process itself. Police carry out the duty
of surveillance, maintain social order, book cases against the culprits and implement
the judgments pronounced in the courts.

In societies where misdoing and punishment are defined by spirits and ancestors,
a person’s guilt is proved simply by the fact that misfortune has befallen him or
her. If a person’s crops were damaged by lightning, then that person must have
done something wrong. In other instances, the guilt may be determined through
trial by ordeal, a form of trial in which the accused person is put through some
kind of test that is often painful. For example, in certain cases, the guilty person
will be required to place a hand in boiling oil, or to have a part of the body
touched by red-hot knife. Being burned is a sign of guilt, whereas not being
burned means the suspect is innocent.
The court system, with lawyers, judge, and jury, is used in many contemporary
societies, although there is variation in how cases are presented and juries
constituted. The goal of contemporary court trials is to ensure both justice and
fairness. Analysis of actual courtroom dynamics and patterns of decision making
in the United States and elsewhere, however, reveals serious problems in achieving
these goals.
4.4.3 Prisons and Death Penalty

Administering punishment involves imposing something unpleasant on someone
who has committed an offence. Socio-cultural anthropologists have examined forms
of punishment cross-culturally, as well as the relationship between types of societies
and forms of punishment. In small-scale societies, punishment is socially rather
than judicially managed. The most extreme form of punishment is usually ostracism
and is rarely death. Another common form of punishment, in the case of theft or
murder, especially in the Middle East, is the requirement that the guilty party pay
compensation to members of the victim’s family.
The prison, as a place where people are forcibly detained as a form of punishment,
has a long history, but it probably did not predate the state. In Europe, long-term
detention of prisoners did not become common until the seventeenth century.
4.5 RESOLUTION OF CONFLICT

Apart from formulation of policies, their administration, and their enforcement,
political life also involves the resolution of conflict, which may be accomplished
peacefully by avoidance, community action, mediation or the negotiation of
compromises, apology, appeal to supernatural forces, or adjudication by a third
party. The procedures used usually vary with degree of social complexity; decisions
by third parties are more likely to exist in hierarchical societies. But peaceful
solutions are not always possible, and disputes may erupt into violent conflicts.
54 When violence occurs within a political unit in which disputes are usually settled
peacefully, we call such violence crime, particularly when committed by an Political Power and
individual. When violence occurs between groups of people from separate political
units- groups between which there is no procedure for settling disputes- we usually
call such violence warfare. When violence occurs between subunits of a population
that had been politically unified, we call it civil war.

Most modern industrialised states have formal institutions and offices, such as
police, district attorneys, courts, and penal systems, to deal with various types of
disputes and conflicts. All these institutions generally operate according to codified
laws- that are, a set of explicit, usually written, rules stipulating what is permissible
and what is not. Transgression of the law by individuals gives the state right to take
action against them. The state has monopoly on the legitimate use of force in the
society, for it alone has the right to coerce subjects into agreement with regulations,
customs, political edicts and procedures.
Many societies lack such specialised offices and institutions for dealing with conflict.
Yet, because all societies have peaceful, regularised ways of handling at least
certain disputes, some anthropologists speak of the universality of law. E.
Adamson Hoebel (1968), for example, stated the principle as follows:
Each people have its system of social control. And all but a few of the poorest
of them have as a part of the control system a complex of behaviour patterns and
institutional mechanisms that we may properly treat as law. For, “anthropologically
considered, law is merely one aspect of culture- the aspect which employs the
force organised society to regulate individual and group conduct and to prevent
redress or punish deviations from prescribed social norms.” (Hoebel, 2006: 4)
Law, then, whether informal as in simpler societies, provides a means of dealing
peacefully with whatever conflicts develop. That does not mean that conflicts are
always resolved peacefully. But that also does not mean that people cannot learn
to resolve their conflicts peacefully. The fact that there are societies with little or
no violent conflict means that it may be possible to learn from them; it may be
possible to discover how to avoid violent outcomes of conflicts.
4.5.2 Avoidance
Violence can often be avoided if the parties to a dispute voluntarily avoid each
other or are separated until emotions cool down. Anthropologists have frequently
remarked that foragers are particularly likely to make use of this technique. People
may move to other bands or move their dwellings to opposite ends of camp.
Shifting horticulturalists may also split up when conflicts get too intense. Avoidance
is obviously easier in societies, such as band societies, that are nomadic or semi
nomadic and in which people have temporary dwellings. And avoidance is more
feasible when people live independently and self sufficiently (for example, in cities
and suburbs). But even if conditions in such societies may make avoidance easier,
we still need to know why some societies use avoidance more than confrontation
as a way of resolving conflict (Ember et. al, 2007).

Societies resort to various methods, to resolve disputes in an amicable way. One
such way involves community action in simpler societies that lack powerful
authoritarian leaders. Among the Inuit, disputes are frequently resolved through
community action. The Inuit believe that spirits, particularly if displeased, can 55
Economic and Political determine much of a person’s fate. Consequently, people carry out their daily
Organisations
tasks within a complex system of taboos. This system is so extensive that the Inuit,
at least in the past, may have had no need for formal set of laws.
Nevertheless, conflicts do arise and needs to be resolved. Accordingly, principles
act as guides to the community in settling trouble cases. An individual’s failure to
heed a taboo or to follow the suggestions of a shaman leads to expulsion from the
group, because the community cannot accept a risk to its livelihood. A person who
fails to share goods voluntarily will find them confiscated and distributed to the
community, and he or she may be executed in the process. A single case of
murder, as an act of vengeance (usually because of the abduction of a wife or as
part of a blood feud), does not concern the community, but repeated murders do
(Ember et. al. 2007: 432). The killing of an individual is the most extreme action
a community can take- we call it capital punishment. The community as a whole
or a political official or a court may decide to impose such punishment, but capital
punishment seems to exist nearly in all societies, from the simple to the most
complex. It is often assumed that capital punishment deters crime. If it did, we
would expect the abolition of capital punishment to be followed by an increase in
homicide rates. But that does not seem to happen. A cross-national study indicated
that the abolition of capital punishment tends to be followed by a decrease in
homicide rates.

In many conflicts, the parties to a dispute may come to a settlement themselves
by negotiation. There aren’t necessarily any rules for how they will do so, but
any solution is “good” if it restores peace. Sometimes an outsider or third party
is used to help bring about a settlement between the disputants. We call it
mediation when the outside party tries to help bring about a settlement, but that
third party does not have the formal authority to force a settlement. Both negotiation
and mediation are likely when the society is relatively egalitarian and it is important
for people to get along.

The desire to restore a harmonious relationship may also explain ceremonial
apologies. An apology is based on deference- the guilty party shows obeisance
and asks for forgiveness. Such ceremonies tend to occur in chiefdoms. Among the
Fijians of the South Pacific, there is a strong ethic of harmony and mutual assistance,
particularly within a village. When a person offends some one of higher status, the
offended person and other villagers begin to avoid, and gossip about, the offender.
If the offender is sensitive to village opinion, he or she will perform a ceremony
of apology called soro. One of the meanings of soro is “surrender”. In the ceremony
the offender keeps her or his head bowed and remains silent while intermediary
speaks, presents a token gift, and asks the offended person for forgiveness (Ember,
1993:241).

Still another way of peacefully resolving disputes is through oaths and ordeals,
both of which involve appeals to supernatural power. An oath is the act of calling
upon a deity to bear witness to the truth of what one says. An ordeal is a means
used to determine guilt or innocence by submitting the accused to dangerous or
painful tests believed to be supernatural control (Ember, 1993:241).
56
4.5.7 Violent Resolutions of Conflict Political Power and
People are likely to resort to violence when regular, effective alternative means of
resolving a conflict are not available. Some societies consider violence between
individuals to be appropriate under certain circumstances; which we generally do
not consider, and call it crime. When violence occurs between political entities
such as communities, districts, or nations, we call it warfare. The type of warfare,
of course, varies in scope and complexity from society to society. Sometimes a
distinction is made among feuding, raiding, and large-scale confrontations (Ember
et. al. 2007:435).

Although at first it may seem paradoxical, violent behaviour itself is often used to
control behaviour. In some societies it is considered necessary for parents to beat
children who misbehave. They consider this punishment and not criminal behaviour
or child abuse. Violence between adults can be similarly viewed. If a person
trespasses on one’s property or hurts someone, some societies consider it
appropriate or justified to kill or maim the trespasser. Is this social control, or is
it just lack of control? Most societies have norms about when such “punishment”
is or is not appropriate, so the behaviour of anyone who contemplates doing
something wrong, as well as the behaviour of the person wronged, is likely to be
influenced by the “laws” of their society (Ember et. al. 2007: 436)
4.5.9 Feuding
Feuding is an example of how individual self-help may not lead to a peaceful
resolution of conflict. Feuding is a state of recurring hostilities between families
or groups of kin, usually motivated by a desire to avenge an offense- whether
insult, injury, deprivation, or death- against a member of the group. The most
common characteristic of the feud is that responsibility to avenge is carried by all
members of the kin group. The killing of any member of the offender’s group is
considered an appropriate revenge, because the kin group as a whole is regarded
as responsible. Nicholas Gubser told of a feud within a Nunamiut Inuit community,
caused by a husband’s killing of his wife’s lover that lasted for decades. Feuds are
by no means limited to small-scale societies; they occur as frequently in societies
with high levels of political organisation (Ember et. al 2007: 436).
4.5.10 Raiding
Raiding is a short-term use of force, planned and organised, to realise a limited
objective. This objective is usually the acquisition of goods, animals, or other
forms of wealth belonging to another, often neighboring community. Raiding is
prevalent in pastoral societies, in which, cattle, horses, camels, or other animals
are prised and an individual’s own herd can be augmented by theft. Raids are
often organised by temporary leaders or coordinators whose authority may not
last beyond planning and execution of the venture. Raiding may also be organised
for the purpose of capturing persons either to marry or to keep as concubines
or as slaves. Slavery has been practiced in about 33 percent of the world’s
known societies, and war has been one way of obtaining slaves either to keep or
to trade for other goods (ibid).

Both feuding and raiding usually involve relatively small numbers of the persons 57
Economic and Political and almost always an element of surprise. Because they are generally attacked
Organisations
without warning, the victims are often unable to muster an immediate defense.
Large-scale confrontations, in contrast, involve a large number of persons and
planning by both sides of strategies of attack and defense. Large-scale warfare is
usually practiced among societies with intensive agriculture or industrialisation.
Only these societies possess a technology sufficiently advanced to support
specialised armies, military leaders, strategies, and so on (Ember, 1993: 494).
4.6 DISTRIBUTION OF RESOURCES

As Ember (1993, 2007) states when one thinks of economies, we think of things
and activities involving money. We think of the costs of goods and services, such
as food, rent, haircuts, and movie tickets. We may also think of factories, farms,
and other enterprises that produce the goods and services we need, or think we
need. All societies have customs specifying how people gain accesses to natural
resources; customary ways of transforming or converting those resources, through
labour, into necessities and other desired goods and services; and customs for
distributing and perhaps exchanging goods and services.

Herein, we would not go into much depth as this part has been discussed in length
in the earlier unit. Thus, a quick recapitulation will be done through an activity. If
help is required please refer to the earlier unit.
Activity
Enumerate with examples how the allocation of resources varies between the
a) food collectors, b) horticulturalists and c) pastoralists.

In all societies, resources have to be transformed or converted through labour into
food, tools and other goods. These activities constitute what economists call
production. In this section, after briefly reviewing different types of production, we
examine what motivates people to work, how societies divide up the work to be
done, and how they organise work. As we shall see, some aspects of the conversion
of natural resources are culturally universal, but there is also an enormous amount
of cultural variation (Ember et. al 2007: 307).

Most societies that anthropologists study had domestic – family or kinship based
– mode of production. People laboured to get food and to produce shelter and
implements for themselves and their kin. Usually families had the right to exploit
productive resources and control the products of their labour. Even part-time
specialists, such as potters, could still support themselves without that craft if they
needed to. At the other extreme are industrial societies, where much of the work
is based on mechanised production, as in factories and mechanised agriculture.
Because machines and materials are costly, only some individuals (capitalists),
corporations, or governments can afford the expenses of production. Therefore,
most people in industrial societies work for others as wage earners. Although
wages can buy food, people out of work lose their ability to support themselves,
unless they are protected by welfare payments or unemployment insurance. Then
there is the tributary type of production system, found in non-industrial societies
58
in which most people still produce their own food but an elite or aristocracy Political Power and
controls a portion of production (including the products of specialised crafts). The
feudal societies of medieval Western Europe were examples of tributary production,
as was czarist Russia under serfdom (Ember et. al, 2007:307).
4.7 SUMMARY
The main functions of political organisation in simple societies are maintaining
social order, promote resolutions for conflicts, to fulfill these functions it has to be
organised and should have hierarchical society to give head position to one, whom
the rest of the dwellers of that particular society will obey. However, the modern
political system has become a threat for the sustenance of the traditional political
system. Being dominant the modern political system is attracting the attention of
many people in the simple societies. But traditional political system has not become
extinct, though there is a possibility that they too might become extinct. When we
talk about traditional economic system of simple societies we observe the exchange
of goods and services not the money that is being transacted as in modern economic
system and in market. These exchanges in simple societies are not merely the
exchanges of goods and services but it is to maintain the human relations by the
exchanges especially to strengthen the kin relations and inter tribe relations. But
again modern market which has more monetary interest rather than maintaining
human relations has become a threat to traditional economic system.
References
Ember, Carol. R. 1993. Cultural Anthropology. Prentice Hall.
__________________ 2003. Anthropology. Patparganj. Delhi: Pearson Education
pte. Ltd.
Gilman, Antonio. 1974. ‘The Development of Social Stratification in Orange Age
Europe’. Current Anthropology. Vol 22:1–23.
Hoebel, E. Adamson. 1968. The Law of Primitive Man: A Study in Comparative
Legal Dynamics. Reprint 2006 (First Harvard University Paperback edition).
New York: Atheneum.
James, Peoples & Garrick Bailey. 1995. Humanity: An Introduction to Cultural
Anthropology. St. Paul New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco: West Publishing
Company.
__________________ 1975. Origins of the State and Civilisation: The Process
of Cultural Evolution. New York: Norton.
__________________ 1979. The Hunters. 2nd ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice
Hall.
59
Economic and Political Tiffany, Water.W. 1979. ‘New Directions in Political Anthropology: The Use of
Organisations
Corporate Models for the Analysis of Political Organisations’. Political
Anthropology: State of The Art. S.Lee Seaton and Henri J.M. Claessen (ed.) –
Pp.63-75. Newyork: Houton.
Suggested Reading
Sample Questions
1) Briefly discuss the different types of political organisations and its main features
in human society?
2) Examine the various forms of punishment and conflict resolution mechanism
practiced in human society?
3) Write an essay on distribution of goods and services in simple society?
60
MAN-002
Archaeological
Indira Gandhi
Anthropology
Block
1
DEFINITION AND SCOPE
UNIT 1
Definitions and Scope 5
UNIT 2
History and Development 18
UNIT 3
Interdisciplinary Relations and Approaches 31
Expert Committee
Professor I. J. S. Bansal Professor S.Channa
Retired, Department of Human Biology Department of Anthropology
Punjabi University, Patiala University of Delhi, Delhi
Professor K. K. Misra Professor P. Vijay Prakash
Director Department of Anthropology
Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Andhra University, Visakhapatnam
Sangrahalaya, Bhopal
Dr. Nita Mathur
Professor Ranjana Ray Associate Professor
Retired, Department of Anthropology Faculty of Sociology
Calcutta University, Kolkata SOSS, IGNOU, New Delhi
Professor P. Chengal Reddy Dr. S. M. Patnaik
Retired, Department of Anthropology Associate Professor
S V University, Tirupati Department of Anthropology
Professor R. K. Pathak
Department of Anthropology Dr. Manoj Kumar Singh
Panjab University, Chandigarh Assistant Professor
Professor A. K. Kapoor
University of Delhi, Delhi Faculty of Anthropology
SOSS, IGNOU
Professor V.K.Srivastava
Dr. Rashmi Sinha, Reader
Principal, Hindu College
University of Delhi, Delhi Dr. Mitoo Das, Assistant Professor
Dr. Rukshana Zaman, Assistant Professor
Professor Sudhakar Rao
Department of Anthropology Dr. P Venkatramana, Assistant Professor
University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad Dr. K. Anil Kumar, Assistant Professor
Programme Coordinator: Dr. Rashmi Sinha, SOSS, IGNOU, New Delhi

Course Coordinator: Dr. P. Venkatramana, SOSS, IGNOU, New Delhi
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Graduate and Research Institute, Pune Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi
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Unit Writers
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Asst. Professor, Dravidian University (Unit 2) (Unit 3)
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Gradute Dept. of History & Deptt. Anthropology
Archaeology, Tumkur Indira Gandhi National Tribal
University, Karnataka University Amarkantak
Madhya Pradesh
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Mr. Manjit Singh Dr. Mitoo Das
Section Officer (Pub.), SOSS, IGNOU, New Delhi Asstt. Professor, Anthropology, SOSS, IGNOU
August, 2011
 Indira Gandhi National Open University, 2011
ISBN-978-81-266-5519-9
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BLOCK 1 DEFINITION AND SCOPE
Introduction
The phrase archaeological anthropology may sound new and somewhat strange.
But you will not require much time and mental effort to realise that it is both
appropriate and meaningful. Let us use an analogy for this purpose. In his widely
read book ‘The discovery of India’ Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru clearly states that he
did not write it as an academic text but for his own purposes to serve as a guide
for understanding the present condition of India. In other words, Nehru visualised
the past as a window for looking at and understanding the country’s present
condition. In this effort Nehru succeeded to a remarkable extent.
Archaeological anthropology has an identical objective. The study of present

day simple societies is the purview of anthropology. India is a living museum of
simple societies and cultures – be they hunting-gathering societies, fishing
communities, pastoral groups/or peasant societies. All these groups exist side by
side in different parts of the country. Aspects like their origins and antiquity and
their geographical distribution cannot be understood at all without reference to time
or temporal dimension. Here anthropology has to turn necessarily to archaeology for
guidance and help. Here prehistory branch of archaeology in particular comes to our
help. Fortunately India has a rich record of prehistoric (hunting-gathering) and
early agropastoral groups, covering a temporal range of two million years. It is the
investigation of these ancient hunting–gathering and agropastoral communities
which forms the backdrop against which alone the living simple groups can be
understood in a meaningful way. Thus archaeological anthropology endeavours to
link the ethnographic present with the archeological past.
The course archaeological anthropology deals with the investigation and
interpretation of archaeological records pertaining to early hunting-gathering
and agropastoral communities that occupied different parts of India. In this
connection we need to remind ourselves that archaeology is no longer treated as
a simplistic concern with collection and classification of antiquities. The new or
Processual archaeology, spearheaded by Professor Lewis Binford of America
who passed away in April 2011, developed the ‘archaeology as anthropology’
paradigm and emphasised the need to study the simple communities of the past
from an anthropological perspective.
This course material is prepared to enable you to understood and appreciate the
long time background provided by archaeology to the study of simple
communities. Units 1 to 3 of Block 1 deal with the definition and scope of
archaeological anthropology. Unit 1 specifies the main branches of archaeology
and also its major conceptual and methodological developments. Unit 2 takes
the story one step further and gives detailed information about the development
of Stone Age as well as protohistoric studies. Unit 3 alerts us to the fact
archaeology (archaeological anthropology), in tune with its holistic goal of
reconstructing ancient societies, takes the help of many natural and social sciences
and even humanities.
The remaining units of the course will place before you the archaeological records
pertaining to different stages of hunting-gathering and agropastoral ways of life
and what these stages mean in terms of the anthropological goals of tracing the
emergence and evolution of human culture till the beginning of recorded history.
Definitions and Scope
UNIT 1 DEFINITIONS AND SCOPE
Contents
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Prehistory
1.3 Protohistory
1.4 Civilisation
1.5 Archaeology: Conceptual Developments
1.5.1 Culture History
1.5.2 Reconstruction of Life Ways
1.5.3 New or Processual Archaeology
1.5.4 Interpretative Archaeology
1.6 Archaeology: Methodological Developments
1.6.1 Environmental Archaeology
1.6.2 Settlement Archaeology
1.6.3 Ethnoarchaeology
1.6.4 Experimental Archaeology
1.6.5 Ethological Studies
1.7 Summary
Suggested Reading
Sample Questions
Learning Objectives
&
Once you have studied this unit, you should be able to:
Ø define each sub-unit of the subject matter thoroughly;
Ø understand the importance of each sub-unit in human cultural study;
Ø indicate the close relationship between archaeology and how this relationship
is helpful for the study of human cultures across time and space; and
Ø recognise the fundamentals of archaeological anthropology.
1.1 INTRODUCTION
Anthropology and Archaeology are two interrelated disciplines that deal with
the origin and development of human culture and hence occupy an important
place in social sciences. Anthropology basically deals with the study of present-
day-simple societies and it has two main divisions called physical anthropology
and social anthropology. Several branches within it developed in course of time
like cultural anthropology, etc. Archaeology endeavours to reconstruct ancient
societies and is treated as part of anthropology in American universities. The
mutual interdependence of anthropology and archaeology arises from the simple
fact that both deal with the study of human cultures-one of the present and the
other of the past.
Archaeology is an important discipline with a methodology of its own. It recovers
antiquarian remains of various kinds from the field through laborious techniques
5
Definition and Scope including excavation. Although archaeology remained for a long time as a
descriptive and classificatory of ancient objects and features, Lewis Binford’s
New Archaeology Movement of the 1960s emphasised the larger anthropological
goals of archaeology. With the help of methods and approaches adopted from
both social and natural sciences, modern archaeology seeks to reconstruct past
human societies and their cultural processes. As such it supplies the much needed
temporal dimension to the anthropologist’s endeavour to study cultures of present-
day simple societies. This in fact is the principal objective of archaeological
anthropology. This is particularly relevant in India, which has both a rich and
diverse ethnographic record and an unequally rich archaeological heritage. Let
us now consider the main divisions within archaeology and some of its basic
concepts.
Archaeological anthropology is one of the sub branches of anthropology

deals with the origin and development of human species and its material
manifestations in the form of material culture. Archaeology not only helps
us to understand diversity in the world around us but also to understand
how people relate to the material world.
1.2 PREHISTORY
Prehistory is a period used to indicate the time before recorded history. Paul
Tournal (1833) coined the term Pre-historique to explain the finds that he had
made in the caves of southern France and the word ‘Prehistoric’ was introduced
by Daniel Wilson in 1851. It is the period of human evolution before writing was
invented and records kept. The term ‘prehistory’ refers to all cultural developments
of man including his biological evolution till the beginning of historical period.
In India the historical period is commonly said to commence from about the
middle of the first millennium B.C. when Asoka issued the Brahmi edicts in
different parts of India. Prehistorians make their reconstructions of the remote
past on the basis of their study of material relics of various kinds.
Prehistory in India covers a time range of 0.6 to 0.7 million years. Recent dates
for the Palaeolithic sites of Isampur in Karnataka and Attirampakkam in Tamil
Nadu take it to 1.2 or 1.5 million years. The dates from Riwat and Uttarbaini in
the Siwalik hills of Punjab and Jammu further push the antiquity of human culture
to more than 2 million years. Throughout this period man led a nomadic way of
life with hunting of wild animals and gathering of wild plant foods as the chief
mode of subsistence. Technology was based on the preparation of tools on a
variety of rocks like quartzite and even limestone and siliceous stones like chert
and jasper. Depending upon improvements in tool making traditions and to some
extent, changes in hunting-foraging methods, prehistoric period is divided into
three major phases or stages called the Lower, Middle and Upper Palaeolithic.
All these three stages are dated to the geological period called Pleistocene. In the
early part of the Holocene tiny stone implements called microliths came into
vogue. This stage is called the Mesolithic. In addition to stone, wood and bone
also began to be used for making tools from the Middle and Upper palaeolithic
phases.
Prehistoric stone tools are grouped into two broad categories: tools for heavy
work (heavy duty tools) and tools for light work (light duty tools). These were
6
used for a variety of operations such as hunting, digging of roots and tubers, Definitions and Scope
cutting, scraping, flensing and boring connected with the acquisition, processing
and consumption of animal and plant foods.
The Lower Palaeolithic stage is characterised by large sized tools such as

handaxes, cleavers, chopping tools, polyhedrons, etc. The Middle Palaeolithic
tools are smaller in size and consist of flake - tools such as scrapers, points and
borers etc. The Upper Palaeolithic culture belongs to Late Pleistocene and is
characterised by blade technology leading to the production of long, slender-
looking backed blades, points, penknives, saw edged blades, etc. In the succeeding
Mesolithic tools become very small or tiny in size, generally measuring a few
centimeters in length. The types include backed blades, lunates, triangles, points,
etc., all used to prepare composite implements such as arrowheads, spearheads
and harpoons. Rock art and intentional burial of the dead also come into vogue
in the Mesolithic stage.
Lower Palaeolithic tools Middle Palaeolithic tools Upper Palaeolithic tools
Mesolithic tools Human skeleton from Langhnaj (a Mesoltihic habitation site), North
Gujarath
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Definition and Scope
1.3 PROTOHISTORY
The term ‘la Protohistorique,’ was first coined by the French, to refer to a period
transposed between prehistory and true historical Period. It suits India very well.
First, before historical period there is evidence of writing in the Harappan or
Indus valley scripts, though as yet undeciphered. Secondly, though the Vedic
literature was in an oral state up to the 4th century AD or so, its antiquity goes
back to the second millennium B.C. And it is an important source for
reconstructing our early social, political, religious and literary history. This is a
unique feature in world’s history. Hence, this period should be legitimately
included in as protohistory. Moreover, contemporary with much of the Vedic
literature there is evidence from all over India about the early metal-using
communities. However, this is certainly prehistory in one sense, because there is
no trace of writing in any case but since this period also runs parallel with the
Vedic literature, it has been included under protohistory. During the last 60 years
or so it has been customary in India to introduce this period as a buffer between
the ill-defined prehistoric period and the better defined historical periods covering
archaeological record of post-Mesolithic and pre-Mauryan cultures, between 3500
or 3000 B.C and 300 BC (Sankalia, 1973).
The cultural panorama of Protohistory in India began with the Neolithic phase in
seven geographical zones, i.e., North-western India including Kashmir and Swat
valleys, the Vindhyan plateau of Belan valley, the Kaimur hills and the
Chhotanagpur plateau, northern Bihar, north-eastern region covering all north-
eastern states and adjacent sub-Himalayan regions, Central-eastern region of
Bengal, Bihar and Orissa complexes and the Southern region covering peninsular
India, except Kerala. It is the first settled way of life defined by permanent
settlements according to geographical convenience, production of pottery,
domestication of plants and animals, pecked and ground stone and blade tool
industries, and some degree of reliance on hunting, gathering and fishing. The
findings from Mehrgarh in Baluchistan and Lahuradeva in eastern U.P. suggest
that the Neolithic phase began around 6000 B.C. Under protohistory are also
included not only the Indus civilization but also the various Late Harappan cultures
of Gujarat, Punjab and Haryana, Late Harappan, Black-and -Red and Ochre-
painted pottery cultures of the Ganga-Yamuna Roap, and the various Chalcolithic
cultures of Rajasthan, central India, middle and lower Ganga valley, and the
Deccan. The Banas, Kayatha, Malwa, Savalda and Jorwe cultures are major
examples of this Chalcolithic stage. To this protohistoric phase also may be
assigned the iron-using painted Grey-ware culture of the Ganga Valley and the
Megalithic culture of vidarbha and South India.
Neolithic Habitation at Tekkalakota Funerary vessels from Pit dwellings from Burjaham
Tekkalakota Neolithic habitation in Kashmir
8
Definitions and Scope
Megalithic cist circle with port-holes Copper and Terracotta objects

Brahmagiri, Karnataka (Chalcolithic : Jorwe culture)
Jorwe ware (Navadatoli) White painted black and red ware

From a chalcolithic sites: Navadatoli
Reconstruction of Proto historic Ahar (Chalcolithic site)
1.4 CIVILIZATION
The word ‘Civilisation’ refers to an advanced state of human society with a high
level of culture including city life and state level of government. We may recall
here that, Gordon Childe proposed the followings as constituents of civilization:
large urban centers; full-time specialist occupations; primary producers of food,
9
Definition and Scope paying surplus to deity or rulers; monumental architectures, ruling class that is
exempt from manual labor; system for recording information; development of
exact, practical sciences; advanced metallurgy; internal and external trade;
independence of classes comprising peasants, craftsmen and rulers; state religion/
ideology; and persistent state structures.
The Indus civilization fulfils all these criteria and ranks with the Egyptian and
Mesopotamian civilizations. It covered an area equivalent to that both these
civilizations and flourished from the beginning of third millennium to the middle
of the second millennium B.C. Harappa, Mohenjodaro, Dholavira, Surkotada,
Lothal, Kalibangan are some of the major sites of this civilization. The evidence
from sites like Mehrgarh suggest that this civilization developed out of the local
agropastoral way of life. Inspiration from the Mesopotamian civilization also
played a role in its origin.
Surkodata, Harappan habitation, Cultural sequence of Arterial thorough fare

Kutch Surkodata Harappa, Kalibangan
The Citadel, Period IC, Surkotada Extended human skeleton in a grave

(Harappan) pit, Kalibangan
Grave pit burial with pottery Fire places in a row, Horned figures from
Citadal, Hissar Kalibangan
Kalibangan(Harappan) (Harappan) and
10 Burzahom.(Neolithic)
The Indus civilization declined by about 1500 B.C. probably due to loss of external Definitions and Scope
trade. Traditional interpretations attribute this decline to the invasion of Indo-
Aryan speaking groups from central Asia. The Aryan culture, initially centered
in the area of the Indo-Gangetic divide, was a rural way of life based essentially
on cattle pastoralism and rudimentary agriculture. It soon began to spread towards
east to the Ganga valley, leading to important developments in religion, economy
and social organisation. By about the middle of the first millennium B.C.
heterodox religions like Buddhism and Jainism came up and also a new phase of
urbanisation (called second urbanisation) followed, leading to the growth of cities
like Pataliputra, Kavsambi and Ujjain. These eventually paved the way for the
rise of the Mauryan empire.
1.5 ARCHAEOLOGY: CONCEPTUAL

DEVELOPMENTS
Archaeology deals with the study of antiquarian remains, which are brought
together under the phrase archaeological record. It has three or four major
components. First, there are individual objects ranging from stone tools to pots
and pans to metal objects to beads, pendants and other ornaments to seals and
coins. The second category consists of a variety of features, structures and
monuments such as hearths, house floors, religions, military and commercial
structures, and burials and burial monuments. Then there are some art creations
such as painted or incised designs on pottery, terracotta or metal figurines and
rock part. But the archaeological record also includes materials and remains
which, although not made by man, are closely associated with archaeological
sites, such as soils and sediments, plant and animal remains, ore and slag pieces,
and rocks and siliceous stone pieces.
On the landscape we notice these various categories of antiquarian remains are

generally found together as clusters. These clusters are called sites which may be
small or large like the Mohenjodaro and Harappa mounds. Depending upon the
type of human activity that took place on these spots, archaeological sites are
again distinguished into various classes such as habitation sites, animal penning
stations, factory sites, religious sites, commercial sites and military sites.
Over the last four to five centuries important changes took place from time to
time in the aims and methods adopted for dealing with the archaeological record.
The late David Clarke, in his famous article entitled ‘Archaeology: The loss of
Innocence’ published in the journal Antiquity (1973), characterised these changes
as successive stages of consciousness, self consciousness, critical self-
consciousness, and self critical self-consciousness.
In the antiquarian stage which lasted till the early decades of the 19th century, in
Europe and elsewhere in the world, amateurs from different walks of life took
interest in the cultural heritage of their respective countries and went to the
landscape and sought to obtain first hand information about palaces, forts,
paintings, sculptures and other striking antiquarian remains dotting the landscape.
They prepared short descriptions of the remains along with sketches and drawings.
These studies were of a random type, motivated by general human urges like
curiosity about surroundings, spirit of romanticism and adventure, instinct of
pleasure, respect to ancestors, etc. The notion knowledge, if it existed all, was of
11
Definition and Scope a simple nature. There was nothing like any commonly accepted methodology.
Rather the amateurs felt free to adopt their own methods of commonsense for
describing illustrating the ancient remains. It was only in the second quarter that
the element of acquiring knowledge about the past societies through their
discarded items not only emerges into the picture but witnessed three or four
swift shifts in the perspectives. These knowledge seeking perspectives are called
culture history, reconstruction of life ways, New or Processual archaeology and
Ideational or Interpretive trends. We will briefly discuss these below.
1.5.1 Culture History

The credit for introducing the knowledge perspective by dividing the pre-literate
(pre-Christian) past of Europe goes to C.J.Thomsen, the curator of the Royal
Danish National Museum of Antiquities in Copenhagen. Thomsen was confronted
with the task of cataloguing a huge collection of stone and metal objects, ceramics
and other antiquities that had accumulated in the museum. Partly by way of
using his common sense and also based upon ethnographic parallels, Thomsen
finally arrived at a three-fold classification of the objects in the collection. This
is the famous three-Age system which appeared in print in 1836. According to
this scheme, three major periods or ages existed in the pre-Christian past of
northern Europe, viz. Stone, Bronze and Iron Ages.
The second major contribution made by Thomsen lies in the fact that he was
probably the first antiquarian worker to highlight the fact that antiquarian remains
provide knowledge or information about the ancient human societies. He
specifically pointed out that these remains could inform us about ancient cultures
and burial practices, ancient environments and even about past human migrations.
This topic of partitioning prehistoric past into phases and seeking information
about the respective phases emerged as a strong trend in the second half of the
19th century. Sir John Lubbock divided the Stone Age into Palaeolithic and
Neolithic periods in 1865. Soon, thanks to discoveries in the French Caves, several
stages (Lower, Middle and Upper) were recognised within the Palaeolithic.
Likewise, several stages were noted within the Bronze and Iron Ages. The culture
history perspective thus enabled archaeologists to recognise several stages in the
development of human culture and also obtain some basic information about
each cultural stage.
1.5.2 Reconstruction of Life Ways

Even a brief glance at the archaeological discoveries of the last quarter of the
19th and the first quarter of the 20th century makes it clear to us that this period
witnessed many large-scale excavations in various parts of the Old World. These
led to the recognition of all important Bronze Age civilizations that we know
today. Heinrich Schliemann’s excavations at Troy (Hiissarlik in Turkey) exposed
the Mycenaen civilization. Arthur Evans’s work at Knossos gave us the Cratan
or Minoan civilization. Leonard Woolley exposed the remains of Mesopotamian
civilization. Flinders Petrie and others gave us the Egyptian civilization. John
Marshal and his colleagues exposed the remains of the Indus civilization.
One thing you will not fail to notice is that these civilizations could be identified
because the excavations were conducted on a large scale and almost entire towns
were exposed to view. Town lay-outs with imposing structures like palaces,
12
temples and elaborate burial tombs containing treasure were laid bare. It was Definitions and Scope
thus possible to reconstruct the life ways of these city- dwellers.
1.5.3 New or Processual Archaeology

The first explicit efforts at developing the theoretical structure of archaeology
were made by publications like Gordon Childe’s piecing. Together the Past,
Grahame Clark’s Archaeology and Society and Stuart Piggott’s Approach to
Archaeology, all published in the second quarter of the last century. Against this
background came up two major developments which dominate contemporary
theoretical archaeology-New or Processual Archaeology and Post-Processual
Archaeology and Post Processual or Interpretative archaeology. We will now
note the main tenets of these two trends.
Lewis R. Binford from the U.S. and David Clarke from England were mainly
responsible for the emergence of New Archaeology in the 1960s. Both emphasised
the systemic nature of culture and held that archaeologists should identify not
only its components but their interconnections as well, as these alone give clues
about past culture processes. Processual archaeology also emphasised the role of
environment in the functioning of human cultures. In fact, Binford adopted the
definition of human cultures as extra somatic means of adaptation to respective
environmental settings. Going beyond the traditional tasks of description and
classification of antiquarian remains, he emphasised the anthropological goal of
explaining culture change with reference to law-like formulations or
generalisations cutting across time and space. Binford held the adoption of a
regional approach to archaeological sites as a prerequisite for realising the
anthropological goals of archaeology aimed at the identification of past human
behavioural patterns.
1.5.4 Interpretative Archaeology

Since the 1980s some reactions started coming up, raising doubts and objections
about functionalist and behaviour oriented approaches of New Archaeology. Ian
Hodder of Cambridge University took the lead in staging this reaction, which
over the last quarter-century developed as interpretative archaeology.
A Major proposition of this trend holds that it is the internal, innovative elements
within human culture, rather than external environmental factors, which are agents
of culture change. The second major aspect of this new trend highlights the
importance of relating behaviour to human minds. So interpretative archaeology
has also come to be known as archaeology of mind. It brought to fore human
cognitive abilities, sentiments, feelings and emotions. This led to the growth of
definite trends such as cognitive archaeology, symbolic archaeology, structuralist
archaeology, hermeneutical archaeology, etc. As against the use of scientific
method emphasised by New Archaeology, post processual archaeology treats
archaeological record as a text and that its meanings in terms of human minds
need to be retrieved by methods of interpretation.
We may now conclude our foregoing observations about conceptual developments

in archaeology by emphasising that (1) these developments constitute yet another
instance of the progress of all social sciences from description and classification
to explanation to interpretation; and (2) these various trends are in the final analysis
mutually complementary and not contradictory.
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1.6 ARCHAEOLOGY: METHODOLOGICAL
DEVELOPMENTS
In the preceding section we have sketched how the aims and goals have become
progressively more and more elaborate and how the character of archaeology
changed from the practical task, collecting and classifying antiquarian remains
to a full-fledged discipline which seeks to retrieve information from these about
the past human behaviour and its roots in the human minds.
We will now note how, commensurate with these developments in theory,

important changes also came about in the realm of methodology. In field
investigations random and selective recording and study of sites of the antiquarian
stage are now replaced by systematic and intensive survey of all categories and
sizes of sites in a given region. This work may involve the use of maps, aerial
photos, satellite images, etc. This is followed by vertical or horisontal excavations,
which involve detailed recording of evidence in the form of site and trench maps,
three dimensional recording of finds in the trenches, and photography. While it
is true that all excavation is destruction of original evidence, the site record is
preserved in maps, plans, stratigraphical sections and photographs.
Over and above these field methods which are peculiar to archaeology, the
discipline also employs certain broad methodological strategies for studying and
interpreting archaeological evidence. These are environmental archaeology,
settlement archaeology, ethnoarchaeology, experimental archaeology and
ethology.
1.6.1 Environmental Archaeology

Environmental archaeology is the study of past human interactions with the nature.
It finds its focus in the impact of the environment on past cultures and its influence
on the social and economic aspects of past societies. The importance of these
studies is such that Karl Butzer termed archaeology as past human ecology. Geo-
and bioarchaeology are the two main branches of environmental archaeology.
The common types of evidence used in environmental archeology are (a) animal
remains, such as bones, eggshell pieces, insects, ostracods, foraminifera, molluscs,
parasite eggs and cysts, (b) plant remains such as wood, charcoal, pollen and
spores, phytoliths and diatoms; and (c) archaeological and geological stratigraphy,
chemical and physical analyses of sediments and soils, soil micromorphology
and mineralogy. The two main issues in environmental archeology are how the
human societies in the past were shaping themselves in tune with their respective
landscape settings and how in turn the human groups directly or indirectly were
changing the physical and biological components of their landscapes.
Environmental archaeology involves very detailed field studies as well as
laboratory analyses.
1.6.2 Settlement Archaeology

Settlement Archaeology is the study of societal relationships of ancient societies
as can be inferred from the study of spatial distribution of archaeological sites
on the landscape. In the 1940s Gordon Willey of Harvard University initiated
settlement pattern studies in the Viru valley of Peru in South America. In his
own words Willey (1953) “Settlement pattern is the way in which man disposed
14
himself over the landscape on which he lived which reference to dwellings, to Definitions and Scope
their arrangement, and to the nature and disposition of other buildings pertaining
to community life. These settlements reflect the natural environment, the level
of technology on which the builders operated, and various institutions of social
interaction and control which the culture maintained”.
Settlement archaeology seeks to understand the geographical, political and

military, economic and religious/symbolic factors governing settlement locations.
Likewise, it provides important clues for reconstructing socio-economic,
demographic and other aspects of ancient life ways. Settlement pattern studies
have been carried out with reference to prehistoric and protohistoric sites in
different parts of India.
1.6.3 Ethnoarchaeology
Ethnoarchaeology deals with the use of analogies or parallels drawn from the
study of contemporary simple hunter-gatherer and farmers/pastoral societies for
reconstructing and interpreting the archaeological cultures. As such ethnography
serves as an important tool for archaeological reconstruction.
In the initial stages archaeologists were content with the study of published reports
and books of anthropologists on contemporary societies and use of objects shown
in museums and archival records. In more recent years archaeologists have felt
the need to undertake fieldwork themselves among present-day simple societies
and study them from archaeological points of view. Lewis Binford’s study of the
Nunamiut Eskimos of Alaska and John Yellen’s work on the Bushmen of Africa
are excellent examples of ethnoarchaeology.
Ethnographic analogies are of two types. General comparative analogies deal

with comparative studies of cultures irrespective of geographical limits. Direct
historical analogies involve unbroken links between past and present in specific
regions. India has tremendous potentialities for ethnoarchaeology. Many studies
have already been undertaken with reference to hunter-gatherer groups like the
Chenchues, Yanadis, Vanvaghris, etc. and agropastoral communities like the
Dhangars, Bhils, etc.
1.6.4 Experimental Archaeology

Archaeologists also frequently make use of analogies drawn from experimental
studies for reconstructing ancient societies. Experimental studies have a long
history of more than 150 years and have been very helpful to archaeologists
when other methodological strategies failed to give clues. Like ethnographic
analogies, analogies from experimental studies give no final answers but only
tentative or hypothetical solutions which need to be checked in the context of
actual archaeological evidence.
While undertaking experimental studies, archaeologists observe certain

precautions. First, materials similar to those used in the past should be employed
in the experiments. Secondly, modern technology and gadgets of various kinds
associated with it should not be allowed to influence the experiments.
Experimental stone tool making has been in practice from the early part of the
19th century. Louis Leakey, Donald Crabtree and Francois Bordes have made
experimental specimens of all important stone tool types of the Old and New
15
Definition and Scope world prehistory, including leaf-shaped bifacial points such as Solutrean points
of Europe and Clovis and Folsom points of North America. Experimental studies
covered many other aspects of the archaeological record such as building of
dwelling structures, construction of megalithic tombs, preparation and
consumption of foodstuffs, animal butchering, and agricultural practices.
1.6.5 Ethological Studies

Ethological studies deal with the understanding of behavioural patterns of various
animal species. Prehistorians have in particular found analogies drawn from
primatological research very helpful in reconstructing the behaviour patterns of
ancient hunter-gatherer societies. In earlier stages investigations of behaviour of
monkey species and higher apes (chimpanzee, baboon, orangutan and gorilla)
were restricted to animals kept in Zoos. Such studies gave only limited observations
about primate behaviour.
In the last half a century full fledged field studies of these primate groups in their
natural habitats were carried out; these in some cases extended for several years.
In particular, the studies on chimpanzees, baboons and other higher primate groups
have supplied many useful analogies for reconstructing the behavioural patterns
of prehistoric hunter-gatherer communities.
One of these aspects concerns group living among higher apes, which facilitates
learning of life skills by the young and affords security against other groups.
Occupation of a certain favorable areas called core areas with a home base is
common among higher apes; this analogy is helpful for reconstructing Stone
Age hunter-gatherer land-use patterns. In certain situations chimpanzees make
artificial objects like flakes by breaking stone blocks. This may give clues for
understanding the origins of stone tool making and use.
1.7 SUMMARY
In this unit we have made efforts to understand how archaeology emerged as a
distinct academic discipline from a prolonged stage of antiquarian studies done
by amateurs for satisfying innate human urges like curiosity about surroundings,
adventure and respect to ancestors.
Regular, knowledge seeking interest developed with the formulation of three-

Age system by C.J.Thomsen. This knowledge-interest became more and more
elaborate and comprehensive, encompassing both material and non-material
aspects of human culture. Archaeology is now able to answer questions not only
of what, when and about past cultures but also of why and how. The proposition
made by the famous British archaeologist C.Hawkes that archaeology can help
us reconstruct only economic and technological aspects of ancient societies is
no longer valid. Archaeology also enables us to reconstruct sociological, religious
and ideological components of past life ways.
It is in this respect archaeology serves as the bedrock for anthropological studies

of present-day simple societies spread across the world. Apart from supplying
the time dimension to human culture, archaeological studies also highlight that
regional diversity in adaptations is an inherent attribute of human culture.
16
Suggested Reading Definitions and Scope
Binford, L.R.1983. In Pursuit of the Past: Decoding the Archaeological Record.

London: Thames and Hudson.
Childe, V.G.1956. Piecing together the Past: the Interpretation of Archaeological
Data. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
Daniel, G.E.1975. 150 Years Archaeology. London: Duckworth.
Clark, J.G.D,1939. Archaeology and Society. London: Methuen.
Binford, L.R.1922a. An Archaeological Perspective. New York: Seminar Press.
Halder, I.1986. Reading the Past. Cambridge University Press.
Knudson, S.J.1978. Culture in Retrospect. Chicago: Rand Mcnally.
Renfrew, C. and Bahu, P.1991. Archaeology: Theories and Methods. London:
Thames Hudson
Raman, K.V.1991. Principles and Methods of Archaeology. Madras: Parthajan
Publications.
Sankalia, H.D.1956. An Introduction to Archaeology. Pune: Deccan College.
Paddayya, K.1979. Palaeoethnography vis a vis the Stone Age Cultures of India:
Some Methodological Considerations. Bulletin of the Deccan College Research
institute 38:63-90.
Trigger, B. 1989. A History of Archaeological Thought. Cambridge University
Press.
Paddayya, K.1996. New Archaeology Aftermath. Pune: Ravish.
Sankalia, H.D. 1964. Stone Age Tools: Their Techniques, Names and Probable
Functions. Pune: Deccan College
Sample Questions
1) Discuss the scope of archaeology and its main divisions.
2) Show how the aims of archaeology changed from time to time.
3) What are the main methodological strategies employed in archaeological
reconstruction.
Write short notes on the following
i) Protohistory
ii) Early farming communities in India
17
UNIT 2 HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT
Structure
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Three-Age System
2.3 Divisions and Periodisation
2.4 Antiquarian Initiatives in Prehistoric Researches
2.5 Development of Prehistoric Studies
2.5.1 Phase -I
2.5.2 Phase-II
2.5.3 Phase-III
2.6 Development of Protohistoric Studies
2.7 Summary
Suggested Reading
Sample Questions
Learning Objectives &

Ø understand the role of “Three Age System” in Archaeology;
Ø demonstrate the relationship between “time scale” and “periodisation”;
Ø interpret the role of institutions and individuals in developing Prehistory
and protohistoric studies in India; and
Ø analyse the problems in “Pre and Protohistory of India”.
2.1 INTRODUCTION
The emergence of Archaeology as an academic discipline was preceded by a
long antiquarian stage. This stage can be traced back to the works of early Chinese
and Arab historians and to the historical treatises, written during the time of
Italian Renaissance. Chinese historians like Ouyang Xiu (1007–1072) and Shen
Kuo (1031–1095) made important contributions in this field. They wrote about
ancient rubbings on stone and metal as well as about different manufacturing
techniques of goods in ancient China. Muslim historians of the medieval period
also showed keen interest in material remains of the Near East. A few scholars
of Egyptology like Abdul Latif al-Baghdadi knew about ancient Egyptian
monuments and developed certain techniques of excavating ancient remains (El
Daly 2005).
Since the fourteenth century, historians of Europe were utilising inscriptions,

coins and medals for extracting information about the unknown past. In the
fifteenth century, new societies and museums emerged as nuclei of researches
on the ancient Greco-Roman world. There was a direct shift of focus from the
theological interpretation of human past of earlier church historians to a humanist
approach during the Renaissance. Notables among these initiatives were the
18
collections of Nicolao Nicoli, Lorenzo de Medici of Florence and Capitoline History and Development
museum, established by Pope Sixtus IV (Sreedharan 2004). Among these
historians Flavio Biondo (1388-1463 AD) was one of the first antiquarians who
extensively used material remains of Rome to write his book on Roman History
(ibid.). This period is characterised by a tendency – to be known later as
antiquarianism. Similar researches were carried out in the Age of Enlightenment
which also generated important concepts of geology and anthropology. These
antiquarian pursuits developed some of the basic components of the modern
archaeological methods in Europe. European scholars from the Sixteenth to
Eighteenth Century made significant contributions in structuring the discipline
of modern Archaeology. William Camden was one among these early researchers
who played a key role in founding the Society of Antiquaries in London in 1707
(Trigger 1989:47). Other notable antiquarians of this period were John Aubrey,
Johan Winckelmann, William Stuckeley from Europe and Thomas Jefferson of
North America.
Systematic research in Archaeology started a little later in the Scandinavian

countries. Kings Christian IV of Denmark and Gustavus II Adolphus of Sweden
encouraged the scholars to reconstruct the history of their respective countries
from ancient records which included ancient relics and monuments (Trigger
1989:49). Johan Bure, a Swedish civil servant and Ole Worm, a Danish medical
doctor, documented a large number of material remains from the past. New
museums grew out of these collections and one such museum, based on Ole’s
collection, was opened to the public in the 1680s (Trigger 1989:49).
All these activities generated a strong belief in the power of human agency. The
Scientific Revolution in Europe further strengthened these trends of
anthropocentricity and proved to be beneficial to the growth of archaeology as a
modern scientific discipline. Similarly, archaeology profited greatly from the
works of early geologists who ensured a departure from the popular beliefs in
the Biblical theories of recent human origin and their theories were supported by
studies on stratigraphical succession. The role of geology was crucial in
developing the concept of Relative Time i.e. the succession of historical events
in respect of one another (Leet et al. 1982). The Three- Age system reflects this
idea of Relative Time for understanding human history. Now we will consider
how the Three-Age system was formulated.
2.2 THREE-AGE SYSTEM

The Three-Age system is a method of classification of material remains of human
past into a chronological order and is based upon the idea of progress in
technology. It is rooted in the writings of the Enlightenment period. In fact this
notion of progress in human history can be traced in the writings of still earlier
periods. An ancient scholar from China belonging to Eastern Zhou Period (c.770-
221) had talked about such a scheme in his poem (Renfrew and Bahn 2005:265).
He talked about four different stages of technological progression, namely, the
age of stone, jade, bronze and iron. Similar ideas were put forward by the Roman
poet Lucretius of the 1st century BC in his poem called De Rerum Natura (ibid.).
Such concepts were presented by many scholars of the seventeenth century
Europe, who were puzzled by the stone tools, then known as elf-shots or
thunderbolts (ibid. 264). Michel Mercati, a sixteenth century scholar of Italy and
19
Definition and Scope Antoine de Jussieu (1723) of France studied these so-called “thunderbolts” and
declared that these objects were from a period when iron was not in use (ibid.).
However, these early attempts towards the description and classification of the
increasing collections of antiquarian remains were based more on intuitions than
on logical arguments.
The Three-Age system was established on strong grounds by Christian Jurgensen

Thomsen of Denmark. Thomsen was the son of a wealthy merchant of
Copenhagen and was born in 1788. He studied in Paris and undertook the
assignment of arranging Scandinavian and Roman coins after his return from
France (Trigger 1989: 74). Probably this system of arrangement - on the basis of
relative dating - influenced his methods for classifying prehistoric antiquities
later. Another important influence on Thomsen was the evolutionary approach
of his time. This was a politically turbulent time for Denmark which suffered
great losses at the hands of the British in 1801 and again in 1807 (Trigger
1989:274). These calamities encouraged the Danes to devote their times to restore
the past glories of their country. In 1807, a Danish Royal Commission for the
Preservation and Collection of Antiquities was established and Thomsen was
invited to arrange its collection in 1816 (Trigger 1989:275).
Thomsen took up the task of cataloguing and describing the typological attributes
of all objects found in the collection. As we noted in Unit 1, Thomsen’s work
was influenced by evolutionary ideas of the Age of Enlightenment including the
use of stone before metals. The evidence of classical and Biblical texts also
suggested that bronze was in use before iron. He also took into account the use
of similar tools and implements in the rural life of Denmark. However there was
a problem in this scheme of classification. Thomsen was aware that a few of
these stone tools were in use even during the metal ages. Therefore it was needed
to segregate the stone tools of the Stone Age and the stone tools from the metal
ages. Thomsen depended too on ‘closed finds’ or objects which were found in
association with each other, in a single context or from a same grave (Trigger
1989: 276). He divided these antiquities into different categories on the basis of
the material, shape as well as decorations found on them. Thomsen was not
satisfied with his classification only but proceeded to examine the contexts from
where these objects were reportedly found. He could differentiate the objects of
Bronze Age from those of the Iron Age on the basis of such a typological analysis
– a crude form of seriation (Trigger 1989:276).
Box 1: Seriation
Seriation is a method of arranging material objects, assemblages or sites
into a linear sequence on the basis of the degree of similarities found in
them. The earliest exponent of the method was Christian Jurgensen Thomsen,
followed by a better effort of G.O. Montelius (1885). Sir Flinders Petrie
was the first archaeologist to apply the method in analysing excavated
materials from the pre-dynastic period of Egypt (1899) (Shaw and Jameson
1999:519-20). Petrie depended on the concept of ‘occurrence’ of ‘incidence’
(presence or absence of an object) whereas modern seriation technique
depends more on the concepts of ‘frequency’ or ‘abundance’ (changing
frequencies of a smaller number of artifacts). Various computer applications
are now being used for seriation.
20
This approach allowed him to assign all associated objects, found with stone History and Development
tools, like glass objects or pottery, to a particular age. The Museum of Northern
Antiquities, where Thomsen worked, was opened to the public in 1819 and his
researches were published in a book called Ledartraad til Nordisk Oldkyndighed
(Guide Book to Scandinavian Antiquity) in 1836. The Three-Age system was
stratigraphically verified by the excavations of J.J. Worsaae (Renfrew and Bahn
2005:266).
The Three-Age system is an important conceptual method for dating the antiquities
without depending on written records. It formed the basis for prehistoric
chronology. It was rapidly adopted in museums across Europe and became the
source for further internal subdivisions and regional variations. Such internal
subdivisions were important for concepts like periodisation in the field of History
and Archaeology
2.3 DIVISIONS AND PERIODISATION

In this present section we will try to understand the meanings of ‘division’ and
‘periodisation’. The word ‘division’ actually denotes temporal division whereas
periodisation indicates further internal ordering. Temporal division of the human
past and its further periodisation were an indirect outcome of the efforts towards
classification of the objects and their arrangement in a sequential order. In this
respect archaeologists derived inspiration from the writings of philosophers,
geologists and biologists.
It is important to note that time itself has no provision to divide itself or to mark
its progress. Systems of measuring time are actually dependent on human thoughts
and are basically relative in nature. For example, there is no particular natural
event or phenomenon to declare the end of a century or the starting of a new one.
It is we, the human beings, who mark passage of time through different activities.
Even our days and nights are dependant on rotations of celestial objects and
these are not always uniform in duration. Actually, we are calculating certain
activities of these objects in relation to each other and not time. We can only
experience the continuous flow of time. In the next passage we will try to
understand the concept of Relative Time with these pre-conditions in mind.
Relative time is a system of temporal division to establish the sequence of events
in history. In other words, it is a system to establish the priority or posteriority of
events in respect to one another. Concepts of change, variability, continuity and
direction are important to determine relative time. We experience time through
varied activities and changes in these activities. However, these activities do not
define time but only indicate occurrence of events in relation to one another. All
activities have specific temporal structures such as the shooting of an arrow is a
unidirectional event in time as against death or birth which is cyclic (events
Gamble 2001:133). However, these activities do not define time but only indicate
occurrence of events in relation to one another. These notions underly the idea of
relative chronology is connected with all of these concepts as mentioned above.
For analytical purposes the entire human past has been divided into different
ages on the basis of these activities, ideas of change, concepts of progress and
variability in objects. Material remains are considered as proofs of these actions
which mark time. The biggest contribution of the geologists and archaeologists
21
Definition and Scope to human knowledge is the realisation of the immense length of time. But human
beings are not capable of imagining this immense length of time through our
intellect and we require crystallisation of it into several smaller temporal divisions
– guided by the ideas of ‘contemporaneity’ and ‘time averaging’ (Gamble
2001:137). In other words, we assign a block of time to different actions –
happening over different spaces. Such temporal divisions of human past were
influenced by works of philosophers such as Giambattista Vico (1725). Vico
(1725) opined that certain periods of history share same general characters and
similar periods recur in the same order (Sreedharan 2000:102). These ideas
became useful in creating temporal divisions of human past.
The entire range of material remains constituting the archaeological record belongs
to three broad temporal divisions, namely, Prehistory, Protohistory and Historical
period. Historical Age is further divided into Ancient, Medieval and Modern.
The Prehistoric Age deals with a period marked by the absence of written records
whereas the Historical Age is noted by the emergence of writing techniques. The
Protohistoric Age is falling between these two and is known for technological
developments along with trade and commerce but conspicuous by the absence
of writing. It is important to note here that these ages do not show uniformity
either in terms of chronological duration or in terms of geographical boundaries.
Periodisation is a process of subdividing these macro divisions of time into smaller
units, depending on certain commonly accepted parameters which mainly refer
to typo-technological developments in human society. We have already noticed
how Thomsen divided the human past into three ages on the basis of typo-
technology of material remains. His works were further refined by J.J. Worsaae
(1851). Worsaae realised that the Stone Age could be divided further into Early
and Late phases where the latter marks the advent of pottery and polished stone
tools (Renfrew and Bahn 2005:267).The British archaeologist Sir John Lubbock
(1865) divided the Stone Age into ‘Palaeolithic’ and ‘Neolithic’ stages.
It has already been mentioned that, as facilitated by a series of excavations done
in French caves by Lartet and others and also recognition of changes in the
technology and typology of stone implements, the Palaeolithic dated to the
Pleistocene was divided into Lower, Middle and Upper stages. Gabriel de Mortillet
(1821) recognised substages within these stages (e.g. Acheulian, Mousterian,
Aurignacian etc.). Also an intermediate phase called the Mesolithic, characterised
by microlithic technology and dated to the early part of the Holocene period,
was recognised between the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic stages.
Slowly the use of technological criteria (changes in the technology and typology
of implements) for dividing preliterate past came under stress and new meanings
involving socio-economic and other factors began to be ascribed to terms like
Palaeolithic and Neolithic. Gordon Childe introduced the terms savagery,
barbarism and civilization to characterise the Palaeolithic, Neolithic and Bronze
Age, respectively. Robert Braidwood introduced phrases like the eras of initial
hunting and gathering, intensified hunting and intensified collecting to mark
changes within the Palaeolithic and Megalithic phases.
2.4 ANTIQUARIAN INITIATIVES IN

PREHISTORIC RESEARCHES
Prehistoric researches in India are mainly associated with the Europeans and
22 their arrival in the subcontinent. The first antiquarians of the country were the
surveyors, who collected numerous artifacts during the courses of their field History and Development
works in different regions of India (Singh 2004:2).
Different institutions and individuals played significant roles in prehistoric

researches in India. One important institution in this field is the Asiatic Society
of Bengal. The society was established in 1784 by Sir William Jones. Though
the society devoted a significant amount of its time towards the advancement of
historical studies, but its contribution towards the publication of important
researches in the field of Prehistory can not be ignored.
2.5 DEVELOPMENT OF PREHISTORIC STUDIES

In a paper published in the Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal V. Ball
draws attention to the fact that a few British antiquarians like Captain Abbot had
reported the finding of agate splinters from Narmada valley as early as in 1845
(Chakrabarti 2006:1). Similar findings were also reported from Lingsugur in
Karnataka 1847(ibid.). In 1861, H. P. Le Mesurier found polished stone
implements and microliths from Bundelkhand, which was followed by similar
findings by W. Theobold in 1862 (Chakrabarti 2006:2). Theobold also mentioned
the discovery of chert cores and flakes from Port Blair by Major Houghton. No
doubt, credit should be given to these antiquarians for recognising these objects
as creations of human beings. However, Robert Bruce Foote is generally credited
with the first discovery of Palaeolithic implements in India. On 30th May, 1863,
Foote found a few Palaeolithic implements from a gravel pit at Pallavaram, near
Madras (Chennai). He is rightly called the father of Indian Prehistory.
Prehistoric researches in India can be divided into three periods: Phase I (1863-
1900), Phase II (1900-1950) (Chakrabarti 2006: 2) and Phase III (1950 - till
date). The first period is marked by individual efforts, whereas the second period
is known for the institutional involvements. The third phase is characterised by
the application of absolute dating methods and other advanced techniques and
methods for studying the prehistoric remains.
2.5.1 Phase I
During this period, a large number of individuals participated in discovering
prehistoric remains. In September 1863, Foote reported his findings of stone
tools from Attirampakkam and a few of them were in situ (Chakrabarti 2006:2).
Next year, he reported another cache of Palaeoliths from Pallavaram where also
T. Oldham found similar tools in situ (Chakrabarti 2006:2). Foote’s collections
were displayed in an exhibition at the Asiatic Society of Bengal in 1864. In the
same year and the following, several discoveries of Stone Age tools were reported
by J.D. Swiney, W. Theobold, W. King, Messieurs Cornish, Fraser, Robinson
and V. Ball from Jabalpur, Madras, Bengal and Myanmar.
In 1865 W. Blanford and S.B. Wyne discovered a stone tool along with shells. A
comprehensive report on these findings was published in the Proceedings of the
Asiatic Society of Bengal in 1867. Blanfold discovered a large number of
microliths in southern M.P and Nagpur region and was able to notice their
similarities with their counterparts in Europe. He interpreted them as representing
the tool-kit of hunting and fishing communities (Chakrabarti 2006:3). Blanford
also commented that the makers of the stone tools found by Wyne, lived during
23
Definition and Scope the period of extinct animals whose fossils were found in the sediments of the
Narmada and the Godavari (ibid.).
W. King was among the pioneers in analysing the contexts of his findings from
Andhra Pradesh (Chakrabarti 2006:3). The efforts of King should also be noted
for his analysis of functionality of these tools. Ball wrote in this period that the
Palaeolithic industry of India extended up to Bengal and this technology was not
available in the North Eastern provinces. After 1867, Foote carried out extensive
surveys in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, and after his retirement,
in Gujarat. Three of his major reports were published in 1866, 1873 and in 1880
(Chakrabarti 2006:2) where he discussed about the history of his discoveries
and also gave detailed descriptions of tools, raw materials and their contexts.
Foote also commented on the causes of widespread dispersal of Stone Age groups.
Foote’s work in the Kurnool caves of Andhra Pradesh, constitutes an important

chapter of this period. He found bone implements here which he compared with
the Magdalenian tools of Upper Palaeolithic Europe. The later part of Foote’s
life was devoted to the Neolithic findings from Karnataka and geology of Gujarat.
He reported on stone tools and associated fossiliferous deposits from the
Sabarmati river. He published two catalogues on his collections in 1914 and
1916, which were later acquired by the Government Museum of Madras
(Chakrabarti 2006:4).
In Northwestern Frontier and Sind, Blanford, Theobold and C. Swynnerton made

important discoveries. In 1875 Blanford suggested that the cores from the Indus
region were different from the ones found in the nearby hills. In eastern India,
Neolithic celts were reported from Assam in 1867 and again in 1870. Ball
continued his surveys in Bengal, Bihar and Orissa but his observations on these
findings do not stand modern scrutiny (Chakrabarti 2006:4).
This period is also crucial for rock art researches in India. A.C.L. Carlleyle of
Archaeological Survey of India worked extensively in the Vindhyan region. One
of the most important discoveries by Carlleyle was cited by V. A. Smith in his
1906 paper. Smith quoted Carlleyle in this article on the latter’s findings of
Mesolithic artifacts as well as rock paintings in rock shelters of Sohagighat of
Rewa district, Madhya Pradesh (Smith 1906). This discovery was made in the
winter season of 1867-68 (Smith 1906). In 1883, J. Cockburn found similar
paintings in Mirzapur district and published an account of his discoveries in
1899. However, Cockburn believed that not all of these paintings can be assigned
to the Stone Age (See Box 2).
Box 2: Rock Art
The term ‘rock art’ covers all forms of artistic activity on rock. Its principal
categories are pictograph (application of pigments), petroglyphs (motifs
carved into rocks) and engravings besides other forms like petroforms and
geoglyphs. The discovery of rock paintings in Sohagighat by A.C.L Carlleyle
in 1867-8 and his assigning them to a remote past represent one of the
earliest discoveries of rock art in the world. In 1879, Marcelo Sanz De
Sautuola discovered bison figures on the ceilings of Altamira, in Spain and
found that these are similar in style to the figurines in Upper Palaeolithic
portable art. This brought about a significant change in our understanding
of rock art in the world.
24
2.5.2 Phase II History and Development
This phase of prehistoric research in India is marked by synthesizing efforts,

participation of several institutions as well as efforts towards palaeo-
environmental reconstructions. A large number of Indian scholars participated
in prehistoric researches in this period. One of the earliest synthesizing efforts
can be found in the article of V.A. Smith (1906). In 1923, P. Mitra published his
book called Prehistoric India. In 1931, H.C. Dasgupta published a bibliography
of prehistoric antiquities (Chakrabarti 2006:6). In 1930, L.A. Cammiade and
M.C. Burkitt published their studies on prehistoric antiquities from the Nallamalai
Hills of Andhra Pradesh. Based upon their relative positions in river stratigraphy,
Cammiade and Burkitt divided their collections of stone tools into four series
corresponding to Lower, Middle and Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic,
respectively. The first series is dominated by quartzite handaxes. In the next
series, flake tools are predominant which were made on quartzite, chalcedony
and sandstone. Tools from the next series mainly comprised blades and burins
made on siliceous stones and the last series shows the dominance of microliths.
Burkitt and Cammiade assigned the river sediments in which stone tools were
found to different periods of aggradation and erosion, connected with wet and
dry periods of climate.
K.R.U Todd’s publication on the Palaeolithic industries of Bombay followed a

scheme similar to that of Cammiade and Burkitt (Chakrabarti 2006:7). In 1935,
Yale and Cambridge Universities sent a joint expedition to the Potwar Plateau
and the Indus and Narmada Valleys to reconstruct the Pleistocene sequence and
associated human remains in these regions. The expedition was led by H. de
Terra and T.T. Paterson. They published their report in 1939. Based upon their
fieldwork in the Soan valley of modern Pakistan, de Terra and Paterson recognised
a sequence of five terraces which they correlated with glaciations from the
Kashmir valley. Further they also proposed a multi-phase Stone Age sequence
called the Soan culture sequence. However, many objections were raised to these
stratigraphical and cultural reconstructions by the later work of British
Archaeological Mission in the 1980s.
Among the Indian scholars who made significant contributions to prehistory

during this period, mention should be made of V.D. Krishnaswami who carried
out researches in Madras, N.K. Bose and D. Sen who worked in Orissa and H.D.
Sankalia who carried out field work in Gujarat. Sankalia excavated the Mesolithic
site of Langhnaj in Gujarat and Krishnaswami published his findings in Ancient
India (Vol.3) (Chakrabarti 2006:7). Similarly, the publication of F.E. Zeunerss
book entitled Stone Age and Pleistocene Chronology in Gujarat (1950) made
important contributions to our understanding of alluvial stratigraphy of the rivers
in the Deccan and Gujarat and its palaeoclimatic implications.
2.5.3 Phase III

This phase witnessed many important developments in Indian prehistoric studies.
H.D.Sankalia’s explorations at Nevasa on the Pravara in Maharashtra led to the
reconstruction of an elaborate stratigraphical-cum-cultural sequence in 1956. In
the next two decades this served as a model for a number of field investigations
in Godavari, Narmada, Mahanadi and other river valleys of different parts of
peninsular India. Universities also initiated Stone Age research in their respective
areas. Indeed prehistory emerged as an important branch of Indian archaeology.
25
Definition and Scope The role of earth science got firmly established, particularly geology for
establishing the stratigraphical contexts of cultural horisons and their
palaeoclimatic implications.
This phase also witnessed the use of absolute dating techniques such as
radiocarbon, uranium, thorium, potassium-organ, electron spin resonances,
palaeomagnetism etc. V.N.Misra’s excavation at 16 R dune at Didwana in
Rajasthan revealed a full sequence of Stone Age cultures with many absolute
dates. The sites of Riwat (Pakistan) and Uttarbaini (Jammu) in Siwalik hills
have an antiquity of more than two million years. Likewise the Acheulian sites
of Isampur and Attirampakkam in South India have been dated to 1.2 and 1.5
million years. Likewise, absolute dates are available for Middle and Upper
Palaeolithic and Mesolithic sites, the details of which will be provided in
respective units later.
Human skeletal remains from Palaeolithic deposits are scarce in India. Only a
small number of hominid remains of the Pleistocene period are known as yet.
Kennedy (cited by Chakrabarti 2006:10) mentions the finding of a human skull
from the Upper Palaeolithic deposit of Bhimbetka by V. S. Wakankar. A hominid
skull cap dating to Middle or late Pleistocene has been reported from Hathnora,
M.P (Chakrabarti 2006:10).
Box 3: Hathnora Hominid Fossil

On 5th December, 1982, Arun Sonakia of Geological Survey of India found
a hominid skull cap from Hathnora, 22 km North West of Hoshangabad in
Madhya Pradesh. This skull cap was found embedded in the basal
conglomerate horison of Narmada. Only the right half of the skull long with
the left parietal bone has survived. The first report was published in 1984
which was followed by further reports from 1985 onwards. The deposit
containing the skull also yielded mammalian fossils and late Acheulian tools.
Badam et al. (cited by Chakrabarti 2006:11) suggested that the fossil probably
represents an archaic form of Homo sapiens.
A fourth development of this phase concerns the shift of focus from the secondary
sites associated with river gravels and silts to primary sites where the Stone Age
groups made stone tools and carried out their various other life-activities
(Paddayya, 1978). For this purpose it was felt necessary to go away from major
rivers to interior areas free from floods and other disturbances and hence likely
to preserve sites in their original condition. Also it was felt necessary to organise
field research in terms of a regional framework and not single, isolated sites. In
other words, emphasis began to be laid on the use of settlement system perspective
aimed at an anthropological or processual understanding of Stone Age cultures.
Against this perspective fresh field studies were taken up in different parts of
India. Excavations were conducted at Paleolithic sites like Chirki-Nevasa,
Morgaon, Hunsgi and Isampur, Attirampakkam, Paisra, Bhimbetka and Didwana
in Rajasthan. Also excavations were made at Mesolithic sites like Langhanaj,
Bagor and Tilwara, and Damdama and other sites in the Ganga valley.
For promoting this processual understanding of Stone Age cultures, more

systematic bioarchaeological and geoarchaeological surveys were undertaken in
these areas. Ethnoarchaeology is another major research strategy that was adopted
26
for this purpose. Hunter-gatherer groups like the Chenchus, Yanadis, Pardhis History and Development
and Musahars have been studied from this point of view by V.N.Misra and
M.L.K.Murty and others.
2.6 DEVELOPMENT OF PROTOHISTORIC

STUDIES
We have earlier noted that protohistory in India covers the time period between
the end of the Mesolithic phase and the early historical period. As such it covers
three major cultural stages viz. the Indus civilization and its later variants; the
Neolithic-Chalcolithic cultures known from different parts of the sub continent;
the Iron Age cultures preceding the Early Historical. The total time span covered
by the protohistoric period is of the order of four to five thousand years.
The Discovery of the Harappan or Indus civilization stretched the story of Indian
history backwards by 3000 years. In 1921, Daya Ram Sahni recovered two
pictographic seals from Harappa similar to those unearthed by Cunningham in
1856. But their exact significance was realised in the next season when R.D.
Baneree started excavating Mohenjodaro. In 1924, the antiquities from both these
sites were examined by Sir John Marshall; he announced the discovery of this
new Bronze Age civilization in Illustrated London News (Roy 1961). Soon further
excavations were conducted at both these sites by Sahni, Marshall, M.S. Vats
and others. The discovery of Harappan civilization brought to light a highly
sophisticated Bronze Age culture, characterised by elaborate town planning and
monumental architecture, civic amenities, trade and commerce, sophisticated
system of weights and measurements systems as well as an unknown script.
During the entire decade of 1920s, new Harappan settlements were brought to
light at Lahumjodaro, Limujunejo, Chanhudaro etc. by Hargreaves, K.N. Dikhshit,
N.G. Majumdar and others (Roy 1961: 109-110). From 1925 onwards, officers
of the Archaeological Survey of India began to discover Chalcolithic settlements
as well as Harappan settlements from Sind and Baluchistan region almost every
year. In 1926, Majumdar unearthed the traces of Jhukar culture. From 1926 to
1928, Sir Aurel Stein surveyed Baluchistan and discovered a large number of
Chalcolithic and pre-Harappan settlements. Important sites among these were
Rana Ghundai, Periano Ghundai, Kulli, Mehi, Nundara, Sukhtagendor and Shahi
Tump (Roy 1961: 109). Between the years 1929-31 N.G.Majumdar discovered
Ali Murad, Amri, Lohri, Pandi Wahi. Excavations at Harappa were continued by
Vats till 1931 and these were restarted in 1940. Between 1929 and 1935, Vats
discovered Rupar and Rangpur, two other Harappan sites from India (Ray
1961:118).
In 1944, R.E.M. Wheeler surveyed Harappa again and resumed excavation in

1946. Wheeler succeeded in establishing a proper stratigraphic sequence at
Harappa and brought to light a post-Harappan culture called Cemetry H (Ray
1961:127). Despite these numerous discoveries of Harappan settlements, at the
time of partition, there wasn’t a single important Harappan site in India. So A.
Ghosh of the Archaeological Survey of India undertook a systematic survey of
the Ghaggar basin in Rajasthan from 1952 onwards. He discovered a large number
of Harappan settlements in Rajasthan, Punjab and Haryana. During this survey
Ghosh discovered the famous Harappan site of Kalibangan. Then onwards every
27
Definition and Scope year new Harappan sites have been reported from Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan,
Western Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharastra. Now it is realised that this
civilization was spread over an area measuring 1500 x 1200 sq.km. (Dhavalikar
1997: 8). Such in brief is the history of discovery of Harappan civilization.
The second major aspect of protohistoric past concerns the development of early
agropastoral cultures covered by sites which are variously called Neolithic or
Chalcolithic or Neolithic–Chalcolithic, depending on the use or lack of copper.
It is true that even before Independence sporadic discoveries of polished stone
tools were made in south India, Bihar and Jharkhand, and Northeast India. Due
to lack of any excavated evidence these sites could not be placed in a proper
cultural context. It was Wheeler’s excavation at Brahmagiri in South India in
1946 which stratigraphically exposed Neolithic levels below Iron Age megalithic
strata. Still much of the Indian landscape presented a blank appearance, so much
so that in 1948 Mortimer Wheeler bemoaned that a Dark Age existed between
the end of the Indus civilization and the beginning of the early historical period.
A major achievement of post independence archaeology in India lies in the fact

that the so-called Dark Age has now been filled up with about a dozen major
cultures representing the early agropastoral stage. These are spread across the
whole country and are dated to the third and second millennia B.C. Their main
characteristics include settled village life, crop cultivation, animal husbandry,
burial practices and various crafts like ceramics and stone-tool making. The credit
for discovering these cultures goes to the Archaeological survey of India, state
departments and various universities.
The major Neolithic cultures are located in South India, Kashmir Valley, North
central Vindhyas, Bihar and Orissa and North eastern India. The principal
Chalcolithic Cultures are the Savalola, Malwa and Jorwe cultures of the Deccan,
Kayatha and Malwa cultures of central India. Banas culture of Rajasthan, and
the Black-and-Red and Ochre-Coloured Pottery cultures of the Ganga valley. In
fact, the emergence of agropastoral way of life in the subcontinent stretches
beyond third millennia B.C. The Mehrgarh excavations in Baluchistan take the
antiquity of wheat and barley cultivation and cattle and sheep /goat domestication
to the 6th–7th millennia B.C. Likewise the recent excavations at Lahuradewa in
eastern U.P. reveal that paddy cultivation or intensive exploration goes back to
6th – 7th millennium B.C.
Now let us briefly note the investigations with reference to the Iron Age. For
about two centuries various kinds of megalithic monuments (stone circles,
dolmens, cists, umbrella stones etc.) have been reported from various parts of
Peninsular India. These yielded, apart from other cultural materials, a variety of
iron objects. In the middle of the 19th century Meadows Taylor even excavated
some of the stone circles in the Deccan. But it was Wheeler’s excavation at
Brahmagiri which exposed Iron Age megalithic levels below the remains of the
Early Historical Period.
After Independence many more megalithic sites were excavated in Vidarbha

region of Maharashtra and various parts of South India. These have given evidence
of various burial practices with rich grave goads. Hallur excavation in Karnataka
has given a date of about 1100 B.C. for commencement of iron technology.
More recently excavations at Malhar in Ganga valley have pushed back the
28
antiquity of iron to 1500 B.C. Excavations by S.B.Deo at Naikund in Vidarbha History and Development
have made it possible to reconstruct the whole process of iron smelting.
2.7 SUMMARY
Proceeding from our Unit 1 on account of the definition of archaeology as a
science of the archaeological record; its three main divisions; and both conceptual
and methodological developments, we have gone one step further in this unit
and considered the criteria adopted for dividing prehistoric time into main periods
and stages. We then noted the main stages in the development of both Prehistoric
and Protohistoric studies in India. With this background we will consider in the
next unit how archaeology is intimately related to various natural and social
sciences.
Suggested Reading
Bhattacharya, D.K. 1996. An Outline of Indian Prehistory. Delhi: Palaka
Prakashan.
Bahn, P. and C. Renfrew (Eds). 2005. Archaeology: The Key Concepts. New
York: Rutledge.
Chakrabarti, D.K. 1988. A History of Indian Archaeology. New Delhi: Munshiram
Manoharlal
Chakrabarti, D. K. 2006. Oxford Companion to Indian Archaeology. New Delhi:
Chakrabarti,D.K. 1988. Theoretical Issues in Indian Archaeology. Delhi:
Munshiram Manoharlal
Daly, Okasha El. 2005. Egyptology: The Missing Millennium: Ancient Egypt in
Medieval Arabic Writings. London: UCL Press.
Dhavalikar, M.K. 1997. Indian Protohistory. New Delhi: Books and Books.
Gamble, C. 2002. Archaeology: The Basics. London and New York: Rutledge.
Ghosh, A. (Ed.) 1989. An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology. New Delhi:
Munshiram Manoharlal.
Settar, S. and Korisettar, R. (eds). 2002. Indian Archeology in Retrospect. Delhi:
ICHR and Manohar
Sankalia, H.D. 1974. Prehistory and Protohistory of India and Pakistan. Pune:
Deccan College.
Sankalia, H.D. 1977. Prehistory of India. New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal.
Roy, S.1996. The Story of Indian Archaeology 1784-1947. New Delhi:

Archaeological Survey of India.
Sreedharan, E.2000. A Textbook of Historiography: 500BC to AD 2000.

Hyderabad: Orient Longman.
Singh, U.2004.The Discovery of Ancient India: Early Archaeologists and

Beginnings of Archaeology. Delhi: Permanent Black.
29
Definition and Scope Shaw, I. and R. Jameson (Eds). 1999. A Dictionary of Archaeology. Oxford:
Blackwell Publishers Ltd.
Paddayya, K. 1978. New Research Design and Field Techniques in the

Palaeolithic archaeology of India. World Archaeology. 10: 94-110.
Useful Links
The Archaeological Survey of India: http://www.asi.nic.in
Harappa : http://www.harappa.com
Sample Questions
1) Critically evaluate the importance of Three-Age system in the development
of archaeological studies in the Old World.
2) What are the main stages in the development of Prehistoric studies in India.
3) Describe how Protohistoric studies progressed in India.
30
History and Development
UNIT 3 INTERDISCIPLINARY RELATIONS
AND APPROACHES
Structure
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Biological Sciences
3.2.1 Flora
3.2.2 Fauna
3.3 Earth Sciences
3.3.1 Geomorphology
3.3.2 Sedimentology
3.3.3 Geology
3.4 Physical and Chemical Sciences
3.4.1 Chronometry
3.4.2 Chemical Analyses
3.5 Social Sciences
3.6 Summary
Suggested Reading
Sample Questions

Once you have studied this unit, you should be able to understand the relationship
of Archaeological Anthropology with:
Ø Biological Sciences (Flora, Fauna);
Ø Earth Sciences (Geomorphology, Sedimentology, Geology);
Ø Physical Sciences (Chronometry);
Ø Chemical Sciences; and
Ø Social Sciences (History, Sociology, Archaeology, Anthropology, Psychology).
3.1 INTRODUCTION
It is now clear to us that archaeology – the very basis of archaeological
anthropology–is aimed at the total reconstruction of ancient human societies. It
is a study of the chronological and geographical limits of ancient cultures. To put
the matter in a more formal way, archaeology or archaeological anthropology
has a three-fold goal: a) reconstruction of respective environmental settings of
past cultures; b) to fix their temporal limits; and c) to reconstruct the material as
well as ideational aspects of these cultures. Archaeology seeks to realise these
goals by, in addition employing its own methods, drawing upon concepts and
methods of various other sciences. In this unit therefore we will examine the
relationship of archaeology with various, biological sciences, earth sciences,
physical sciences and social sciences.
31
3.2 BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
Biological sciences deal with organic components (plant and the animal worlds)
of the environment. Ecology seeks to reveal the interrelationships between man
and the biological world.
3.2.1 Flora
Archaeobotany is the study of all kinds of plant remains found in archaeological
sites. These comprise actual materials like charcoal, wood remains and grains as
well as indirect evidence in the form of impressions of leaves and husks on clay
and pottery. These are microscopic remains too in the form of phytoliths and
pollen. Flotation and other techniques are used to collect these plant remains
from excavations and are then subjected to scientific examination in the laboratory.
Plant remains are particularly important for studying food economy of ancient
societies. In the Paleolithic and Mesolithic stages man was essentially parasite
on nature. In tropical regions like India, wild plant foods played a bigger role,
and these included a variety of roots and tubers, fruits, seeds, berries, gums, and
leafy greens and flowers. Wood was also used for preparing tools and weapons.
In the Neolithic stage food production commenced and man eventually began to
raise crops of many cereals and pulses. This brought about a drastic change in
man-nature interaction, including vegetation clearance leading to environmental
degradation. Plant remains are helpful in other ways too. These provide clues for
reconstructing past climate. Dendrochronology or tree ring analysis is a useful
relative dating method. Charcoal is commonly used for C-14 dating of
archaeological sites.
3.2.2 Fauna
Animal kingdom is the second important component of man’s biological
environment and is again intimately connected with human adaptations. That
this was so right from Stone Age times is revealed by the occurrence of animal
bones and other animal-related features on archaeological sites of various time
periods. Palaeontology is the study of fossilised remains of extinct wild animals
which lived in the Pleistocene period. Archaeozoology is the study of animal
remains found on Holocene archaeological sites (Mesolithic onwards).
Animal remains found in archeological sites are varied in character : bone and
antler, shells, fish remains, bird and rodent bones, even insect remains. Animals
were exploited for various purposes. Bones and antlers were sometimes used for
tool-making and hides were employed for clothing and roofing of huts. Also
ornaments like beads were prepared. More importantly, animals were used for
food purposes. Hunting of large game and scavenging of kill sites of carnivorous
animals were common in the Palaeolithic. Small animals and birds were also
trapped for food purpose. In the succeeding Neolithic stage animals like, cattle,
sheep/goat, pig, were domesticated. But hunting and collecting still continued.
Animal remains could also give clues about past climate and vegetation.
3.3 EARTH SCIENCES

Earth sciences play a pivotal role in the analysis of archaeological sediments and
in the reconstruction of physical features of ancient landscapes. Geomorphology,
32 Sedimentlogy and Geology are very important from this point of view.
3.3.1 Geomorphology Interdisciplinary Relations
and Approaches
Geomorphology is a branch of Physical geography which is primarily concerned
with the study of the land forms and the evolution of landscape. Archaeological
sites are generally found with reference to geomorphological situations like hills,
foothills, plains, river banks, lakes, coasts etc. Stone Age groups generally
preferred rocky terrain with open forest vegetations which facilitated easy
movement as required for hunting purposes. Availability of raw materials like
stone for tool making and perennial surface water sources, and good landscape
visibility influenced location of Stone Age sites. From the Neolithic period
onwards human groups also began to occupy plain lands like alluvial and coastal
plains suitable for agricultural purposes. Geomorphology enables us to reconstruct
these varied landscapes.
Archaeological anthropology has interdisciplinary approach of studying in
relation to various sciences viz., Biological sciences, Earth sciences, Physical
and Chemical sciences, Social sciences etc.
3.3.2 Sedimentology
Archaeological sites are nothing but small or large deposits of soils and sediments
associated with past human activities of various kinds. Sedimentology deals with
a systematic study of these sediments both in the field and in the laboratory.
Examination of physical and chemical properties of soils like nitrogen and
phosphate contexts provides complementary evidence to recognise various
activity areas on an archaeological sites, e.g. human-dwelling spots, animal
penning spots, animal-butchering areas, pottery-making workshops, burial spots,
etc. Studies of soils and sediments can also tell us about the formation of natural
sediments on the landscape by non-human agencies like water, wind and volcano.
This study is extremely useful for palaeolandscape reconstruction.
3.3.3 Geology
Geology is one of the oldest scientific disciplines and deals with study of various
rock formations on the earth’s surface. Its application for studying archaeological
sites has led to the origin of what is called geoarchaeology. Geology served as
the basis for the development of archaeological stratigraphy. Also the terms like
Paleozoic, Mesozoic, etc. used for partitioning geological time inspired
archaeologists to coin terms like Palaeolithic, Mesolithic, etc. to divide prehistoric
time.
Geoarchaeology now helps archaeologists in understanding the properties of
rocks, minerals and ores and their utilisation by ancient communities. It also
helps us in understanding how archeological sites have been preserved or
disturbed due to natural forces like wind, water, ice, earthquakes etc.
3.4 PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL SCIENCES

Physical sciences (Physics and Chemistry) also play a very important role in the
reconstruction of past human societies from the archaeological record.
3.4.1 Chronometry
Earlier archaeological sites and their deposits were dated in relative terms with
the help of methods like stratigraphy, stylistics of artifacts and monuments, and
33
Definition and Scope degree of patination. During the last half a century a number of absolute dating
techniques developed in Physics and Chemistry have proved to be very useful
for dating archaeological sites. Their time range has now been extended to nearly
three million years. Radiocarbon, archaeomagnetism, potassium-argon, uranium-
thorium, fission-track, electron spin resonance, and thermoluminescence are some
of these methods.
The carbon 14 (radiocarbon-carbon of atomic weight 14) method gives absolute

date up to ca. 50,000 B.P. on wood, wood charcoal from fire, peat, grass, cloth,
shell, bones, dung, remains of plant and animal life. This dating technique was
for the first time introduced in 1949 by Williard F. Libby. Similarly, potassium-
argon method gives dates ranging up to a few million years on rocks, minerals,
pottery, volcanic glasses and meteorites etc. and the thermoluminescence (TL)
give dates on rocks, minerals and pottery.
In India too, these and other dating methods have now begun to be used commonly
for dating archaeological materials and sediments. C-14 dates have pushed the
antiquity of the Indus civilization to the beginning of the third millennium B.C.
and the beginning of crop and animal husbandry to 6th-7th millennium B.C.
Likewise, the Stone Age sites of Riwat and Uttarbaini in the Siwalik zone have
been dated to beyond two million years by palaeomagnetism. The Acheulian
sites of Isampur and Attirampakkam in South India are dated to 1.2 and 1.5
million years by electron spin resonance and cosmogenic nuclide methods,
respectively. Indeed we realise that these dating methods taken from physical
sciences have caused a revolution in archaeological chronology in India.

Techniques borrowed from organic and inorganic chemistry have also contributed
in a significant way towards the analysis and interpretation of archaeological
materials. The application of these techniques has, for example, given fresh
knowledge about ancient copper, iron and glass technology. Also, analyses of
food and blood residues on ancient objects and pottery containers led to interesting
information about preparation of food items and their consumption. For example,
chemical analysis of starch grains on stone tools shows that already in Middle
Palaeolithic times sun-dried bread of wild grass seeds was being prepared and
consumed in Africa and Europe.
3.5 SOCIAL SCIENCES

Our foregoing observations about the role of natural sciences should not be
construed to mean that archaeology has no interconnections with social sciences.
In particular, it benefits from interpretations and analogies drawn from
anthropology, history and human geography.
In unit 2 we have already considered how clues derived from cultural anthropology
are used in archaeological reconstruction. These are ethnographic parallels or
analogies derived from the study of contemporary simple (peasant, pastoral and
hunting-gathering) communities. These analogies are of two types: general
comparative and direct historical. Considering that India is home to a
tremendously large number and variety of simple societies inhabiting hill tracts
still clothed in good vegetation. It is reassuring to know that prehistorians have
34
already studied hunting-gathering communities like the Chenchus, Yanadis, Irulas, Interdisciplinary Relations
and Approaches
Hill Pandarams, Pardhis and Van Vagris, and Gonds and made use of the analogies
for reconstructions of Palaeolithic and Mesolithic life ways. Likewise, studies of
pastoral communities like the Todas, Badagas, Kurubas, Dhangars and Bharvads
have provided to be very helpful for understanding various aspects of early
agropastoral communities.
Biological or physical anthropology is concerned with the origin, evolution and

variation of human beings. It seeks to study the physical characteristics like
physique, age, sex, cranial capacity, DNA, blood group, gene, medical history,
nutrition, food habits, dental formula, pathology and demography.
Human geography also helps archaeological reconstruction. It deals with the

study of distribution of human settlements on a given landscape and how this
distribution is governed by consideration of physical factors like terrain form,
soils and availability of water and other resources and also by symbolic and
religious factors. Such studies in human geography provide many useful clues
for reconstructing settlement geography of ancient societies.
Archaeology and history are sister disciplines; both seek to reconstruct ancient
societies and their lifeways in a comprehensive way. The differences lie in
methodology. While archaeology is based upon the use of non-written or
antiquarian materials, history makes use of written documents of all kinds. The
notion of history as the story of kings and rulers and their political victories and
defeats which prevailed for a long time has now given way to total history
involving the study of economic, social, religious and other aspects of ancient
societies. The Annales school of France has played a pivotal role in this
transformation. The concepts and methods of this new history are helpful in
archaeological reconstruction.
Other social sciences like sociology, psychology and economics as well as

humanities like philosophy, literary theory and art history also contribute to
archaeology in terms of concepts and methods.
3.6 SUMMARY
By now you will have realised that archaeology is an eclectic branch of knowledge.
While it has an independent status from the point of view of both aims and
methods, it takes the help of almost all natural and social sciences and humanities
in the recovery of antiquarian remains, their analysis and dating, and their
reconstruction and interpretation of past human societies.
Suggested Reading
Aitken, M.J.1990. Sciences-based Dating in Archaeology. London: Longmans.
Brothwell, D. and pollard, M. 2001. Handbook of Archaeological Sciences. New
York: John wiley.
Butzer, K. W. 1964. Environment and Archaeology. Chicago: Aldine-Atherton.
Butzer, K.W. 1982. Archaeology and Human Ecology. Chicago: Cambridge
University Press.
35
Definition and Scope Dancy, W.S. 1985. Archaeological Field Methods: An Introduction. New Delhi:
Surjeet Publications.
Daniel, Glyn. 1962. The Idea of Prehistory. London: C.A.Watts & Co.Ltd.
Hole, Frank and R.F.Heizer. 1965. An Introduction to Prehistoric Archaeology.
New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Hotter, I. 1999. The Archaeological Process: An Introduction. Oxford: Blackwell.
Rami Reddy, V. 1987. Elements of Prehistory. Delhi: Mittal Publications.
Sample Questions
1) Critically examine the role of Natural Sciences in archaeology.
2) How floral and faunal remains are helpful to study the archaeological
anthropology? Discuss.
3) How physical and chemical sciences help to study archaeological
Write short Notes on the following
i) Relationship of geology with archaeological anthropology.
ii) Relationship of archaeological anthropology with geomorphology.
36
History and Development
UNIT 3 INTERDISCIPLINARY RELATIONS
AND APPROACHES
Structure
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Biological Sciences
3.2.1 Flora
3.2.2 Fauna
3.3 Earth Sciences
3.3.1 Geomorphology
3.3.2 Sedimentology
3.3.3 Geology
3.4 Physical and Chemical Sciences
3.4.1 Chronometry
3.5 Social Sciences
3.6 Summary
Suggested Reading
Sample Questions

Once you have studied this unit, you should be able to understand the relationship
of Archaeological Anthropology with:
Ø Biological Sciences (Flora, Fauna);
Ø Earth Sciences (Geomorphology, Sedimentology, Geology);
Ø Physical Sciences (Chronometry);
Ø Chemical Sciences; and
Ø Social Sciences (History, Sociology, Archaeology, Anthropology, Psychology).
3.1 INTRODUCTION
It is now clear to us that archaeology – the very basis of archaeological
anthropology–is aimed at the total reconstruction of ancient human societies. It
is a study of the chronological and geographical limits of ancient cultures. To put
the matter in a more formal way, archaeology or archaeological anthropology
has a three-fold goal: a) reconstruction of respective environmental settings of
past cultures; b) to fix their temporal limits; and c) to reconstruct the material as
well as ideational aspects of these cultures. Archaeology seeks to realise these
goals by, in addition employing its own methods, drawing upon concepts and
methods of various other sciences. In this unit therefore we will examine the
relationship of archaeology with various, biological sciences, earth sciences,
physical sciences and social sciences.
31
3.2 BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
Biological sciences deal with organic components (plant and the animal worlds)
of the environment. Ecology seeks to reveal the interrelationships between man
and the biological world.
3.2.1 Flora
Archaeobotany is the study of all kinds of plant remains found in archaeological
sites. These comprise actual materials like charcoal, wood remains and grains as
well as indirect evidence in the form of impressions of leaves and husks on clay
and pottery. These are microscopic remains too in the form of phytoliths and
pollen. Flotation and other techniques are used to collect these plant remains
from excavations and are then subjected to scientific examination in the laboratory.
Plant remains are particularly important for studying food economy of ancient
societies. In the Paleolithic and Mesolithic stages man was essentially parasite
on nature. In tropical regions like India, wild plant foods played a bigger role,
and these included a variety of roots and tubers, fruits, seeds, berries, gums, and
leafy greens and flowers. Wood was also used for preparing tools and weapons.
In the Neolithic stage food production commenced and man eventually began to
raise crops of many cereals and pulses. This brought about a drastic change in
man-nature interaction, including vegetation clearance leading to environmental
degradation. Plant remains are helpful in other ways too. These provide clues for
reconstructing past climate. Dendrochronology or tree ring analysis is a useful
relative dating method. Charcoal is commonly used for C-14 dating of
archaeological sites.
3.2.2 Fauna
Animal kingdom is the second important component of man’s biological
environment and is again intimately connected with human adaptations. That
this was so right from Stone Age times is revealed by the occurrence of animal
bones and other animal-related features on archaeological sites of various time
periods. Palaeontology is the study of fossilised remains of extinct wild animals
which lived in the Pleistocene period. Archaeozoology is the study of animal
remains found on Holocene archaeological sites (Mesolithic onwards).
Animal remains found in archeological sites are varied in character : bone and
antler, shells, fish remains, bird and rodent bones, even insect remains. Animals
were exploited for various purposes. Bones and antlers were sometimes used for
tool-making and hides were employed for clothing and roofing of huts. Also
ornaments like beads were prepared. More importantly, animals were used for
food purposes. Hunting of large game and scavenging of kill sites of carnivorous
animals were common in the Palaeolithic. Small animals and birds were also
trapped for food purpose. In the succeeding Neolithic stage animals like, cattle,
sheep/goat, pig, were domesticated. But hunting and collecting still continued.
Animal remains could also give clues about past climate and vegetation.
3.3 EARTH SCIENCES

Earth sciences play a pivotal role in the analysis of archaeological sediments and
in the reconstruction of physical features of ancient landscapes. Geomorphology,
32 Sedimentlogy and Geology are very important from this point of view.
3.3.1 Geomorphology Interdisciplinary Relations
and Approaches
Geomorphology is a branch of Physical geography which is primarily concerned
with the study of the land forms and the evolution of landscape. Archaeological
sites are generally found with reference to geomorphological situations like hills,
foothills, plains, river banks, lakes, coasts etc. Stone Age groups generally
preferred rocky terrain with open forest vegetations which facilitated easy
movement as required for hunting purposes. Availability of raw materials like
stone for tool making and perennial surface water sources, and good landscape
visibility influenced location of Stone Age sites. From the Neolithic period
onwards human groups also began to occupy plain lands like alluvial and coastal
plains suitable for agricultural purposes. Geomorphology enables us to reconstruct
these varied landscapes.
Archaeological anthropology has interdisciplinary approach of studying in
relation to various sciences viz., Biological sciences, Earth sciences, Physical
and Chemical sciences, Social sciences etc.
3.3.2 Sedimentology
Archaeological sites are nothing but small or large deposits of soils and sediments
associated with past human activities of various kinds. Sedimentology deals with
a systematic study of these sediments both in the field and in the laboratory.
Examination of physical and chemical properties of soils like nitrogen and
phosphate contexts provides complementary evidence to recognise various
activity areas on an archaeological sites, e.g. human-dwelling spots, animal
penning spots, animal-butchering areas, pottery-making workshops, burial spots,
etc. Studies of soils and sediments can also tell us about the formation of natural
sediments on the landscape by non-human agencies like water, wind and volcano.
This study is extremely useful for palaeolandscape reconstruction.
3.3.3 Geology
Geology is one of the oldest scientific disciplines and deals with study of various
rock formations on the earth’s surface. Its application for studying archaeological
sites has led to the origin of what is called geoarchaeology. Geology served as
the basis for the development of archaeological stratigraphy. Also the terms like
Paleozoic, Mesozoic, etc. used for partitioning geological time inspired
archaeologists to coin terms like Palaeolithic, Mesolithic, etc. to divide prehistoric
time.
Geoarchaeology now helps archaeologists in understanding the properties of
rocks, minerals and ores and their utilisation by ancient communities. It also
helps us in understanding how archeological sites have been preserved or
disturbed due to natural forces like wind, water, ice, earthquakes etc.
3.4 PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL SCIENCES

Physical sciences (Physics and Chemistry) also play a very important role in the
reconstruction of past human societies from the archaeological record.
3.4.1 Chronometry
Earlier archaeological sites and their deposits were dated in relative terms with
the help of methods like stratigraphy, stylistics of artifacts and monuments, and
33
Definition and Scope degree of patination. During the last half a century a number of absolute dating
techniques developed in Physics and Chemistry have proved to be very useful
for dating archaeological sites. Their time range has now been extended to nearly
three million years. Radiocarbon, archaeomagnetism, potassium-argon, uranium-
thorium, fission-track, electron spin resonance, and thermoluminescence are some
of these methods.
The carbon 14 (radiocarbon-carbon of atomic weight 14) method gives absolute

date up to ca. 50,000 B.P. on wood, wood charcoal from fire, peat, grass, cloth,
shell, bones, dung, remains of plant and animal life. This dating technique was
for the first time introduced in 1949 by Williard F. Libby. Similarly, potassium-
argon method gives dates ranging up to a few million years on rocks, minerals,
pottery, volcanic glasses and meteorites etc. and the thermoluminescence (TL)
give dates on rocks, minerals and pottery.
In India too, these and other dating methods have now begun to be used commonly
for dating archaeological materials and sediments. C-14 dates have pushed the
antiquity of the Indus civilization to the beginning of the third millennium B.C.
and the beginning of crop and animal husbandry to 6th-7th millennium B.C.
Likewise, the Stone Age sites of Riwat and Uttarbaini in the Siwalik zone have
been dated to beyond two million years by palaeomagnetism. The Acheulian
sites of Isampur and Attirampakkam in South India are dated to 1.2 and 1.5
million years by electron spin resonance and cosmogenic nuclide methods,
respectively. Indeed we realise that these dating methods taken from physical
sciences have caused a revolution in archaeological chronology in India.

Techniques borrowed from organic and inorganic chemistry have also contributed
in a significant way towards the analysis and interpretation of archaeological
materials. The application of these techniques has, for example, given fresh
knowledge about ancient copper, iron and glass technology. Also, analyses of
food and blood residues on ancient objects and pottery containers led to interesting
information about preparation of food items and their consumption. For example,
chemical analysis of starch grains on stone tools shows that already in Middle
Palaeolithic times sun-dried bread of wild grass seeds was being prepared and
consumed in Africa and Europe.
3.5 SOCIAL SCIENCES

Our foregoing observations about the role of natural sciences should not be
construed to mean that archaeology has no interconnections with social sciences.
In particular, it benefits from interpretations and analogies drawn from
anthropology, history and human geography.
In unit 2 we have already considered how clues derived from cultural anthropology
are used in archaeological reconstruction. These are ethnographic parallels or
analogies derived from the study of contemporary simple (peasant, pastoral and
hunting-gathering) communities. These analogies are of two types: general
comparative and direct historical. Considering that India is home to a
tremendously large number and variety of simple societies inhabiting hill tracts
still clothed in good vegetation. It is reassuring to know that prehistorians have
34
already studied hunting-gathering communities like the Chenchus, Yanadis, Irulas, Interdisciplinary Relations
and Approaches
Hill Pandarams, Pardhis and Van Vagris, and Gonds and made use of the analogies
for reconstructions of Palaeolithic and Mesolithic life ways. Likewise, studies of
pastoral communities like the Todas, Badagas, Kurubas, Dhangars and Bharvads
have provided to be very helpful for understanding various aspects of early
agropastoral communities.
Biological or physical anthropology is concerned with the origin, evolution and

variation of human beings. It seeks to study the physical characteristics like
physique, age, sex, cranial capacity, DNA, blood group, gene, medical history,
nutrition, food habits, dental formula, pathology and demography.
Human geography also helps archaeological reconstruction. It deals with the

study of distribution of human settlements on a given landscape and how this
distribution is governed by consideration of physical factors like terrain form,
soils and availability of water and other resources and also by symbolic and
religious factors. Such studies in human geography provide many useful clues
for reconstructing settlement geography of ancient societies.
Archaeology and history are sister disciplines; both seek to reconstruct ancient
societies and their lifeways in a comprehensive way. The differences lie in
methodology. While archaeology is based upon the use of non-written or
antiquarian materials, history makes use of written documents of all kinds. The
notion of history as the story of kings and rulers and their political victories and
defeats which prevailed for a long time has now given way to total history
involving the study of economic, social, religious and other aspects of ancient
societies. The Annales school of France has played a pivotal role in this
transformation. The concepts and methods of this new history are helpful in
archaeological reconstruction.
Other social sciences like sociology, psychology and economics as well as

humanities like philosophy, literary theory and art history also contribute to
archaeology in terms of concepts and methods.
3.6 SUMMARY
By now you will have realised that archaeology is an eclectic branch of knowledge.
While it has an independent status from the point of view of both aims and
methods, it takes the help of almost all natural and social sciences and humanities
in the recovery of antiquarian remains, their analysis and dating, and their
reconstruction and interpretation of past human societies.
Suggested Reading
Aitken, M.J.1990. Sciences-based Dating in Archaeology. London: Longmans.
Brothwell, D. and pollard, M. 2001. Handbook of Archaeological Sciences. New
York: John wiley.
Butzer, K. W. 1964. Environment and Archaeology. Chicago: Aldine-Atherton.
Butzer, K.W. 1982. Archaeology and Human Ecology. Chicago: Cambridge
University Press.
35
Definition and Scope Dancy, W.S. 1985. Archaeological Field Methods: An Introduction. New Delhi:
Surjeet Publications.
Daniel, Glyn. 1962. The Idea of Prehistory. London: C.A.Watts & Co.Ltd.
Hole, Frank and R.F.Heizer. 1965. An Introduction to Prehistoric Archaeology.
New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Hotter, I. 1999. The Archaeological Process: An Introduction. Oxford: Blackwell.
Rami Reddy, V. 1987. Elements of Prehistory. Delhi: Mittal Publications.
Sample Questions
1) Critically examine the role of Natural Sciences in archaeology.
2) How floral and faunal remains are helpful to study the archaeological
3) How physical and chemical sciences help to study archaeological
Write short Notes on the following
i) Relationship of geology with archaeological anthropology.
ii) Relationship of archaeological anthropology with geomorphology.
36
Relative Chronology
UNIT 3 ABSOLUTE CHRONOLOGY
Contents
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Absolute Method of Dating
3.3 Radiocarbon Dating or C14 Dating
3.4 Potassium – Argon Method
3.5 Thermoluminescence or TL Dating
3.6 Palaeomagnetic or Archaeomagnetic Dating
3.7 Varve Analysis
3.8 Dendrochronology or Tree-ring Dating
3.9 Amino Acid Racemization Dating
3.10 Oxygen Isotope and Climatic Reconstruction
3.11 Uranium Series Dating
3.12 Summary
Suggested Reading
Sample Questions

Ø define the different types of dating techniques – Relative and Absolute
Chronology;
Ø understand underlying principles of different absolute dating techniques;
Ø understand reasons why particular techniques are appropriate for specific
situation; and
Ø understand the limitations of different dating techniques.
3.1 INTRODUCTION
Archaeological anthropology is unique with respect to the other branches of the
social sciences and humanities in its ability to discover, and to arrange in
chronological sequence, certain episodes in human history that have long since
passed without the legacy of written records. But the contributions of archeology
to this sort of reconstruction depend largely on our ability to make chronological
orderings, to measure relative amounts of elapsed time, and to relate these units
to our modern calendar.
Many important problems in archeology like origins, influences, diffusions of

ideas or artifacts, the direction of migrations of peoples, rates of change, and
sizes of populations in settlements can be solved with the help of different methods
of dating. In general, any question that requires a definite statement like the type,
A is earlier than B, depends on dating. Then, if it can be shown that, A is earlier
than B, and not contemporary with or later than B; the two alternative hypotheses
can be ruled false.
33
Dating Methods Archaeologists have used many different techniques to work out the age of
artifacts and sites for which they have no historical dates and in order in which
they were used. These dating techniques can be broadly subdivided into two
groups:
• Relative dating techniques which identify the order in which sites or artifacts
were used in a sequence from earliest to latest.
• Absolute (or chronometric) dating techniques that try to establish an exact
or approximate calendar date for a site or artifact.
The techniques selected depend on the specific task and evidence as well as
practical consideration such as cost. Many of the scientific techniques are
expensive and require high level of technical skill to use and to interpret. The
span of human history studied by the archaeologists is so vast and environments
so varied that technique suitable for one place and period may be unsuitable for
another.
3.2 ABSOLUTE METHOD OF DATING

All of us are familiar with calendars and clocks that are based on the observed
periodicity of certain natural events. Calendars give elapsed time measured relative
to the movements of heavenly bodies; clocks are ultimately related to the same
cycle, and time consists essentially of subdivisions of it. The important point
about these measurements is that they depend on the repetition of events at uniform
intervals. In this sense, a day is a day without regard to the year in which it
occurs.
With calendric and horologic time, it is easy to date the succession or synchrony
of events anywhere in the world. It permits placing of chronologically successive
but geographically separate events, and ultimately establishes the basis for studies
of rates of change, differential development in separate areas, and the identification
of the geographic sources of widespread cultural influences.
Different techniques of determining absolute time of an archaeological sites or

artifacts which deserve mentioning are namely: Carbon14 dating, Potassium-Argon
Dating, Thermoluminiscence, Palaeomagnetism, Varve Analysis, Dendrochronology,
Amino Acid Recimization, Oxygen Isotope, Fluorine-Uranium-Nitrogen dating.
Carbon 14 dating, Potassium-Argon Dating, Thermoluminiscence,

Palaeomagnetism, Varve Analysis, Dendrochronology, Amino Acid
Recimization, Oxygen Isotope, Fluorine-Uranium-Nitrogen dating are
some of the important techniques for determining absolute time.
3.3 RADIOCARBON DATING OR C14 DATING

Radiocarbon dating has made a revolutionary impact in the fields of archaeology
and quaternary sciences. It is the best known and most widely used of all
chronometric dating methods. J. R. Arnold and W. F. Libby (1949) published a
paper in Science describing the dating of organic samples from object of known
34
age by their radiocarbon content. Since the radiocarbon dating method became a Absolute Chronology
regular part of the archaeologist’s tool kit we began to have a world chronology
for prehistory, based almost entirely on dates obtained by Libby’s technique.
Principles
The radiocarbon dating method is based on the fact that cosmic radiation produces
neutrons that enter the earth’s atmosphere and react with nitrogen. They produce
Carbon 14, a carbon isotope with eight rather than the usual six neutrons in the
nucleus. With these additional neutrons, the nucleus is unstable and is subjected
to gradual radioactive decay and has a half-life of about 5730 years. Libby’s
equation describing the reaction as
N14 = C14 + H1
Chemically C14 seems to behave exactly as ordinary nonradioactive carbon C12
does. Thus the C14 atoms readily mix with the oxygen in the earth’s atmosphere,
together with C12, and eventually enter into all living things as part of the normal
oxygen-exchange process that involves all living plants and animals. As long as
matter is living and hence in exchange with the atmosphere, it continues to receive
C14 and C12 atoms in a constant proportion. After death the organism is no longer
in exchange with the atmosphere and no longer absorbs atoms of contemporary
carbon.
After the death of an organism the C14 contained in its physical structure begins
to disintegrate at the rate of one half every 5730 years; thus, by measuring the
amount of radiocarbon remaining, one can establish the time when the plant or
animal died. Half-life (t 1/2) is measured by counting the number of beta radiations
emitted per minute (cpm or counts per minutes) per gram of material. Modern
C14 emits about 15 cpm/g, whereas C14 5700 years old should emit about 7.5
cpm/g. In the disintegration the C‘14 returns to N14, emitting a beta in the process.
Thus:
C14 = B - + N14 +
Suitable Materials for Radio Carbon Dating

Radiocarbon dates can be taken from samples of many organic materials. The
kinds of material selected for C14 dating are normally dictated by what is available.
The ideal material for radiocarbon dating is wood and charcoal burned at the
time the archeological site was occupied. Charcoal and wood are generally
considered optimal since they can be readily treated by sodium hydroxide. Bone
burned at the time when the site was inhabited can also be dated. Unaltered
wood from dry sites, soot, grasses, dung (animal and human), well preserved
antler or tusk, paper, calcareous tufa formed by algae, lake mud, parchment, peat
and chemically unaltered mollusc shells all contained enough C14 to allow them
to be dated. Unburned bone contains a substance called collagen, which is rich
in carbon, and this can be extracted and dated.
Other vegetable or animal products such as leaves, nuts, paper, parchment, cloth,
skin, hide, or hair can be dated but are seldom or never present in prehistoric
associations.
35
Dating Methods
Procedure of Radiocarbon Dating

The first stage in the dating procedure is physical examination of the sample.
The material is then converted into gas, purified to remove radioactive
contaminants, and then piped into a proportional counter. The counter itself is
sheltered from background radiation by massive iron shields. The sample is
counted at least twice at intervals of about a week. The results of the count are
then compared with a modern count sample, and the age of the sample is computed
by a formula to produce the radiocarbon date and its statistical limit of error.
A date received from a radiocarbon dating laboratory is in this form:
3,621 ± 180 radiocarbon years before the present (B.P.)
The figure 3,621 is the age of the sample (in radiocarbon years) before the present.
With all radiocarbon dates, A.D. 1950 is taken as the present by international
agreement. Notice that the sample reads in radiocarbon years, not calendar years.
Corrections must be applied to make this an absolute date.
The radiocarbon age has the reading ± 180 attached to it. This is the standard
deviation, an estimate of the amount of probable error. The figure 180 years is an
estimate of the 360 year range within which the date falls.
36
The conventional radiocarbon method relies on measurements of a beta-ray decay Absolute Chronology
rate to date the sample. A number of laboratories are now experimenting with an
ultra sensitive mass spectrometer to count the individual Carbon14 atoms in a
sample instead. The practical limits of radiocarbon dating with beta decay
approaches are between 40,000 to 60,000 years.
Accelerator mass spectrometry allows radiocarbon dating to be carried out by

direct counting of Carbon14 atoms, rather than by counting radioactive
disintegrations. This has the advantage that samples up to 1/1,000 the size can
be dated, especially for the time span between 10,000 and 30,000 years ago.
Accelerator dating distinguishes between Carbon14 and Carbon12 and other ions
through its mass and energy characteristics, requiring far smaller samples to do
so.
Sources of Error in Radio Carbon Dating

Errors of three kinds reduce the absolute dating value of the technique:
(a) statistical-mechanical errors, (b) errors pertaining to the C14 level of the sample
itself, and (c) errors related to laboratory storage, preparation, and measurement.
These facts may be outlined briefly.
a) A statistical-mechanical error is present as a result of the random, rather

than uniform, disintegration of radioactive carbon. This is expressed in the
date by a plus-or-minus value in years (e.g., 6,240±320 yrs.). This statistical
error can be reduced by increasing the time of measurement.
b) Sources of error in the C14 content of a sample may be a result of (1) past
fluctuations of the C14 concentration in the C14 exchange reservoir; (2)
unequal C14 concentration in different materials; and (3) Subsequent
contamination of samples in situ.
Archaeological Applications
Radiocarbon dates have been obtained from African hunter-gatherers settlements
as long as 50,000 years before the present, from early farming villages in the
Near East and the Americas, and from cities and spectacular temples associated
with early civilisations. The method can be applied to sites of almost any type
where organic materials are found, provided that they date to between about
40,000 years ago and A.D. 1500.
Limitations
Radiocarbon dates can be obtained only from organic materials, which mean
that relatively few artifacts can be dated. But associated hearths with abundant
charcoal, broken animal bones and burnt wooden structures can be dated. Artifacts
contemporary with such phenomena are obviously of the same age as the dated
samples. Chronological limits of Carbon 14 dating are accurate from around 40,
000 years B.P. to A.D. 1500.
3.4 POTASSIUM – ARGON METHOD

Next to radiocarbon, the most spectacular results in isotopic dating have been
obtained with the potassium-argon method. It is the only viable means of
chronometrical dating of the earliest archaeological sites. Geologists use this
37
Dating Methods radioactive counting technique to date rocks as much as 2 billion years old and
as little as 10,000 years old.
Potassium (K) is one of the most abundant elements in the earth’s crust and is
present in nearly every mineral. In its natural form, potassium contains a small
proportion of radioactive potassium40 atoms. For every hundred potassium 40
atoms that decay, eleven become argon40, an inactive gas that can easily escape
from its material by diffusion when lava and other igneous rocks are formed. As
volcanic rock forms by crystallisation, the concentration of argon40 drops to almost
nothing. But regular and reasonable decay of potassium40 will continue, with a
half-life of 1.3 billion years. It is possible, then, to measure with a spectrometer
the concentration of argon40 that has accumulated since the rock formed. Because
many archaeological sites were occupied during a period when extensive volcanic
activity occurred, especially in East Africa, it is possible to date them by
associations of lava with human settlements.
A useful cross-check for the internal consistency of K/ Ar dates is provided by

paleomagnetic stratigraphy. Unaltered lavas that remain in place undisturbed
preserve a record of the earth’s magnetic field at the time of their cooling. Apart
from the minor movements of the magnetic poles with time,
magnetohydrodynamic processes in the earth’s fluid core have repeatedly reversed
the positions of the north and south magnetic poles. Consequently, paleomagnetic
data shows a bimodal distribution in “reversed” and “normal” fields. K/Ar dating
has demonstrated the existence of normal polarity “epochs” from 690,000 years
to the present, and again from 3.3 to 2.4 million years ago, of reversed polarity
epochs prior to 3.3 million years and again between 2.4 and 0.69 million years
ago. Unfortunately, each of these epochs was interrupted by a number of brief
“events,” characterised by rapid switches of the earth’s magnetic field. Although
the paleomagnetic record is correspondingly complicated, it nonetheless provides
opportunity to check the consistency of K/ Ar dates.
A cross-check on the “absolute” calibration of K/Ar dating has been provided by

fission-track dating of volcanic glass from Bed I, Olduvai Gorge. This method
uses different assumptions and is prone to other sources of error. The number of
“tracks” caused by spontaneous fission of U238 during the “life” of the sample
is counted. Age is determined by obtaining the ratio of the density of such tracks
to the number of uranium atoms, which is obtained from the increase in track
density produced by fission of U235 . The Olduvai cross-check provided a fission
track age of 2.0 million years that compares reasonably well with K/ Ar dates
averaging about 1.8 million years.
Datable Materials and Procedures

Potassium argon dates have been obtained from many igneous minerals, of which
the most resistant to later argon diffusion are biotite, muscovite, and sanidine.
Microscopic examination of the rock is essential to eliminate the possibility of
contamination by recrystallisation and other processes. The samples are processed
by crushing the rock, concentrating it, and treating it with hydrofluoric acid to
remove any atmospheric argon from the sample. The various gases are then
removed from the sample and the argon gas is isolated and subjected to mass
spectrographic analysis. The age of the sample is then calculated using the argon
40 and potassium 40 content and a standard formula. The resulting date is quoted
with a large standard deviation-J or early Pleistocene site, on the order of a quarter
38
of a million years. (http://www.jrank.org/history/pages/6430/Potassium-argon- Absolute Chronology
Dating).
Archaeological Applications
Fortunately, many early human settlements in the Old World are found in volcanic
areas, where such deposits as lava flows and tuffs are found in profusion.
The first archaeological date, and one of the most dramatic, obtained from this
method came from Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania, where Louis and Mary Leakey
found a long sequence of human culture extending over much of the Lower and
Middle Pleistocene, associated with human fossils. Samples from the location
where the first cranium of Australopithecus boisei was discovered were dated to
about 1.75million years. Even earlier dates have come from the Omo Valley in
southern Ethiopia, where American, French, and Kenyan expeditions have
investigated extensive Lower Pleistocene deposits long known for their rich fossil
beds. Fragmentary australopithecines were found at several localities, but no
trace of tools; potassium argon dates gave readings between two and four million
years for deposits yielding hominid fossils. Tools were found in levels dated to
about two million years. Stone flakes and chopping tools of undoubted human
manufacture have come from Koobi Fora in northern Kenya, dated to about 1.85
million years, one of the earliest dates for human artifacts.
Limitations
Potassium-argon dates can be taken only from volcanic rocks, preferably from
actual volcanic flows. This laboratory technique is so specialised that only a
trained geologist should take the samples in the field. Archaeologically, it is
obviously vital that the relationship between the lava being dated and the human
settlement, it purports to date be worked out carefully. The standard deviations
for potassium-argon dates are so large that greater accuracy is almost impossible
to achieve.
Chronological Limits
Potassium argon dating is accurate from the origins of the earth up to about
100,000 years before the present.
3.5 THERMOLUMINESCENCE OR TL DATING

Introduction
Thermoluminescence dating popularly now known as TL is the determination
by means of measuring the accumulated radiation dose of the time elapsed since
material containing crystalline minerals was either heated (lava, ceramics) or
exposed to sunlight (sediments) (http://wn.com/Thermoluminescence_dating).
The Principle
The materials from which pottery is made have the property of storing energy by
trapping electrons as atomic defects or impurity sites. This stored energy can be
released by heating the pottery, at which time visible light rays, known as
thermoluminescence, (a weak light signal) are emitted. All pottery and ceramics
contain some radioactive impurities at a concentration of several parts per million.
These materials emit alpha particles at a known rate, depending on how densely
39
Dating Methods concentrated they are in the sample. When an alpha particle absorbed by the
pottery minerals around the radioactive impurities, it causes mineral atoms to
ionise. Electrons are then released from their binding to the nuclei and later
settle at a metastable (relatively unstable) stage of higher energy. This energy is
stored, unless the parent material is heated — as when the pot is being fired —
when the trapped electrons are released and thermoluminescence occurs. After
the pot is fired, alpha particles are again absorbed by the material and the
thermoluminescence potential increases until the pot is heated again. Thus a
clay vessel is dated by measuring the thermoluminescence of the sample as well
as its alpha-radioactivity and its potential susceptibility to producing
thermoluminescence. In the laboratory, the trapped electrons are produced from
a pottery fragment by sudden and violent heating under controlled conditions.
‘Zeroed’ by firing of pot in a

kiln to over 500ºC
Energy released
as a flash of light
Original levels in which can be
quartz crystals in measured
clay
Amount of
Thermoluminescence
(TL) Gradual
increase of TL
at a regular Zeroed by
rate experimental firing
in laboratory
Time
The amount of energy released is relative to the amount of time since last heated
to over 500ºC the ‘clock setting event’.
(How Thermoluminescence Work)
Archaeological Applications and Limitations

Thermoluminescence dating is used for material where radiocarbon dating is
not available, like sediments. Its use is now common in the authentication of old
ceramic wares, for which it gives the approximate date of the last
firing.Thermoluminescence has been used with reasonable success to date heat
altered stone tools, burned hearths, and pottery. Exciting possibilities are emerging
from experiments with dating Ice Age sediments such as loess, some in contexts
where there are associations with Stone Age artifacts.
40
Absolute Chronology
3.6 PALAEOMAGNETIC OR
ARCHAEOMAGNETIC DATING
Introduction
After World War II, geologists developed the paleomagnetic dating technique to
measure the movements of the magnetic north pole over geologic time. In the
early to mid 1960s, Dr. Robert Dubois introduced this new absolute dating
technique to archaeology as archaeomagnetic dating (http://archserve.id.ucsb.edu/
courses/anth/fagan/anth3/Courseware/Chronology/11_Paleomag_Archaeomag).
The Earth’s magnetic core is generally inclined at an 11 degree angle from the
Earth’s axis of rotation. Therefore, the magnetic north pole is at approximately
an 11 degree angle from the geographic North Pole. On the earth’s surface,
therefore, when the needle of a compass points to north, it is actually pointing to
magnetic north, not geographic (true) north (http://archserve.id.ucsb.edu/courses/
anth/fagan/anth3/Courseware/Chronology/11_Paleomag_Archaeomag).
The Earth’s magnetic north pole has changed in orientation (from north to south
and south to north), many times over the millions of years. The term that refers
to changes in the Earth’s magnetic field in the past is paleomagnetism. In addition
to changing in orientation, the magnetic north pole also wanders around the
geographic North Pole. Archaeomagnetic dating measures the magnetic polar
wander.
Principles
Direction and intensity of the earth’s magnetic field varied throughout prehistoric
time. Many clays and clay soils contain magnetic minerals, which when heated
to a dull red heat will assume the direction and intensity of the earth’s magnetic
field at the moment of heating. Thus if the changes in the earth’s magnetic field
have been recorded over centuries, or even millennia, it is possible to date any
suitable sample of clay material known to have been heated by correlating the
thermoremanent magnetism of the heated clay with records of the earth’s magnetic
field. Archaeologists frequently discover structures with well-baked clay floors—
ovens, kilns, and iron-smelting furnaces, to name only a few—whose burned
clay can be used for archaeomagnetic dating.
Thermoremanent magnetism results from the ferromagnetism of magnetite and

hematite, minerals found in significant quantities in most soils. When the soil
containing these minerals is heated, the magnetic particles in magnetite and
hematite change from a random alignment to one that conforms with that of the
earth’s magnetic field. In effect, the heated lump of clay becomes a very weak
magnet that can be measured by a parastatic magnetometer. A record of the
magnetic declination and dip similar to that of the earth’s actual magnetic field
at the time of heating is preserved in the clay lump. The alignment of the magnetic
particles fixed by heating is called thermoremanent magnetism.

Substantial floors of well-baked clay are best for the purpose. Tiny pillars of
burnt clay that will fit into a brass-framed extraction jig are extracted from the
floor. The jig is oriented to present-day north-south and fitted over the pillars,
41
Dating Methods which are then encapsulated in melted dental plaster. The jig and pillar are
carefully removed from the floor, and then the other side of the jig is covered
with dental plaster as well. The clay sample is placed under suspended magnets
and rotated. The scale will record the declination and dip of the remnant
magnetism in the clay.
An absolute date for the sample can then be obtained if the long-term, secular,
variation of the earth’s field for the region is known.
Archaeological Applications and Limitations

From the archaeological point of view, archaeomagnetism has but limited
application because systematic records of the secular variation in the earth’s
magnetic field have been kept for only a few areas. Declination and dip have
been recorded in London for four hundred years, and a very accurate record of
variations covers the period from A.D. 1600. France, Germany, Japan, and the
southwestern United States have received some attention. At the moment the
method is limited, but as local variation curves are recorded from more areas,
archaeomagnetism is likely to far more useful for the more recent periods of
prehistory, when kilns and other burned-clay features were in use.
Chronological Range
By archaeomagnetic dating one can date two thousand year old human evidence.
3.7 VARVE ANALYSIS

Varves are annual, graded, bands of sediment laid down in glacier-fed lakes
contiguous with the margins of continental glaciers. Detailed work by G. de
Geer (1912, and later authors) on such annual sediment layers shows that a new
load of sediment enters the lake in the wake of each spring’s thaw. The coarser
materials (mainly silts) settle down first while the finer ones (clays) gradually
settle during the course of the summer. In larger lakes, wave motion may impede
fine sedimentation until autumn when the lake surface freezes over. In numerous
cases, fine sedimentation continues under the ice throughout the winter. When
coarse silts or fine sands are deposited again during the succeeding spring, a
sharp contact zone is formed, so enabling clear identification of the annual
increment.
Further seasonal distinctions are provided through biological evidence. The coarse
springtime accretion is generally dark and rich in organic matter, while the fine
summer sediment is light-colored due to calcium carbonate precipitation. The
late summer and autumn sediments are dark again. Pollen examinations of the
upper dark layers have shown pollen sequences according to the time of blooming,
while microorganisms such as diatoms are concentrated in the light, summer
segment.
The thickness of the annual deposit or varve varies from year to year depending
on the course of the annual weather and its influence on the ablation of the
nearby glacier. A warm year produces large varves, a cold year narrow ones. A
requisite to the regular laminar sedimentation is the temperature contrast of
warmer, inflowing waters and cold lake waters, whereby the sediment is
distributed evenly over the lake bed. Such conditions are best met in ice-margin
42 lakes.
De Geer first recognised that varve sequences were very similar between nearby Absolute Chronology
lakes – within a kilometer of each other – on account of the similarity of local
climate. On this basis sequences were correlated and extended in time from area
to area. By following the various stands of the retreating ice front. De Geer
established an almost complete sequence covering 15,000 years from the late
Upper Pleistocene well into historical times. This provided a true chronology
whereby glacial features related to the retreat and dissipation of the European
glacier could be more or less precisely dated. For example, the close of the
Pleistocene was fixed by the event of the draining of the Baltic ice lake, which,
according to the varves, occurred in 7912 B. C. Radiocarbon cross-dating suggests
that this date may be at most a few centuries off.
Difficulties in the Varve Chronology

Within Fennoscandia the varve-chronology, as established by De Geer (1912,
1940) and Sauramo (1929), has in part remained a respectable body of evidence.
It has been shown, however, that storms create multiple varves annually in shallow
lakes through addition of extra influx and the stirring of sediments. As most of
the lakes south of the Fennoscandian moraines, dating about 9000 B. C., are
shallow, the earlier chronology is now considered doubtful.
The establishment of varve-chronologies outside Scandinavia, as attempted by

Antevs (1925) in North America, has not been very successful. A major reason
for this failure has been extrapolation of sequence segments over hundreds of
miles. World-wide correlations of a frivolous type were attempted later whereby
reversed seasons in the northern and southern hemispheres, of nonglacial
characteristics of varves, have been simply ignored. These attempts have
discredited the varve method and generally speaking, other techniques have now
replaced the varve chronologies everywhere except in Fennoscandia.
3.8 DENDROCHRONOLOGY OR TREE-RING

DATING
Dendrochronology, or tree-ring dating, was originated in Arisona by A. E.
Douglass in about 1913. Tree-ring analysis is a botanical technique with strong
analogies to varve study.
Principles
The underlying principle is that nontropical trees add an annual growth increment
to their stems. Each tree ring, the concentric circle, representing annual growth,
visible on the cross-section of a felled trunk. These rings are formed on all trees
but especially where seasonal changes in weather are marked, with either a wet
and dry season or a definite alternation of summer and winter temperatures.
Particularly in “stress” zones, along the polar and grassland tree limits, annual
radial growth fluctuates widely, depending on the fluctuations of the growing
season climate. In warm semiarid regions, available moisture largely controls
the rate of radial growth of trees: the tree ring of a moist year is wide, while that
of a dry year is narrow or, on occasion, missing entirely. In sub polar regions,
rainfall is less significant since the late spring snows keep the water content of
the soil sufficiently high. Instead summer, and particularly July, temperatures
show the most significant correlation with radial growth.
43
Dating Methods Dendrochronologists have invented sophisticated methods of correlating rings
from different trees so that they build up long sequences of rings from a number
of trunks that may extend over many centuries. By using modern trees, whose
date of felling is known, they are able to reconstruct accurate dating as far back
as 8,200 years. Actual applications to archaeological wood are much harder, but
archaeological chronology for the American Southwest now goes back to 322
B.C.

The most common dated tree is the Douglas fir. It has consistent rings that are
easy to read and was much used in prehistoric buildings. Pinon and sagebrush
are usable, too. Because the latter was commonly used as firewood, its charred
remains are of special archaeological interest. The location of the sample tree is
important. Trees growing on well-drained, gently sloping soils are best, for their
rings display sufficient annual variation to make them more easily datable. The
rings of trees in places with permanently abundant water supplies are too regular
to be usable. Samples are normally collected by cutting a full cross-section from
an old beam no longer in a structure, by using a special core borer to obtain
samples from beams still in a building, or by V-cutting exceptionally large logs.
Once in the laboratory, the surface of the sample is leveled to a precise plane.
Analysing tree rings consists of recording individual ring series and then
comparing them against other series. Comparisons can be made by eye or by
plotting the rings on a uniform scale so that one series can be compared with
another. The series so plotted can then be matched with the master tree-ring
chronology for the region. Measuring the tree rings accurately can also add
precision to the plottings.
44
Archaeological Applications Absolute Chronology
Extremely accurate chronologies for southwestern sites have been achieved by

correlating a master tree-ring sequence from felled trees and dated structures
with beams from Indian Pueblos. The beams in many such structures have been
used again and again, and thus some are very much older than the houses in
which they were most recently used for support. The earliest tree ring obtained
from such settlements date to the first century B.C. but most timbers were in use
between A. D. 1000 and historic times.
One of the most remarkable applications of tree-ring dating was carried out by
Jeffrey Dean (1970), who collected numerous samples from wooden beams at
Betatakin, a cliff dwelling in northeastern Arisona dating to A.D. 1270. Dean
ended up with no fewer than 292 samples, which he used to reconstruct a history
of the cliff dwelling, room by room. Dendrochronology has been used widely in
Alaska, the Mississippi Valley, northern Mexico, Canada, Scandinavia, Ireland,
the British Isles, Greece, and Germany (Bannister and Robinson, 1975; Baillie,
1982). Recent European research has been especially successful. What the
bristlecone pine is to the Southwest, oaks are to Europe.
Arisona tree-ring laboratories are trying to analyse data on annual variability in
rainfall from the many trees encompassed by their chronologies. A network of
archaeological and modern chronologies provides a basis for reconstructing
changing climatic conditions over the past two thousand years. These conditions
will be compared with the complex events in southwestern prehistory over the
same period.
Limitations
Dendrochronology has traditionally been limited to areas with well-defined
seasonal rainfall. Where the climate is generally humid or cold or where trees
enjoy a constant water supply, the difference in annual growth rings is either
blurred or insignificant. Again, the context in which the archaeological tree-ring
sample is found affects the usefulness of the sample. Many house beams have
been reused several times, and the outside surface of the log has been trimmed
repeatedly. The felling date cannot be established accurately without carefully
observing the context and archaeological association of the beam. For this reason,
several dates must be obtained from each site. Artifacts found in a structure
whose beams are dated do not necessarily belong to the same period, for the
house may have been used over several generations.
Chronological Range
Dendrochronology is accurate from approximately seven thousand years ago to
the present, with wider application possible. Nonarchaeological tree-ring dates
extend back 8,200 years.
3.9 AMINO ACID RACEMIZATION (AAR) DATING

All living things use proteins as building blocks in the production of their physical
forms. In turn, proteins are composed of folded strands of 20 diverse smaller
subunits called “amino acids”. All amino acids, except for one (glycine), come
in two different forms known as the laevorotatory (L - left) and dextrorotatory
(D - right) form, which are mirror images of each other, but cannot be
superimposed one over the other. 45
Dating Methods What is especially attractive about these two L- and D-forms, at least for the
purpose of this topic, is that the vast majority of living things only use the L-
form. However, as soon as the creature dies, the L-amino acids start to
spontaneously convert into the D-form through a process called “racemization”.
If the rate of conversion can be determined, this process of racemization might
be useful as a sort of “clock” to determine the time of death.
Basic Assumptions
In order to use the rate of racemization as a clock to exactly estimate when a
living thing died, one must know how diverse environmental factors may have
affected the rate of change from the L- to the D-form. As it turns out, this rate,
which is different for each type of amino acid, is also exquisitely sensitive to
certain environmental factors. These include: Temperature; Amino acid
composition of the protein; Water concentration in the environment; pH (acidity/
alkalinity) in the environment; Bound state versus free state; Size of the
macromolecule, if in a bound state; Specific location in the macromolecule, if in
a bound state; Contact with clay surfaces (catalytic effect); Presence of aldehydes,
particularly when associated with metal ions; Concentration of buffer compounds;
Ionic strength of the environment.
Of these, temperature is generally thought to play the most significant role in

determining the rate of racemization since a 1o increase in temperature results in
a 20-25% increase in the racemization rate (Coote, 1992; Stuart, 1976). Clearly,
this factor alone carries with it a huge potential for error. Even slight ranges of
error in determining the “temperature history” of a specimen will result in huge
“age” calculation errors.
“Amino acid dating cannot obtain the age of the material purely from the data
itself. The rate of racemization cannot be standardised by itself because it is too
changeable. Thus, because of the rate problem, this dating technique must rely
on other dating techniques to standardise its findings. As a matter of fact, the
ages obtained from racemization dating must rely on other techniques such as
Carbon 14, and if the dating of Carbon 14 is not accurate, racemization dating
can never be certain. So, how is it thought to be at all helpful? Well, it is thought
to be helpful as a “relative” dating technique.
Interestingly enough, the racemization constant or “k” values for the amino acid
dating of various specimens decreases dramatically with the assumed age of the
specimens. This means that the rate of racemization was thousands of times (up
to 2,000 times) different in the past than it is today. Note that these rate differences
include shell specimens, which are supposed to be more reliable than other more
“open system” specimens, such as wood and bone.
Add to this the fact that radiocarbon dating is also dependent upon the state of
preservation of the specimen. In short, it seems like the claims of some scientists
that amino acid racemization dating has been well established as reliable appears
to be wishful thinking at best.
Because of these problems AAR dating of bone and teeth (teeth in different
locations in the same mouth have been shown to have very different AAR ages)
is considered to be an extremely unreliable practice even by mainstream scientists.
That is because the porosity of bones makes them more “open” to surrounding
46
environmental influences and leaching. Specimens that are more “closed” to Absolute Chronology
such problems are thought to include mollusk shells and especially ratite (bird)
eggshells from the emu and ostrich. Of course, even if these rather thin specimens
were actually “closed” systems (more so than even teeth enamel) they would
still be quite subject to local temperature variations as well as the other above-
mentioned potential problems. For example, even today “very little is known
about the protein structure in ratite eggshell and differences in primary sequence
can alter the rate of Asu formation by two orders of magnitude [100-fold] (Collins,
Waite, and van Duin 1999). Goodfriend and Hare (1995) show that Asx
racemization in ostrich eggshell, heated at 80 oC has complex kinetics is similar
to that seen in land snails (Goodfriend 1992). The extrapolation of high
temperature rates to low temperatures is known to be problematic.
3.10 OXYGEN ISOTOPE AND CLIMATIC

RECONSTRUCTION
Isotopes of a particular environment will have the same chemical properties, but
their different masses cause them to be separated or fractioned by certain natural
processes.
The oxygen isotopes have been useful in the reconstruction of past environmental
condition. It has three isotopes each with a different atomic mass (same number
of protons but varying numbers of Neutrons). The oxygen with eight neutrons
has an atomic mass of sixteen and is designated 16O, the isotope with nine neutrons
is designated 17O, and the isotope with ten neutron is designated 18O. When
water evaporates the lighter oxygen isotope (16O) is preferentially incorporated
into water vapor, while the heavier isotope (18O) becomes proportionately higher
in the remaining water. The fact that 18O is preferentially left in ocean water
during evaporation has been used to infer global climatic fluctuations. This has
led to a revolution in our understanding of environmental and climatic change
during the time of human biological and behavioral development. When this
climate change is dated, they can sometimes be used to ascertain the age of
archaeological sites. Isotopic signals content in marine sediment, calcite veins
and ice core sequence appear to provide a continuous record of global climatic
change for the interval associated with the archaeological record. These isotopic
signals have been related to relative sea level change and alternative periods of
colder global climates (Glacial) and warmer global climates (Inter glacial).
During ice-age the 16O isotope of oxygen does not immediately recycle back into
the ocean but instead becomes part of the large ice sheets. The heavy oxygen
isotope (18O) becomes more common in oceans during these colder intervals.
This colder isotope ratio is recorded in the shells of Ocean’s living organisms.
When warmer global climatic intervals prevail, the lighter isotope, which had
been trapped in the ice, returns to the ocean. Thus, during interglacial, there is
proportionately less 18O in the oceans. The change in the oxygen isotope ratios
have been used to connect artefact bearing deposits with climate chronologies.
The variation in oxygen isotopes from the deposits-ridden shell was correlated
with the deep sea isotope record.
The advantage of the marine oxygen isotope record is that it provides a continuous
record of the climatic change that have occurred during the past 2 million years.
47
Dating Methods
3.11 URANIUM SERIES DATING

Thorium-Uranium (Ionium-Deficiency) Method
Mollusks, marine coral, and freshwater carbonates contain uranium234 at or shortly
after death, but no thorium230 , a daughter element of uranium that is virtually
insoluble in natural waters. If the fossil carbonates subsequently remain closed
to isotopes of the uranium series, the amount of Th230 present will reflect the
original concentration of U234 and the period of isotopic decay. Since the half-
life of U234 is 248,000 years, and that of Th230 is 75,000 years, Th grows to
equilibrium with U in about 500,000 years. In the meanwhile, the ratio Th230 /
U234 is a function of age. The effective dating range of this ionium-deficiency
method is 200,000 to 300,000 years.
The major source of error is the introduction of foreign uranium and its daughter
products after the death of the organism. To some extent this type of contamination
can be screened out, but isolated age determinations cannot be accepted with
any great confidence. The Th230/U234 technique has been applied to the study of
Pleistocene beaches and lake beds in different parts of the world and there has
been sufficient internal consistency as well as consistency with accepted
geological correlations to warrant a moderate degree of optimism. In effect, this
method has proved crucial for correlating littoral deposits of the last two
interglacial periods, both in relation to the radiocarbon-dated portions of the
Wurm glacial, and to the apparent temperature fluctuations recorded in organic
oozes of the deep-sea floor.
U234 Method
Uranium is present in carbonate solutions in very small concentrations. It is
fixed after sedimentation and, barring possible contamination, is not susceptible
to outside addition or loss. U234, the daughter element of U238 ,is originally present
48
in the carbonate solutions but increases through radioactive decay after Absolute Chronology
sedimentation. If the initial proportions of U234 and U238 are known for a particular
depositional medium, the U234 / U238 ratio of a fossil carbonate provides an
approximate date with a potential dating range of 1 to 1.5 million years (Thurber,
1962). This ratio is fairly constant (1.15) in marine waters but rather variable in
fresh waters. Dating of coral has yielded U234 ages consistent with independent
age formation, although marine mollusks receive an unpredictable contribution
of uranium from surrounding sediments, so that they are less reliable. Dating of
freshwater carbonates, such as travertines, has been attempted after establishing
the U234 / U238 ratio for modern waters. However, such ratios will vary considerably
through time, and the resulting dates are not particularly consistent.
Uranium Series Dating

238U
á
234Th
â
234Pa
â
234U
á
230Th
Further decays
Protactinium-Thorium (Protactinium-Ionium) Method

The decay of uranium (U234 and U238 in ocean waters is attended by the formation
of daughter elements, Pa231 and Th230 , which accumulate in deep-sea sediments.
Being produced by the same element, the ratio of Pa231 (half-life, 32,500 years)
and Th230 (half-life, 75,000 years) should be unaffected by the concentration of
uranium in marine waters and should be a function of time only, independent of
changes in geological conditions. These elements are generally but not always
resistant to post-depositional diffusion within the sediment.
Although the laboratory preparation and ultimate analysis of samples is strictly a

task for the qualified specialist, it is useful for the persons concerned to be aware
of the different results possible, depending on the method of preparation used.
49
Dating Methods There is, at present, no standard method of preparation. Many authors specify
their methods, others do not. Some authors have obtained pollen from certain
samples by using one technique; others employing another method may fail to
find any pollen. Some techniques are widely considered acceptable, while others
are frequently considered of dubious validity, other less frequently mentioned
but equally serious grievances are directed against over intensive preparation of
samples with massive destruction or mutilation of pollen. Since pollen has now
been widely and successfully studied from rather “unorthodox,” nonacidic,
sedimentary environments in the arid zone and humid tropics, new preparation
methods have necessarily been introduced to preserve from wanton destruction.
Until recently the only evaluation of the problem, unfortunately not well suited
for the nonspecialist, was a detailed compilation by C. A. Brown (1960). The
revised text book of Faegri and Iversen (1964) consequently fills a long-felt
need.
Only one, widely employed technique is briefly described here, in order to

illustrate the stages of “cleaning.” Three undesirable substances may be present
and may be removed in the following manner:
a) Calcium carbonate is removed with cold, diluted (25 per cent) hydrochloric
acid.
b) Silica is removed by letting the sample stand for 48 hours in 40 per cent
concentrated hydrofluoric acid, after which the sample is washed and then
heated with 10 per cent hydrochloric acid.
c) Unwanted organic matter is destroyed by first boiling in 10-15 per cent
hydrogen peroxide and then, after washing, boiling the sample a second
time in 10 per cent potassium hydroxide.
All three techniques may have to be applied to clays or marls, whereas only (c)
may be required in the case of peat, lignite, or coal. When the various undesirables
have been so removed, the final residue of pollen is mounted in glycerine jelly
on a permanent slide or suspended in liquid glycerine for immediate investigation
under the microscope with 300x to 1000x magnification.
3.12 SUMMARY
Archaeologists have used many different dating techniques to work out the age
of artefacts and sites for which they have no historical dates and the order in
which they were used. The different techniques selected depend on the specific
task and evidence as well as practical consideration such as cost. Many of the
scientific techniques are expensive and required high level of technical skill to
use and to interpret. The span of human history studied by archaeologists is so
vast and environments so varied that techniques suitable for one place and period
may be unsuitable for another. The absolute methods that provide calendar dates
have been used since the middle of the twentieth century. With the exception of
dendrochronology, they all have margins of error and are expensive to use. There
are some less commonly used methods, such as Fission Track, Electron Spin
Resonance (ESR) which are still at an experimental stage. Several techniques
measure the age of layers rather than the archaeological deposition and are limited
to particular type of geology. Most of them are used in combination for cross
50 dating.
Suggested Reading Absolute Chronology
Butzer, K.W. 1971. Environment and Archaeology. Chicago: Aldine-Atherton.

Coote, G.E. 1992. Lon Beam Analysis of Fluorine: Its Principles and Applications.
Nuclear Instruments and Methods B66:191–204.
Fleming,Stuart. 1976. Dating in Archaeology. New York: St. Martin’s Press.
Grant, Jim, Sam Gorin and Neil Fleming. 2007. The Archaeology Course book:
London and New York: Routledge.
Leute, Ulrich. Weinheim, West Germany: VCH, Michels, J. W. 1973. Dating

Methods in Archaeology. New York: Science Press.
Parkes, P. A. 1986. Current Scientific Techniques in Archaeology. London &

Sydney: CROOM HELM.
Taylor, R. E., and C. W. Meighan, eds. 1978. Chronologies in New World

Archaeology. Orlando: Fla. Academic Press.
Sample Questions
1) Define Relative and Absolute methods of dating and discuss the relevance
of dating in archaeological anthropology.
2) Write the principle and procedure of radiocarbon dating.
3) Discuss in brief about various aspects of potassium argon dating.
4) Discuss in brief about various aspects of varve analysis.
5) How is the amino acid racemization used to date bones and teeth?
6) Discuss how oxygen isotopes have been useful in the reconstruction of past
environmental condition.
7) Discuss, in brief, about various aspects of dendrochronology.
8) Discuss, in brief, about uranium series dating.
9) Discuss, in brief, about palaeomagnetic dating.
51
Relevance of Dating
UNIT 2 RELATIVE CHRONOLOGY
Contents
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Stratigraphy
2.3 Alluvial (River) Deposits
2.4 Glacial Deposits (Moraines)
2.5 Aeolian Deposits
2.6 Lacustrine Deposits
2.7 Cave Deposits
2.8 Fossilisation
2.9 Summary
Suggested Reading
Sample Questions

Ø understand the importance of stratigraphy, which was the outcome of different
geomorphic agencies;
Ø ‘change is the law of nature’ – change in climate particularly during
Pleistocene Epoch is significant in anthropological studies; and
Ø fossils, both animal and plant are of great help in reconstructing Pleistocene
environment during which man had evolved.
2.1 INTRODUCTION
Archeological sites, depending on the cultural time range involved, may represent
former houses, villages, or towns; they may pertain to temporary or seasonal
camps, or to killing or butchering sites. Other sites may have little or no ecological
meaning, but consist only of scattered artifactual material, possibly redeposited
within a river trace. Sites dating from historical or late prehistoric times are
commonly found on the surface, possibly buried under cultural debris or a little
blown dust, and altered by a weak modern soil profile. Many sites belonging to
different periods are found exposed at the surface. A great number of prehistoric
sites, however, are found in direct geologic context, within or underneath
sediments deposited by some geomorphic agency.
2.2 STRATIGRAPHY
Stratigraphy is the study of layered deposits. Stratigraphic study is based on the
law of superposition, which declares that deposits, whether of natural or cultural
origin, form with the oldest on the bottom of the sequence and each overlying
stratum younger, or more recent, than the layer below. Once the strata have been
observed from early to late, it is possible to date the artifacts and eco-facts of
21
Dating Methods each layer according to Worsaae’s law of association. This position states that
objects, both natural and cultural, found together in the same layered deposit are
of the same age. Thus the relative dating of the superpositioned deposits also
dates their fossil specimens. The law of association is useful not only in the
ordering of site historiographies, but also in the construction of local regional
sequences.
For the archeologist a “stratified” site is one with distinct archeological horisons,
with or without a geologic context. The term “surface” site might be used to
describe a variety of things, such as an archeologically un-stratified surface-find
or even an ancient open-air encampment now buried by a meter or two of loess
or marl. From the archeologist’s point of view, sites may be classified according
to their cultural-ecological meaning or according to digging criteria. The earth
scientist, interested in providing a stratigraphic date or a geographical-ecological
meaning for a site, would naturally use different criteria of classification.
“Stratified” and “surface” sites: The most interesting kind of archeological site
for the earth scientist is one found in a direct geologic context, i.e. geologically
stratified or geologically in situ. This should not imply that the cultural materials
have not been derived, but only that their present location is geologically
circumscribed. For the sake of Convenience “Stratified” will here be used in this
geologic sense only. “Surface” site will be restricted to materials found at the
surface, without geologic context.
According to the basic geomorphological situation or the type of deposits

involved, archeological sites can be geologically classified as follows:
a) Alluvial sites: artifacts, fossils, occupational floors and the like found within
former stream deposits.
b) Lacustrine sites: archeological materials found in former lake beds, in ancient

bogs, swamps, or spring deposits.
c) Aeolian sites: archeological materials found in or under wind-borne sand or

loess, or found in relation to features resulting from deflation or wind scour.
d) Cave sites: archeological materials found in direct relation to erosional or

depositional phenomena associated with former coastlines.
e) Costal sites: archeological materials found in caves with some form of

geologic or archeological stratigraphy.
f) Surface sites:the great mass of scattered archeological materials and sites

found at the surface, with little possibility of direct association with any
geomorphic event.
Identification of the depositional medium contemporary with or subsequent to

an archeological site is vital to the earth scientist. The specific relation of a cultural
horison to a geomorphic event can provide direct paleo-environmental
information. This local environmental setting may in turn be stratigraphically
linked to regional or worldwide changes of climate.
22
Relative Chronology
2.3 ALLUVIAL (RIVER) DEPOSITS
The intensity and extent of alleviation in a stream valley varies in different
environments. In the arctic barrens and tundra, streams are overloaded and deposit
sediments along the length of their courses. In arid and semi-arid zones water
loss through evaporation leads to alleviation along the river course. In the boreal
forests floodplains are common while in the temperate and tropical woodlands,
the rate and extent of downstream alleviation is comparatively limited. The
savanna lands are somewhat exceptional through significant colluviation.
Streams accelerate their activity in terms of erosion when there is increase in

water supply due to heavy rains, the sediment loads increase and depending
upon the river gradient readjustment sets in. streams reestablish a form of
equilibrium related to its gradient (thalweg curve) and transport ability, and cut
down its bed to a lower and smaller floodplain. The old floodplain becomes
obsolete, and is separated from the new, functional floodplain by vertical
escarpments forming terraces. Such alluvial terraces consists of benches, built
of river deposits, remaining at the level of defunct, higher floodplains.
Terrace formation
At the start, the floodplain has a certain elevation and rate of deposition. Increased
flood discharge with greater transport ability and load will lead to (a) more
extensive flooding and consequently enlarging the floodplain, with undercutting
of nearby hill slopes and, (b) a higher floodplain level due to accelerated
deposition. The new floodplain, across which the river migrates horisontally, is
broader and higher and characterised by deposition of more and larger-sized
materials. When the volume and rate of deposition decreases to their original
level, the stream will attempt to maintain its velocity- despite a decreasing volume
by shortening its course and thereby increasing the gradient. A straighter course
is adopted, usually associated with a predominance of down cutting. The new
floodplain will be smaller, and will be cut out as a limited section of the greater
floodplain. In this way alluvial deposits are built up at various elevations and
with a distinctive morphology.
Alluvial sites rank second only to cave sites in the early history of archeological
excavations. Excavations or borings in river valleys have frequently struck alluvial
sands or gravels of various ages containing animal remains or human artifacts.
Natural exposures in terrace faces have also revealed archeological materials.
Many such sites have little more to offer than sporadic, water-rolled stone
implements and possibly a little bone of dubious association. Other sites, however,
may represent occupation floors with rich associations of undisturbed tools and
fossils. Interpretation of such sites can, with due effort, be carried to a satisfactory
stage of environmental and stratigraphic understanding (Butzer, 1971).
The periglacial stream terraces of the Old World were probably first studied by
Paleolithic archeologists, and the well-known Somme River succession of
northern France was established as a sequence of integrated solifluction beds,
loesses, and periglacial stream deposits. Once assumed to be the framework of
Paleolithic cultural stratigraphy, many of the sites in question are of limited
importance since they were mainly collection of derived artifacts rather than
occupation floors. The pluvial terraces of the arid zone have played a significant
23
Dating Methods role archeologically in both the Old and New World, even in rather late prehistoric
times. The twin sites of Torralba and Ambrona, in the Spanish province of Soria,
were situated on the marshy floodplain margins of a stream valley during a moist,
cold phase of the Lower Pleistocene. Swanscombe is an example of a significant
site associated with downstream valley alleviation during a high, Middle
Pleistocene sea level. The site was occupied on a Thames floodplain almost 30
m. above that of the present. Although not wholly undisturbed by stream
redeposition, the contemporaneousness of the human and animal fossils was
established by fluorine tests.
2.4 GLACIAL DEPOSITS (MORAINES)

Glaciers provide important stratigraphic data to permit identification of glacial
or interglacial epochs, either locally or on much larger scale through melt water
deposits and through the world-wide oscillations of sea levels. Glaciers develop
in cool areas with heavy snowfall. Once formed, the glaciers create a microclimate
of their own. They reflect radiation (increase albedo), lower the summer
temperature by contact and radiative cooling, thereby lead to significant
temperature inversions in the lower atmosphere, i.e. a cold skin of air underlying
warmer air above. The larger is the glacier, the greater is the environmental
modifications, and hence they are the markers of palaeo climate and time episodes.
Ice fields that form where snowfall exceeds annual ablation are the result of
compaction and structural alteration from snow to ice. The density of fresh snow
is in the order of o.15 – 0.16. after settling, removal of part of the pore space, and
recrystallisation, the stage of granular snow or firn (with density of 0.5 – 0.8) is
attained. Repeated melting and refreezing, aided by further compaction under
pressure of overlying firn and snow leads to complete impermeability to air and
densities exceeding 0.82 is defined as ice, which is capable of plastic flow. The
resulting ice mass may form either mountain, valley, or piedmont glaciers in
rough highland terrain, or ice caps in areas of smoother topography.
Moraines: Although permanent ice covers only 10 per cent of the world land
surface today, it extended over 32 per cent at the time of maximum Pleistocene
glaciation. Apart from the areal significance of glacial phenomenon, moving ice
is also the most powerful agent of erosion and deposition. When snow fields
persist over several years they evolve to larger ice masses, erosional niches will
be created in the valley-head areas. If there is much accumulation of snow the
ice basin will over deepened and broadened leading to quarrying of lateral rock
faces. Such loosened rock is embedded and carried within, on top of, or below
the ice. The flow passes through stream valleys by cutting deep, broad floors
flanked by over-steepened cliff faces to further flow of ice. These U-shaped or
trough valleys are commonly several hundred meters deep in the case of matured
glaciers, and are conspicuous hallmarks of valley glaciation. Towards the terminus
of the ice, debris accumulation may take the form of frontal ridges or end moraines,
as sub-glacial ground-moraines, or as side or lateral moraines which extend back
through much of the glacial valley. Coalescing ice tongues may also leave
intermediate ridges of rock and dirt known as medial moraines. The melt water
deposits of sand and gravel stream-laid a head of the ice terminus are known as
outwash.
24
Relative Chronology
2.5 AEOLIAN DEPOSITS
Wind is one of the natural agencies had the capacity of erosion and deposition
thereby modifying the topography of the earth. But, erosion by wind is limited to
dry, loose, and fine-grained sediments, not protected by a plant cover. Under
natural conditions wind erosion will be more or less limited to the arid zone and
high arctic barrens, except for locally favourable areas: broad sand beaches, and
exposed stream or lake beds during low-water. Particles in the silt or fine and
medium sand size (< 0.2 mm) are carried in suspension by strong winds. Coarse
sands are moved by saltation. Transport of the suspended load, consisting of
silts and finer sand grades, is effected over long distances. During strong dust
storms, great masses of Aeolian materials may be carried over hundreds of
kilometers, only to be deposited very slowly in response to decreasing wind
velocities, or more rapidly by being washed down by rain. Extensive Aeolian
sedimentation of silt and fine sand may then occur well outside of those
environments suitable for wind erosion. The coarser sands of the bed load can
only move along the ground, migrating as sand ripples, ridges, or dunes. These
materials will ordinarily be confined to the general source region, with exception
of smaller dunes migrating from the coast or along other local sources of sand.
Corresponding to mode of transport of the different particle sizes, wind-borne

sediments may consist of striking coarse-grained sand mounds or dunes, of
smooth, extensive sheets or mantles of fine-grained materials. The
morphologically conspicuous, coarse-grained types are largely confined to the
world deserts and the arctic barrens, whereas the sand or dust (loess) sheets may
be deposited almost anywhere, although they only retain structure and other
characteristics when laid down in open country.
Sand Dunes: Dunal forms include migratory ‘free’ dunes, whose existence is
independent of topography, and ‘tied’ dunes, related to some permanent wind
obstruction. The free dunes include several types:
a) Longitudinal dunes occur in groups of long, parallel ridges, with many peaks
and sags. They may be 100 km. long and over 100 m. high, lying parallele
to the direction of strong winds. Their formation may be aided by local
turbulence, leading to accumulation now on one side or on the other.
b) Crescentic dunes or barchans, as the name implies, are crescentic in plan,
the horns and steep concave slopes facing downwind. These dunes may
attain 30 m. in height and 400 m. in width and length. They develop with
unidirectional effective winds.
c) Transverse dunes form irregular, wave like ridges at right angles to the
effective wind direction, sometimes merging or occurring simultaneously
with barchans fields.
d) Parabolic or U-shaped dunes are superficially similar to a barchan, but are
more elongated and slightly asymmetrical, with the gentle, concave slope
facing windward, the steeper, convex face down wind.
Specific archeological associations with Aeolian features are mainly of three

kinds.
25
Dating Methods a) Occupation floors or scattered artifacts found under or on top of sand dunes;
b) Archeological materials found under, within, between or on the surface of
the loess,
c) Archeological materials exposed by wind deflation or scour.
One of the best examples of an archeological site related to a complex sequence
of stream and wind erosion and deposition is the Holocene San Jon site of eastern
New Mexico. Most of the terminal Pleistocene Siberian cultures of the Kom,
Ombo plain and Egypt, were deflated and are now partly found on yardangs
scoured out of old Nile deposits. In late Pleistocene, innumerable loess sites
from central and Eastern Europe are examples of occupation during or after
loess sedimentation. Geomorphological investigation of aeolian sites is primarily
concerned with whether aeolian activity was contemporary with occupation, and
whether it preceded or followed occupation. Evidence of soil development in
the stratigraphic profile are important, and other indications of sedimentary breaks
may be obtained from vertical curves of particle sizes, carbonate, or humus
content. With due caution, pollen studies may also be possible in the humic
horisons of an aeolian profile. In general, the exact stratigraphic correlation of
sediments and archeological levels can be determined, and careful examination
may possibly reveal the contemporary environmental setting of the site as well
as the changing environmental patterns of the period.
2.6 LACUSTRINE DEPOSITS

Lake and swamps beds have been laid down in standing waters and are more
generally known as lacustrine deposits. They include:
a) evaporates, usually gypsum or salts;
b) calcarious beds, including chalk;
c) marls;
d) silts and clays;
e) sands; organic deposits.
Evaporites consist mainly of gypsum (calcium sulfate) and other salts such as
sodium, magnesium and potassium chlorides or sulfates. Such beds frequently
indicate dessication or lake shrinkage- periodic shrinkage during the dry season
or long-term reduction of a larger lake to a lagoon or salt pan (e.g. Dead Sea).
Evaporates, with the exception of open coastal lagoons are indicative of some
degree of aridity or at least of a high ratio of evaporation to precipitation (Butzer,
1971).
Lacustrine chalks usually indicate perennial lakes which are not subject to very
great seasonal fluctuations of oxygen content. Lacustrine chalks are common in
many climatic zones. In temperate Europe they may be deposited organically by
pond weeds; in dry areas such as the Sahara, inorganic precipitation is more
important. Plant and animal remains are more common in such beds (Butzer,
1971).
Marls are calcareous silts deposited both in lakes and swamps. The lime content
may be derived through plant or inorganic agencies; the clays and silts represent
26 soil products carried in by streams and rain-wash. Common in humid and even
semiarid lands, freshwater marl sedimentation is commonly confined to Relative Chronology
comparatively small water bodies.
Silts and clays are generally carried into standing waters in suspension by local
streams. They may occur wherever finer weathering products are available.
Lacustrine silts and clays are however, most common in moist climates.
Sands of lacustrine deposition are most widely found in areas with limited
vegetation. In lower latitudes the widespread lacustrine sands of the Sahara were
largely derived from sandy wadi deposits in the course of Pleistocene. The
prehistoric Chad and Fayum lakes of northern Africa are striking examples of
lacustrine sands derived from direct stream influx as well as lake wave-action
on local sandstone bedrock.
Organic deposits, of many different kinds and complex origins, are most common
in cooler latitudes although they are not quite unknown in the tropics and
subtropics. Prehistoric settlements were common around the banks of lakes. For
example, the early Holocene site of Star Carr, Yorkshire, was situated next to a
now extinct lake, and subsequently buried by bog depostis. In the Fayum
depression of northern Egypt, high Nile floods were responsible for the creation
and maintenance of several late Pleistocene and Holocene lakes. Various
Paleolithic and Neolithic populations occupied the fringe vegetation of those
lakes, leaving cultural and animal remains along the former shorelines or within
the sand of the beaches. At the Lower Pleistocene site of Ternifine, western
Algeria, a rich fauna with skeletal remains of the hominine Atlanthroupus (Homo)
mauritanicus is exposed in clays and spring deposits of a former lacustrine basin.
Zinjanthropus and “pre-Zinj” sites found in mixed lacustrine and volcanic ash
beds of Bed I, at Olduvai Gorge, Tanganyika dating from the Basal Pleistocene.
These examples are all related to pluvial climate of Pleistocene period.
In higher-latitude Europe, lacustrine beds were mainly found in poorly-drained

ground moraine areas abandoned by the continental glacier. So for example, the
Lower Paleolithic occupation level at Hoxne, near Ipswich, is located in clayey
silts of Holstein interglacial age. The beds record a former lake within a depression
in Elster till. The interesting Middle Paleolithic spear of Lehirngen, near Hannover,
was found with an intact elephant skeleton in lacustrine marls of Eem interglacial
age, overlying the Saale ground moraine.
Swamp and bog deposits, some of them postdating sites, have long enjoyed
considerable archeological interest in northern Europe. They have produced
potsherds, plowshares, house or village foundations, and even fully intact corpses.
2.7 CAVE DEPOSITS

Caves were first ‘discovered’ for science by archaeologists, and despite the
enthusiasm of ameture cave explorers, caves and archaeology remain almost
synonymous in the public mind. The earth sciences have also shown some
considerable interest in caves and subterranean caverns. Various processes of
groundwater solution and cave formation are a part of karst geomorphology.
Practically, all true caves have developed as a result of solution in limestone,
and the term “karst” refers to landscape noticeably modified through the dissolving
agency of underground waters.
27
Dating Methods Man and animals have sought shelter in caves since the beginnings of prehistory,
and some of the most interesting cultural sequences have been derived from
cave sites. The cave strata had been intensively studied and in fact these studies
are basic in understanding biological evolution and geomorphic environments
tied up with relative time scale. Today certain sequences of cave sediments, faunal
assemblages, and pollen are as vital for Pleistocene stratigraphy as the cultural
horisons are for Stone Age archaeology.
Two major kinds of caves are distinguished: exterior caves, and interior passages
and caverns. The exterior type may vary from simple overhangs and shelters
(rock-shelters) to shallow caves. Most of these have been dissolved or eroded
near the water-mark by streams or wave-action at the coast. Sometimes they are
produced by hallowing out of softer rock strata. Cave environments are highly
variable. Direct sunlight is reduced or eliminated entirely. Relative humidities
are high, particularly in deep, shaded caves. Except at the very entrance,
temperatures are usually too low for soil development, and chemical weathering
is practically limited to carbonate solution.
The stratigraphic layers found in caves are of either external origin and partly
internal. The extraneous materials may be washed in by rainwash, drawn in by
gravity, blown in by wind, moved in through solifluction or washed through
rock joints by percolating soil and groundwater. In addition, man and beast had
carried in a variety of inorganic objects and materials, deliberately or inadvertently.
Due to these natural and artificial reasons the cave sediments would consists of:
1) Fossil layers: animal bones, carcasses, feces, etc;
2) Archaeological layers: the occurrence of individual proofs of human presence
with or without fossil remains; and
3) Cultural layers: sediments strongly influenced by human activities such as
fire and tool-making along with many imported objects such as stones, bones,
shells, plant matter etc.
The only point of further interest requiring comment is the use of caves by early
man. In all but the rarest cases, occupation was limited to the foreparts or entrance
area of a cave. Deep interior caverns were widely use for ritualistic or artistic
purposes in some areas, but such damp, lightless vaults would ethnological
analogies have bearing on Paleolithic cave-dwellers, it may be mentioned that
the Australian aborigines of the northern Lake Eyre area, the Shoshones of the
Great Basin and the Kalahari Bushmen are all known to have occupied caves or
overhangs (rock-shelters) on occasion.
Cave sites have assumed importance at many times and in many areas, ranging
from the australopithencien caves of South Africa to the crevice breccias of
Peking, from the Upper Paleolithic caves of southern Frnace and adjacent Spain
to the terminal Pleistocene cave cultures of the southwestern U.S.A. In India too
we have a very good number of rock-shelter and cave sites denoting prehistoric
cultures together with relative time-scales. The Bhimbetka in Madhya Pradesh,
Bethamcherla in Andhra Pradesh, Gudium in Tamil Nadu can be quoted as
examples in this direction.
28
Relative Chronology
2.8 FOSSILISATION
Mineralised end product of an organic matter is a fossil. The organic materials
are largely decomposed and carried away in solution. In this fossilised condition,
the bone is characteristically light in weight, porous and brittle. Soil waters may
percolate freely through fossilised bone, carrying oxides and carbonates in
solution. When the soil dries out, a film of mineral precipitates is left in the pore
network of the bone. Eventually these spaces are refilled, and mineral replacement
of bone material by calcium carbonate, sequioxides, or silicates may take place.
Dehydrated animal bone consists of about two-thirds mineral matter and one
third of organic matter. The mineral component is mainly calcium phosphate
with some calcium carbonate and other salts. The organic components include
fat, citric acid, organic carbon, nitrogen, and amino acids which are combined in
proteins and fats. Depending on the conditions of sedimentation or the chemical
environment, rapid burial of bone or shell may preserve either the mineral or
organic matter. Fossil bone and shell may be obtained from a number of natural
and cultural sedimentary environments:
a) Stream, lake, swamp and spring beds;
b) Beach and estuarine beds;
c) Loess and volcanic ash;
d) ”fossil”, “archaeological” and “cultural” cave strata; and
e) Artificial situations such as kitchen middens, burial pits, etc.
The study of such materials by palaeontologists or palaeozoologists may yield
data of considerable environment and stratigraphic importance, which is the prime
concerned of an anthropologist or a culture historian. The study involves several
steps and they are:
a) Taxonomic identification, for which purpose skull, dentition, antlers, horn
cores, and long bones are particularly useful;
b) Quantitative analysis, i.e. determination of the minimum number of
individuals for a species present, for which the quantity of the most frequent
diagnostic skeletal part is used;
c) Age, sex, and size composition;
d) Ecological interpretation, based on comparison of the morphology, behaviour,
and ecological relations for a living species, or comparative anatomical
collections for an extinct species.
Animal remains, including bone and a wide range of organic refuse pertaining to
dietary habits, are invariably richest in occupation sites of man or ‘sedimentary’
predators. The latter include the cave-dwelling bears, hyenas, lions and owls of
European Pleistocene.
Pleistocene Fauna
The environmental significance of the European Upper Pleistocene fauna is better
understood than that of any other Pleistocene fauna. Only three of the genera are
extinct and two of those, the woolly mammoth and rhino, have been found more
or less intact at certain localities, so that their diet and cold adaptations are well
29
Dating Methods known. A half dozen further species became extinct at the close of the Pleistocene,
but allied species of the same genera are still present. In all, these Upper
Pleistocene faunas can be carefully evaluated in terms of their modern (or
historical) environmental distributions. They are therefore an interesting case in
point.
The characteristic mammalian species of the interglacial (Eem) fauna are the
extinct, straight-tusked woodland elephant (Elephas [Palaeoloxodon] antiquus),
the extinct woodland rhino (Dicerorhinus mercki), the African hippopotamus
(H. amphi bious major), the boar (Sus scrofa), fallow deer (Dama dama), and
roe deer (Capreolus capreolus). In mid-latitude Europe these animals are rarely
found in glacial age deposits. They do however occur in the Mediterranean lands
during part or all of the Wurm. In addition to these species there are a few dozen
mammals of the temperate and boreal woodlands are also found in mid-latitude
Europe during glacial periods. These include elk (Alces alces), red deer (Cervus
elaphus), aurochs (Bos primigenius), the woodland horse ancestral to
Equuscaballus silvestris, lynx, wild cat (Felis silvestris), fox (Vulpes vulpes),
wolf, wolverine, sable (Martes zibellina), and brown bear (Ursus arctos ssp.).
The glacial (Wurm) fauna includes temperate and boreal woodland forms consists
of “typical” tundra fauna: reindeer (Rangifer tarandus), musk-ox (Ovibos
moschatus), the snow shoe and arctic hares (Lepus timidus, L. arcticus), the
mountain lemming (Lemmus [Myodes] Lemmus), and the arctic fox (Vulpes
[Alopex] lagopus). Alpine forms such as the steppe ibex (Capra ibex prisca), the
chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra), the alpine marmot (Marmota marmota), and
alpine vole (Microtus nivalis) were found well outside of their high mountain
haunts.
In addition to these, a cool, mid-latitude steppe fauna was also present, ranging
through Hungary into southern France. They are saiga antelope (Saiga tatarica),
the wild steppe horse of tarpana and Prezewalski type, the steppe fox (Vulpes
corsac), the steppe polecat (Putorius putorus eversmanni), the steppe marmot
(Marmota bobak), the hamster (Citellus citellus), and a gerbil (Allactaga saleins).
Some of the best known “cold” elements include the wooly mammoth, wooly
rhino, the steppe bison and the giant elk. The characteristic cave faunas of the
European Pleistocene include the cave bear, the spotted cave hyena, and cave
lion. Each of these species was cold tolerant but rather intermediate in its
requirements. They are not ‘cold’ indicators by any means.
Pleistocene Plant Fossils- Pollen

Pollen analysis or palynology is one of the important indicators of palaeoclimate
and dating in palaeo ecological studies. The basic principle of pollen analysis is
that most wind-pollinated trees, shrubs, and grasses emanate pollen in great
quantities. The particle size of pollen is on the order of 0.01 – 0.1 mm.’ and the
absolute weight less than 10-9 grams. Consequently, pollen grains are readily
removed by wind and widely dispersed in the lower atmosphere where the grains
are carried in suspension. Distances of 100-250 km. are readily crossed by
traveling pollen, and grains may be found up to several kilometers in the lower
atmosphere. Pollen density is greatest at elevation of 200 to 500 meters above
the ground, and it remains appreciable to elevation of 2 km. Pollen accumulation
in any one locality will therefore provide a regional rather than a local cross-
section of the pollen-emanating plants present.
30
The annual pollen ‘rain’ in a vegetated area amounts to several thousand grains Relative Chronology
per square centimeter. A part of this pollen may be preserved indefinitely if
oxidation is limited or absent, particularly in dense, poorly aerated sediments or
in acidic environments such as provided by bogs or many lake beds. Year after
year stratified laminae of sediments, including a small cross-section of the year’s
pollen that is preserved, may be laid down under various conditions at a number
of localities. Each of these sediments, then, preserves its own chronological and
environmental record (Butzer, 1971).
Application of pollen analysis

Pollen analysis may be applied to a broad range of palaeo-environmental
problems.
a) Reconstruction of local vegetation: Careful interpretation of contemporary
pollen spectra from neighbouring sites may provide a good picture of local
vegetation and ecology. Certain floral elements are characteristics of certain
environments, although most genera are distributed rather than more broadly.
If species identification is possible and supported by some macro-botanical
evidence reconstruction of forest type is possible.
b) Regional pollen maps: Plotting of data of approximately contemporary pollen
spectra over wider areas can be made.
c) Climate change: Although with considerable qualification, it may be said
that specific changes in pollen spectra with time may indicate climate or
ecological change at a locality.
d) Stratigraphic dating: Characteristic pollen diagrams have been described
for certain interglacial periods or for the Holocene period in temperate
Europe. Such standard profiles are frequently used as dating tools, either
within the span of a certain diagram, or as fossil assemblages referring to a
particular interglacial interval. Artifactual materials in bog can occasionally
be dated according to their position within pollen profiles.
e) Prehistoric settlement: Forest clearance, burnings, and agricultural
colonisation are dramatically recorded in pollen profiles by sudden
abundance of NAP, appearance of weed or cereal pollen, and the like. In
fact the earliest agricultural settlements in temperate Europe frequently have
been first recognised by pollen diagrams, as in the case of Denmark.
2.9 SUMMARY
The ‘stratigraphy’– the descriptive account of sequence of layers formed due to
the geomorphic agencies is the main source of data system used in relative dating
ever since the chronological understanding of events. Natural agencies like wind,
water, ice etc. had the high energy capacities to erode materials during dynamic
conditions, while in low energy conditions remain as depositing agents. Due to
these dynamic conditions the rivers, lakes, seas, oceans, glaciers etc, the surface
of the earth has been subjected to topographical changes, which can be learned
through the geomorphology. A wind range of deposits (alluvial, aeolian, morainic,
lacustrineare, karst etc.) are systematically brought out in understanding
chronological ordering of events.
31
Dating Methods Since the Pleistocene Period embraces the human emergence and initial
development, the dynamic nature of depositing agencies were presented in this
unit. The fauna and flora are sensitive to climatic change, thereby the faunal and
floral variation in given time frame were of great significance in relative
chronology besides the palaeoclimatic inferences. The geomorphological studies
together with biological remains in the form of fossils (both macro and micro)
go a long way in understanding the environmental changes that had taken place
during the Pleistocene Period.
Suggested Reading
Brothwell, D and E. Higgins. 1970. Science in Archaeology. New York: Praeger.
Butzer, K.W. 1971. Environment and Archaeology. Chicago: Aldine-Atherton.
Cornwall, I.W. 1958. Soils for the Archaeologist. London: Phoenix House.
Michels, J.W. 1973. Dating Methods in Archaeology. New York: Seminar Press.
Zeuner, F.E. 1958. Dating the Past. London: Methuen.
Sample Questions
1) Discuss various kinds of Glacio-Pluviation climatic events that had taken
place during Pleistocene Period.
2) Describe the process of formation of river terraces and bring out how the
terrace formations are useful in relative chronology.
3) What is palaeontology? Discuss the importance of paleontology in
understanding palaeo-climate.
4) Write short notes on the following
i) Moraines
ii) Cave deposits
iii) aeolian sands iv.lacustrine deposits
5) Write an essay on integrating the Pleistocene climatic sequence against the
geomorphological events and the fossil fauna- floral evidences.
32
Recent Period
UNIT 3 HUMAN PALAEONTOLOGY
Contents
3.1 Origin of Primates
3.1.1 Introduction
3.1.2 Major Features of Primate Behaviour
3.1.3 Physical Characteristics that Classify the Primates
3.1.4 Early Fossil Primates and their Evolution
3.1.5 Advanced Hominoid Primates and Common Ancestors
3.2 Origin of Man
3.2.1 Plio-Pleistocene Hominids
3.2.2 Pleistocene Hominins: Distribution and Bio-Cultural Characteristics
3.3 Narmada Man
3.3.1 Cranial Remains
3.3.2 Postcranial Remains
3.4 Summary
Suggested Reading
Sample Questions
Learning Objectives
&
Once you have studied this unit, you will be able to understand:
Ø what Palaeoanthropology aims at;
Ø what is a Primate;
Ø which Primates were closer to humans;
Ø which biological and behavioural characters made us different from other
Primates; and
Ø whether humans are still evolving or the end product of evolution.
3.1 ORIGIN OF PRIMATES

3.1.1 Introduction
Human Palaeontology or Palaeoanthropology is a very fascinating and challenging
subject. Also known as evolutionary anthropology, it aims at the scientific study
of human origins in time and space. Palaeoanthropologists seek to illuminate the
evolutionary history of the human lineage: when, where, and how our species,
Homo sapiens evolved. For long palaeoanthropologists confront the creationists
or philosophical critics of Darwinian doctrine of evolution as they interpret human
“uniqueness” a result of “special creation” without any links with the apes. Their
fundamental arguments were that the great apes (chimpanzee, gorilla and
orangutan) walk in an inclined quadrupedal fashion and have small brains in
contrast to humans who walk in upright bipedal fashion and possess large brains
and higher intellectual and ethical standards. But, great progress made in human
palaeontology during the nineteenth and twentieth centurie led to amazing
discoveries of ape and human fossils from the entire Old World. At large, the
fossil record of early apes and humans is now complete enough to make one
23
Geological Frame Work visualize how humans evolved from some very peculiar kind of ape or more
apelike precursor (‘hominoid’) which shared traits with early human ancestors
(‘hominids’).
In this section we shall understand why anthropologists study the Primates, and
we understand human evolution better or about the lives of our ancestors if we
understand more about primate biology, behaviour and ecology since the first
members of the human species were more similar to living nonhuman primates
than to any other animals on earth. Which seemingly “human” traits are ours
alone, and which are shared with various primate relatives? What the different
branches of the Primates are and when they split, and which branch or lineage
evolved to man.
ea
oid
op
a
hr
ide
dea
dea
nt
uro
nA
isoi
sioi
Lem
ow
Lor
Tar
Cr
Adapiformes
Omomyiformes
Miocene
Eosimiidae
Oligocene
Darwinius
Eocene
Darwinius Haplorhini
A simplified early primate evolutionary tree (after Williams etal. (2010)
Platyrrhini Catarrhini
Cercopithecoids Hominoids
Hylobatids Hominids
Spider Monkey Macaque Gibbon Orangutan Gorilla Human Chimpanzee

Siamang
6 MYA
Ouranopithecus Dryopithecus 9 MYA
Proconsul Sivapithecus 14 MYA
16 MYA
19 MYA
25 MYA
40 Million Years Ago
After David Begun Scientific American Inc. (2003)

24
It is now fairly established that the hominid and the great ape lineages split around Human Palaeontology
6 to 8 million years ago, but many of their common traits are much more ancient,
and could be traced back to about 20 million years ago when the first “tail-less
monkey”, known as Proconsul, appeared in Africa. In fact, many more common
traits of the hominids and hominoids are also shared by the monkeys and can
further be traced back to over 40 million years ago when the ‘anthropoid’ primates
(monkeys, apes and hominids together) had not differentiated. We can further
visualize the unbroken thread of shared ancestry further back in time to the early
primates over 55 million years ago when there was a divergence of the two great
branches of the primate family tree. One branch was of the haplorrhines,
represented today by tarsiers and the anthropoids, and the second was of the
strepsirrhines, the group to which living lemurs, lorises, and ‘bush babies’ belong.
Latest combination of genetic, zoological, and palaeontological data has supported
the view that the tarsiers and their omomyid relatives were most closely related
to the early anthropoids, whereas the Darwinius and its kin were more closely
related to the lemurs.
3.1.2 Major Features of Primate Behaviour

Besides physical resemblances between us and the Primates, it is important to
understand what social behavioural traits we have inherited from the Primate
ancestors. Some main traits are briefly described below.
i) Gregarious
Primates are social animals, living and travelling in groups that vary in size
from species to species. In most species, females and their offspring constitute
core of social system.
ii) Aggression, Dominance/ Hierarchy & Territoriality

Primates have clear territoriality, especially in forest species. Many primate
societies are organised into dominance hierarchies that impose some degree
of order with groups by establishing parameters of individual behaviours.
Although aggression is frequently a means of increasing one’s status, it
serves to reduce the amount of actual physical violence; exerts control simply
by making a threatening gesture.
iii) Affiliative behaviours

To minimize actual violence and to defuse potentially dangerous situations,
there is an array of affiliative, or friendly, behaviours that serve to reinforce
bonds between individuals and enhance group stability, e.g, physical contact
(touching), and hand holding, hugging, and kissing in orangutan, gesture of
friendliness, submission, appeasement or closeness; most notable primate
activities is grooming, the ritual cleaning to remove parasites, shreds of
grass or other matter. The mother-infant bond is the strongest and most
long-lasting in the group.
iv) Play
Frequent play activity among primate infants and juveniles is a means of
learning about the environment, testing strength, and generally learning how
to behave as adults.
25
Geological Frame Work v) Communication
Primates have a great range of calls that are often used together with
movements of the face or body to convey a message; warning calls, threat
calls, defense calls, and gathering calls.
vi) Tool use

In the wild, gorillas do not make or use tools in any significant way, but
chimpanzees use digging sticks to hunt termites. Bonobos and chimpanzees,
provide essential clues in the reconstruction of adaptations and behaviour
patterns of our earliest ancestors
3.1.3 Physical Charactersistics that Classify the Primates

Primates are classified broadly into two suborders: the prosimians and the
anthropoids.
Suborder: Prosimia
They are the most distant and most varied primate relatives of man. Many are
nocturnal (active in the night), hence have more developed sense of smell than
other primates (wet, “naked” doglike nose), large eyes, independently mobile
ears, sensory whiskers, many arboreal, hence the four non-thumb digits act
together, not independently, many have a “grooming claw” on the second toe
only; nails on other digits, many have a “dental comb” comprised of the four
lower incisor teeth and the lower canines, which are long, narrow, and close
together, for use in grooming fur and gathering food, less complex behaviour,
less learning, relatively smaller, less developed brains than the anthropoids. Most
have the full three premolars. All prosimians, except tarsiers, have the post-
orbital bar but lack the post-orbital plate; tarsiers have both, like anthropoids do.
Prosimians are further divided into three infraorders: lemuriformes, lorisiformes
& tarsiiformes
Lemuriformes (lemurs)
They are found only on Madagascar Island and have evolved there in isolation
into diverse forms and are therefore regarded as a case of adaptive radiation.
Most of the lemurs are small sized, tree-dwelling, nocturnal, quadrupedal as
well as vertical clinging and leaping.
Lorisiformes (lorises)
They occur both in Africa and Asia, Sri Lanka and are small, nocturnal, arboreal;
mostly eat fruit, gum, and insects. Examples: galagos (fast hoppers) and runners
(“bushbabies”), slender?lorises: slow climbers and creepers.
Tarsiiformes (tarsiers)
They inhabit rain forests of Southeast Asia and Indonesia. They are small,
nocturnal, arboreal, vertical clinger and leapers; eat insects and some small
vertebrates. They are recently classified in the anthropoid suborder, rather than
prosimians.
Suborder: Anthropoidea
We along with the monkeys and apes belong to this Suborder of generally larger
26 bodied, mostly diurnal (active in the day) primates; retina with a fovea (central
area of higher resolution vision)- absent in prosimians except the tarsiers; dry Human Palaeontology
nose, reduced sense of smell, reduced sensory whiskers, independently controlled,
dexterous digits, nails on all digits (no claws), generally larger brain relative to
body size, generally more complex behaviour, post-orbital bar (like all primates)
including the post-orbital plate (absent in prosimians except the tarsiers).
Anthropoids are subdivided into two infraorders: Platyrrhines and Catarrhines.
Infraorder: Platyrrhines
Platy=flat, Rhine=nose; they are “flat nosed”: round, forward-facing, widely
separated nostrils only in the New World, hence often called “New World
monkeys” (NWM), three premolars on top and bottom, almost all diurnal all
mostly arboreal, living in forests mostly quadrupedal, some able to swing by
arms or tail a few have prehensile tails, which are found only among the New
World monkeys specifically, only among one family of NWMs, the Cebids, e.g.,
the capuchin monkey, which is notable for being one of just four primates that
are known to regularly make and use tools- the sticks as weapons, modify twigs
and leaves to probe for insect larvae.
Infraorder: Catarrhines
Cata= prominent /raised, rhine= nose. Humans, apes and Old World monkeys
fall in this category. They have narrow, downward-facing nostrils, two premolars
on top and bottom, rather than three, some have tails, but none are prehensile,
more variable adaptations than New World monkeys. Catarrhines have two
superfamilies: Cercopithecoids (Old World monkeys) and Hominoids (apes and
humans)
Superfamily: Cercopithecoidea (Old World monkeys: OWMs)

It is a highly variable group, arboreal and/or terrestrial; has many kinds of social
organisations and mating strategies, often groups of numerous females and one
or several males. Cercopithecoids have two subfamilies: Colobines and
Cercopithecine.
Subfamily: Colobinae
It is of arboreal leaf-eaters found in Africa and Asia. E.g., colobus monkeys: no
thumbs (apparently an adaptation to moving through trees?); langurs: sometimes
called “leaf monkeys”, “Miss Waldron’s Red Colobus”, last seen in 1970’s,
declared extinct in September 2000.
Subfamily: Cercopithecinae
They are mostly semi-terrestrial, quite varied, found in Africa; macaques also
live in Asia typically in large, multi-male, multi-female groups, e.g. baboons,
macaques, vervet monkeys.
Subfamily: Hominoidea
It is the branch of the apes and humans; generally the largest primates, with no
tails, have relatively larger brains, Y-5 molars, basically forest dwellers, more or
less arboreal, wide chest with shoulder blades (scapulae) on the back, rather than
on the side as in quadrupeds, so the forelimbs can stick out sideways, rather than
just moving forward and back, greater mobility of shoulders, elbows, wrists,
these are presumably adaptations for complex climbing in trees, rather than just
27
Geological Frame Work walking on top of branches. Traditional classification has three families:
hylobatids (lesser apes), pongids (great apes), and hominids (us).
Family: Hylobatidae
It is of the “lesser apes”, generally smaller than the pongids, e.g., gibbons and
siamangs. They live in tropical forests of Asia; nearly full-time brachiators
(overhand swingers through the trees) with very long arms, monogamous mating,
little sexual dimorphism, males more involved in infant care than most other
primates, especially the siamangs, highly territorial.
Family: Pongidae (great apes): orangutans, gorillas, and chimpanzee (it includes
bonobos=pygmy chimpanzees)
Orangutans are only on southeast Asian islands of Sumatra and Borneo;

extremely sexual dimorphism in size, face, etc., quadrumanual and arboreal when
small, more terrestrial when grown to large size, (especially males), very solitary,
fruit, leaf, and bark eater.
Gorillas live in central African forests in small groups of one or two adult males,
a few females, some young; they eat leaves, stalks, bamboo; mostly terrestrial
(although this may vary depending on their environment).
Chimpanzees and their close relatives bonobos called “pygmy chimps”, even
though they are not consistently much smaller mostly eat plants, especially fruit,
but sometimes insects and other animals
Common chimps: Pan troglodytes large multi-male, multi-female groups

centered on a stable group of related males who stay in their natal group
Bonobos: Pan paniscus, female-centered groups; regularly use tools and modify
objects to serve as tools, strip twigs to “fish” for termites, wad up leaves to
sponge water out of cavities in tree trunks; crack nuts using a stone in one hand
and a larger stone or root as an anvil.
Family: Hominidae
The family of man and his Plio-Pleistocene ancestors, traditionally placed in
their own family, probably more closely related to chimps (and / or to orangutan)
than to gorillas, bipedal, have reduced canines, huge brains for body size. More
discussion follows in other section.
3.1.4 Early Fossil Primates and their Evolution

Primates arose as part of a great adaptive radiation that began more than 100
million years after the appearance of the first mammals and the flowering plants
about 65 million years ago.
Palaeocene Primates
By 65 million years ago, primates were diverging from other mammalian lineages
(such as those which later led to rodents, bats and carnivores). For the period
between 65-55 Mya, it is extremely difficult to identify the earliest members of
the primate order since the available fossil material is scarce, and they were not
easily distinguished from other early (generalised) mammals.
28
Eocene Primates Human Palaeontology
First fossil forms that are clearly identifiable as primates appeared during Eocene
(55-34 Mya). From this period have been recovered a wide variety of primates,
which can all be called prosimians. Lemur-like adapids were common in the
Eocene, as were species of tarsier-like primates. They were insect eaters and
adapted to tree-dwelling. They had larger, rounded braincases; nails instead of
claws, eyes rotated forward, binocular vision, presence of opposable large toe.
This time period exhibited the widest geographical distribution and broadest
adaptive radiation ever displayed by prosimians. In recent years, numerous finds
of Late Eocene (36-34 Mya) suggest that members of the adapid family were the
most likely candidates as ancestors of early anthropoids.
Oligocene primates
The center of action for primate evolution after Eocene is confined largely to
Old World; only in Africa and Eurasia. We trace the evidences of apes and
hominids during Oligocene (34-23 Mya) the vast majority of primate fossils
coming from just the Fayum area of Egypt with 21 different species. The main
genera are:
Apidium
The most abundant of all Oligocene forms, adapted to fruit and seed diet, they
were a small arboreal quadruped, adept at leaping and springing, like a squirrel.
Propliopithecus
Morphologically quite primitive, small to medium in size, likely fruit eaters.
Aegyptopithecus
It was the largest of Fayum anthropoids, similar to modern howler (6-8 kg) with
primitive skull, short-limbed, heavily muscled, slow-moving arboreal quadruped.
It bridges the gap between the Eocene prosimians and the Miocene hominoids.
3.1.5 Advanced Hominoid Primates and Common Ancestors

Early Miocene
Large-bodied hominoids first evolved in Africa ~ 23 Mya. Then they migrated
into Eurasia, dispersed rapidly and diversified into a variety of species. After 14
million years ago, we have evidence of widely distributed hominoids in many
parts of Asia and Europe. The separation of the Asian large-bodied hominoid
line from the African stock (leading ultimately to gorillas, chimps and humans)
thus would have occurred at about that time.
They are presently classified into at least 23 species, lived in dense rain forests
to more open woodlands, were partially terrestrial (ground living) and even
occasionally bipedal, and most of them were fruit eaters, some included leaves
as well. Currently recognised African Early Miocene (20- 17 Mya) fossil taxa
are: Proconsul (P. heseloni, P. majus, and P. nyanzae); Afropithecus,
Turkanopithecus, Otavapithecus, Equatorius Nacholapithecus
29
Geological Frame Work Middle to Late Miocene
The well-known Middle Miocene African hominoid is Kenyapithecus that falls
on the threshold of the “advanced” hominoids, appeared by 14.5 Mya at Fort
Ternan Kenya. Hominoids are rare in African Later Miocene; the known one is
Samburupithecus around 8-9 Mya followed by Sahelanthropus ~7-8 Mya in
Chad, regarded as the ‘Chimpanzee-hominid’ last common ancestor, but still
debated.
Not all African apes evolved into hominines. Those that remained in the forests
and woodlands continued to develop as arboreal apes, although ultimately some
of them took up a more terrestrial life. These are the bonobos, chimpanzees and
gorillas, who have changed far more from the ancestral condition than have the
still arboreal orangutans.
European and Eurasian Hominoids

They appeared during Middle Miocene (14-11 Mya) and currently recognised
fossil taxa are:
Dryopithecus (=Rudapithecus),
Ankarapithecus (earlier Sivapithecus meteai)
Graecopithecus (earlier Ouranopithecus)
Griphopithecus, Heliopithecus, Oreopithecus
Some scholars regarded Dryopithecus as the common ancestor to Chimpanzee-
hominid clade, but others as ancestor to African apes only. Ankarapithecus is on
the orangutan clade; Heliopithecus is closer to the gibbons, whereas the,
Oreopithecus is debated either a monkey or a side-branch of the hominoids.
South Asian (Siwaliks) and East Asian (Chinese) Taxa

Hominoids appeared in South Asia (Siwaliks) and their fossils have been found
in India and Pakistan at ~12.3 Mya and survived there until ~5.5 Mya; spread
eastward to southern China ~ 8 Mya. Currently the following species are
recognised:
Sivapithecus (S. parvada, S. indicus, S. punjabicus (= Ramapithecus)
Krishnapithecus (= Pliopithecus)
Gigantopithecus (=“Indopithecus”)
Lufengpithecus (L lufengensis), L. keiyuanensis & L. hudienensis
• They varied in size from moderately small (Ramapithecus) to large
(Sivapithecus indicus) and very large (Sivapithecus parvada). Indian
Gigantopithecus (G. bilaspurensis) and Chinese (G. blacki) were great giant
“aberrant hominids” of gorilla-size, sometimes speculated as the ancestors
of the illusive “Himalayan Snowman”.
• Ramapithecus, earlier considered hominid, is now lumped in Sivapithecus

genus, but recognised a separate species, S. punjabicus or S. sivalensis.
• Sivapithecus indicus face has a concave profile and projecting incisors

bearing striking similarities with the orangutan. But, dentition and lower
jaw are closer to early hominids.
30
• But, Sivapithecus forelimbs indicate a unique mixture of arboreal Human Palaeontology
quadrupedalism and no suspensory component of the orangutan. Sivapithecus
possessing a mosaic of hominid and ‘pongid’ (orangutan) characters are
regarded some scholars their exclusive last common (or generalised) ancestor.
• Lufengpithecus in China is similar to Sivapithecus.
• Krishnapithecus (=Pliopithecus) was probable ancestor of the gibbons.
3.2 ORIGIN OF MAN

3.2.1 Plio-Pleistocene Hominids
Plio-Pleistocene hominids are presently known from Africa only. The following
hominids genera and species are currently recognised indicating a great diversity:
Australopithecus: (i) A. africanus, (ii) A. aethiopicus
Kenyanthropus: i) K. rudelfensis (ii) K. platyops
Paranthropus: (i) P. walkeri (ii) P. bosei (iii) P. robustus
Praeanthropus: (i) P. anamensis (=A. anamensis), (ii) P. afarensis [=A. afarensis
(Lucy)], (iii) P. garhi = (A. garhi), (iv) P. bahrelghazali (=A. bahrelghazali)
Ardipithecus: A. ramidus
Traditionally, three genera were recognised, viz., Australopithecus, Paranthropus,
and Ardipithecus, the last one is currently regarded closer to Homo. They are
collectively recognised as australopithecines.
The first member of australopithecines was discovered in 1924 in a limestone

cave at Taungs in South Africa by Raymond Dart. It was named as
Australopithecus africanus (“Southern ape of Africa” regarded as a “missing
link” between apes and humans. They had hominid upright stance; the molar
teeth were very large whereas the front teeth very small unlike apes. In 1959 a
nearly complete skull, well-dated to 1.8 Mya was discovered at Olduvai Gorge,
Tanzania by Mary Leakeys, named as “Zinjanthropus boisei” (now Paranthropus
boisei). Major findings came from Kenya, Ethiopia, and other areas of the Great
Rift Valley East Africa, dated to 4.2 Mya with the earliest evidence for bipedalism
in Australopithecus anamensis (later Praeanthropus anamensis). The 3.5 Mya
Ardipithecus (“Little Foot”) is currently regarded closer to humans. Hominid
footprints of 3.8 Mya were discovered at Laetoli in Tanzanian are the hallmarks
of bipedalism.
In the mid-1970s, “Lucy” skeleton (Australopithecus afarensis) was discovered

by Donald Johanson, dated to 3.2 Mya having long arms and short legs yielding
3½ feet stature. But her pelvis and knee was fully biped human like, but her toes
and fingers were long and curved like an ape’s, the brain too small like an ape.
Her molar teeth were large and with thick enamel like humans, but the rib cage
was conical, neither precisely like known apes nor humans. So, Lucy possessed
a mosaic, partly ape, partly human, and partly intermediate.
The other australopithecines is “Kenyanthropus platyops” found near Lake

Turkana in 1999 and dated to 3.5 Mya, was a small-brained biped with small
front teeth and large rear teeth.
31
Geological Frame Work A new species dated at ~2.5 Mya, Australopithecus garhi (now Praeanthropus
garhi), was “robust” australopithecines. Robust hominids evolved gradually as
the climate of Africa underwent a prolonged period of cooling and grasslands
expanded at the expense of forests. They developed large (megadont) molar teeth,
and strong bones and muscles to enable them to crack and grind down energy
rich hard nuts and seeds. Paranthropus represents such an extreme robust lineage
discovered by Mary Leakey in 1959 and dubbed as “Nutcracker Man”.
Did australopithecines make tools? A. garhi had associated evidence of

butchered gazelle bones and supported tool use.
Three major stages may be recognised in Hominid Evolution. The stages

in sequence, the stage of Australopithecus, the stage of Homo erects and
the stage of Neanderthal man.
3.2.2 Pleistocene Hominins: Distribution and Bio-Cultural

Characteristics
In this section you will learn the evolution of our genus, Homo, and its various
species through time and their distribution in the Old World. Several species
have evolved and preceded the modern Homo sapiens and these are listed in the
box.
A Recent count of the various species of Man (Homo):

1) H. habilis (Africa)
2) H. ergaster (Africa)
3) H. erectus (Asia: Java, China, India)
4) H. georgicus (Europe)
5) H. antecessor(Europe)
6) H. cepranensis (= EuropeanH. erectus)
7) H. heidlebergensis (Old World)
8) H. neanderthalensis (Europe, West Asia)
9) H. sapiens (Old World)
10) H. floresiensis (Indonesia)
We shall understand the variation of morphological characters of various fossil
species generally referred to as ‘hominins’ with special reference to the cranial
traits that changed during the course of hominin evolution.
1) Homo habilis
The earliest indications of the genus Homo are recorded at about 2.4 to 1.8
Mya in East Africa at the same time and place as the earliest recognisable
simple stone tools, known as Oldowan, made on small rounded pebbles.
Homo habilis is the earliest known Homo showing anatomical evolutionary
continuity from the preceding Australopithecus to the following Homo
ergaster.
32
The most famous specimen of Homo habilis lineage is ER-1470 discovered Human Palaeontology
in 1972 Richard Leakey’s expedition in the Lake Turkana in Kenya. Its
reconstructed skull showed brain volume of ~ 735 cc but a flat face. Another
and better skull is ER-1813 but with a relatively smaller brain ~600 cc, also
found in Olduvai Gorge and in South Africa, initially called “Telanthropus”
.
The 1st Stone Tool-maker ~2mya: Homo habilis-though still small- brained
but intelligent scavengers and tool- makers (slide by A.R. Sankhyan)
Oldowan Chopper
made by Homo habilis
The most interesting feature of Homo habilis is its facial reduction and cranial
increase (compared to australopithecines). But, its limb proportions – the
long arms and short legs, are quite primitive fitting somewhere between the
Great apes and the Australopithecus indicating imperfect bipedal locomotion.
2) Home ergaster
Compared to the very gracile Homo habilis, Homo ergaster (ER-3733)
discovered in 1974 was taller and large brained (850 cc), and efficient tool-
maker who hunted with choppers and crude handaxes. It firmly established
that enlargement of brain occurred but with robust body about 1.8 Mya.
A nearly complete skeleton (WT-15000) of an adolescent male (ER-3883)

was discovered in 1984 by Richard Leakey’s team on the western side of
Lake Turkana, famous as the ‘Nariokotome Boy’- who lived and died about
1.6 Mya. He had heavily muscled arms, prognathous face, no forehead and
strong supra-orbital torus. He stood about 5½ feet tall even at ~12 years age
and if fully grown it could have become the first six-footer of Pleistocene.
This indicates running over long distances, and therefore, Homo ergaster is
considered the first hominin to venture out of Africa.
3) Homo georgicus
Homo georgicus was similar to Homo ergaster in many ways and therefore
regarded the descendant of the latter. Discovered in 1983 in the southeast
Europe in Georgia at Dmanissi site at 1.8 Mya, Homo georgicus is the first
earliest representatives of Homo outside Africa. Later on, stone tools and at
least six individuals were found along with stone tools and cut marks on
animal bones indicating the possibility of meat processing.
33
Geological Frame Work
Dmanisi
Chopper
H. erectus
Handaxe
1. D 2700 (Dmanisi) and WT 15000 (Nariokotome)- Homo ergaster

are two similar small and quite lightly- built adolescent skulls.
Pictures from National Geographic
Homo georgicus
2. Daynes 3. Anton
Dmanisi cranial fossils (compiled

from different sources, especially
from Gabunia et al., 2001)
Facial skeletons of African H.

ergaster (KNM-WT 15000 (cast))
and Dmanisi (D2282) after
Gabunia et.al. (2001)
Morphology
The Dmanissi crania are similar but about 90% smaller than African H.
ergaster. They were stout and short (stature ~150 cm) as they lived in the
temperate zone, whereas African H. ergaster was lean and tall since it lived
in a relatively dry and hot steppes environment. Other salient features are:
v Moderate supraorbital tori, relatively tall, thin-walled, narrow cranial
vaults
v Small cranial capacities (600-800 cc) like Homo habilis and unlike the
Asian Homo erectus (~1000).
v Mandible has primitive bucco-lingually narrow anterior teeth and P/3;

The D2282 face similar to H. ergaster, but small and pyriform (nasal)
aperture.
v Limb proportions similar to modern humans: legs (femurs) longer than

arms; vertebral column S-shaped, the foot well arched- indicating long
distance walking and running.
v Shoulders and arms were unique; hands resting outwardly.
v They exhibit a unique mosaic of “primitive” (ancestral) and “derived”

(novel, descendant) features, while almost modern in their body
proportions.
v They were associated with core-and-flake industry indicating that the

Oldowan Industry associated with foraging strategy was also as efficient
in facilitating dispersal as the Acheulian technology.
34
4) Homo erectus Human Palaeontology
Homo erectus evolved from Homo georgicus and was higher-brained and
versatile tool-maker, skilled organised hunter and therefore the widest spread
species having colonized most of the Old World one million year ago. Typical
Homo erectus first appeared in China and Java at ~1.6 Mya and survived as
late as 200 – 300 Kya (K= kilo=thousand, ya=years ago), even later at
Ngandong (Java) at ~100 Kya. Earlier presence of Homo erectus was debated
in Western Europe, but the skull from the Tautavel Arago Cave besides
Palaeolithic evidences from Lazaret cave and Terra Amata at Nice in southern
France attest their presence.
Distribution
The box below displays the main Homo erectus and other hominins.
Temporal and Special Distribution of H. erectus, Archaic & Modern

H. sapiens and H. neanderthalensis (adapted from Conroy, 2005)
Kya
Africa Eurasia East Asia Australia
30 Upper Cave of
Afalou Cro-Magnon
Zhoukoudian
Chancelade Saint-Cesaire Niah Cave
50 Modern Ngandong Lake Mungo
Le Moustier
Homo Saplens
La Chapelle
Amud
100 Kebara
Neandertals
Border Cave Shanidar
Aduma
200 Klasies River
Skul & Qafzeh
Ngaloba Krapina
(LH18) Tabun
Herto Dali
500 Omo Jinnirshan
Steinheim Ehringsdorf
Kabwe
Sima de los Huesos Zhoukoudian
Archalcs Arago (Atapuerca)
1000
Boxgrove Mauer Hexian
Bodo
Gran Dolina (Atapuerca)

1500
Daka
Homo erectus
Olduvai
Nariokotome Dmanisi
KNM_ER Sangiran
1800
37333
Box 1: Distribution sites of Homo erectus

an early African fossil (KNM-ER 3733 from Kenya, which is dated to 1.78 mya)
an early Indonesian fossil (Sangiran 17 from Java and dated to between 1.7-1.0 mya)
a late Chinese fossil (Zhoukoudian reconstruction that is dated to between 600-300 kya)
a late Indonesian fossil (Ngandong from Java dated to 53-27 Kya)
and even an immature individual (the 8-11 year old Nariokotome boy from Kenya that
dates to 1.6 mya).
35
Geological Frame Work Box 2: Distinguishing Cranial Characteristics of Homo erectus
1. Cranial capacity > Australopithecus but <Homo sapiens 750 - 1225cc. mean =
900cc. EQ 3.3-4.0 (Mchenry, 1994)
2. Long, low cranial vault with thick cranial walls (nearly twice as thick as modern
humans)
3. Face is short but massive, nasal aperture projecting forward relative to the
lateral facial regions (not a dished or concave face) the lower part of the face
protrudes (prognathism)
4. Large supraorbital torus (usually in the form of a bar) and supraorbital sulcus
5. Frontal bone low and receding
6. Postorbital constriction greater than Homo sapiens but less than
Australopithecus
7. Variable development of a sagittal keel along midline
8. Angular occipital with occipital (nuchal) torus
9. Broad base cranium - maximum breadth of skull low on temporal bone (about
the level of the external auditory meatus - ear) = pentagonal-shaped skull
(when viewed from behind) - Not Bell Shaped
10. Basicranium moderately flexed
11. Tooth size is smaller than Australopithecus (reduced megadonty) but greater
than Homo sapiens
12. No chin
5) The Archaic Homo sapiens

The later (“evolved”) Homo erectus and early (“archaic”) Homo sapiens are
indistinguishable. The terms “evolved” and “archaic” are not taxonomically
accepted, but often applied to a Old World widely occurring Middle
Pleistocene hominins living during 600 -150 Kya. So, many scholars consider
these a single species, Homo heidlebergensis, which is transitional between
Homo erectus and Homo sapiens.
Box 3: Dates and distribution sites of late Homo erectus/early Archaic Homo
sapiens or Homo heidlebergensis
African specimens European specimens Asian specimens

Kabwe cranium Steinheim cranium (Germany), 200- Dali cranium
(Zambia), 125 kya? 250 kya (China), 180-230 kya
or 500 kya - 200 kya Sima de los Huesos - Ata-puerca
Bodo cranium numerous specimens (Spain), 300- Jinniushan (China)
(Ethiopia), 600 kya 400 kya (200-280 kya
Arago face and partial cranium
(southern France), 320-470 kya
Mauer mandible (Germany) 500 kya
In their overall morphology, Homo heidlebergensis are similar to Homo erectus

in thick cranial vault, low sloping forehead, long low skull and a large robust
face with heavy brow ridges. But, they have two important differences, a larger
braincase (1210 cc) and lesser development of three Homo erectus bony ridges:
36
(a) the double arched supraorbital torus, (b) the reduced occipital torus, and (c) Human Palaeontology
the sagittal keel. So, they would seem to be more advanced towards modem
Homo sapiens.
Important fossils of the Homo heidlebergensis or “archaic” Homo sapiens are:

Kabwe (Zambia), Petralona in Greece, Steinheim in Germany, Dali in China,
and Narmada in India.
The Homo heidlebergensis have some Neanderthal-like specialized listed in the

box.
slightly developed
cranium low and
sagittal keel less postorbital
elongated
constriction
frontal bone
massive and
(forehead) sloping
double arched
brow ridges
large zygomatic
arch
RHODESIAN MAN (KABWE)
1. Larger average brain size, 1212 cm3 (Campbell, Loy, & Cruz-Uribe, 2005)
2. Rounded parietal bones, giving the cranium a barrel shape from posterior
view
3. Development of an occipital bun, a rounded bony protrusion on the occipital
bone in the region of the occipital torus
4. Development of midfacial prognathism produced by inflation of the maxil-
lary bones
5. The presence of large noses
6. Development of a retromolar gap (a space between the lower third molar and
the ascending ramus of the mandible)
6) Neanderthals – Homo neanderthalensis

‘Neanderthal’ is an informal term, referred to a unique population with a
distinctive morphology found in Europe and the Middle East ~150- 27 Kya.
They are currently classified as Homo neanderthalensis but earlier as Homo
sapiens neanderthalensis.
Postcranially Neanderthals were very well built with many unique features,
namely, shortened distal segments (radius and ulna in forelimb, tibia and
fibula in hind limb), large joint surfaces, and pronounced anterior posterior
curvature of the femur and radius, likely representing adaptations to the
colder climates. The salient cranial and postcranial characters of the
Neanderthals are shown in the figure and listed in the boxes.
37
Salient Features of Neanderthal Cranium
double arched large cranium low and long
supraorbital torus
suprainiac fossa
Occipital bun
nasal juxtamastoid eminence large
aperture chin lacking
large
Neanderthal (La Chapella aux Saints)
Neanderthal Features: Cranial & Postcranial

1. Large cranial capacity, mean = 1498 cc (Ruff et.al. 1997), 1. Overall short and robust people, Body
male range = 1524-1640cc and female range = 1270-1425 mass mean = 75 kg, F mean = 67.2 kg
cc (McKee, 2005), EQ = 4.78 (Ruff et.al., 1997). (Rosenberg et al., 2006). Stature estimates
= 1.5-1.7 meters (4'1111-5'7'') (Conroy,
2. Long, low and wide cranial vault 2005), M=169 cm (5'6.5"). F = 160 cm
(5'3") (Stringer & Gamble 1993).
3. Cranial base is often relatively flat (often not highly flexed)
2. Barrel-like chest cavity with broad scapula
4. Large face characterized by midfacial prognathism, inflated
and large shoulder joint.
maxilla, big nose and no canine fossa
3. Pelvis wide with by a long narrow pubic
5. large supraorbital rorus often forming a double arch
ramus
6. occipital bun (chignon with a suprainiac fossa
4. hand with wide fingertips and strongly
7. Maximum breadth at midparietal griping
8. Small mastoid but a large juxtamastoid eminence 5. Femur and tibia have large spiphyses (end
joints) with robust, cortically thick shafts
9. Chin usually absent
(although not as thick as Homo eroctus).
10. Teeth size smaller than Homo erectus but larger than ours, The radius and femur are curved antero-
molars with enlarged pulp chamber (taurodont) and a posteriorly. patella (kneecap) large and
retromolar gap (gap between M3 and the anterior margin thick.
of the ascending ramus of the mandible).
6. Shorten distal limb segments (fore-arm
lineage leading to Neanderthals and tibia)
There are two specimens that date from 800 kya to 650 kya (Gran Dolina of
Atapuerca Spain and Ceprano of Italy), somewhat from Homo
heidlebergensis and placed into a separate species, Homo antecessor, but
treated on the lineage leading to Neanderthals.
7) Anatomically Modern Homo sapiens (AMHS)

Modern Homo sapiens or earlier Homo sapiens sapiens (we) evolved with
many changes over the archaic type that include the enlargement and
rounding of the cranial vault by the expanding brain, at the same time
reduction in the size of the face. Earlier view was that modern humans had
not appeared until 35 – 40 Kya, but several fossils were discovered with
modern features between 195 and 100 Kya in Africa and subsequently at 90
Kya in the Middle East.
Distribution
The specimens to represent modern humans or nearly modern humans
include: at Omo, Herto, Klasies River Mouth Cave (Laetoli Hominid 18),
and Ngaloba Border Cave in Africa, at Middle East (Israel), namely Qafzeh,
and Skhul Caves, Chancelade and Cro-Magnon (France), Upper Cave of
Zhoukoudian (China) or Lake Mungo (Australia).
38
Human Palaeontology
large vertical
browridge forehead rounded high
lacking or cranial vault
week
rounded
occipital
canine
large mastoid
fossa
process
no retromolar
face vertical chin gap
(orthognathous) developed
Salient Features of Early Modern Humans

Morphology
Early AMHS were essentially like modern humans albeit somewhat more
robust in some specimens. The salient features of these early modern humans
are listed in the boxes below.
Cranial Postcranial
1. tall rounded cranial vault with a large brain, 1. generally less robust postcranial skeleton, mean body
mean = 1349cc and EQ = 5.28, (Ruff, weight - F = 58kg (127.6 lbs), M = 49kg (107.8 lbs)
1997) (McHenry & Coffin, 2000) mean stature - F = 175cm
(≈5'9"), M = 161 cm (≈5'3") (McHenry & Coffin,
2. small, vertical face with canine fossa
2000)
3. relatively vertical frontal bone (forehead)
2. limb bones can vary from small and delicate to very
4. brow ridge development is absent or large and robust however, they are still significantly
relatively small less robust than earlier people
5. large mastoid process 3. scapula is characterized by a bisulcate or ventral
sulcus on the lateral margin
6. highly flex cranial base
4. thumb distal phalange 2/3 the length of the proximal
7. gently rounded occiput (no torus or bun)
phalanx
8. when viewed from behind the skull in
5. distal limb segments usually longer relative to entire
widest near the top of the parietal region
limb
9. chin
6. cortical bone of the femur and tibia thinner than in
10. small teeth earlier people
11. no retromolar gap 7. pubic bone is shorter and thicker than that of the
neanderthals
The fundamental question still debated in palaeoanthropology are where, when

and how did modern humans arise. There are basically two models that address
these questions:
1) Multiregional Model: It suggests that there was an early migration of Homo

erectus to Asia, eventually into Europe, and during this period of geographic
expansion, the hominin populations maintained enough gene flow between
populations in the various regions of the world to preserve species integrity.
This widely dispersed hominin population evolved from early Homo erectus
to archaic and eventually into modern Homo sapiens. So, there is continuity
of characteristics in each region shared by the entire humanity.
39
Geological Frame Work 2) Single Origin or Replacement or Out of Africa Model
It postulates that hominins exited Africa early in the Pleistocene and occupied
Asia and eventually Europe, and that gene flow was occurring within each
region of the world but not extensively between the different regions. But,
modern humans arose in Africa around 150 Kya, and later colonized Asia
and Europe replacing the resident archaic populations of those regions. This
model postulates that modern humans first evolved and there is no continuity
of Homo erectus traits to archaic hominins to modern humans in each region
of the world. One would also expect to see some overlap in resident archaic
populations and the immigrant modern human populations.
Partial Replacement/Assimilation Model
Multiregional Model Population Replacement Model Genetic Replacement Model
Europe Africa Asia Europe Africa Asia Europe Africa Asia
Anatomically H. sapiens
Anatomically
modern modern
H. sapiens H. sapiens
Archaic
Archaic H. Sapiens
H. Sapiens
H. erectus
H. erectus H. erectus
Gene flow
It is basically the Out of Africa Model, but postulates some gene exchange between
migrant modern humans and local archaic humans. This model still argues that
most of our ancestry is African but it allows for some contribution of the more
ancient local populations.
3.3 NARMADA MAN

Narmada Man, rather men, is known by the cranial and postcranial fossil remains
representing two types of archaic hominins or human populations.
3.3.1 Cranial Remains

A partial right portion of the skullcap (calvaria) Narmada Man was discovered
from Hathnora in Central Narmada valley during 1982 by Arun Sonakia of the
Geological Survey of India, who reported the finding in 1984 in the Records of
the Geological Survey of India. Detailed studies on it were conducted by M.A.
de Lumley in France during 1985, and in USA during 1991 by Kenneth A.R.
Kennedy. The calvaria show a mosaic of H. erectus and “archaic” H. sapiens
characters. The main Homo erectus characters include:
1) Small mastoid process
2) Narrow post-orbital constriction
3) Maximum breadth across the mastoid
4) Prominent torus angularis
40
The important Homo sapiens characters traits include Human Palaeontology
1) A relatively high elevation of the cranial vault

2) The landmarks bregma and vertex are not coincident
3) The most posterior point in the instrumental calibration of maximum cranial
length falls superior to the landmark inion (where it lies in erectus skulls)
4) The estimated cranial capacity is between 1155 and 1421 cubic centimetres.
This on the contrary averages at about 1000 cubic centimeters in erectus.
Important “unique features” in Narmada Cavaria infrequent/absent in erectus
and modern sapiens are:
1) The furrowing of the sagittal ridge along the top of the Cranial Vault.
2) A large external auditory meatus (ear hole)
3) An unusually long temporal bone.
But, scholars remained divided on the status of Narmada calvaria as either
“evolved” H. erectus or “archaic” H. sapiens, but, recently many favour it as H.
heidlebergensis (for details see reference).
3.3.2 Postcranial Remains

Another discovery of Narmada Man was made by A. R. Sankhyan of the
Anthropological Survey of India, reported in January 1997 in Journal of Human
Evolution from the vicinity of the Calvaria site of Hathnora but slightly younger
bed to it. It was of three postcranial fossils, namely right and left clavicles and a
partial 9th left rib. These fossils revealed very short, robust and stocky archaic
hominin, with a stature (134 cm) and shoulder width (30 cm) found in the shortest
female Andaman Pygmy.
Thus, the cranial and postcranial bones from Narmada valley come from two
types of Middle to Late Pleistocene archaic hominins. They were found associated
with Late Acheulian handaxes, cleavers and choppers, and Middle Pleistocene
mammalian fauna indicating about 250-200 Kya (for details see references).
41
3.4 SUMMARY
There is no science other than human palaeontology or palaeoanthropology which
through the hard fossil evidences studies man as a species in time and space. It
seeks to understand the natural origins of mankind and how humans are
biologically and behaviourally related to other animals, e.g. the primates. After
two centuries’ struggle with orthodoxy, thanks to palaeoanthropology that we
have now understood that we are the product of a long evolutionary past, and
that the entire present humanity belongs to a single highly adaptive species, Homo
sapiens, which could succeed over several species which went extinct during
the course evolution. For over 10 million years we remained undifferentiated
from the apes, and got splitted about eight million years ago. We were small-
brained hominids until two million years ago, and acquired modern brain and
physique just over 150,000 years back. Like the physique, human mind, myths,
superstitions and other behaviours are also the products of evolution. Our
evolutionary wisdom- a gift of palaeoanthropology-can potentially serve the
humankind in a befitting way since it cuts across the continental, regional, racial,
ethnic, cultural and socio-religious biases.
Suggested Reading
Kennedy, K. A.R. (2000). God-Apes and Fossil men: the Paleoanthropology of
South Asia. Michigan: The University of Michigan Press.
Sankhyan, A.R. and Rao, V.R. (2007). Human Origins, Genome & People of
India: Genomic, Palaeontological & Archaeological Perspectives. New Delhi:
Allied Publishers.
Sankhyan, A R. (2009). Asian Perspectives on Human Evolution. New Delhi:

Serials Publications.
Williams, B., Kay, R., & Kirk, E. (2010). New Perspectives on Anthropoid
Origins. Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences.
Sample Questions
1) How would you define a Primate?
2) Which Primates were closer to humans?
3) Name the currently recognised last common Ape-Hominid ancestor in the
fossil record?
4) Discuss the status of the Siwalik, European and African hominoids in
understanding the last common ancestor.
5) Do fossil evidences support the Chimpanzee as the closest ape to man?
6) Discuss the Evolutionary hypotheses-‘Out of Africa’ ‘African Eve’ or ‘Out
of Asia’ in brief.
7) Distinguish between the Multiregional and the Single Origin hypotheses.
8) Was Homo erectus a dead evolutionary end in Asia?
9) Who were the probable ancestors of Hobbits- Homo floresiensis?
10) What is the status of Narmada man/men in the broad Old World perspective
of early human evolution?
42
11) Do the Cranial and Postcranial fossils of Narmada Man belong to a single Human Palaeontology
species or archaic population?
Write short note on the following
i) Missing Link
ii) Heidelbergenesis
43
MANI-002
PHYSICAL
Indira Gandhi
ANTHROPOLOGY
Block
7
ECOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
UNIT 1
Fundamentals of Ecology 5
UNIT 2
Adaptation to Environment 16
UNIT 3
Epidemiological Anthropology 34
Expert Committee
Punjabi University University of Delhi, Delhi
Patiala
Professor P. Vijay Prakash
Professor K. K. Misra Department of Anthropology
Director Andhra University
Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Visakhapatnam
Dr. Nita Mathur
Retired, Department of Anthropology, Faculty of Sociology
Calcutta University School of Social Sciences
Kolkata Indira Gandhi National Open University
Maidan Garhi, New Delhi
Professor P. Chengal Reddy
Retired, Department of Anthropology Dr. S. M. Patnaik
S V University, Tirupati Associate Professor
Panjab University Dr. Manoj Kumar Singh
Chandigarh Assistant Professor
SOSS, IGNOU
Principal, Hindu College Dr. Rashmi Sinha, Reader
Professor Sudhakar Rao Dr. Rukshana Zaman, Assistant Professor

Course Coordinator: Dr. Rashmi Sinha, SOSS, IGNOU, New Delhi
Professor Satwanti Kapoor Mrs. Narinder Jit Kaur
Department of Anthropology Retired, Associate Professor in English
University of Delhi, Delhi Government Mohindra College, Patiala
Unit Writers
Professor S. V. Hittalmani (Unit 1) Professor R K Pathak (Unit 2) Professor S V Hittalmani
Department of Anthropology Department of Anthropology (Unit 3)
Karnatak University, Dharwad Panjab University, Chandigarh Department of Anthropology
Karnatak University, Dharwad

August, 2011
ISBN-978-81-266-5551-9
Printed at :
BLOCK 7 ECOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
Introduction
Since the first appearance of genus Homo to the emergence of the species sapiens,
human populations have expanded and diversified to occupy a wide range of
habitats. They use a variety of survival strategies to exploit an exceptionally
broad range of eco-regions and dietary components. Such diversity bears
authentication to our adaptability to an array of environmental conditions. Human
as an individual, respond to environmental stress with physiological and growth
adjustments which enhance their survivability. These aspects of human-
environment interaction change dramatically during evolution, giving rise to new
selective pressures. Thus, ecology is founded on the notion of organisms adapting
to a selecting environment. Evolutionary trends in human body form provide
important context for interpreting variation among modern populations. In a
given region, the interaction of biotic assemblage of the organism with its physical
environment leads to defined tropic structure and biodiversity in an ecosystem.
The term ‘adaptability’ is often interpreted to encompass only the responses in

the phenotype, emerging by the action of environment upon a given genotype. It
distinguishes genetic adaptation as specific inheritable characteristic which favors
tolerance and survival of the organisms in a particular environment. At the same
time, ‘human adaptability’ is applied to response which improves functioning of
an individual or population in an environment. The study of human adaptability
involves biological response, which include physiological, biochemical and
structural components. Thus, specific genetic trait which adapts a population to
its environmental niche must be distinguished from general genetic structure of
the species which allow all populations to adjust to a variety of environments.
The respective input of genetic and environmental factors differ with the
developmental stage of the organism – the earlier the stage, the larger the influence
of the environment and greater the plasticity of organism.
Adaptation to climate does not take place in seclusion from the influence of
other “non-environmental” forces, instead, in the midst of a multifaceted set, of
economic, social, and institutional situations which ascertain a location-specific
perspective for human-environment interactions. It is significant to both long
term global climate change and to current changeability in climatic conditions.
The competence for adaptation to environmental stress varies between population
and even between individuals.
Beyond adaptability, human survivability is influenced by dietary in-adequacies

or nutritional stress and diseases also. Populations have differential nutritional
requirements depending on the climate where humans reside. When less severe,
it retards physical development, reduces vitality, and increases susceptibility to
most infectious diseases. The common infectious and parasitic diseases such as
malaria and the HIV/AIDS pandemic remain major unresolved health problems
in many countries. The emerging non-communicable diseases relating to changing
diet and lifestyle have been increasing over the last two decades, thus creating a
double burden of disease especially in developed and underdeveloped countries.
For many populations, shifts in nutritional status signal variability in access to
resources at different life stages. Though epidemiological studies reveal the
Ecological Anthropology distribution and determinants of disease, these cannot provide the necessary
components for comprehension and explanation of causes that maintain the
endemic levels. The socio-cultural structure often governs the spread of disease
and the attitude of a population to health. Thus, epidemiological and
anthropological interaction elucidate the interaction of biological and the social-
cultural aspect influencing the health/ disease process, eliminating the impediment
(obstruction) which limit the intervention aimed at control of disease.
The units in this block will emphasise on ecological principles as applied to

human populations, the emergence of adaptations during the process of gene–
environment interaction, spatial distribution of diseases and impact of nutritional
stress and the interplay of cultural and biological factors in human behaviour.
4
Fundamentals of Ecology
UNIT 1 FUNDAMENTALS OF ECOLOGY
Contents
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Basic Concepts of Ecology
1.3 Development of Human Ecology
1.4 Methods of Studying Human Ecology
1.5 Occurrence of Adaptation at Different Levels
1.6 Different Eco-Systems
1.7 Human Adaptability : Adjustment to Different Ecosystems
1.8 Behavioural Adjustments
1.9 Human Housing
1.10 Social Response to Harsh Environments
1.11 Acclimatory Adjustments
1.12 Acclimatization and Extreme Cold
1.13 Mechanisms of Heat Loss
1.14 Acclimatization to Desert Habitats
1.15 Adjustment to High Altitudes
1.16 Genetic and Non-Genetic Factors in Climatic Adjustments
1.17 Summary
References
Suggested Reading
Sample Questions

Ø define human ecology;
Ø explain the concepts and methods of studying ecology;
Ø describe the different ecosystems; and
Ø indicate the different acclamatory adjustments.
1.1 INTRODUCTION
Ecology is the scientific study of the relationships between living organisms and
their environment. General ecology contains a set of concepts and principles
derived from evolutionary theory that are used to explain the adaptation and
evolution of animal and plant populations and communities in response to the
varying conditions of resource availability presented by diverse, dynamic and
changing environments. These concepts and principles pertain to other aspects
such as energy flow, feeding relations, resource attainment, behaviours, materials
cycles, population dynamics, ecosystem properties, population interactions and
community organisation (Abruzzi, 2003). 5
Ecological Anthropology
1.2 BASIC CONCEPTS OF ECOLOGY
v Diversity of Living Things: Plants and animals exist in great variety of forms
and can be classified by their structure and behaviour.
v Interdependency of Living Things: All living things rely on and are affected
by other living organisms and non-living components of their environments.
v Resource and Energy Cycles: The interactions among the members of an
ecological community involve the exchange of energy and resources in
continual cycles.
v Nested Systems: Networks of interdependent organisms exist within other
larger networks (community to bio-sphere).
v Dynamic Balance: Each ecological network regulates and organises itself
by maintaining a state of dynamic balance characterised by continual
fluctuations.
1.3 DEVELOPMENT OF HUMAN ECOLOGY

Human ecology is the systematic application of ecological concepts, principles,
theory and research methods to study the human populations and communities.
Human ecology examines the way human-resource relationships affect the human
adaptation to diverse type of ecosystem such as desert, arctic, forest and others
(Abruzzi, 2003). It also scrutinises the role that resource requirements needed to
withstand a population play in shaping local differences in behaviour, residential
distribution, household composition and structure, community, social and political
organisations, inter-population relationships and other social behaviour. Human
ecology also examines contemporary ecological concerns that results from
population growth and industrial development (Abruzzi, 2003).
It has been known for a long time that human survivability is determined by
environment. Several attempts made to understand responses of organism to
critical environment can be traced back to antiquity. But the idea of contemporary
human ecology has been expressed since the 18th century by Adam Smith, Malthus,
Darwin and Hoppes. It is believed that the term Human Ecology was first used
in geography by Huntington (1916) and later it was adopted in Sociology (1921).
The history of human ecology in sociology is complex. In fact concepts of human
ecology in sociology evolved from the classical concepts of competition. The
social area analysis focused on the population structure (organisation) in relation
to the total environment. In other words, it is the ecological analysis of social
organisation. Since human ecology deals with the role of the environment in the
origin and existence of man, it has engrossed many other disciplines including
anthropology and medicine.
Thus human ecology can be defined as the study of spatial and temporal
relations of human beings affected by selective, distributive and
accommodating forces of the environment. The definition is well adapted
in sociology and other sciences.
The anthropological perspective of human ecology deals with the question “how
man copes with his environment”. Since human relations are not mainly biological
therefore the development of culture context is necessary. Culture cannot be
6
understood in isolation from the environment in which it evolved. Contemporarily, Fundamentals of Ecology
social anthropology concern with the issues related to the exploitation of the
environment, utilisation of resources and energy transformation in a cultural
setting.
On the other hand economists view ecology as subset of economy. The economy
is disrupting and destroying earth’s natural system. An environmentally
sustainable economy requires that the principles of ecology establish the
framework for the formulation of economic policy (Brown, 2001).
It was on the basis of Malthus’s concept that Darwin thought of ‘struggle for
existence’ which result into balance between the environmental state and social
activity of humans. It emphasizes on the importance of exchange system among
individuals, populations and species. Theoretically, succession corresponds to
accumulative increase in the human population. Practically the problem of limited
natural resources is the real connecting link. This would lead to minimize
consumption by consumers and to maximize the benefits by producers. It may
lead to a state of balance through mutual succession. However, it has been shown
that neglecting ecological and economical laws along with lack of coordination
of activities, results in the destruction of natural environment and deterioration
of living conditions for humans. All these ideas are typical of the initial stage of
human ecology which dominated for about half century.
Human ecology in the beginning had a monodisciplinary approach. A review of
the trends in human ecology defines the scope of ecological concepts which
includes basic processes like the kind of interaction between living organisms,
levels of integration and functional relationship. Human ecology distinctly focuses
on the interactions because organisms cannot live in isolation. Such interactions
have its own dynamic structural and functional dimension. It determines the role
of Homo sapiens with his own and other species. Thus the subject matter of
human ecology includes systems of interactions among individuals and
interrelations with the environment, niche, habitat and the ecosystem.
Environment may act at three level of biological organisation: individual,
population and community. Population refers to group of individuals of same
species living in a given territory and is integrated by common culture. In other
words human ecology deals with the matrix of nature in which each object has
its own place and function.
1.4 METHODS OF STUDYING HUMAN ECOLOGY

Human ecology utilises various methods acquired from other classical disciplines
that it synthesizes and incorporates. However, the methodology of human ecology
is neither exclusively an analysis of individual objects nor synthesis of the
problems.
The basic methods are the observation and recording of the state of nature and
society which instinctively recognises the interrelationships between organisms
and their environment. Monitoring is carried out at the level of the organisms,
populations and environment. For instance, the inferences in epidemiology when
implicit as a part of human ecology are based on healthy people rather than
unhealthy people, and on populations rather than individuals. The characterisation
of an event in the context of the environmental conditions provides opportunity
for estimating what is the average, normal and regular. 7
Ecological Anthropology In Anthropology, monitoring consists of recording individual responses to similar
environmental conditions and intra population differences. Thus the specific
response of different races or ethnic groups remains in the field of classical
anthropology and the old approaches have been modernised in the light of the
concepts of major genes or complex linked genes or populations.
The monitoring of the state of the environment is extremely complex, as the

number of environmental factors affecting humans is almost unlimited. The
physical factors include climate, nutrition, pollution of air, water, food and noise.
In addition, social and economic factors indicating living conditions are also
considered.
1.5 OCCURRENCE OF ADAPTATION AT

DIFFERENT LEVELS
v Genetic adaptation, the evolution of advantageous characteristics,
v Developmental adaptation (plasticity),
v Long term acclimatisation acquired over the years but reversible under
environmental change,
v Seasonal acclimatisation, which reverses itself during the annual cycle, and
v Short term acclimatisation, it manifests in daily or irregular responses to
conditions.
1.6 DIFFERENT ECO SYSTEMS

v Deserts and dry lands
v Tropical forests
v Tropical scrubs
v Tropical grass land (Savanna)
v Temperate forests
v Mediterranean scrubs
v Temperate grass lands – short grass
v Boreal lands – coniferous forests
v Polar lands and Tundra
v Mountain habitats
1.7 HUMAN ADAPTABILITY: ADJUSTMENTS TO

DIFFERENT ECO SYSTEMS
Human populations occupy a wide range of habitats, from the icy wastelands of
the Arctic to the equatorial deserts of North Africa. While most animal species
have become adapted to relatively narrow niches, humans have survived in far-
ranging and highly diverse niches.
For the sake of discussion, two mechanisms of human adaptability may be

differentiated: adaptation and adjustment. Adaptation refers to changes in gene
8
frequencies resulting from selective pressures exerted by environmental factors Fundamentals of Ecology
on a population. Human species is able to adjust to a wide variety of environmental
conditions without undergoing major micro evolutionary changes. Such changes
are termed adjustments.
However, it must be emphasised that the potentials for such non genetic
adjustments are the end products of the evolutionary process. One of the major
problems faced by researchers in this area is the determination of the relative
importance of genetic and non genetic forms of adaptability, which we have
termed here adaptation and adjustment, respectively. In fact, in most situations,
both probably operate together.
1.8 BEHAVIOURAL ADJUSTMENTS

Humans are biologically tropical, better equipped to survive in hot rather than
cold climate. They do not possess thick layers of subcutaneous fat or thick fur
which otherwise provide insulation to body against cold. Thus, a substantial
portion of cold adaptation in this hostile climate is behavioural. Behavioural
adjustments are cultural responses of humans to cope with environmental stresses.
These adjustments are not inherited from one generation to the other. Hence,
behavioural adjustment must be made by each generation as newborn infants
learn their culture. It includes seeking shelter, using protective clothing, improving
housing and other technologies.
1.9 HUMAN HOUSING

A clear example of how culture permits people to survive in stressful habitats is
housing. The oldest known human habitation structure was discovered at Olduvai
Gorge, a site in east Africa that has yielded important fossil and archaeological
evidence of human evolution. This structure, almost 2 million years old, consists
of stones arranged in a rough circle about 360 to 420 centimeters (12 to 14 feet)
in diameter. These stones most likely supported a brush structure similar to those
still being built in the same area now-a-days.
Today, we are impressed by the tremendous variety of habitation structures. House

form is a reflection of many variables, including the size of the household unit
and availability of raw materials. It also reflects socio-cultural features such as
religious beliefs, family and clan structure, social organisation, way of gaining a
livelihood and social relations between individuals.
Environment plays a major role in the development of house type; its significance
lies in areas under environmental stress, e.g. Igloo of the Eskimo. The igloo
consists of a dome-shaped structure (Romans and Etruscans were not the only
people to develop the arch) connected to the outside by a tunnel. It is made up of
snow, which is an excellent insulator as it traps the air within itself. Heat is
produced by a small seal-oil lamp within the structure. This melts the snow
slightly during the day and refreezes at night, forming an icy reflective layer on
the inner side. The reflective layers accompanied with the dome structure serve
to reflect the heat throughout the igloo. Relatively little heat is lost to the outside
since the dome shape minimizes the surface area from which heat can radiate. A
long tunnel way helps to warm the air gradually as one enters the structure, and
also block the entry of wind into the habitation area. 9
Ecological Anthropology Habitation structure is one aspect of a human technology. There are other aspects
of technology also which enable human to survive in stressful environments
including, for short periods of time, outer space.
1.10 SOCIAL RESPONSE TO HARSH

ENVIRONMENTS
In addition behavioural adaptation humans adjust their social organisation to
their environments. For instance, Eskimos, living in extremely harsh environments
use a number of strategies to reduce environmental stress. Anthropologist Knud
Rasmussen during a trip to King William Island discovered that in a sample of
eighteen marriages, 38 out of 96 female infants born were put to death. This
strategy of female infanticide is practiced by the Netsilik Eskimos to increase
the ratio of males to females. Such numerical balance between the sexes reduces
stress of male hunters to support unproductive members of society. Also, in the
harsh northern environments females are considered to have less survivability
than males. People in these habitats also practice suicide, invalidicide, and
senilicide in crisis situations. Infanticide is usually an extreme response to extreme
conditions, although it has been practiced in a wide variety of human societies.
All human societies in some way adjust economic, political, social, religious,
and other aspects of their social systems to the environmental conditions. This
socio-cultural flexibility, in part, allows humans to exist in so many habitats.
1.11 ACCLAMATORY ADJUSTMENTS

Acclamatory refers to reversible physiological adjustments to environmental
stress. Instances of acclimatisation have been observed in three environments:
the arctic, the desert, and high altitudes.
The Arctic, is perhaps one of the more stressful habitats occupied by humans. It
was inhabited relatively late in human prehistory, and gradually human became
acclimatised to the climate.
The primary environmental stress in the arctic is very low temperatures. Normal
human core body temperature is 370C (98.60F). When the core temperature falls
below 34.40C (940F), hypothermia occurs and at 29.40C (850F), temperature
regulating ability of the hypothalamus in the brain is impaired resulting in death.
Cold exposure which leads to freezing of the tissues causes frostbite. It usually
occurs in exposed area of the body parts such as fingers, toes, and earlobes.
Perhaps the most important acclamatory adjustment is increase in the basal

metabolic rate. The basal metabolic rate refers to minimum amount of energy
required by the body to maintain body processes necessary for life and is measured
as the amount of heat produced by the body per unit time at rest. This increase
can be as much as 25 per cent in adults and 170 per cent in infants. The increased
basal metabolic rate results in the production of additional body heat but it requires
that individuals’ consumption of food, high in nutritive value. The native diet in
these regions consists largely of protein and fat, which provides the required
types of food. People living in arctic conditions for long periods of time are less
affected by the cold.
10
1.12 ACCLIMATIZATION AND EXTREME COLD
The nude human body at rest begins to combat against hypothermia at the air
temperature of approximately 310C (87.8°F). This temperature is known as the
critical temperature. Consequently, the individual reduces the loss of heat from
body to the environment and produces heat to increase body temperature.
A major mechanism for conserving heat is peripheral vasoconstriction.

Constriction of the capillaries below the skin prevents warm blood from reaching
to the surface of the skin, where much of the body’s heat would be lost to the air.
Additional body heat is produced voluntarily by exercise and involuntarily by
shivering. A high degree of muscle activity yields heat. However, exercise can
be performed only for limited periods of time depending on the physical fitness
of an individual. More important is shivering. Low body temperature causes the
hypothalamus of the brain to stimulate increased muscle tone, which results in
shivering. At the peak of shivering, the increased muscle metabolism can increase
the rate of heat production five times than that of the normal.
1.13 MECHANISMS OF HEAT LOSS

Humans survive more efficiently in the hot and arid climates than in the arctic
regions of the world. This is generally due to lack or scant presence of body hair,
which otherwise act as insulating material. Also, humans have a greater capacity
to sweat than any other mammal.
In the hot climate as in desert it is essential for the human body needs to get rid
of excess heat that is being absorbed by the body. In general, heat can be lost in
any one of the four ways:
Conduction: It occurs when heat move from a warmer object to a cooler object
by direct contact. Thus, if you stand barefoot on a hot pavement,
the soles of your feet will heat to an uncomfortable temperature
because of conduction.
Convection: Heat is transferred from warmer to surrounding cooler fluid, either
liquid or air. Returning to our hot pavement, the heat from the
pavement is transferred to the cooler air. As the air warms up, it
expands, and expanding air rises above. Cooler air flows down
to replace it. Thus currents set up in the air carry away heat.
Radiation: Heat is given off by an object as electromagnetic waves of a
characteristic wavelength. Other forms of electromagnetic waves
include visible light, ultraviolet radiation, and radio waves.
Evaporation: The heat is lost from the skin by evaporation of sweat as when
water converts into vapor; a certain amount of energy is required
in the form of heat. Therefore, when you get out of the swimming
pool on a warm day, you feel cool because some of your body
heat will be used up in the process of transforming the pool water
left on your skin into water vapor.
Human body gets rid of excess heat in warm climates by all four methods, but at
air temperatures above 35°C (95°F) evaporation is much efficient. Therefore,
11
Ecological Anthropology sweating is the most important method of controlling body temperature in warm
climates. Humans have a high density of sweat glands over their bodies, although
the number per square centimeter does differ in different parts of the body. An
adult male averaged 206 sweat glands per square centimeter on the hand and 69
on the trunk; these numbers are greater than in any other mammal. The number
of sweat glands does not differ significantly between desert- and non desert-
dwelling populations.
1.14 ACCLIMATIZATION TO DESERT HABITATS

Acclimatising to desert life is not well understood, but within a few weeks of
exposure to hot and arid climates individuals acquire some adjustments.
Meanwhile, the sweat glands become sensitive and produce sweat. Sweat also
contains salts, and much sodium is lost through sweating. With time, the
concentration of salt in sweat is reduced, although the relatively high salt
concentrations found in desert water easily compensate for salt loss. Urine volume
also reduces, thus conserve water in the body. This same acclimatisation ability
has been found in peoples from all parts of the world, so it appears to represent
a basic ability of the human species instead of an adaptation of certain populations.
In addition, there are short-term reactions to increased heat loads. The

physiological response involves vasodilatation of the capillaries under the skin.
In vasodilatation, the bloodstream brings heat to the body surface, and is lost to
the environment by conduction, convection, radiation or evaporation.
Acclimatisation escalates the ability to work longer and more efficiently in hot
climates.
People also adopt various behavioural adjustments to the hot climates. In desert
regions people tend to reduce physical activity during the heat of the day, thereby
reducing heat production by the body. Also, assume a relaxed body posture that
increases the surface area of the body from which sweat may evaporate.
Adjustment to hot climates is aided by cultural factors such as clothing and

shelter. Desert dwellers cover their bodies to protect the skin from ultraviolet
radiation as well as to reduce the amount of heat from the sun which otherwise is
absorbed by the body. Such clothing is designed to permit the free flow of air
between the clothing and the body. This airflow is necessary to carry off the
water vapor formed by the evaporation of sweat.
Interestingly, the color of clothing does not seem to make much difference in hot
climates. An experiment conducted on black and white Bedouin robes shows
that black robes gain about 2 ½ times as much heat as white robes. Yet the
temperature of the skin under black robes is the same as that under white robes.
Most likely, the greater convection currents between the black robe and the skin
are responsible for this phenomenon.
In addition to physiological and cultural factors, psychological elements appear

to play major roles in adjustments to intense heat. Some Europeans adapt quickly
to desert life, others never seem to adjust to changing conditions of life. In an
emergency, the European, anxious to do something, is active, gets hotter and
uses up his limited supply of water. In contrast, the nomad, secure in the will of
Allah, tends to relax and behave more calmly.
12
1.15 ADJUSTMENTS TO HIGH ALTITUDES
When a person travels into the mountains on vacation, he or she may experience
high-altitude or mountain sickness. The symptoms include shortness of breath,
respiratory distress, physical and mental fatigue, rapid pulse rate, interrupted
sleep, and headaches intensified by activity. Slight digestive disorders and in
some cases a marked loss of weight may also occur. In other cases the individual
may feel dyspnea, nausea, and vomiting. Although most people eventually become
acclimatised to high altitude, many do not. They will continue to suffer from
chronic mountain sickness as long as they remain at high altitude.
Less than 1 percent of the world’s population lives at high altitude, yet these
populations are of great interest to anthropologists. High-altitude environments
exert multiple-stress on human population. These stresses include low oxygen
pressure, intense solar radiation, cold and dry wind, rough terrain, and relatively
limited plant and animal life.
High-Altitude Hypoxia: As already known, the arctic and desert environments

lay emphasis on culture as an efficient means of adjustment to stressful
environments. Culture plays a pivotal role in high altitudes as well except in
hypoxia. Hypoxia refers to low oxygen pressure, which occurs when relatively
low levels of oxygen are supplied to the tissues of the body. Hypoxia may result
from disease as well as environmental factors. High-altitude hypoxia represents
one of the few environmental stresses that cannot be adjusted to by some cultural
means. Although the use of oxygen tanks provides limited adjustment, this
solution is available only in high-technology cultures and is practical only for
short periods of time.
The earth’s atmosphere exerts an average of 1 kilograms of pressure on every

square centimeter (14.7 pounds per square inch) of surface area at sea level. This
pressure is able to raise a column of mercury (which has the chemical symbol
Hg) in a closed tube to an average height of 760 millimeters (29.92 inches).
Therefore, we say that the average air pressure at sea level is 760 millimeters
(29.92 inches) of mercury.
The atmosphere is composed of many gases and approximately 21 per cent of air
is oxygen. The portion of the total atmospheric pressure due to oxygen is the
partial pressure of oxygen, which measures 159 millimeters (6.26 inches) of
mercury at sea level. At altitude, the partial pressure of oxygen decreases. At
4500 meters (14,765 feet) the partial pressure of oxygen is decreased by as much
as 40 per cent, thus substantially reducing the amount of oxygen that can reach
the tissues of the body.
The oxygen enters into the bloodstream via approximately 300 million alveoli
of the lungs. The alveoli are small air sacs that are richly endowed with blood
capillaries. Although the partial pressure of oxygen at sea level is 159 millimeters
(6.26 inches) of mercury, the partial pressure of oxygen in the alveoli at sea level
is 104 millimeters (4.16 inches) of mercury. This is due to the fact that not all the
air in the lungs is replaced with each breath. The partial pressure of oxygen in
the arteries and capillaries of the circulatory system is 95 millimeters (3.80 inches)
of mercury, and in the tissues it is 40 millimeters (1.60 inches) of mercury.
13
Ecological Anthropology As gas moves from higher to lower partial pressure, oxygen diffuses from the
blood to the tissues. At high altitudes, the partial pressure of oxygen in the blood
would be too low to permit diffusion of oxygen from the blood to the tissues
unless certain physiological adjustments take place. These adjustments make
high-altitude environments a possible human habitation.
When an individual inhabiting near sea level migrates to high mountains, he or
she will probably notice an increase in the breathing rate, which may reach twice
that of at sea level. The increased breathing rate brings more oxygen in the alveoli,
and increases the partial pressure of oxygen in the blood.
This hyperventilation, or increased breathing rate, eventually reduces, to normal
level as the person becomes acclimatised to the high altitude.
About 97 per cent of the oxygen in the blood is carried in chemical combinations
with hemoglobin in the red blood cells; the other 3 per cent is dissolved in the
plasma and may be ignored. The chemical association of oxygen and hemoglobin
is loose and reversible. When the partial pressure of oxygen in the alveoli of the
lungs is higher than that of blood, oxygen diffuses into blood vessels and combines
with hemoglobin. When the hemoglobin molecule reaches the capillaries, oxygen
diffuses into the cells where the partial pressure of oxygen is lower than blood.
When the blood leaves the lungs, the hemoglobin is about 97 percent saturated
with oxygen. Some of the oxygen is then utilised by the tissues. As a result, the
hemoglobin in the veins returning to the heart and lungs is only about 70 per
cent saturated. At high altitudes, several factors operate to alter these percentages,
thereby permitting the hemoglobin molecules to carry more oxygen to the tissues.
As a result of hyperventilation, the concentration of carbon dioxide in the blood
is decreased, thus altering the blood chemistry in a way to increase the amount
of oxygen carried in the blood.
Other acclamatory changes include increase in the number of blood capillaries,
thereby improves the diffusion of oxygen by shortening the distance between
the cell and capillary. Increased number of red blood cells enhances oxygen
carrying capacity due to elevated amount of hemoglobin. Therefore, although
the partial pressure of oxygen as it enters the lungs differs at sea level and at high
altitude, the partial pressure of oxygen in the blood is not very different by the
time it reaches the capillaries. Many changes also occur at the cellular level that
enables cells to carry out their metabolic functions at lower oxygen levels.
While the factors discussed above and many more, permit humans to live at high
altitudes, people cannot overcome all the negative biological effects of high-
altitude. For example, high altitude affects reproduction; birth weights are lower
and infant mortality is higher. In addition, the growth and development of children
are slower. A good example of developmental adjustment is found among the
children of high altitudes. During growth the native develops greater chest
circumferences than do those growing up at lower elevations.
1.16 GENETIC AND NON-GENETIC FACTORS IN

CLIMATIC ADJUSTMENTS
Twin studies indicate that variations in body-shape, size, fat deposition, growth
pattern, skeletal and physiological maturation are all determined by genetic
14 constitution to a larger extent than by totally environmental factors. Population
differences rest undoubtedly on distinct genotypes or multifactorial Fundamentals of Ecology
recombination, e.g. nose-shape or the ratio of limb length to trunk length remains
unaffected by change in environment. The situation is, however, more
complicated, because of the action of climate on body-weight and growth rate of
non-indigenous peoples. Europeans in the tropics possess body-weights lower
on the average than those in colder environments.
1.17 SUMMARY
In physical anthropology, ecological study plays an important role as always
human beings have been studied in relation to their environment. The ecological
concepts and principles permit a better understanding of the individual. Ecology
is systematically studied by applying different methods and techniques. The
subject matter include: genetic adaptation, developmental adaptation, seasonal
acclimatisation, etc. Human beings have been distributed in different ecosystems
namely, tropical, subtropical, temperate, semi-temperate and artic regions and
have adjusted to these ecosystems in order to survive in a successful manner.
Bodily and physiological adaptation has enhanced tolerance to extremes cold
and hot climates. Behavioural adjustments are in coordination with cultural
characteristics of a particular community or populations. At the same time, role
of the genetic and non-genetic facts in climatic adjustments cannot be ruled out.
References
Abruzzi, W.S. 2003. www.drabruzzi.com/human ecology.htm accessed on 30-
04-2011
Brown, L. 2001. Rethinking Economic Progress The Dow may be up over the
past decade, but cod, aquifers, topsoil, fisheries, forests and coral reefs are down.
Excerpt from Eco-economy: Building an Economy for the Earth. New York. W
W Norton & company.
Suggested Reading
Harrison G.A., WeinerJ.S., Tanner J.M. and Barnicot N.A. 1964. Human Biology.
Reddy.R. 1992. Physical Anthropology, Evolution and Human Genetics. Tirupati.
V. Indira Publishers.
Shukla B.R.K. and Rastogi, S. 1999. Physical Anthropology and Human Genetics-
An Introduction. Delhi, Palka Prakashan.
Stein P. L. and Rowe B.M.1974. Physical Anthropology. New York, McGraw-
Hill.
Sample Questions
1) Explain the different basic concepts of ecological studies.
2) Discuss the different methods of studying human ecology.
3) Write an explanatory note on behavioural adjustments in ecological studies.
4) Briefly explain the role of genetic and non-genetic factors in climatic
adjustments.
15
UNIT 2 ADAPTATION TO ENVIRONMENT
Contents
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Habitat
2.2.1 Classification of Habitats
2.2.2 Geographical Distribution of Habitats
2.2.3 Population Distribution in Habitats
2.2.4 Types of Economy
2.3 Climatic Adaptation
2.3.1 The Thermal Environment
2.3.2 Bergmann’s and Allen’s Rules
2.4 Climatic Stress and Man’s Physiological Response and Acclimatization
2.4.1 Hot Climate Adaptation
2.4.2 Cold Climate Adaptation
2.4.3 High Altitude Adaptation
2.5 Summary
Suggested Reading
Sample Questions
Learning Objectives
The objective is to
&
Ø learn about the biological and non-biological components of different habitats
occupied by human populations all over the world;
Ø facilitate an understanding of the influence of thermal environment on human
beings; and
Ø understand the mechanisms of human adaptation to these environmental
stresses.
2.1 INTRODUCTION
Ecological anthropology is the multidisciplinary study of the dynamic interface
between humans and their socio-cultural and biophysical environments. It focuses
upon how a particular population purposely or unintentionally shapes its
environment, and showcases how an environment shapes it’s socio-cultural,
economic and political life. Each population has its own adaptation to a wider
environment. The term adaptation is a process whereby the organism has attained
a beneficial adjustment to the environment.
Adaptation encompasses the physiological, cultural, and genetic adaptations
that allow individuals and populations to adjust to their environment in
which they live.
The term Environment describes the sum total of abiotic and biotic conditions
influencing the responses of organisms. More specifically, environment into which
life penetrates is termed the biosphere which is made up of portion of the
biosphere, hydrosphere, aerosphere and lithosphere. Population is not engaged
16 with the total environment around them but rather with a habitat.
Adaptation to Environment
2.2 HABITAT
Habitat is a place where a plant or animal lives often characterised by either
dominant plant forms or physical characteristics (e.g. grasslands habitat). Or a
Habitat is a specific set of physical and chemical conditions (e.g. space, climate)
that surrounds a single species, a group of species or a large community.
To appreciate the variety of ecosystem exploited by man we need to consider the
range offered by different combinations of habitat and economy. Thus,
classification of both habitats and economic groups are needed which will include
the ecosystern of pre-literate and prehistoric man as well as of more advanced
societies. A simple classification of habitat should indicate the chief climatic,
floral, faunal and topographical characters, and a classification of economic or
social groups should sufficiently indicate the mode of livelihood and the
complexity of the community. Elaborate classifications of habitats, economies
or ecosystems are not really called for since their variation is immense.
2.2.1 Classification of Habitats

Habitats may be roughly classified into 10 groups; the first nine depend broadly
on geographical latitude and the last being determined by altitude. The ecological
stresses vary in these different habitats, due to different combinations of climatic,
nutritional diseases and other factors. In Table 2.1 are given the main feature of
these 10 groups of habitats, and in Table 2.2 their geographical distribution in
different continents is shown.
Table 2.1: Classification of Habitats
i Equatorial forests: Dense rain forest, evergreens, tall and canopied,

wet, will not burn, difficult to clear.
ii Tropical forest and scrub: Less dense, semi-deciduous forest which
can be cleared; scrub forest with grass or brush floor and some small
thorny trees, merges with equatorial forest and with grassland.
iii Tropical grasslands (savannahs): Great stretches of grassland with
scattered trees or patches of forest or parkland and abundant animal
life.
iv Deserts and dry lands: Vegetation scanty, plants are (a) water-storing
succulents and/or thorny cacti or aloes (b) annuals, dominant; (c)
perennials with long roots. Surface water shade, animal life scarce,
little shade climate ameliorated in oases and nearby river systems.
v Temperate forests: The natural broad-leaf deciduous forest merging
into coniferous forest and moorland with evergreen heaths on western
European seaboard. Now large land has been cleared. Animal life is
in abundance.
vi Mediterranean scrub: The maquis-evergreen rather than deciduous
(oaks and chestnuts) small trees and shrubs, plants deep-rooted and
xerophytic, grassland in patches. Animals are not in abundance.
vii Temperate grasslands: Steppes of short grass; prairies of long grass.
The prairies and chernzem well watered and water-retaining.
17
viii Boreal lands: Coniferous forest mostly of spruce, fir, larch, rarely birch,
beech, polar lakes, rivers and swamps. Abundant animal life, e.g.,
moose, caribou, puma in America, tiger in Siberia.
ix Polar lands and tundra: Tundra begins at edge of boreal forest as scrub
of dwarf willows, ash, alder, then becomes carpeted tundra of sedges,
mosses, lichens; then desert tundra with isolated patches of grass
tundra, flowers blossoming in spring. Animals in abundance (e.g.,
fish, sea mammals) along with many Arctic species, e.g., foxes, hares,
bears.
x Mountain habitats: Depend on locality, altitude and orientation in
relation to light and shade, e.g., at equator succession of tropical forest,
mixed forest, conifers, alpine meadows.
2.2.2 Geographical Distribution of Habitats

Table 2.2: Habitats – geographical distribution (some examples)
Habitats Africa Asia Europe America Australasia
i. Equatorial Congo basin India South East Amazon New Guinea Melanesia
forests Cameroon Asia Indonesia
ii. Tropical Angola India Southern Yucatan Gran Polynesia Cairns regions
forests and Uganda China Chaco
scrub Southern
Sudan
iii. Tropical Sudan Indonesian Pampas Lanos Northern Australia
grasslands Tanzania grasslands
(savannahs)
iv. Deserts and Sahara Arabian Indian Californian Central Australia
dry lands Kalahari Turkestan Atacama Paraguay
Namib
v. Temperate China south of East of Mississippi Australia Tasmania New
Between Mediter-
forests Great Wall and St. Lawrence Zealand
ranean and Boreal
north of forest belt Valley North-west
east of grasslands
coast of North
Gulf Stream
America Chile
coasts
vi. Mediterra- South shore Palestine Lebanon Crimea Northern California to Perth region Adelaide
nean scrub of Mediterra- South coast of shore of Mediter- Vancouver Middle region
nean Sea Black sea ranean Chile
Cape
Peninsula
vi. Temperate High veld, Turkestan Eastern Russian Prairies Pampas
grasslands Transvaal Manchuria steppe Chernozem Patagonia
Strip south of Mongolia belt
Atlas
mountains
viii. Boreal Siberia Lapland Northern Canada New Zealand mountains

Alaska Extreme
South America
ix. Tundra Siberia Lapland Greenland Antarctica

x. Mountains Ethiopia Tibet Hindu Kush Swiss and Mexico Peru Chile New Zealand in South
Basutoland Austrian Alps Island
Source: Harrison, G.A., Weiner, J.S., Tanner, J.M., Barnicot, N.A. and Reynolds,V. 1977. Human Biology, An Introduction
to Human Evolution, Variation, Growth and Ecology. Oxford University Press.
18
2.2.3 Population Distribution in Habitats Adaptation to Environment
As shown in Table 2.3, the largest populations today are found in two very
contrasting habitats, i.e.
a) Tropical forest and scrub lands
b) Temperate mixed forest lands.
The relative density of population is shown in the third column of the table. In
all likelihood, the hominids originated in tropical grassland or scrub lands.
Therefore, the modern man has effectively extended his area of occupation to
attain high densities in habitats as different as tropical forest land (with twice the
overall average density), Mediterranean scrub land (4 times the average), and
the temperate mixed forest land (6 times). Mountain habitats have also been
settled in fair density.
Table 2.3: Population distribution in Habitats
Habitat Area Population Relative

percentage of percentage of density
total land area total present
world population
Dry lands and deserts 18 4 0.2
Tropical forest lands 15 28 1.9
Tropical scrub land
Tropical grasslands (savannah) 21 12 0.6
Temperate grassland (continental)
Temperate mixed forest lands 7 39 5.6
Mediterranean scrub land 1 4 4.0
Boreal lands (cold temperate) 10 1 0.1
Polar lands and tundra 16 (<1) 0.01
Mountain habitats 12 12 1.00
Source: Harrison, G.A., Weiner, J.S., Tanner, J.M., Barnicot, N.A. and Reynolds,V. 1977. Human
Biology, An Introduction to Human Evolution, Variation, Growth and Ecology. Oxford University
Press.
2.2.4 Types of Economy

The type of economy may be roughly classified according to the major productive
technique used (Table 2.4). This serves to indicate the volume of production,
type of labor organisation as well as the social complexity of the community. In
terms of technology, however, productive methods are seldom mutually exclusive
and social structure may vary greatly among the groups using the same production
technique. Though, too much emphasis should not be placed upon any
classification.
19
Ecological Anthropology It is quite evident that race is not an obstacle to so many types of occupation or
economies in a wide spectrum of habitat. In specific habitats, one and the same
racial group has established a succession of economies often of increasing
complexity.
Habitats can be exploited in different ways. Development of certain economies

is entirely precluded by some environmental circumstances of habitat, though
not at all stages of economy emergence. A technology may flourish immensely
in a particular habitat than in the other. However, given the technology of advanced
cultivator, settlement of high density are possible in nearly every type of habitat,
thus resulting in ecosystems varying greatly in their population densities.
Table 2.4: Types of economy
Food gatherers Collect their food- small game, insects, root,

fruit, honey. Their material culture (clothing,
shelter, domestic utensils, etc.) is crude or
scanty. The only domestic animal is the dog.
Higher hunters Live by trapping and hunting, in addition to
gathering. They often have good dwelling and
some knowledge about pottery and weaving.
The populations of the Palaeolithic and
Mesolithic culture fall within these two
categories.
Herdsmen and pastoralists Live mainly by keeping herds of cattle; they
may also have flocks of sheep and goats. They
often have substantial house. Hunting or
tilling being subsidiary.
Nomads Herd of men who move in a regular seasonal
cycle to tribal grazing lands.
Simple cultivators Practice a simple garden agriculture, but also
rely on gathering and hunting; a little
domestication of pig or poultry may be added.
The societies in the Neolithic cultural stage
would be classified in this category.
Advanced cultivators Agriculture is main subsistence economy.
They appreciate the significance of soil
fertility and importance of crop rotation. In
post- Neolithic time, water conservation and
irrigation began to be practiced.
The intrusion of human communities into natural ecosystem may lead to either
stable or dynamic equilibrium. In the former situation the human population
maintains its essential biological characteristics such as size, density, composition,
general standard of living, energy and nutrient balance; more or less unchanged
over long periods of time. The social structure and technology will reflect this
conservatism. Approximations to ecological stability are attainable in different
habitats, with different economies and at high or low population densities.
Dynamic ecological equilibrium, which characterise many expanding and
20
developing communities meet the constantly increasing needs for food, water, Adaptation to Environment
raw material, waste disposal by increasing activity, energy output and intensified
exploitation of both the biotic and abiotic environment. This kind of equilibrium
or even approximation to it is mostly typical of human communities in the period
of industrialisation. This is not to forget that there have been times in the history
of communities when ecological balance cannot be maintained with far-reaching
social and biological consequences. Therefore, it becomes pertinent to understand
the biological properties of the community and its families and individuals in
terms of equilibrium and interchange processes – the energy flow, the transport
of food and water, the transmission of pathogens – through the total ecosystem.
Ecological ‘success’ can be gauged in terms of ‘standards of living using

biological, medical or demographic as standards. The size of the population, its
maintenance, the mortality, longevity or nutritional status is example of overall
indices of ‘fitness’ or adjustment. Depopulation is possibly the most reflective
index of maladjustment seen as failure of an immigrant group to establish itself.
The analysis of the ‘efficiency’ and ‘capacity’ of an ecosystem necessitate thorough
surveys of specific societies. It would not be surprising that limitations may be
discovered in any of the organism-environmental relationships which could be
attributed to climate in direct or indirect sense (e.g. of building material);
nutritional inadequacies or to particular diseases which may arise only secondarily
from defects in social organisation as perhaps in the organising of work over the
yearly cycle – in the storage of food. Clearly some habitats are far less promising
than others. For example, the tropical habitats of Africa and South America have
always presented a consolidation of hostile conditions having poor soil, climate,
and nutritional stress and debilitating diseases. The beginnings of the first complex
societies and civilisation in the ‘Fertile Crescent’ were the consequence of the
advantageous conditions existing concurrently in the ancient river valleys with
abundant water supply, a favorable climate, easy riverine communications and
the protection afforded by the surrounding arid lands.
2.3 CLIMATIC ADAPTATION

Every habitat is identified by a specific climatic regime and enforces it on man,
his domestic animals, and crops. They vary extensively and it is only man who
can make apt adjustments to occupy habitats more varied than those of any other
mammalian species (except perhaps the rat). The human body is sensitive to
various climatic elements of a region; this sensitivity and responsiveness result
from the need to maintain homeostasis. Regulatory system acts to maintain the
body temperature steady within relatively narrow limits (homeothermy), under
conditions of extreme heat or cold. At high altitudes the respiratory system keeps
the pressure of oxygen and carbon dioxide of the body-fluids adjusted within
unwavering limits. Apart from the stresses imposed by thermal factors and low
barometric pressure at high altitudes, other environmental hazards are provided
by excess of short-wave radiation (ultraviolet light and ionising radiation).
2.3.1 The Thermal Environment

Climate and weather are terms used to denote the state of the atmosphere. Weather
is atmospheric state in a given time and place; climate is a locality’s weather as
observed over a long period- in other words long term behaviour of weather. The
characteristic of atmospheric making up the weather and the climate are recorded
21
Ecological Anthropology at regular intervals over a period of time and include the air temperature, humidity,
speed and direction of the wind, amount and type of cloud, hours of sunshine
and total radiant heat received, rainfall, snow, dust, and other special features.
The climate enveloping man is indeed made up of a series of climatic ‘shells’-
the microclimate of clothing, domestic and working enclosures, and the
geographical macroclimate. The climatic factors of primary physiological
significance are those which exert a direct influence on the rate of heat exchange
between the body surface (nude or clothed) and the surroundings. If any thermal
environment is specified; air temperature, humidity, wind speed, and the mean
radiant temperature of the surroundings must be taken into account. There are
situations when environmental heat adds to the ‘internal’ bodily heat derived
from general metabolism and muscular activity. Heat is lost from the skin when
body temperature is higher than environment. On the other hand heat is gained
when external objects are warmer than human body. Thus, all thermal aspects of
indoor (wall, furniture, etc.) or outdoor (terrain, etc.) surrounding determine the
rate of heat that the body lose to exterior.
The disturbed homeotherm affects the body’s efficiency. The adaptive relations
of human body with the thermal environment are of three sorts:
v Physiological adjustments in the heat regulatory, metabolic and circulatory
systems make it possible to work and survive in a wide variety of
environments. These can be both, short and long-term. The ability to make
these adjustments is a highly developed characteristic of the human species
as a whole.
v Specialised physiological and anatomical adaptive responses based on
particular genotypes are also observed.
v Cultural and social adjustments engage the provision of shelter, clothing,
warmth, and ventilation. These cultural responses to biological requirements
are like nutritional requirements, ‘institutionalised’ in Malinowski’s sense,
but have not been clearly analysed. The usefulness of these cultural responses
can be judged by biological criteria.
The efficient adaptation of the human body to climatic change is necessary for:
v Attainment of bodily comfort,
v Performance of habitual physical work without undue fatigue,
v Performance of skilled work calling for alertness and dexterity with minimum
errors,
v Attainment of normal growth and development,
v Ability to reproduce successfully.
An example is given to assess the human capacity to withstand climatic stress in
the extreme conditions of human habitation: The village of Verkhoyansk in eastern
Siberia almost on the Polar circle, experiences a mean temperature 35°C below
the mean for the year (-10°C) in the coldest month January. Whereas, in the
oasis of Insalah in the Algerian Sahara, the hottest month July (38°C), is
approximately 12 °C above the annual mean. This reinforces that human
communities are found surviving efficaciously in the extreme climates summer
55°C (-17 to 38°C) and winter -16°C to +28°C.
22
In contrast, the deep body temperature varies within a range of somewhat small Adaptation to Environment
amplitude compared to the extremes of high and low temperatures of surrounding.
The body temperature is highest in the early evening and lowest at about 4 a.m
reflecting a diurnal range of about 2°C. In tropical countries the diurnal cycle is
shifted upwards by about 0.2°C while in Antarctic about 0· 2°C down from
temperate values. This shift takes place regardless of race, e.g., Asian (in America
or Europe) have body temperatures of the same values as indigenous peoples.
The body is sensitive towards the existence of fluctuation in different conditions

like daily, seasonal and geographical. This is provided chiefly by a ‘thermostatic’
mechanism in the brain (hypothalamus) which is sensitive to a fluctuation of
body temperature to a degree of threatening the normal level. Within a certain
range of heat and cold stress (e.g. air temperatures between 27°C and 32°C
approximately) the internal (rectal) body temperature of the nude subject is
retained close to 37 °C without unwarranted change in skin temperature (within
the limits of 30.5 °C and 33°C approximately), so that thermal comfort of body
is not disturbed. However, when the degree of stress is higher, some heating or
cooling of the periphery with associated discomfort can be tolerated to take care
of a steady internal temperature and physical and mental efficiency. The limits to
which climatic adjustment can be made must be looked through two biological
processes-the maintenance of comfort and the overriding maintenance of heat
balance.
The body is in a state of thermal equilibrium with its environment when it loses
heat at exactly the same rate as it gains heat. The basic relation underlying
homeothermy is: Heat Gain-Heat Loss = ± Heat Storage,
or, M+C+R-E =+S,
where, M = rate of heat produced by metabolism and work, C = rate of heat gain
or loss by convection, R = rate of heat gain or loss by radiation, E = rate of heat
loss by evaporation of skin moisture, S = net heat exchange. S can be kept
relatively constant while the other variables change over a wide range. The
changes in S represent additions or losses from, the total heat content of the
body so that the overall change in heat content is largely inhibited. In this lies the
flexibility of response to extremes of heat and cold. When this equilibrium is
threatened (i.e. when storage or withdrawal of heat becomes excessive) a number
of immediate counter-adjustments are made. Further long-term processes within
the life time of an organism reduce the strain, referred as ‘acclimatisation’. These
physiological responses have been demonstrated in different races of human.
Bodily characters affecting thermal response: Organism attains equilibrium

between heat production and heat loss in order to maintain a constant internal
body temperature. The potential avenues of heat exchange include
Radiation: It refers to heat transfer in the form of electromagnetic waves

emitted by one object and absorbed by other.
Convection: It refers to transfer of heat by a stream of molecules from a warmer

object towards a cooler object. Convection current replace
warmed air with cold air.
Conduction: Heat is lost from the skin as coming in direct contact with an
object possessing a colder temperature.
23
Ecological Anthropology Evaporation: Heat is lost from the skin by evaporation of sweat from body
surface as heat is utilised in conversion of water to vapour.
The rate of heat exchange by convection, evaporation and radiation is proportional

to the surface area of skin. Larger the surface area the greater will be the loss of
heat. When sweating provides the main channel of heat loss (with air temperature
very near or above skin temperature) the total loss highly correlates with the
surface area, but the actual correlation value (+0·8) makes clear the existence of
quite considerable individual variability in sweat capacity.
The rate of heat exchange is to some extent influenced by body-size and shape.
The amount of heat produced during a physical activity highly correlates with
the body-weight of the subject. The heat produced per kilogram weight tends to
be the same for both, large and small individuals. However, the heat output is
not constant per unit surface area. As smaller subjects have greater surface area
per unit of body weight, exposed to environment in contrast to larger individual
who have greater body weight to surface area. Thus, smaller individuals dissipate
heat at faster rate than larger individuals. This is based on the fact that the body-
weight increases as the cube, while the surface area increases as the square; also
for a given body-weight physique which approaches a linear (ectomorphic) rather
than a spherical (endomorphic) shape will have a relatively greater surface area.
These anatomical properties make it unnecessary for the smaller individual to
sweat as much per unit area as the larger individual, and the total water requirement
by the smaller individual is both relatively and absolutely less. The heavier subject,
putting out more sweat per unit area, will need to have harder-working sweat
glands (for it is likely the glands are not present in greater density). Thus, in hot
environments individuals of smaller and of linear build would appear to possess
some biological advantage.
Body-shape affects heat loss in another way. Both convective and evaporative
coefficients (i.e. the heat loss per unit area and per unit temperature or vapour
pressure gradient respectively) approach constant values for large surface but
increase rapidly as the diameter of the limbs is reduced below a diameter of
about 10 cm. The evaporative coefficient of heat loss will be twice for a limb of
diameter 7 cm than of 15 cm.
2.3.2 Bergmann’s and Allen’s Rules

Human population has been exposed to a wide variety of different ecological
stressors. Adaptive changes to these widely differing selective pressure results
into diversity among human population. A strong relationship exists between
the physical characters and environment which has led to formulation of several
ecological rules. Bergman (1847) rule states that “ within the same species of
warm blooded animals, population having less bulky individuals are more often
found in warm climates near the equator, while those with greater bulk or mass
are found farther from equator, in colder regions”. Basic to Bergman’s rule is the
principle that otherwise similar bodies, smaller one has larger skin surface in
proportion to mass which enhance body heat loss. Therefore, it seems to be a hot
climate adaptation. While larger individuals have increased mass to surface area
ratio which reduces heat dissipation hence appear to be a cold climate adaptation.
Thus indicating that heat production is a function of the total volume of an
organism whereas heat loss is a function of total surface area. For example,
24
consider two hypothetical organisms whose body shape is that of a cube. Imagine Adaptation to Environment
that one cube is 2 cm long and the other is 4 cm long in each dimension (Fig.2.1).
Surface area (length x width) x 6* = 24 Surface area (length x width) x 6 = 96

Volume (length x width x height) = 8 Volume (length x width x height) = 64
Surface area/volume = 3 Surface area/volume = 1.5
*Cube has six sides, so we multiply calculated surface area by 6.
Fig. 2.1: Geometric representation of Bergmann’s rule relating body size and heat loss.
The volume of the 2 cm cube is 8 cm3, and that of 4 cm cube is 64 cm3. As a

measure of heat production, the larger cube with greater volume produces more
heat. This means, the greater the volume of a mammal, the more is heat produced.
Surface area of the 2 cm cube is 24 cm2, and that of the 4 cm cube is 96 cm2. As
a measure of heat loss, cube with the greater surface area seems to lose it at a
greater rate. This indicates more heat production and loss by the larger cube
produce. However, the relevant factor in heat loss in mammals is the ratio of
surface area to volume. The surface area/volume ratio is 24/8 = 3 for smaller
cube, and 96/64 = 1.5 for the larger cube. Therefore, the larger cube lose heat at
a slower rate relative to heat production discerning better adaptation to colder
climate while smaller cube lose heat at faster rate favouring adaptation to hot
climate.
Bergmann’s rule also involves the shape of an object and its relationship to heat
loss. Fig. 2.2 shows two objects with the same volume but different shapes.
25
Surface area = 96 Surface area = 112

Volume = 64 Volume = 64
Surface area/volume = 1.5 Surface area/volume = 1.75
Fig.2.2: Geometric representation of Bergmann’s rule relating body shape and heat loss.
The first object is a 4 cm cube of volume - 64 cm3, surface area - 96 cm2, and
surface area/volume ratio - 1.5. The second object is a rectangular block 2 cm
wide, 4 cm deep and 8 cm high. The volume of this object is also 64 cm3, but the
surface area is 112 cm2 and surface area/volume ratio is 112/64 = 1.75. Even though
both objects produce the same amount of heat as measured by their volumes, the
rectangular object loses heat more quickly. This means, linear objects such as the
rectangular block would be at an advantage in hot climate, whereas less linear
objects, such as the cube, would be at an advantage in cold climates. Accordingly,
Bergmann’s rule predicts that mammals in hot climates will have linear body shapes
and mammals in cold climates will have less linear body shapes.
Another zoologist, J. Allen, applied these principles to body limbs and other
appendages. Allen’s rule (1877) states “among warm blooded organism, individual
in population of same species living in warmer climates near the equator tend to
have longer limbs than do population living away from the equator in colder
environments”.
2.4 CLIMATIC STRESS AND MAN’S

PHYSIOLOGICAL RESPONSE AND
ACCLIMATIZATION
2.4.1 Hot Climate Adaptation
Responses to heat: The instant physiological response to overheating is a
compensatory increase in heat dissipation from the body accomplished mainly
26
through adjustment of cardiovascular system followed by sweating. There is Adaptation to Environment
increased flow of blood through skin due to vasodilatation to start with. Due to
additional strain there is an elevated cardiac output accompanied by increased
pulse rate. The heat brought to the surface thus elevates the skin temperature
facilitating dissipation of heat to the surroundings by convection and radiation.
This heat loss per unit surface area is proportional to the temperature gradient
between skin and external environment; and square-root of the wind velocity.
When environmental temperature increases above the skin temperature circulatory

adjustment are not adequate for heat dissipation by convection and radiation
because of negative gradient, in fact it gains heat. This results in sweating and
heat loss by evaporation of evenly distributed sweat is effective. The rate of heat
loss by evaporation (latent heat of vaporisation) influences the variance between
the vapor pressure at the skin surface and that of the air, extent of the wetted
surface area and air movement. The rise in skin temperature reflects an increased
vapor pressure at the skin surface. The sweating rate is raised by increasing the
number of active sweat glands and rate of fluid output of each gland. A maximum
water loss of about 1 lt per hour, equivalent to 2500 kJ heat loss per hour can be
achieved.
Although the total number of sweat glands varies in different individuals, striking
differences have not been reported between different racial groups as indicated
in Table 2.5:
Table 2.5: Total number of glands of adult males (means in millions + S.D.)
Hindu (6) 1.51+ 0.19 (Knip)
Indian (19) 1.69+ 0.16 (Weiner)
Dutch (9) 1.47+ 0.29 (Knip)
British (2) 1.66+ 0.19 (Weiner)
European in West Africa (21) 1.75 (Thomson)
West African (26) 1.66 (Thomson)
Bush egro Surinam (8) 1.69+ 0.14 (Knip)
Press.
The density and distribution of glands has been found to be similar (Table 2.6) in
different population and decreases in the order:
v Upper limb-dorsum of hand, forearm, upper arm
v Lower limb-foot, leg, thigh; and
v Trunk-abdomen and thorax.
27
Ecological Anthropology Table 2.6: Number of sweat glands per square centimeter (adult males)
Trunk Hand Forearm Arm Foot Leg Thigh
European (29) 69 206 98 85 132 87 59
Dutch (9) 75 145 86 80 119 66 52
Indian ( 19) 89 209 97 91 152 91 62
Hindu (6) 87 170 121 93 119 81 60
West African (26) 94 240 109 119 175 78 85
Press.
The flexibility of physiological response in a variety of habitats is clearly

demonstrated by the way homeothermy is maintained against heat load. The hot
environment can be classified as:
v Hot, humid, and still-air condition,
v Hot, dry conditions with moderate air movement and high solar radiation,
v Cool, dry condition with solar radiation, and
v Hot and moderate temperatures.
Acclimatisation to heat: Repeated exposure to heat results in acclimatisation
enhancing tolerance to work under heat stress. In a laboratory experiment, the
subjects were able to work for four hours on the fifth day of exposure, whereas
they gave up after less than an hour on the first day accompanied by better
circulatory performance. The initial high pulse rate and heart output, reduced
markedly. The heat regulatory system became more efficient. The body and skin
temperature, which rise rapidly to high levels on the early exposures, rises slowly
or attains a ‘plateau’ on continued exposure to the heat. The bodily changes
which are elicited under artificial conditions (acclimation) can also be revealed
in natural environment (hot climates-equatorial or desert). The complex
physiological changes which lead to acclimatisation has been demonstrated in
population of different races living in hot climates e.g. Nigerians, Chinese, Indians,
and Malayans living in Malaya, Kalahari Bushmen and South African Bantu, as
well as in Europeans habituating tropics or hot deserts.
Since the emergence of genus ‘Homo’ in tropical region Homo sapiens have
occupied diverse tropical and equatorial habitats. Acclimatisation as a
consequence of physiological changes enable individual to inhabit wide variety
of hot environments. This is evident from the distribution of population in relation
to habitat shown in Table 2.3. Genetic selection of various bodily characters for
life in diverse climates has been superimposed on physiological plasticity.
2.4.2 Cold Climate Adaptation

Responses to cooling: Within the thermo-neutral temperature range of 25ºC to
27ºC the individual is in thermal equilibrium, but below this range nude individual
responds immediately through mechanism which permits both increased heat
production and conservation. The major mechanism concerned with heat
conservation is vasoconstriction (constriction of subcutaneous blood vessels).
28
The lowered blood flow decreases skin temperature, reduces temperature gradient
between skin surface and environment, consequently reducing the rate of heat Adaptation to Environment
loss or thermal conductance. Other important factor affecting heat loss is the
degree of artificial or natural insulation. Subcutaneous fat layer has lower thermal
conductance. The level to which skin temperatures fall on exposure to cold is
highly correlated with skin-fold thickness. Differences in thickness of
subcutaneous fat-layer are significant among populations. Fatter subjects show
longer endurance on immersion in cold water. To survive in the extreme cold
condition of Arctic man must be supplemented with extra insulation which can
be obtained by the use of animal skins or other clothing material. Greater the
insulatory layer the lower is the heat loss. Added insulation of 1 clo (an insulation
roughly equivalent to a 0·6 cm still-air layer) will extend the critical temperature
down to 20°C and 2 clo to 10°C, but below this progressive increase in metabolic
heat is required to withstand exposures of several hours. Eskimo clothing of
caribou fur 3.75-7.5 cm thick has a value of 7-12 clo. This goes far to meet all
requirements at a temperature of -40°C as, while sleeping 10-12 clo and 4clo
when activity is required. Eskimo dwellings are kept at 21°C during the day and
10°C during the night. Eskimos spend roughly 1-4 hours per day outdoors in
winter, 5-9 hours in summer. Only the face and occasionally the hands are exposed
to chilling.
Heat production is increased involuntarily by shivering and voluntarily by

muscular activity. Shivering can provide about 3 times the resting heat production.
It is induced by reflex stimulation of hypothalamic centre by cold receptors in
response to fall in skin temperature. Large amounts of heat can be produced by
voluntary exercise but is limited by physical fitness and availability of food.
Eskimos have learned to run for long periods behind their sledges at a rate
sufficient to keep them warm but not to exhaust them, and their fitness measured
by standard tests is higher as compared to Canadian Whites (Shepherds).
When a body is exposed to extremely low temperature the skin surface of exposed
area such as fingers of hand and feet freeze (frost bite).Thus there is intense
vasoconstriction followed by vasodilatation. A cyclic continuation of these
vasomotor changes prevents the tissue temperature dropping to frostbite level.
Acclimatisation to cold: On exposure to cold acclimatisation, that is, increased

tolerance to cold develops gradually. Increased heat production and conservation
reduces the extent of fall in the rectal temperature. On severe exposure to cold,
physiological and metabolic process improve to maintain thermal equilibrium
accounting for body comfort. For example, newcomers to Arctic regions will
wear all their available clothing at the onset; but as air temperature falls further
no protection is sought. Later they often wear less at work, or while asleep. It has
been observed that members on expedition who spent the greater part of their
time indoors suffered frostbite at low temperatures in 1 minutes, whereas an
outdoor group resisted this for nearly 10 minutes. At the same time well-adapted
individuals have a keen admiration of their lower limb and face and will take the
necessary action to prevent frostbite (Irving). Evidences points to increased basal
metabolic rate in concern to maintenance of thermal equilibrium. Eskimos show
a larger increase (varying from +7 per cent to +30 per cent) than Europeans (+8
per cent) living in comparable cool conditions. However, it remains uncertain
whether raised metabolism depends on cold exposure, altered endocrine function,
or diet. The total food energy intake in the Arctic is high relative to that in the
29
Ecological Anthropology tropics but fluctuates widely, depending on indoor conditions as well as on work.
Some believe that a higher protein intake account for the increased metabolic
heat production. It seems, however, that fat is equally or perhaps more important
than protein in exerting a protective effect against cold. Many Arctic explorers
and others living in the north report that fat becomes positively desired. United
States members of an Antarctic expedition who had an abhorrence of fat at home
would eat fat in great quantity. Thus, the two processes common in the animal
kingdom for enhancing adaptation to cold are also operative in man-(a) increase
in heat production and (b) increase in fat insulation layers, though man depends,
of course, on artificial insulation as well.
Experimental setup has provided evidences of ‘local’ acclimatization which are

forthcoming. Subjects wearing heavy clothes but no gloves when exposed to be
kept in a room at - 15°C, for 2 hours a day, 5 days a week for weeks showed
reduced tactile discrimination, which gradually attained earlier level. On the other
hand, outdoor groups scored higher. They have higher skin temperature
particularly after severe exposure to cold indicating greater resting finger and
hand blood flow, e.g., the ability of fishermen of Nova Scotia to tolerate immersion
of their hand in ice-cold water has long been known.
Acclimatisation has been demonstrated in indigenous peoples also. Central

Australian Aborigines do not wear clothing except for genital covering. The
degree of cold exposure in sleeping microenvironment is below the thermo-
neutral temperature (air temperatures about 0°C and radiant temperatures -45°C).
Despite this cold stress they sleep naked comfortably without shivering, whereas
the European controls studied under the same conditions shivered continuously
and were unable to sleep. The Aborigines were able to endure greater fall of skin
temperature than the Europeans.
The Bushmen of the Kalahari and the Australian Aborigines sleep in extremely
cold conditions with single covering and a small fire as protection. A high degree
of cold tolerance (reported also by Darwin of the Tierra del Fuegians) can to a
large extent be acquired by Europeans. Norwegian students who lived in the
open for 6 weeks with minimal protection were initially unable to sleep but
subsequently were able to do so in spite of shivering.
Eskimos have greater tolerance to cold in the hands than white men. Evidence
from the laboratory from a comparative study of finger temperatures following
immersion in water at freezing-point among Eskimo, Indian, Negro and European
shows greater tendency of Negroes to frostbite. In tests of sensory-motor function
Eskimos and Indian young men in the North-West Territory of Canada were
unquestionably superior to a similar group of European workers with only 6
weeks’ residence.
The capacity of acclimatised men, and especially the Eskimo, to use the hands
well at low temperatures is linked with an increased blood-flow. When blood-
flow was measured with forearms immersed in water at 24°C the following results
can be concluded:
30
Number Observations Blood flow Skin
(cm3 per 100 temperature
cm3 per min) (°C)
Control subjects 5 122 4.7+0.19 32.8

Eskimo 6 148 8.6+0.43 33.8
Press.
Although the thyroid, like the adrenal gland, is involved in cold adjustments, no
indication has been obtained by studies of any differences between American
Indians, Eskimos and Europeans in Alaska.
2.4.3 High Altitude Adaptation

The effects of altitude: Approximately 10 million people live permanently at
heights 3600m-4000m. Life at high altitudes imposes a complex ecological stress
of low barometric pressure (which acts by lowering the oxygen and carbon-
dioxide pressure in the inspired air), cold , low moisture content of the air and
intense radiation. In addition, the rough terrain imposes higher muscular activity.
Lowered barometric pressure: Oxygen constitutes about 21 per cent of the

atmosphere by volume; hence the pressure of oxygen is roughly one-fifth of the
total barometric pressure. When the pressure is high as occurs at the sea-level
(150mmHg) the oxygen diffuses across the lung membranes and proportion of
hemoglobin saturated with oxygen is sufficient for all needs. While at altitude
decreased barometric pressure reduces the rate of oxygen diffusion into lungs,
proportionately decreasing the amount of oxygen available to the working tissues.
At an altitude of 2400-3000 m and above oxygen demand during physical work
is not met and beyond 4000m the rate of oxygen transfer is insufficient to satisfy
efficiently even the needs of sedentary man. Immediate exposures of body to
such conditions displays limited compensatory response and accompany
breakdown. However, secondary response of physiological acclimatisation
ensures physical work and permanent residence at high levels. The cultivated
land in Tibet is at altitudes of 2700-4500 m, and permanent settlements in the
Andes at 5200m, and daily visits to 5800m for mining and pastoralism with
agriculture above 4000m substantiate it.
Responses: The immediate response to lack of oxygen (hypoxia) is an increase

in the volume of air respired per minute. This is brought about by rapid and
deeper respirations. The increased ventilation leads to the ‘washing out’ of carbon
dioxide from the air passages and consequently from the blood. This loss of
carbon dioxide alters the homeostatically controlled acid base balance of the
body to a more alkaline level termed ‘alkalosis’. This inhibit the stimulus for
increased ventilation, which is counteracted by excretion of alkaline urine
(bicarbonate ions) by kidney thereby shifts pH of blood to normal level.
The augmented heart rate and cardiac output attained in response to immediate
exposure decline with acclimatisation. Heart rate reduces to normal sea level
followed by reduced cardiac output.
31
Ecological Anthropology Oxygen transport is aided by the pressure gradient between lung and blood at
pulmonary level and between blood and tissue at organ level. At high pressure
more oxygen and hemoglobin combine while hemoglobin dissociate from oxygen
at low pressure. Exposure to hypoxia favors increase in red blood cell and
consequently hemoglobin concentration, enhancing oxygen carrying capacity of
blood. There is linear relation between hemoglobin (Hb) and barometric pressure.
Upto 3500m it rises steeply. Augmented viscosity accompanying polycythemia
contributes to increased pulmonary arterial pressure. This enhances effective
blood gas interfacial area of alveoli and diffusing capacity of lung which permit
effective arterial blood oxygenation. Long term morphological changes ensue-
the enlarged thorax with the increased respiration and the vital capacity. Increased
Hb concentration along with respiratory adjustments enables native residents to
achieve arterial oxygen content above that of pressure at sea-level and increased
ability of tissues to work at low oxygen tensions. Increased pulmonary arterial
pressure is associated with right ventricular hypertrophy indicating increased
workload characteristic of native population. Natives rely on moderate increase
in pulmonary ventilation and polycythemic response while more on diffusion of
oxygen from blood to tissue.
At 4500m acclimatisation takes place in approximately10 days. Clothing, shelter,

and heating arrangements are generally effective in protecting against extreme
cold climate of high altitude (Tibet, 5000m, -33°C and summer temperature rise
only to 13°C), though some degree of physiological acclimatisation has been
observed.
Populations at high altitude: Slight adaptive physiological changes have been

found in population even at 2000m like Caucasus, Pyrenees, and even the High
Veld of South Africa. A variety of racial groups inhabiting higher altitude includes
the Tibetans living up to 4500 m, the inhabitants of Kashmir at 3000 m, those of
the high uplands at 2500m, and the Andes at 5500m. They provide ample
evidences of acclimatisation. For example the native inhabitants of Peru may
have red-cell counts 30 per cent above the sea-level value.
Though the responses described here are secondary acquisitions, it is quite

conceivable that some characteristics are fixed genetically due to selection
pressure. The llama, the vicuna, and Bolivian goose, all native to high altitudes,
have high values for red-cell count and increased affinity of the hemoglobin to
oxygen and these characters are retained by first-generation llamas born at sea
level. Monde argues that selection among the Spanish invaders of the Andes,
eliminated the infertile individual and pure Spaniards established themselves
after several generations. But convincing evidence of genotypes adaptive to
altitude stress in man is yet to be established.
Pathological response
High altitude hypoxia elicit direct and indirect responses, some of them can
cause mild to severe malformation, eventually becoming deleterious to organism.
Monge disease or Mountain sickness is a complex pathophysiological condition
that occur when normally acclimatised individual lose their ability to adapt to
altitude as a consequence of anoxia and alkalosis. Symptoms include nausea,
vomiting, headache, insomnia, acceleration of heart rate, deterioration of neuro-
muscular co-ordination, diminished auditory perception, diminution of visual
activity and fatigue.
32
2.5 SUMMARY
There exists a fascinating geographic variation among human. The intra and
inter population differences in biological phenotypic traits are related to the effect
of environmental stress and the adaptive responses that an organism makes during
growth and development. Though, it occurs within the genetically determined
limits in critical characters. Living organism being part of ecosystem modifies
the environment and in turn, is also affected by such modification. The adjustment
made in response to environmental stress such as cold, heat and hypoxia; can be
temporary or permanent acquired either through short term or life time process.
It aims at maintaining homeostasis, improving functional performance and
survivability of organism in varying environmental circumstances.
Human are able to maintain a relatively constant internal body temperature

independent of environmental temperature. Under heat stress, thermal equilibrium
is maintained through integration of mechanism which enhances heat dissipation.
The avenues of heat loss include conduction, convection, radiation and
evaporation. Exposure to cold stimulates heat conservation accompanied by heat
production through shivering and resultant increase in basal metabolic rate.
Subcutaneous layer ensure insulation of body. Acclimatisation to altitude includes
alteration in circulatory and respiratory system. There is increased number of
red blood cell and hemoglobin accompanied by increased ventilation, diffusing
capacity of lung and vascularity of tissue.
Suggested Reading
Harrison, G.A., J.S.Weiner, J.M.Tanner, N.A. Barnicot 1988 Human Biology –
An Introduction to Human Evolution, Variation, Growth and Ecology. London,
Moran, E.F. 2008. Human Adaptability: An Introduction to Ecological

Anthropology. New York. Westview Press.
Kormondy, E.J. and Brown, D.E. 1998. Fundamentals of Human Ecology. New
Jersey, Prentice Hall.
Ulijaszek, S.J. 1995. Human Energetics in Biological Anthropology. Cambridge

University Press.
Sample Questions
1) Define ‘Habitat’ and give the classification describing the flora and fauna of
each of the habitat.
2) What do you understand by the term ‘Habitat’? Give geographical
distribution of various habitats of the world.
3) What is ‘Thermal Environment’? Describe how thermal environment effects
human body.
4) What are human being’s responses to severe cold climate, and how
acclimatisation to extreme cold takes place?
5) Short Notes: (i) Ecological anthropology (ii) Habitat (iii) Types of economy
(iv) Climatic adaptation (v) Thermal environment (vi) Bergmann’s rule
(vii) Allen’s rule (viii) Hypoxia
33
UNIT 3 EPIDEMIOLOGICAL
ANTHROPOLOGY
Contents
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Infectious Diseases
3.3 Biological Responses
3.4 Non-Infectious Diseases
3.5 Ecology of Malnutrition
3.6 Distribution of Deficiency Diseases
3.7 Effects of Nutritional Stress
3.8 Nutritional Stress in Modern Society
3.9 Summary
Suggested Reading
Sample Questions

Ø explain the relation between ecology and disease;
Ø describe the infectious diseases;
Ø indicate the ecology of malnutrition; and
Ø explain the effects of nutritional stress.
3.1 INTRODUCTION
Epidemiology is often defined as the study, distribution and determinants of
disease and injuries in human population. Epidemiological anthropology
elucidates etiological factors involved in a disease incidence; and emphasis on
population variation in incidence and occurrence.
Human growth occurs along a genetically destined trajectory, but is influenced

by environmental factors consequently affecting its longevity and health status.
Consequently diseases exhibit the whole spectrum of causation, ranging from
hereditary factors which play predominant role, to the environment. In many
instances both factors have to be taken into account. We need to consider not
only man’s physical environment but also his social, cultural and psychological
circumstances. For instance, environmental components of causation lie in lung
cancer and degenerative arterial disease as in tuberculosis and small pox.
Distribution of diseases as a special manifestation of human variation

and ecology can be observed not only at individual level but also at
population level which exhibit genotypically and phenotypically similar
individuals and inhabit more or less uniform environments.
34
Epidemiological
3.2 INFECTIOUS DISEASES Anthropology
There exist a competitive interaction between man and environment. Man has
been able to control his nearby environment or at least mitigate its worst effects
by various adaptive mechanisms. On one hand, this struggle may be against un-
alterable and passive opponent, e.g. physical and climatic factors (temperature
or atmospheric pressure) and on the other hand, biological environment which is
in itself capable of adaptive responses. Therefore, in the context of eradication
of infectious diseases appropriate steps must be adopted to ensure adaptation of
individual and mal-adaptation of disease causing agent to the environment.
The ecological aspects of disease can be revealed in two ways:

v Physical environment: It is a direct and immediate source of injury and ill
health. There is consequently a clear geographical distribution of pathology
manifested as a consequence of extreme climatic effect e.g. heat stroke
(desert), mountain sickness (high altitude) and rodent ulcer (ultra-violet
light). In recent years, air pollution due to smoke and associated substances
has become an important environmental hazard in many countries.
v Biotic component of the environment harbours pathogenic organisms

(viruses, bacteria, protozoa, fungi) dangerous animals as well as poisonous
plants and insects. In addition nutritional disorders arise due to improper
utilisation of food sources – animal and vegetable (and also mineral).
Besides, environmentally produced diseases, some illnesses make their overt

appearance due to maladjustment of metabolic and regulatory functions during
growth, but manifest completely in response to the external environment. Genetic
defect may refer to an inability of the individual to support him, while
psychological disorder is an inability to apprehend and respond to external events
and demands.
Hunting-gathering practices, deforestation, swamp drainage and other activities

have enabled man to dispose off his major competitors for space and food. This
struggle for existence has even lead to extermination of many species. Indeed, a
readjustment of ecological balance and an enlightened policy of conservation
are urgently necessary if numerous species are to be saved from total extinction
(this tragedy seems soon likely to overtake our hominoid relative the gorilla, an
anthropoid probably even more intelligent than the chimpanzee and whose biology
and ethology are far from well known).
Man contends with smaller creatures such as rodents, insects, fungi, and micro-
organisms. Some of them are parasitic on his food and shelter while other to his
body. The diseases emerged from man’s contact with other living organisms and
represent phases of ecological conflict which have not been yet entirely resolved
in man’s favour.
The geographical background is the prime single factor governing the abundance
of specific type of parasites and pathogens in a region. Micro-organisms may be
water-borne, air –borne, or carried by insects and other animals. The host-parasitic
relation often takes a complex course depending on the number of stages and
factors involved in a life cycle of parasite– vector, intermediate host and one or
35
Ecological Anthropology more reservoirs. Analysis of the locality eventually reveals that ecological
relationships are strongly influenced by physical features such as wind, rainwater,
drainage, temperature and humidity. The pathogen itself may have limited
environmental tolerance. The vector usually requires specific conditions for
breeding, e.g. ticks or fleas may need a dry climate. The carrier may have a
restricted habitat, e.g., tree-living squirrels in the Malayan rain forest. The female
Anopheles utilise water bodies for breeding. Site specific rainfall, soil type and
its water-retaining properties determine persistence of water pools. The tsetse
fly, vector of African sleeping sickness, requires a relatively dense vegetational
cover.
The geographical distribution of many diseases is similar to that of their

intermediate hosts and vectors. Schistosomiasis is common among reverie
populations of warm climates as the bladder-worm needs a particular snail during
one of its developmental stage. Rickettsial diseases, e.g. Rocky Mountain spotted
fever, are linked with ticks found chiefly in North America, Bengal, and North
Africa. The Asiatic form, scrub typhus, carried by mites, occurs in Japan, Formosa,
and Oceania; the typhus group of Europe and central Asia is linked with fleas
and lice. Brucellosis is transmitted through contaminated and untreated milk
and milk products, and by direct contact with infected animals and hence is
geographically related to cattle herds as the main reservoir.
The ecological relations are complex. A relatively few out of the thousands kinds
of human parasites characterise any given locality. Thus, the ecological relations
of most micro-organism disease will be unraveled only by specific regional
analysis. For instance, Yaws, a microbial disease has strong relationship to climate.
80 per cent of the yaws affected areas have the 800 F mean annual isotherms.
This disease is endemic where the annual rainfall ranges from 50 to 70 inches.
The disease occurs therefore mostly between the north and south 40th parallels.
Somaliland, a semi-desert country consists of thorn scrub country and has dry
climate. Hence, cataract and eye infections are causally associated with the flying
sand, sun-glare as well as the flies which breed freely due to the dry climate. The
climate also favours the existence of soft ticks which causes relapsing fever.
There is moderate incidence of Madura foot caused by inoculation of the fungal
spores into the skin by the thorns. The intense dryness and frequent sand storms
encourage sore throats, which the Somalis have been led to treat by snipping off
the uvula. Thus sand, dryness, and glare are the prime physical factors that can
be identified in this ecological complex. Another example may be drawn from
the Arctic. Here, despite the enormous number and variety of mosquitoes and
other arthropods, none are known to transmit infectious disease. But throughout
the North American Arctic, dogs, which still provide the chief means of winter
transport, serve as a reservoir in transmission of numerous infections among
humans including salmonellae, meat and fish tape-worm, and rabies. The seasonal
incidence of these diseases is due to unsanitary disposal of waste in the vicinity
of dwellings which render pathogens innocuous in the frozen state but are released
with the spring thaw.
The characteristic housing structure and settlements pattern of man may introduce
favorable factors to the spread of particular diseases. Human settlement may
require deforestation which may provide conditions favourable for the propagation
of infectious diseases. Deforestation of the hills of Ceylon led to frequent pool
36
formation during dry spell and successively to mosquito-breeding. In Malaya Epidemiological
Anthropology
certain rats capable of carrying tick disease are very rare in the natural forest but
after deforestation they occur in great numbers.
3.3 BIOLOGICAL RESPONSES

There are two fold responses to infectious diseases: immediate which depend on
the adaptive flexibility of the individual and long-term responses which become
evident after a long period but is action-specific.
Immediate responses are the physiological processes which counteract the effects
of the invading organisms evident by symptoms and signs of the disease such as
inflammation, pain, fever, etc. Prolonged exposure to infection may result into
immunological responses. The proteins or polysaccharides of the invading
organisms act as antigens and stimulate the production of antibodies. Once such
antibodies are formed they may persist in the body or may rapidly be reformed
during second infection.
If a disease is wide spread or severe in nature then it may act as an efficient

selective agent. Individuals who are able to combat the disease will survive while
others are eliminated. Such a resistance may be due to increased physiological
adaptability, enhanced immune response or both. Prior exposure to such diseases
ameliorates its severity in successive generations. Otherwise, the population
would experience high morbidity and mortality rate. Many of the infectious
diseases occur during the pre-reproductive and reproductive phases of life, thereby
increasing their selective significance.
3.4 NON-INFECTIOUS DISEASES

In non-infectious disease, the whole complex of environmental factors and
biological responses (inborn and acquired) must be considered to account for
regional variation. The fact that Negroes are more susceptible to frostbite than
Eskimos or North American Indians may be attributed to both lack of
acclimatisation and genetic susceptibility. Many diseases have been accorded a
‘racial pathology’ but the distribution was entirely related to environmental
peculiarities. Primary cancer of the liver, common among Africans seems to be a
sequel of the widely prevalent liver cirrhosis. It is caused by consumption of diet
chronically low in animal protein and rich in carbohydrate since infancy. Striking
‘racial’ differences in the incidence of coronary disease is associated with diets
high in fat.
Many diseases and malformations are known to have genetic basis; the afflicted
individual is usually homozygous for the recessive gene, though dominant genes
are also involved in some conditions. Genetic diseases are very rare. However,
certain populations have high frequency of such diseases. Thalassemia and sickle-
cell anemia are haemoglobin variants caused by mutation in hemoglobin gene.
Haemolytic disease of the new-born due to rhesus incompatibility is characteristic
of European but not of most Mongoloid or Amerindian populations, since they
are devoid of Rh-negative individuals. There is an increased risk of duodenal
ulcers in individuals of blood group O and individuals with blood group A are
more prone to stomach cancer than others.
37
3.5 ECOLOGY OF MALNUTRITION
The nutritional status of individuals and population span a broad range from
extremes of deficiency to excess. Malnutrition refers to cellular imbalance
between the supply of nutrients and energy and the body’s demand for them to
ensure growth, maintenance and specific function. It is more prevalent among
developing nations, primarily those undergoing the urbanisation. Severe
malnutrition is frequent during war. Protein-caloric malnutrition is most common
form of undernutrition. It includes Kwashiorkor and Marasmus.
Kwashiorkor, a Ghanaian word means ‘second-child disease.” Kwashiorkor is

usually associated with the period immediately following weaning, which often
takes place after the birth of second child. In many parts of the world, especially
in the tropics, the child is resorted from mother’s milk to a diet adequate in
carbohydrates and has insufficient protein. The food usually comprises a starchy
gruel made from yams, taro, corn, rice or millet. Animal protein is scarce and if
available, is expensive. Thus the child may receive enough food to satisfy hunger,
but does not receive the proteins vital for normal health, growth and development.
Characteristic symptoms of Kwashiorkor include edema or fluid retention in the

feet, lower legs and seldom in other parts of the body. Growth and psychomotor
development is retarded. Severe wasting of muscle and adipose tissue can be
depicted from the thinness of upper arms. The child is unable to balance its head
when pulled from a lying to sitting position. Extra vascular fluid retention distend
the abdomen (potbelly).The child is apathetic, miserable, withdrawn and
indifferent to its environment.
Marasmus is derived from Greek word which means withering or wasting. It

results from a diet low in both protein and calories. It is more frequent among
children younger than 5 years, but usually soon after weaning. Symptoms of
Marasmus include extreme growth retardation, wasting of muscles and
subcutaneous fat, diarrhea, and severe anemia. Since vital nutrients are absent
during the period critical for brain growth, mental retardation often occurs. It
results into death.
Kwashiorkor and Marasmus represent extreme examples of malnutrition and

growth retardation. Lack of specific nutrients in the diet may lead to less severe
form of malnutrition and other health risks.
Excessive amounts of nutrients are also hazardous to health. For example,

excessive amounts of vitamin D lead to hypercalcemia, characterised by high
levels of calcium in the blood. It results into sluggish nerve reflexes, weak muscles
and unnatural calcification of soft tissue.
Obesity refers to excess fat accumulation which may unfavorably affect health
of an individual leading to reduced life expectancy and increased health problems.
An adult with BMI > 30kg/m² is said to be obese while a child is considered
obese when his or her body weight is 20 per cent greater than that for his sex and
age-specific weight-for-height standard. Obese children mature earlier.
38
Epidemiological
3.6 DISTRIBUTION OF DEFICIENCY DISEASES Anthropology
American Geographical Society has provided an eminent image of the distribution

of the nutritional deficiency diseases in different parts of the world. Protein
deficiency is predominantly found in the South American, African, Indian and
South-East Asian populations. Mineral deficiencies predominate in Northern
American continent, upper part of South-East Asian countries and some African
populations. The incidence of multi-vitamin deficiencies is rampant in Africa,
Middle-East and some islands of Pacific Ocean.
3.7 EFFECTS OF NUTRITIONAL STRESS

v Infant Mortality and Childhood Death
Infant mortality rate in India is very high, computed as 80/1000 live births.
Prolonged nutritional stress, specifically during infancy and preschool age
is a major, although indirect factor leading to infant and early childhood
mortality. For instance, diarrhea usually occurs during weaning period due
to combined effect of infection and low food intake.
Decreased Resistance to Infection: The resistance to infections in human is
adversely affected by malnutrition.
v The skin and mucosa do not provide effective physical barriers against
infection.
v Cell mediated immunity responses against bacterial infection get reduced
in severely malnourished individuals. The thymus gland and thymus
dependent lymphoid tissues are atrophied.
v Humoral antibodies: Circulating immunoglobulin levels are usually
normal or elevated in malnourished subjects due to frequent infection.
As the secretary IgA is generally reduced, recovery from infections is
delayed.
v Under nutrition and Learning Abilities
The period of active growth of human brain extends from 30th week of
gestation to the end of the second year of life. Undernutrition during this
period, appears to adversely affect the development of brain. In recent years,
intensive investigations have focused on the relationship of nutritional
deprivation in early life and subsequent development of brain and cognitive
abilities. Evidences have been derived either from the association of
malnutrition in early infancy with poor mental performance later in childhood
or with the retarded brain growth or size as observed in autopsy specimens. In
a study, 45 malnourished infants and age matched controls from similar socio-
cultural background were investigated after a period of 4-6 years. The
previously malnourished group showed poor inter-sensory organisation for
recognition of geometric forms. However, the differences observed by
Wechsler primary and preschool Scale of Intelligence in the I.Q. were minimal.
A recent study from Brazil on nineteen marasmic children aged less than six
months, successfully treated for malnutrition, did not show significant lag in
their IQ compared with their siblings and peers. Thus, malnutrition does not
affect intelligence or is cause of mental retardation.
39
3.8 NUTRITIONAL STRESS IN MODERN SOCIETY
Prior to middle age, rice was used in South East Asia and some parts of Indian
subcontinent, maize in central America, potatoes in South America, wheat in
South West Asia and millets in Africa and parts of China. However, during middle
age, long voyages undertaken by several groups of people led to the world wide
dispersion of new domestic crops and animals. Rice cultivation was brought to
Africa. The potatoes were also spread to many parts of the world. Horses, donkeys,
cattle, sheep etc. were introduced into America that provided essential nutrients
to many native populations.
Disruption of traditional diets and introduction of new food stuffs caused

nutritional stress in many societies. The estimate of such a stress in earlier times
is not known completely but by the beginning of 20th century epidemics of goiter,
pellagra and beriberi were evident. In urban areas, movement of people into the
cash economies decreased the supply of proteins, making it costlier. Poorer
sections of society in urban areas thus became victims of Kwashiorkor.
Though nutritional stresses are declining in the contemporary society, infectious

diseases are being replaced by non-infectious diseases. An increased genetic
heterosis is also indicated. Children in modern society are growing faster and
taller. They are maturing sexually at an earlier age. However, in many third world
countries the nutritional deficiency diseases are still found in a large scale.
3.9 SUMMARY
Epidemiological Anthropology confers to the determination, manifestation and
distribution of certain diseases and disorders in human communities spread all
over the globe. The spectrum of disease causing factors ranges from genetic to
environment. Socio-cultural background also exhibit influential role as human
settlement pattern enhance the spread of diseases. The biotic and abiotic
components of the environment contribute to ecological aspects of diseases. The
epidemiological aspects consider two kinds of diseases namely, infectious and
non-infectious. Malnutrition is another contributory factor for the affliction of
certain diseases. Nutritional stress is frequently observed during infancy and
early childhood consequently causing infant and childhood mortality. Nowadays,
nutritional stress is incident in different developing countries and effect different
communities to a varying degree. African continent has maximum incidence of
nutritional disorders.
Suggested Reading
Harrison, G.A., Weiner, J.S. Tanner J.M. and Barnicot, N.A.1964. Human Biology.
Reddy, R. 1992. Physical Anthropology, Evolution and Human Genetics, Tirupati,
V. Indira.
Shukla, B. R.K. and Rastogi,R. 1999. Physical Anthropology and Human
Genetics- An Introduction Delhi, Palka Prakashan.
Stein P. L. and Rowe B.M. 1974. Physical Anthropology, New York, McGraw-
Hill.
40
www.wikipedia.org Epidemiological
Anthropology
Sample Questions
1) Explain the concept of Epidemiological Anthropology.
2) Discuss the different factors responsible for infectious diseases.
3) Explain the relationship between environmental factors and non-infectious
diseases.
4) Evaluate the role of malnutrition in relation to ecological conditions.
41
UNIT 3 EPIDEMIOLOGICAL
ANTHROPOLOGY
Contents
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Infectious Diseases
3.3 Biological Responses
3.4 Non-Infectious Diseases
3.5 Ecology of Malnutrition
3.6 Distribution of Deficiency Diseases
3.7 Effects of Nutritional Stress
3.8 Nutritional Stress in Modern Society
3.9 Summary
Suggested Reading
Sample Questions

Ø explain the relation between ecology and disease;
Ø describe the infectious diseases;
Ø indicate the ecology of malnutrition; and
Ø explain the effects of nutritional stress.
3.1 INTRODUCTION
Epidemiology is often defined as the study, distribution and determinants of
disease and injuries in human population. Epidemiological anthropology
elucidates etiological factors involved in a disease incidence; and emphasis on
population variation in incidence and occurrence.
Human growth occurs along a genetically destined trajectory, but is influenced

by environmental factors consequently affecting its longevity and health status.
Consequently diseases exhibit the whole spectrum of causation, ranging from
hereditary factors which play predominant role, to the environment. In many
instances both factors have to be taken into account. We need to consider not
only man’s physical environment but also his social, cultural and psychological
circumstances. For instance, environmental components of causation lie in lung
cancer and degenerative arterial disease as in tuberculosis and small pox.
Distribution of diseases as a special manifestation of human variation

and ecology can be observed not only at individual level but also at
population level which exhibit genotypically and phenotypically similar
individuals and inhabit more or less uniform environments.
34
Epidemiological
3.2 INFECTIOUS DISEASES Anthropology
There exist a competitive interaction between man and environment. Man has
been able to control his nearby environment or at least mitigate its worst effects
by various adaptive mechanisms. On one hand, this struggle may be against un-
alterable and passive opponent, e.g. physical and climatic factors (temperature
or atmospheric pressure) and on the other hand, biological environment which is
in itself capable of adaptive responses. Therefore, in the context of eradication
of infectious diseases appropriate steps must be adopted to ensure adaptation of
individual and mal-adaptation of disease causing agent to the environment.
The ecological aspects of disease can be revealed in two ways:

v Physical environment: It is a direct and immediate source of injury and ill
health. There is consequently a clear geographical distribution of pathology
manifested as a consequence of extreme climatic effect e.g. heat stroke
(desert), mountain sickness (high altitude) and rodent ulcer (ultra-violet
light). In recent years, air pollution due to smoke and associated substances
has become an important environmental hazard in many countries.
v Biotic component of the environment harbours pathogenic organisms

(viruses, bacteria, protozoa, fungi) dangerous animals as well as poisonous
plants and insects. In addition nutritional disorders arise due to improper
utilisation of food sources – animal and vegetable (and also mineral).
Besides, environmentally produced diseases, some illnesses make their overt

appearance due to maladjustment of metabolic and regulatory functions during
growth, but manifest completely in response to the external environment. Genetic
defect may refer to an inability of the individual to support him, while
psychological disorder is an inability to apprehend and respond to external events
and demands.
Hunting-gathering practices, deforestation, swamp drainage and other activities

have enabled man to dispose off his major competitors for space and food. This
struggle for existence has even lead to extermination of many species. Indeed, a
readjustment of ecological balance and an enlightened policy of conservation
are urgently necessary if numerous species are to be saved from total extinction
(this tragedy seems soon likely to overtake our hominoid relative the gorilla, an
anthropoid probably even more intelligent than the chimpanzee and whose biology
and ethology are far from well known).
Man contends with smaller creatures such as rodents, insects, fungi, and micro-
organisms. Some of them are parasitic on his food and shelter while other to his
body. The diseases emerged from man’s contact with other living organisms and
represent phases of ecological conflict which have not been yet entirely resolved
in man’s favour.
The geographical background is the prime single factor governing the abundance
of specific type of parasites and pathogens in a region. Micro-organisms may be
water-borne, air –borne, or carried by insects and other animals. The host-parasitic
relation often takes a complex course depending on the number of stages and
factors involved in a life cycle of parasite– vector, intermediate host and one or
35
Ecological Anthropology more reservoirs. Analysis of the locality eventually reveals that ecological
relationships are strongly influenced by physical features such as wind, rainwater,
drainage, temperature and humidity. The pathogen itself may have limited
environmental tolerance. The vector usually requires specific conditions for
breeding, e.g. ticks or fleas may need a dry climate. The carrier may have a
restricted habitat, e.g., tree-living squirrels in the Malayan rain forest. The female
Anopheles utilise water bodies for breeding. Site specific rainfall, soil type and
its water-retaining properties determine persistence of water pools. The tsetse
fly, vector of African sleeping sickness, requires a relatively dense vegetational
cover.
The geographical distribution of many diseases is similar to that of their

intermediate hosts and vectors. Schistosomiasis is common among reverie
populations of warm climates as the bladder-worm needs a particular snail during
one of its developmental stage. Rickettsial diseases, e.g. Rocky Mountain spotted
fever, are linked with ticks found chiefly in North America, Bengal, and North
Africa. The Asiatic form, scrub typhus, carried by mites, occurs in Japan, Formosa,
and Oceania; the typhus group of Europe and central Asia is linked with fleas
and lice. Brucellosis is transmitted through contaminated and untreated milk
and milk products, and by direct contact with infected animals and hence is
geographically related to cattle herds as the main reservoir.
The ecological relations are complex. A relatively few out of the thousands kinds
of human parasites characterise any given locality. Thus, the ecological relations
of most micro-organism disease will be unraveled only by specific regional
analysis. For instance, Yaws, a microbial disease has strong relationship to climate.
80 per cent of the yaws affected areas have the 800 F mean annual isotherms.
This disease is endemic where the annual rainfall ranges from 50 to 70 inches.
The disease occurs therefore mostly between the north and south 40th parallels.
Somaliland, a semi-desert country consists of thorn scrub country and has dry
climate. Hence, cataract and eye infections are causally associated with the flying
sand, sun-glare as well as the flies which breed freely due to the dry climate. The
climate also favours the existence of soft ticks which causes relapsing fever.
There is moderate incidence of Madura foot caused by inoculation of the fungal
spores into the skin by the thorns. The intense dryness and frequent sand storms
encourage sore throats, which the Somalis have been led to treat by snipping off
the uvula. Thus sand, dryness, and glare are the prime physical factors that can
be identified in this ecological complex. Another example may be drawn from
the Arctic. Here, despite the enormous number and variety of mosquitoes and
other arthropods, none are known to transmit infectious disease. But throughout
the North American Arctic, dogs, which still provide the chief means of winter
transport, serve as a reservoir in transmission of numerous infections among
humans including salmonellae, meat and fish tape-worm, and rabies. The seasonal
incidence of these diseases is due to unsanitary disposal of waste in the vicinity
of dwellings which render pathogens innocuous in the frozen state but are released
with the spring thaw.
The characteristic housing structure and settlements pattern of man may introduce
favorable factors to the spread of particular diseases. Human settlement may
require deforestation which may provide conditions favourable for the propagation
of infectious diseases. Deforestation of the hills of Ceylon led to frequent pool
36
formation during dry spell and successively to mosquito-breeding. In Malaya Epidemiological
Anthropology
certain rats capable of carrying tick disease are very rare in the natural forest but
after deforestation they occur in great numbers.
3.3 BIOLOGICAL RESPONSES

There are two fold responses to infectious diseases: immediate which depend on
the adaptive flexibility of the individual and long-term responses which become
evident after a long period but is action-specific.
Immediate responses are the physiological processes which counteract the effects
of the invading organisms evident by symptoms and signs of the disease such as
inflammation, pain, fever, etc. Prolonged exposure to infection may result into
immunological responses. The proteins or polysaccharides of the invading
organisms act as antigens and stimulate the production of antibodies. Once such
antibodies are formed they may persist in the body or may rapidly be reformed
during second infection.
If a disease is wide spread or severe in nature then it may act as an efficient

selective agent. Individuals who are able to combat the disease will survive while
others are eliminated. Such a resistance may be due to increased physiological
adaptability, enhanced immune response or both. Prior exposure to such diseases
ameliorates its severity in successive generations. Otherwise, the population
would experience high morbidity and mortality rate. Many of the infectious
diseases occur during the pre-reproductive and reproductive phases of life, thereby
increasing their selective significance.
3.4 NON-INFECTIOUS DISEASES

In non-infectious disease, the whole complex of environmental factors and
biological responses (inborn and acquired) must be considered to account for
regional variation. The fact that Negroes are more susceptible to frostbite than
Eskimos or North American Indians may be attributed to both lack of
acclimatisation and genetic susceptibility. Many diseases have been accorded a
‘racial pathology’ but the distribution was entirely related to environmental
peculiarities. Primary cancer of the liver, common among Africans seems to be a
sequel of the widely prevalent liver cirrhosis. It is caused by consumption of diet
chronically low in animal protein and rich in carbohydrate since infancy. Striking
‘racial’ differences in the incidence of coronary disease is associated with diets
high in fat.
Many diseases and malformations are known to have genetic basis; the afflicted
individual is usually homozygous for the recessive gene, though dominant genes
are also involved in some conditions. Genetic diseases are very rare. However,
certain populations have high frequency of such diseases. Thalassemia and sickle-
cell anemia are haemoglobin variants caused by mutation in hemoglobin gene.
Haemolytic disease of the new-born due to rhesus incompatibility is characteristic
of European but not of most Mongoloid or Amerindian populations, since they
are devoid of Rh-negative individuals. There is an increased risk of duodenal
ulcers in individuals of blood group O and individuals with blood group A are
more prone to stomach cancer than others.
37
3.5 ECOLOGY OF MALNUTRITION
The nutritional status of individuals and population span a broad range from
extremes of deficiency to excess. Malnutrition refers to cellular imbalance
between the supply of nutrients and energy and the body’s demand for them to
ensure growth, maintenance and specific function. It is more prevalent among
developing nations, primarily those undergoing the urbanisation. Severe
malnutrition is frequent during war. Protein-caloric malnutrition is most common
form of undernutrition. It includes Kwashiorkor and Marasmus.
Kwashiorkor, a Ghanaian word means ‘second-child disease.” Kwashiorkor is

usually associated with the period immediately following weaning, which often
takes place after the birth of second child. In many parts of the world, especially
in the tropics, the child is resorted from mother’s milk to a diet adequate in
carbohydrates and has insufficient protein. The food usually comprises a starchy
gruel made from yams, taro, corn, rice or millet. Animal protein is scarce and if
available, is expensive. Thus the child may receive enough food to satisfy hunger,
but does not receive the proteins vital for normal health, growth and development.
Characteristic symptoms of Kwashiorkor include edema or fluid retention in the

feet, lower legs and seldom in other parts of the body. Growth and psychomotor
development is retarded. Severe wasting of muscle and adipose tissue can be
depicted from the thinness of upper arms. The child is unable to balance its head
when pulled from a lying to sitting position. Extra vascular fluid retention distend
the abdomen (potbelly).The child is apathetic, miserable, withdrawn and
indifferent to its environment.
Marasmus is derived from Greek word which means withering or wasting. It

results from a diet low in both protein and calories. It is more frequent among
children younger than 5 years, but usually soon after weaning. Symptoms of
Marasmus include extreme growth retardation, wasting of muscles and
subcutaneous fat, diarrhea, and severe anemia. Since vital nutrients are absent
during the period critical for brain growth, mental retardation often occurs. It
results into death.
Kwashiorkor and Marasmus represent extreme examples of malnutrition and

growth retardation. Lack of specific nutrients in the diet may lead to less severe
form of malnutrition and other health risks.
Excessive amounts of nutrients are also hazardous to health. For example,

excessive amounts of vitamin D lead to hypercalcemia, characterised by high
levels of calcium in the blood. It results into sluggish nerve reflexes, weak muscles
and unnatural calcification of soft tissue.
Obesity refers to excess fat accumulation which may unfavorably affect health
of an individual leading to reduced life expectancy and increased health problems.
An adult with BMI > 30kg/m² is said to be obese while a child is considered
obese when his or her body weight is 20 per cent greater than that for his sex and
age-specific weight-for-height standard. Obese children mature earlier.
38
Epidemiological
3.6 DISTRIBUTION OF DEFICIENCY DISEASES Anthropology
American Geographical Society has provided an eminent image of the distribution

of the nutritional deficiency diseases in different parts of the world. Protein
deficiency is predominantly found in the South American, African, Indian and
South-East Asian populations. Mineral deficiencies predominate in Northern
American continent, upper part of South-East Asian countries and some African
populations. The incidence of multi-vitamin deficiencies is rampant in Africa,
Middle-East and some islands of Pacific Ocean.
3.7 EFFECTS OF NUTRITIONAL STRESS

v Infant Mortality and Childhood Death
Infant mortality rate in India is very high, computed as 80/1000 live births.
Prolonged nutritional stress, specifically during infancy and preschool age
is a major, although indirect factor leading to infant and early childhood
mortality. For instance, diarrhea usually occurs during weaning period due
to combined effect of infection and low food intake.
Decreased Resistance to Infection: The resistance to infections in human is
adversely affected by malnutrition.
v The skin and mucosa do not provide effective physical barriers against
infection.
v Cell mediated immunity responses against bacterial infection get reduced
in severely malnourished individuals. The thymus gland and thymus
dependent lymphoid tissues are atrophied.
v Humoral antibodies: Circulating immunoglobulin levels are usually
normal or elevated in malnourished subjects due to frequent infection.
As the secretary IgA is generally reduced, recovery from infections is
delayed.
v Under nutrition and Learning Abilities
The period of active growth of human brain extends from 30th week of
gestation to the end of the second year of life. Undernutrition during this
period, appears to adversely affect the development of brain. In recent years,
intensive investigations have focused on the relationship of nutritional
deprivation in early life and subsequent development of brain and cognitive
abilities. Evidences have been derived either from the association of
malnutrition in early infancy with poor mental performance later in childhood
or with the retarded brain growth or size as observed in autopsy specimens. In
a study, 45 malnourished infants and age matched controls from similar socio-
cultural background were investigated after a period of 4-6 years. The
previously malnourished group showed poor inter-sensory organisation for
recognition of geometric forms. However, the differences observed by
Wechsler primary and preschool Scale of Intelligence in the I.Q. were minimal.
A recent study from Brazil on nineteen marasmic children aged less than six
months, successfully treated for malnutrition, did not show significant lag in
their IQ compared with their siblings and peers. Thus, malnutrition does not
affect intelligence or is cause of mental retardation.
39
3.8 NUTRITIONAL STRESS IN MODERN SOCIETY
Prior to middle age, rice was used in South East Asia and some parts of Indian
subcontinent, maize in central America, potatoes in South America, wheat in
South West Asia and millets in Africa and parts of China. However, during middle
age, long voyages undertaken by several groups of people led to the world wide
dispersion of new domestic crops and animals. Rice cultivation was brought to
Africa. The potatoes were also spread to many parts of the world. Horses, donkeys,
cattle, sheep etc. were introduced into America that provided essential nutrients
to many native populations.
Disruption of traditional diets and introduction of new food stuffs caused

nutritional stress in many societies. The estimate of such a stress in earlier times
is not known completely but by the beginning of 20th century epidemics of goiter,
pellagra and beriberi were evident. In urban areas, movement of people into the
cash economies decreased the supply of proteins, making it costlier. Poorer
sections of society in urban areas thus became victims of Kwashiorkor.
Though nutritional stresses are declining in the contemporary society, infectious

diseases are being replaced by non-infectious diseases. An increased genetic
heterosis is also indicated. Children in modern society are growing faster and
taller. They are maturing sexually at an earlier age. However, in many third world
countries the nutritional deficiency diseases are still found in a large scale.
3.9 SUMMARY
Epidemiological Anthropology confers to the determination, manifestation and
distribution of certain diseases and disorders in human communities spread all
over the globe. The spectrum of disease causing factors ranges from genetic to
environment. Socio-cultural background also exhibit influential role as human
settlement pattern enhance the spread of diseases. The biotic and abiotic
components of the environment contribute to ecological aspects of diseases. The
epidemiological aspects consider two kinds of diseases namely, infectious and
non-infectious. Malnutrition is another contributory factor for the affliction of
certain diseases. Nutritional stress is frequently observed during infancy and
early childhood consequently causing infant and childhood mortality. Nowadays,
nutritional stress is incident in different developing countries and effect different
communities to a varying degree. African continent has maximum incidence of
nutritional disorders.
Suggested Reading
Harrison, G.A., Weiner, J.S. Tanner J.M. and Barnicot, N.A.1964. Human Biology.
Reddy, R. 1992. Physical Anthropology, Evolution and Human Genetics, Tirupati,
V. Indira.
Shukla, B. R.K. and Rastogi,R. 1999. Physical Anthropology and Human
Genetics- An Introduction Delhi, Palka Prakashan.
Stein P. L. and Rowe B.M. 1974. Physical Anthropology, New York, McGraw-
Hill.
40
www.wikipedia.org Epidemiological
Anthropology
Sample Questions
1) Explain the concept of Epidemiological Anthropology.
2) Discuss the different factors responsible for infectious diseases.
3) Explain the relationship between environmental factors and non-infectious
diseases.
4) Evaluate the role of malnutrition in relation to ecological conditions.
41
MANI-002
PHYSICAL
Indira Gandhi
ANTHROPOLOGY
Block
2
HUMAN EVOLUTION
UNIT 1
Principles of Evolution 5
UNIT 2
Theories of Organic Evolution 16
UNIT 3
Synthetic Theory 27
UNIT 4
Palaeoanthropology 42
Expert Committee
Patiala
Dr. Nita Mathur
SOSS, IGNOU
Professor S M S Chahal Mrs. Narinder Jit Kaur
Department of Human Biology Retired, Associate Professor in English
Punjabi University, Patiala Government Mohindra College, Patiala
Unit Writers
Dr. P Venkatramana (Units 1&2) Professor Rajan Gaur (Unit 3) Professor Vashisht (Unit 4)
Assistant Professor Department of Anthropology Retired, Dept. of Anthropology
Faculty of Anthropology Panjab University, Chandigarh Panjab University, Chandigarh
SOSS, IGNOU, New Delhi

August, 2011
ISBN-978-81-266-5546-5
Printed at :
BLOCK 2 HUMAN EVOLUTION
Introduction
The Darwinian theory of evolution by natural selection, which states that
organisms become progressively adapted to their environments by accumulating
beneficial mutants, is now firmly established. Indeed this theory is serving as a
great unifying principle in the biological sciences. When Darwin formulated his
theory in the middle of the 19th century, the mechanism of inheritance and the
nature of heritable variations were unknown, preventing him from being over-
confident about the role of positive natural selection. In fact, Darwin gradually
came to accept the Lamarckian view that the inheritance of acquired traits also
plays some role in evolution.
In the initial days of human evolutionary deliberations of Huxley, Broca and

Duckworth, the chief line of substantiation to surface was that of comparative
anatomy, which established without reservation that man’s place in nature was
amongst primates and particularly that his nearest relatives were the great apes.
Direct evidence on human origins awaited acceptable fossil material which
provided skeletal support for descent of man from a forefather common to the
anthropoid apes. All this was before there was any real application of genetic
concepts to human evolution. In fact, the study of human evolution advanced
independently of human genetics and this was largely owing to the discrepancy
in time. The Mendelian genetics began with the rediscovery of Mendel’s work at
the beginning of the 20th century, explaining the concepts and mechanism of
inheritance.
Because of the development of modern genetic theory, evolution is now viewed

as changes in gene (allele) frequencies between ancestral and decedent
populations. The processes by which these changes come about are natural
selection, mutation, sampling error (genetic drift) and migration. But it is virtually
impossible to measure directly the changes in gene frequencies. Therefore,
evolution is also necessarily viewed as changes in the morphology of organisms
through time. Analyses of degrees of morphological similarities and differences
have always been part of evolutionary studies. Besides, evolution may also be
represented as changes in numbers and kinds of animals within major lineages.
The origin of discontinuities between animal populations, that is speciation, is a
major concern of biologists. After the establishment of the development of genetic
concepts, today we are possessors of the synthetic theory of evolution, which
states that evolution led to the functional adaptation of the diverse and variable
forms of life through the continuous production of variation and the action of
natural selection.
This Block comprises four Units on Principles of Evolution, Theories of Organic

Evolution, Human Evolution and Palaeoanthropology which give a detailed
account of evolutionary principles and theories, especially with reference to
humans. The units are lucidly written and it is hoped that the learner will find
this material on evolution useful.
Human Evolution
4
Principles of Evolution
UNIT 1 PRINCIPLES OF EVOLUTION
Contents
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Pre-Darwinian Theories of Evalution
1.3 Principles of Evolution
1.3.1 Speciation
1.3.2 Irreversibility
1.3.3 Parallelism and Convergence
1.3.4 Adaptive Radiation
1.3.5 Extinction
1.4 Summary
References
Suggested Reading
Sample Questions

It is expected that after reading this unit, you would be able to understand the
Ø various Pre-Darwinian theories and the evolutionary principles; like
Ø speciation;
Ø irreversibility;
Ø parallelism and convergence;
Ø adaptive radiation; and
Ø extinction.
1.1 INTRODUCTION
Physical Anthropology has two principal aspects of study: human evolution and
human variation. Human evolution is the evolution of Homo sapiens from their
ancestors whereas human variation refers to the differences that exist among
individual populations. Anthropologists are interested in understanding both
cultural and biological variation. Coming to the present unit, it deals with various
pre-Darwinian theories and the principles of evolution. Before that, a brief account
on evolution is presented.
Physical Anthropology is the branch of anthropology that deals with

human evolutionary biology, physical variation, and classification.
Evolution
Herbert Spencer, an English philosopher, first used the term ‘evolution’ to denote
the historical development of life. Evolution is nothing but change. Changes
within the organism over a period of time is termed ‘micro-evolution’ and changes
from one being to the other i.e. transformation, is termed as ‘macro-evolution’.
The term evolution may be defined in several ways. Thus, we can speak of the
geological evolution or evolution of planet earth, evolution of solar systems and 5
Human Evolution the evolution of the automobiles, radios and telephones etc. The changes involved
in the rise of human civilisation can be called cultural evolution. In the same
manner, the term ‘organic evolution’ is applied to the changes that have taken
place in the living things, viz. plants and animals. In this connection the definition
of Charles Darwin (1859) is worthwhile and he defined evolution as “descent
with modification” i.e., closely related species resembling one another because
of their inheritance; and differing from one another because of the hereditary
differences accumulated during the separation of their ancestors. But according
to Dodson and Dodson (1976), evolution is the process by which related
populations diverge from one another, giving rise to new species (or higher
groups). Dobzhansky (1951) stated “evolution is the development of
dissimilarities between the ancestral and the descendant population”.
1.2 PRE-DARWINIAN THEORIES OF EVOLUTION

The evolutionary thought has a very long history, from that of Aristotle to Darwin
to the synthetic theory of evolution (Neo-Darwinism). Theories of evolution
that existed before Darwin are said to be ‘Pre-Darwin’ theories of evolution.
These were based on speculation and keen observation over living and non-
living matters of the earth and biosphere. They assume importance as they serve
baseline information in understanding the evolution of life and its diversity. The
Pre-Darwinian theories of evolution are also referred to as ‘old theories of
evolution’.
Greek thinkers and evolution

The idea of evolution and the continuity of life forms is found in the writings of
Greek philosophers such as Aristotle (384-322 B.C), Herodotus (484-425 B.C)
and Empedocles (504-433 B.C). Aristotle believed in old forms of life giving
rise to new forms. He felt that organisms have certain inner instinct which enables
them to transform towards better by adaptation. He observed this phenomenon
among the plants, animals and man. The credit goes to Aristotle for coining the
term ‘Anthropology’ and hence he is known as ‘Father of Anthropology’ as he
first highlighted the insights of man.
Herodotus and Empedocles developed certain ideas relating living beings to

biological concept of evolution. Their thoughts covered traces of concept of
adaptation; plants evolving before animals indicating gradual evolution of higher
organisms, and finally man. This hierarchical system suggests an evolutionary
concept. Besides these two scholars, there are others also who contributed their
ideas regarding origin and evolution of man.
Medieval theories
The medieval times, also called “the Christian era”, witnessed diametrically
opposite views of evolution of Greeks, since the time was dominated by the
Christian Theory of Special Creation. Accordingly, all living things came into
existence in unchanging forms due to the Divine Will. Nevertheless, medieval
thinking could not explain fully the idea of spontaneous creation. However, this
traditional version of creationism was strongly reinforced by James Ussher, a
17th century Anglican Archbishop of Northern Ireland. He fixed the date of creation
at October 23, 4004 B.C. Further to this, Dr. Charles Lightfoot of Cambridge
University in England had added the exact time of creation, i.e., 9 a.m. on October
6
23, 4004 B.C. These strongly held views were there in public mind throughout Principles of Evolution
the 17th and 18th centuries and to certain extent till the present.
However, the acceptance of biological evolution of organisms had crept in the

scientific world by mid 18th century with Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778) a Swedish
Botanist, through his immortal work “The Systema Nature” published in 1735.
It was Linnaeus who designated each living organism two Latin names (binary
nomenclature), one for Genus and the other for Species. Thus, from the days of
Linnaeus, Man has been scientifically known as Homo Sapien. The tenable work
of Linnaeus received good support and attention from the scientific community
all around the world.
Late in the 18th century, the French scientist, Comte de Buffon (1707-1788),
contemporary to Carl Linnaeus, suggested strongly that life forms are not fixed.
He strongly believed that this could be the influence of the environment on living
organisms. He explained this in his voluminous work, “Historic Naturelle”
completed in 44 volumes. He had more clear ideas on the physical features of
man than Linnaeus. He explained them in his book “Varieties Humanies”.
Thereafter, Erasmus Darwin (1731-1802) another 18th century scientist, an

evolutionist and the grandfather of Charles Darwin, suggested through his work
the evolutionary aspects of animals and strongly contended that the earth and
life on it must have been evolving for millions of years and the history of mankind
is the latest.
Lamarck (1744-1829), a French naturalist, was the first evolutionist who
confidently put forward his ideas about the process leading to biological change
in the organism. He opined that the structure of a living being is dependent on its
function. He used the example of Giraffe, saying that it got long-neck structure
for its constant use of reaching to higher foliage. Based on this observation, he
propounded two theories, namely: i) use and disuse of characters and ii) the
acquired characters are inherited. For him, Giraffe’s long neck is an acquired
character and snake’s smooth body has resulted due to disuse of its limbs as it
chose to live in burrows. Unfortunately, Lamarck’s theory was not tenable among
scientific community as it raised number of queries and to establish it more
evidence was required. However, the Lamarck theory of evolution is an important
milestone for the evolutionary biology.
George Cuvier (1769-1832) another French scientist objected to Lamarck strongly
but held views on fossil evidence and biological relationship. The disappearance
of dinosaurs, he felt, was due to ‘fixity’ of species. He further advocated the
theory of ‘Catastrophism’ but again not to the full extent of scientific explanation.
Charles Lyell (1797-1875), an English lawyer and geologist disproved Cuvier’s
Catastrophism theory. Lyell in his three volume book on ‘Principles of Geology’
(1830-1833), documented the fact that the earth must be considerably old; and
natural processes through time, like, erosions, earthquakes, glacial movements
and volcanoes have changed the shape of the earth and its living units. He provided
conclusive evidence for the theory of uniformitarianism. He explained this saying
that the present would be the key for understanding the past. He argued that the
natural changes were the same in the past and the present. This led Charles Darwin
(1809-1882) to think of nature and selection on living beings and he later
propounded his famous theory of natural selection and the Origin of Species in
his book published in 1859.
7
Human Evolution Thus, the above explained are some of the old theories of evolution prior to
Darwin, hence these are referred to as Pre-Darwinian theories of evolution.
Darwin’s theory of evolution (Origin of Species through Natural Selection) was
the start of new era for understanding biological evolution through genetic
mechanisms.
1.3 PRINCIPLES OF EVOLUTION

In the following text, various evolutionary principles like speciation,
irreversibility, parallelism and convergence, adaptive radiation and extinction
are discussed.
Speciation, irreversibility, parallelism and convergence, adaptive

radiation and extinction are some of the important evolutionary
principles.
1.3.1 Speciation
Mayr (1970) defined speciation as the creation of species. Speciation can also be
defined as creation of two or more species from one. Among different evolutionary
principles, speciation plays a major role. The entire evolution depends on the
origin of new populations from their ancestors and since it is from their ancestors,
it is difficult to understand many of them in detail due to lack of sufficient
resources. Before we discuss the speciation process, the definition of the term
species is presented; species is one of the basic units of biological classification
and a taxonomic rank and is often defined as a group of organisms capable of
interbreeding and producing fertile offspring.
According to Mayr (1970), true speciation or multiplication of species may occur

by the following agencies:
A) Instantaneous speciation (through individuals)
1) Genetically
a) By single mutation in asexual species
b) By macrogenesis
2) Cytologically, in partially or wholly sexual species
a) By chromosomal mutations or aberrations (translocations, etc.)
b) By polyploidy
B) Gradual speciation (through populations)
1) Geographical speciation
2) Sympatric speciation
However, the process of speciation is possible by four different mechanisms
viz., allopatric, parapatric, sympatric and quantum speciation discussed below.
Allopatric Speciation
It is also called geographic speciation. Allopatric isolation is a key factor in
speciation and a common process by which new species arise. In this scenario a
population splits into two geographically isolated populations by some geographic
8
barrier, such as mountain range or river for terrestrial organisms, or a land mass Principles of Evolution
for aquatic organisms. The isolated populations are then liable to diverge
evolutionarily over many generations as (a) they become subjected to dissimilar
selective pressures and (b) they independently undergo genetic drift and (c)
different mutations arise in the two populations. When the populations come
back into contact, they have evolved such that they are reproductively isolated
and are no longer capable of exchanging genes. The allopatric speciation is the
almost exclusive mode of speciation among animals, and most likely the
prevailing mode even in plants, and is now quite generally accepted (Mayr, 1970).
Darwin’s finches (Fig.1.1) is the best example for allopatric speciation. The
Ground finches are numbered from 1–7. These finches look for food on the
ground or in low bushes. The tree finches are numbered from 8–13. They survive
mostly on insects.
1) Large cactus finch (Geospiza conirostris)
2) Large ground finch (Geospiza magnirostris))
3) Medium ground finch (Geospiza fortis)
4) Cactus finch (Geospiza scandens)
5) Sharp-beaked ground finch (Geospiza difficilis)
6) Small ground finch (Geospiza fuliginosa)
Fig.1.1: Darwin’s finches
Source: www. dls.ym.edu.tw
7) Woodpecker finch (Cactospiza pallida)

8) Vegetarian tree finch (Platyspiza crassirostris)
9) Medium tree finch (Camarhynchus pauper)
10) Large tree finch (Camarhynchus psittacula)
9
Human Evolution 11) Small tree finch (Camarhynchus parvulus)
12) Warbler finch (Certhidia olivacea)
13) Mangrove finch (Cactospiza heliobates)
Parapatric speciation
In this mode of speciation, a small population enters into a new habitat, but
differs in physical separation between these two populations. Individuals of each
species may come in contact or cross habitats from time to time. The best-known
example of incipient parapatric speciation occurs in populations of the grass
Agrostistenuis which span mine tailings and normal soils. Individuals that are
tolerant to heavy metals, a heritable trait, survive well on contaminated soil, but
poorly on non-contaminated soil. The reverse occurs for intolerant populations.
Gene flow occurs between sub-populations on and off mine tailings, but
hybridisation is inhibited by slight differences in flowering time between the
two locations (McNeilly and Antonovics 1968).
Sympatric Speciation
In the case of sympatric speciation two or more descendant species form, from a
single ancestor and these occupy same geographical locality. In this kind of
speciation even a small amount of gene flow may eliminate genetic differences
between parts of a population. Numerous examples for this type of speciation
are observed in the invertebrates, particularly the insects; the insects that becomes
dependent on diverse host plants in the same area. Cichlids in East Africa is one
of the examples and thought to be due to sexual selection.
Quantum Speciation
Grant (1971) defined quantum speciation as “the budding off a new and very
different daughter species from a semi isolated peripheral population of the
ancestral species in a cross fertilisation organism”. This speciation frequently
occurs through adaptive radiation, by the discharge of genetic variability
surrounded by ecologic islands. Quantum speciation is speedy and requires only
few generations. The ancestors of the new species do not include a large proportion
of the population, and may consist of only one or few individuals. In quantum
speciation genetic drift plays a key role.
1.3.2 Irreversibility
In the year 1893, Louis Dollo, a French born Belgian palaeontologist proposed
the principle of Irreversibility. This is also called Dollo’s law of Irreversibility or
Dollos law which states “An organism is unable to return, even partially, to a
previous stage already realised in the ranks of its ancestors.” That is, once an
animal has passed through a number of stages, a reversion, stage by stage, to the
original ancestral condition does not occur. A structure that changes its form in
evolution will not revert to its earlier form. Irreversibility is a descriptive
generalisation, it is not a law of nature and one must realise that it is not a property
of living organisms.
In studies of primate evolution, irreversibility is an important principle. The

dentition of a given form is often crucial evidence of its ancestral or descendant
status with respect to another form. Once a tooth of a particular series (incisor,
canine, premolar or molar) is lost, it does not recur again in the same series in the
10
same form. Changes in dentition are irreversible. This does not mean that similar Principles of Evolution
structures or the same adaptive patterns will not be repeated a second time in the
evolutionary record. Another example is the flying reptiles. After these reptiles
became extinct, wings and adaptation to an airborne way of life occurred in two
other distinct lineages – the birds and mammals.
1.3.3 Parallelism and Convergence

Similar structures, similar adaptive relationships, or similar behaviours occur in
different groups of animals as a result of similar evolutionary opportunities. A
fundamental principle of evolutionary biology is that, if there is a close similarity
in the total morphological pattern of two organisms, there is a reasonably close
phylogenetic relationship between them. The problem which this phenomenon
of similarity brings up is whether such similarities are examples of parallelism
or convergence or whether they are evidence of evolutionary affinity between
the organisms. Parallelism and convergence imply that a close phylogenetic
relationship does not exist.
The term parallelism is usually restricted to the development of similar adaptive

features in animals that are related, such as animals belonging to the same order.
The parallel resemblances are, most likely, the realisation of a genetic potential
that is present in the entire group. On the other hand, the term convergence is
defined as development of similarities in adaptive relationships or structures in
two animal species or major groups that are not closely related.
It is not easy to classify all cases of similarity as convergent or parallel. The

following examples show the difficulties in attempting to categorise similarities.
The two kinds of photoreceptors in the vertebrate eye are the rods, which are
highly sensitive and function in very little light, but have little power of
discrimination, and the cones are sensitive to higher intensities of light and have
high degree of discrimination of spatial relationships, colors and textures. Rods
have been found in the eyes of many nocturnal vertebrates such as owls, bats and
lorises and of those that must live in dim light such as whales, cats and some
fishes. The question is, in which of these animals are the rods convergent and in
which are they parallel development? The answer depends upon how we define
parallel and convergent and detailed study of the rods in these various eyes. It is
convergent when the rods in each of the various animals noted may have
evolutionary derivations from different structures and it is parallel if they are
derived from the same parts of the basic vertebrate eye. Another example which
shows problem is the ‘song’ or territorial call of Indri, a lemur and the hoot of the
gibbon. Both belong to the same order and at the same time it is difficult to make
a case for close evolutionary affinity between Indri and the gibbon as little is
known of the fossil lineage of the Indri.
The old world monkeys and new world monkeys provide an excellent example
of parallelism between groups living today, since they appear to have evolved in
parallel from a prosimian ancestor that probably lived at least 35 million years
ago. Clear example for convergent evolution is the incisor tooth comb of the
flying lemur (order Dermoptera) and the tooth comb of various prosimian primates
(formed by lower incisors and canines). Another example is brachiation,
locomotion by swinging arm over arm through the trees in some monkeys of
both old world and new world and in certain apes.
11
Human Evolution The North American wolves and Tasmanian wolves (Fig. 1.2) is another example
for the similar appearance and predatory behaviour. The North American wolves
is a placental mammal and the Tasmanian wolves is an Australian marsupial.
The common ancestor lived during the age of the dinosaurs some more than 100
million years ago and was very dissimilar from these descendants today.
Fig.1.2: Tasmanian wolf or tiger (now extinct)

Source: anthro.palomar.edu
Further the terms homologous and analogous are often used to describe particular
structures in animals. Homologous structures are those that are related by
evolutionary descent and divergence. The wing of a bat and the forelimb of a
monkey are homologous – they are descendent from same ancestral structure.
The wing of a bat and the wing of a butterfly are analogous – they have similar
functions and similar forms, but they are not related by descent from the same
ancestral structure. Perhaps thinking of parallelism as homologous evolution
and convergence as analogous evolution would help us distinguish the two
processes.
1.3.4 Adaptive Radiation

Adaptive radiation is the name given to the rapid increase in numbers and kinds
of any evolving group of animals. A group of animals – a species, a genus, a
super family, may take advantage of environmental changes and exploit a number
of new places in the planetary living space. These places in the environment are
called niches and eco-niches. But according to Simpson (1953), adaptive radiation
is the rapid proliferation of new species from a single ancestral group. In Adaptive
radiation species evolves into progressively dissimilar organisms. The descendants
of a single species sometimes evolve to take advantage of many different
environments and opportunities, and rapid changes in the external environment
may cause new forms of animals to develop from a single ancestral form. The
evolution of a trait that opens up many new possibilities may also give rise to
adaptive radiation.
Adaptive radiation is well exemplified by the history of the mammals. With the
geological revolution that marked the end of the Mesozoic era (the age of the
reptiles) and the start of the Tertiary, the previously stable climates became
changeable. The dinosaurs did not adapt and so became extinct, while the
mammals evolved in many distinct lines. The rodents specialised for gnawing,
the carnivores for hunting, the hoofed animals for grazing, the primates and
sloths took to the trees, the whales, seals, and sea cows adapted for life in the
oceans, and the bat took to the air. Furthermore, each of these mammalian orders
in turn gave rise to sub lines that colonised new environments by acquiring new
modes of life. Many of today’s mammals are far different from their primitive
12 common ancestors to the Paleocene epoch.
An adaptive radiation need not to be a planet-wide event such as the example Principles of Evolution
just cited. The spread of arboreal primates, the old world monkeys, into trees of
the tropical forests is an example of a more limited but no less important radiation.
An adaptive radiation is said to have occurred when a group of organisms fits
into a part of the planetary living space into which it could not have moved
earlier, as result of changes in the group’s relationship to environment. These
changed relationships can be deduced from the lines of evidence such as the
morphology of the fossils and comparative studies of the living forms which are
the most likely descendants of these fossils.
In addition, various orders and sub-orders of mammals have undergone further

differentiation, branching or ‘radiating’ into types adapted to different habitats.
Thus, all the chief groups of primates today include species with contrasting
dietary habits. Insect eating, seed eating, leaf eating, and more or less omnivorous
genera recurred in different branches of the primates as these branches departed
more or less from the ancestral line. This adaptive radiation within the branches
is thus accompanied by parallelism between the branches and by convergence
of adaptations towards those of some non primate lines.
1.3.5 Extinction
Extinction is a name we give to the disappearance of an animal group, such as
species, from the evolutionary record. Extinction is considered to be the death of
the last individual of that species. Extinction is not an unusual event, as species
are created by speciation, and disappear through extinction. Extinction is a natural
phenomenon, it is estimated that 99.9% of all species that have ever lived are
now extinct. Nearly all animal and plant species that have lived on earth are now
extinct, and extinction appears to be the ultimate fate of all species. These
extinctions have happened continuously throughout the history of life, although
the rate of extinction spikes in occasional mass extinction events. There are at
least two ways in which a species may become extinct. First, the species may
develop a way of life such that a change in the environment would prevent its
persistence. This is the negative role of environmental selection in evolution.
Second, one species may become extinct when it is transformed into another. A
species may be a segment of a continuous, progressive evolutionary lineage. The
species of one time period in which this lineage exists is the ancestor of the
succeeding species in the next time period. The ancestral species becomes extinct
through the processes by which it is transformed into its descendants. The early
Pleistocene hominids, the australopithecines are extinct, yet it is likely that some
direct descendants of australopithecine genetic material exist in modern Homo
sapiens.
The Cretaceous–Tertiary extinction event, during which the non-avian dinosaurs

went extinct, is the most well-known, but the earlier Permian–Triassic extinction
event was even more severe, with approximately 96 percent of species driven to
extinction. The Holocene extinction event is an ongoing mass extinction
associated with humanity’s expansion across the globe over the past few thousand
years. Present-day extinction rates are 100–1000 times greater than the
background rate, and up to 30 percent of species may be extinct by the mid 21st
century. Human activities are now the primary cause of the ongoing extinction
event; global warming may further accelerate it in the future. The role of extinction
in evolution is not very well understood and may depend on which type of
13
Human Evolution extinction is considered. The causes of the continuous “low-level” extinction
events, which form the majority of extinctions, may be the result of competition
between species for limited resources (competitive exclusion). If one species
can out-compete another, this could produce species selection, with the fitter
species surviving and the other species is driven to extinction. The intermittent
mass extinctions are also important, but instead of acting as a selective force,
they drastically reduce diversity in a non-specific manner and promote bursts of
rapid evolution and speciation in survivors.
Pseudoextinction
Extinction of a parent species where daughter species or subspecies are still
alive is also called pseudoextinction. Many of prehistoric extinct species have
evolved into new species; for example the extinct Eohippus (an ancient horse
like animal) was the ancestor of several extant species including the horse, the
zebra and the donkey. The Eohippus itself is no more, but its descendants live
on. It is therefore said to be pseudoextinct. (www.wordiq.com).
1.4 SUMMARY
Evolution simply means change. Organic evolution is the study of changes that
have taken place in living things i.e., plants and animals. While understanding
the evolution, the principles of evolution like speciation, irreversibility, parallelism
and convergence, adaptive radiation and extinction are important. In this unit
these principles of evolution are discussed with examples.
References
Dobzhansky. T.1951. Genetics and the Origin of Species. New York: Columbia
University Press,
Mayr, E 1970. Populations, Species, and Evolution. An Abridgement of Animal
Species and Evolution. Cambridge, Massachusetts The Belknap Press of Harvard
University Press.
McNeilly, T. and Antonovics, J. 1968 Evolution in Closely Adjacent Plant
Populations. IV. Barriers to Gene Flow. Heredity 23: 205–218
Simpson, G.G. 1953. The Major Features of Evolution. New York, Columbia
University Press.
www.wordiq.com accessed on 22-04-2011.
Suggested Reading
Arumugam, N. 2009. Organic Evolution. Nagercoil, Saras Publications.
Das, B.M. 1991. Outlines of Physical Anthropology. Allahabad, Kitab Mahal,.
Harry, H and Jurmain, R. 1991. Introduction to Physical Anthropology. San
Francisco, West Publishing Company.
Mayr, E. 1970. Populations, Species, and Evolution. An abridgement of Animal
Species and Evolution. Cambridge, Massachusetts The Belknap Press of Harvard
University Press.
14
Rami Reddy, V. 1992. Physical Anthropology, Evolution and Genetics of Man Principles of Evolution
Tirupati, V. Indira. .
Verma, P.S. and Agarwal, V.K. 1998. Concept of Evolution. New Delhi, S. Chand
& Company Ltd.
Sample Questions
1) Write a brief note on the pre-Darwinian theories of evolution.
2) What is Speciation? Describe different mechanisms of speciation with
suitable examples.
3) Write a note on irreversibility, parallelism and convergence, adaptive
radiation and extinction.
4) What is extinction? Critically discuss this evolutionary process with
examples.
15
Human Evolution
UNIT 2 THEORIES OF ORGANIC
EVOLUTION
Contents
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Lamarckism
2.3 Neo-Lamarckism
2.4 Darwinism
2.5 Neo-Darwinism
2.6 Summary
Suggested Reading
Sample Questions

After reading the unit, you would be able to understand the following theories of
organic evolution:
Ø Lamarckism;
Ø Neo-Lamarckism;
Ø Darwinism; and
Ø Neo-Darwinism.
2.1 INTRODUCTION
The problem of the origin and evolution of man, strictly in its biological view
point, needs the review of the origin of life in its broadest sense and of the different
explanations given for this phenomenon earlier. Paleontology is one of the
sciences which have made the greatest contribution to the knowledge of the
genesis of life on earth and of its gradual evolution and complication. The earliest
fossils found in the earliest of the earth’s layers of Archaeozoic era, belong to
diversified creatures that give evidence to an already existing complex and highly
developed organic life.
Many theories were floated to explain the concept of evolution. But most of
them are of historical significance. Some important ones are here.
Theory of spontaneous generation or Abiogenesis
The theory of spontaneous generation is as old as human thought. It is well
known that life arises only from pre-existing life (principles of bio-genesis) and
assumes that life originated from inert, inorganic matter as a result of a series of
physico-chemical conditions which must have existed at a given moment during
the evolution of earth. According to this theory worms generated from manure;
insects from dew, rotten slime, dry wood, sweat and meat; frogs and salamanders
from coagulated slime; and toad, snakes and mice from the mud of the river
Nile. The scientists Aristotle, Thales, Plato and Von Helmont believed this idea
16
of abiogenesis until the 17th century. Later this theory was disproved by Francess Theories of Organic
Evolution
Redi, Spallanzani and Louis Pasteur.
Theory of Eternity of Present Condition

This theory argues for the unchangeableness of the universe. It holds that
organisms remain unalterable throughout their individual existence and will
continue in the same unchanging state throughout eternity.
Theory of Special Creation or Creationism

According to this theory the living organisms on the earth were created by divine
power in six days. Father Suarez (1548-1671) is strong supporter of this theory.
The created organisms exist unchanged from the day of their creation. This concept
of special creation was followed until middle of the 19th century.
Theory of Catastrophism
Cuvier (1769-1832) and Osbinge advocated that the earth was subjected to
periodic catastrophes. These catastrophes destroyed the life from time to time
and created new and special form of life after each destruction.
Organic Evolution
Generations of philosophers, natural historians and biologists have contributed
to the development of evolutionary theory. From the time man became conscious
of himself, he has probably thought and speculated about his origins.
2.2 LAMARCKISM
Lamarckism is the first truly comprehensive theory of evolution. It was proposed
by a French born biologist, Jean Baptiste de Lamarck (1744-1829). This theory
is also called Inheritance of Acquired Characters and explains the origin of new
species.
Fig. 2.1: Jean Baptiste Lamarck (1744-1829)

Source: www.kirksville.k12.mo.us
Lamarck, specialised in animal classification, realised that the various species

could be fitted into an orderly relationship that formed a continuous progression
extending from the simplest little polyp at one end to man at the other. He was 17
Human Evolution the first naturalist to become convinced that animals could be modified in order
to adapt to the environment and that species were not constant but were derived
from pre-existing species. He expounded these views of evolution in his book
“Discours d’ ouverture de cours de zoologie, de L’an (1800). He did not believe,
however, that this environmental influence acted “directly upon the organisms
but rather that the transformations they underwent were due to use or disuse of
organs motivated by individual needs in response to environmental influences.
His theory was not well-received and he suffered social and scientific ostracism
for his convictions; nevertheless he maintained his position until his death.
Lamarckism is the first truly comprehensive theory of evolution proposed

by Lamarck. This consists of four principles which are: internal urge of
the organism, direct environment and new needs, use and disuse theory
and inheritance of acquired characters.
In 1809, Lamarck put forth a complete thesis of evolution in his master work
and classic book Philosophie Zoologique. It is popularly known as Inheritance
of Acquired Characters. This book included his theory explaining the changes
that occur in the formation of new species. Lamarck still occupies a prominent
place in the history of evolutionary thought, though his evolutionary ideas are
outdated. He was the first evolutionist to conclude that evolution is a general
fact covering all forms of life.
The salient features of the Lamarckism are:
v species change under changing external influence,
v there is a fundamental unity underlying the diversity of species and
v the species progressively develops.
Lamarckism consists of four principles which are briefly discussed.
v Internal urge: The internal forces of life tend to increase the size of an
organism, not only as a whole, but in every part as well up to the limit of
their function;
v Direct environment and new desire: Each organ or part is the outcome of a
new movement which in turn is initiated by a new and continuous desire or
want. Thus, formation of a new organ (or part) becomes necessary to produce
the newly desired movement;
v Use and disuse: The development of an organ is in direct proportion to its
use. Continued use strengthens the organ little by little until its full
development is attained, while disuse has the opposite effect, the organ
diminishing until it finally disappears;
v Inheritance of acquired characters: All that has been acquired or altered in
the organisation of individuals during their life is preserved and transmitted
to new individuals who proceed from those who have undergone these
change.
In support of his theory, Lamarck cited the following examples.
v The most frequently cited example of Lamarckism is that of the long neck
of giraffe. An original deer-like ancestor of giraffe found the supply of grass
and herbs inadequate. Hence the giraffes were forced to feed on the foliage
18 of trees. In the process of reaching the leaves of higher branches, its neck
got stretched and the forelegs were raised. This process of stretching the Theories of Organic
Evolution
neck was continued for generations to reach the foliage of taller trees and
resulted in longer neck leading to the origin of modern species.
and stretching
LAMARCK’S GIRAFFE
until neck
becomes
Keeps stretching and progressively
neck to reach stretching longer
Original leaves higher
short-necked up on tree
ancestor
Driven by inner “need”
Source: withfriendship.com
v He explained the webbed feet of aquatic birds as being initiated by hunger
(the need for food) driving the birds to swampy areas to seek food. In this
environment the birds would have made efforts to swim by spreading their
toes. In this process, the toes were spreading out generation after generation.
The continued stretching of the skin between the toes gradually produced
the webbed condition as an acquired characteristic that was then passed on
to future generations.
v The origin of snakes was explained as a loss of limbs stemming from the
habit of moving along the ground and concealing themselves among the
bushes. This habit led to continued efforts to elongate the body in order to
pass through narrow places and, as result, the animals acquired a long narrow
body. Since long legs would have been useless and short legs would have
been incapable of moving the elongated body, continued disuse finally caused
total loss of limbs.
v The development of long legs in the wading birds through generations of
sustained stretching to keep the body above the water level.
v Eyes are reduced in moles because they live underground. Since the cave is
completely dark, the animals in the cave can not use eyes. So eyes become
degenerated and in extreme cases eyes disappear completely.
v The absence of wings in the non-flying birds. For example, Kiwi of New
Zealand is believed to have descended from flying birds. When these birds
reached New Zealand, they were able to fly. On settling down and availability
of plenty of food and there were no enemies they did not find any need to
fly. In due course of time, these birds lost their ability to fly and wings got
degenerated.
19
Human Evolution
Fig. 2.3: Kiwi, flightless bird

Source: goaustralia.about.com
v In blacksmiths, biceps muscles in the right arm are more developed because
of their continuous use.
v Lamarck applied his theory to the human species as the human beings, for a
series of generations were obliged to use their feet exclusively for walking
purpose and ceased to use their hands as feet. Such quadrumana would
undoubtedly be transformed eventually into bimana and their toes would
no longer be separated or opposable since their feet would only be utilised
for walking.
It is unfortunate that Lamarck had to give such unnatural explanations. It is indeed

unfortunate again that Lamarck is best known for his incorrect theory of heredity
by acquired characteristics. But one must remember that his concepts were set
forth in the early nineteenth century, when the intimate structure of organisms as
well as the true mechanism of fertilisation and sexual reproduction was as yet
unknown. Although many of his arguments are unacceptable, the magnitude of
his work and the brilliance of his hypothesis cannot be denied.
Criticism of Lamarckism
Lamarckism faced severe criticism and Lamarck had to defend them until his
death. Some of the objections raised against the Lamarckian theory are as follows.
v The first principle on the tendency to increase in size is true in case of many
organisms. However this is not universally accepted and there are instances
to show reduction in size of the organs also.
v The second principle ‘new organs develop upon new desires’ is also not
true. If every human being who desires to fly in the air should develop
wings, but such is not the case.
v The third principle of Lamarckism, the use and disuse theory, has met with
strong objections. If this theory is correct then the size of the eyes of a
person should also increase with age who reads the books frequently. Again,
we know it is incorrect.
v The fourth and final principle ‘the inheritance of acquired characters’ has
met with much contradiction.
• August Weismann (1890), the German biologist cut the tails of white
mice for more than 20 generations and saw the consequence on the length
of tail in the coming generations. In all generations the length of the tail
was found to be normal. Hence, he believed that the acquired character
was not inherited. Weismann differentiated the protoplasm into
somatoplasm and germplasm. Somatoplasm is in the somatic cells (other
than the sex cells). It does not play any role in heredity. Germplasm is
20
the protoplasm in the sex cells. It plays an important role in heredity. He Theories of Organic
Evolution
established that the changes occurring in the somatic cells acquired during
the life time of the organism are not transmitted; only the changes that
occur in reproductive cells i.e. the germplasm are transmitted.
• The boys of Jews and Muslims have been practicing the circumcision
(cutting of the prepuce of penis) for the last several years. But the boys
of both Jews and Muslims are born with normal prepuce.
• Chinese women wear iron shoes to keep their feet short for many
generations. But the young ones are born only with normal feet.
• It is a practice among the ancient Indian women to pierce their ears to
wear ornaments. If this is an acquired character then most of the Indian
girls should be born with pierced ears. But this has not happened.
2.3 NEO-LAMARCKISM
A group of evolutionary biologists such as McDougall, Spencer, Cope, Packard,
Kammerer, and Sumner etc. further studied and modified the Lamarckism. This
modified version of Lamarckism is called Neo-Lamarckism. The following are
some of the evidences for inheritance of acquired characters.
v In order to prove the inheritance of acquired characters McDougall conducted

experiments on rats. During his experiments, he used a tank filled with
water and dropped the rats into it. The tank was provided with two exists,
one exit was lighted and the other was dark. The lighted exit was provided
with electric shock and the dark one without electric shock. The rats tried to
escape through the lighted route which was provided with electric shock
but could not. After repeated trials the rats learned to escape through the
dark route. These rats were then bred and the offspring were given the same
type of training. It appeared that the speed of learning was increased from
generation to generation. Thus he concluded that the learning habit was
inherited by rats.
v Kammerer did some experiments with Proteus anguinus, which lives in

complete darkness. This amphibian is a blind and colourless. He observed
in Proteus anguinus, the development of normal eyes and colour of the skin
when exposed to day light. These somatic characters were inherited to the
next generation.
v Griffith and Detleofson conducted experiments on rats by placing them on

the rotating table for several months. Consequently, the rats slowly adapted
to the rotating condition to the extent that even after the rotation stopped,
the rats showed signs of dizziness. Then the offspring of these rats also
exhibited dizziness and irregularity in gait. Then the scientists concluded
that this is an acquired character and is inherited to the offspring.
v The white mice were exposed to the higher temperature say 20-300C by
Sumner. The body, hind limbs and tail of the mice increased in length. Further
he observed that this character was transmitted to their offspring.
21
Human Evolution
2.4 DARWINISM
Charles Robert Darwin (1809-1882)

Source: scienceworld.wolfram.com
Charles Robert Darwin (1809-1882) was born on 12th Feb, 1809 at Shrewsbury
in England. As a student, he studied the Greeks and encountered the views of
Thales, Empedocles, and Aristotle. He also read the view of his grandfather and
the comprehensive theory of Lamarck. With this background, it is apparent that
Darwin had at least been exposed to much of the past development of evolutionary
thought. Darwin was given an opportunity by British government in 1831 to
travel by HMS Beagle for a voyage of world exploration. He went on voyage
from 1831 to 1833 and explored the fauna and flora of a number of continents
and islands of which Galapagos Islands are the most important. Here Darwin
found a living laboratory of evolution.
The publications of T.R. Malthus, Sir Charles Lyell and Alfred Russel Wallace
influenced Darwin very much. Malthus (1798) published an essay titled “On the
Principles of Populations” which states that populations increase geometrically
and the food sources increase arithmetically. Lyell wrote a book entitled
“Principles of Geology” which explained the gradualism (earth has changed
slowly and gradually through ages) and uniformitarianism (fundamental laws
operate today on the earth in the same way as they did in the past). Wallace wrote
a paper entitled “On the tendency of varieties to depart from original types”.
Darwinism consists of five principles which are: Prodigality of over production,

Variation and Heredity, Struggle for existence, Survival of the fittest and
Modifications of species. Darwin published “The Origin of Species”. Darwinism
is the term coined for the explanation offered by Charles Darwin for the origin
of species by natural selection. Darwin’s theory of natural selection is based on
several facts, observations and inferences. Darwin published his concept of
evolution in his book entitled “The Origin of Species”. Darwinism consists of
the following five principles.
v Over-production or prodigality of over-production: Many more individuals

are born each generation than will be able to survive and reproduce (The
writhing of Thomas Malthus influenced Darwin on this point and provided
him with the idea of a struggle for existence).
22
v Variation and Heredity: There is natural variation among individuals of the Theories of Organic
Evolution
same species. (This had been noted by naturalists from Aristotle through
Lamarck but Darwin’s own observations made the greatest impression of
this fact upon him). Many of the favourable adaptations are hereditary and
are passed on to the progeny of future generations. (Darwin, like Lamarck,
believed in an incorrect theory of heredity; however, he interpreted the
process in the proper context. Darwin himself was not satisfied with his
blending theory of inheritance and as early as 1857 he wrote a letter to
Huxley for an alternative to it).
v Struggle for existence: Organic beings increase by a geometrical ratio, while

food production only increases in an arithmetic ratio. So that in a very short
time, an area will be overpopulated with any one species, unless some thing
happens to check the increase. As a result there is a struggle for existence
which is three fold as given below.
• Intraspecific struggle: The intraspecific struggle is found among the
individuals of the same species. The competition is heavy in case of
intraspecific struggle, because the needs and requirements of the members
of the same species are same who live in the same environment. It is the
most severe check on the rate of reproduction.
• Interspecific struggle: It is found among organisms of different species
living together. Members of one species struggle with other species for
similar requirements i.e., food, shelter and mating.
• Struggle with the environment: Living organisms struggle with the
adverse environmental conditions like floods, cold waves, heat waves
and earthquakes, etc.
v Survival of the fittest or natural selection: Individuals with certain

characteristics have a better chance of surviving and reproducing than others
with less favorable ones. (This is the concept of the survival of the fittest
through favourable adaptations to the conditions of life).
v Modifications of species: Gradual modification of species could have

occurred over the long periods of geological time through additive process
occurring in the past in the same manner as they are occurring in the present.
(Charles Lyell’s geological interpretations provided knowledge of the long
span of time necessary for evolution to proceed and supplied Darwin with
the concept of uniformitarianism as a modus operandi for the process of
biological evolution).
In the ‘Origin of Species,’ Darwin makes no reference to the human problem,

but his thesis clearly led both his supporters and opponents to think that man
must be subject to the same laws that attempt to explain the evolution of plants
and animals. In 1863, Thomas H. Huxley (1825-1895), staunch defender of
Darwin, published his book ‘Evidence as to Man’s Place in Nature’ in 1871,
Darwin himself especially described his own point of view in ‘The Descent of
Man.’
Criticism of Darwinism
Several objections were made to the Darwin’s theory.
23
Human Evolution v Darwin’s explanation is inadequate because selection creates nothing. It
merely eliminates or preserves already existing variations without indicating
their cause, which is the main question.
v Individual difference that may give rise to variations affect the reproductive
cells little or not at all.
v A number of useless or non-adaptive characters or organs could not have
arisen by natural selection. In this connection, Darwin said that we are not
sure of the non-adaptive nature of these organs.
v Overspecialised organ such as the huge antlers of the Irish deer cannot be
explained on the basis of natural selections.
v It cannot account for degeneracy of certain characters.
v There is doubt about the struggle for existence being as fierce as it had been
supposed to be.
v The superiority or inferiority of one individual as compared to another of
the same species is apparently not the result of the development of a particular
characteristic, but rather of the general capacity of the organism.
2.5 NEO-DARWINISM
Subsequently, adherents of Darwinism tried to rejuvenate and modify Darwin’s
views. The modern theory of origin of species or Evolution is known as Neo-
Darwinism. The Neo-Darwinists like August Weismann, Earnest Heckle, Lyell,
Huxley, Wallace and Simpson supported the natural selection. Later R.A Fisher,
Sewall Wright, and J.B.S. Haldane explained natural selection by modern
synthesis, or neo-Darwinism.
There are many lines of evidence supporting Darwin’s theory that natural selection
is the basis for evolutionary change.
v Fossils: Geology and paleontology have contributed one line of information

which supports current concepts of evolution. Evidence embodied in fossils
shows gradual changes associated with geological change. This has led to
conclusions about the progression of life forms that have evolved during
the history of the earth and about the evolutionary relationships between
various phyla and species.
v Similarities between embryos of different species: There are stages in the

embryonic development of related species, such as the various species of
vertebrates that reveal structures so similar among the embryos of these
species that even trained scientists would find it difficult to distinguish one
from another. Even terrestrial organisms, such as man, possess in the
embryonic stages what appear to be gill-like structures and a tail. Because
the human embryo manifests these similarities to lower forms of life during
embryogenesis, these changes are believed to reflect man’s evolutionary
history leading to its present form. This has led to the coining of the phrase
‘Ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny’ by Earnest Heckle in the ‘Biogenetic
Law’ meaning that the progressive changes of the embryo sum up the
progressive changes that the species underwent during its evolution.
Although the statement is not altogether accurate (since man is not believed
24
to be a direct descendent of fishes) there is no doubt that some evolutionary Theories of Organic
Evolution
relationship between species is reflected in these embryonic stages.
v Adaptation in living organisms: Perhaps the strongest evidence, and certainly

among the most interesting in support of the theory of natural selection,
consists of the innumerable examples of structural variations and behaviour
patterns found in animals and plants, which are of particularly adaptive
advantage to the lives, habits and environment of the individual. Examples
are (a) parasitic birds: cuckoo birds and sparrow bird, (b) adaptation in
colouration: moths in different environments (industrial melanism) and (e)
physiological adaptation: animal’s native to desert regions, rats and camels.
Even though natural selection is recognised as the paramount factor in the

diversification of organisms, some questions still remain to be answered:
v the existence of complex structures, such as organs found in highly developed
organisms e.g. eye of a vertebrate,
v the structures which have been rendered less important because of decreasing
need for them as the species evolves e.g. vestigial organs, wisdom teeth and
the appendix of men and
v the existence of traits which do not appear to have any selecting advantage
in nature such as existence of the different blood groups.
These difficulties, however, have not caused scientists to abandon the neo-
Darwinism concepts of evolution. Much is not understood about natural
phenomena, but this is not sufficient to render invalid concepts that have much
support in other biological phenomena. It is more likely that these problems will
eventually be found to have some basis in natural selection.
Difference between Darwinism and Neo-Darwinism

It must, however, be noted that the modern concept of natural selection has been
considerably broadened and refined and is not quite the same as Darwin’s. Darwin
recognised the fact that natural selection involves differential reproduction but
he did not equate the two. In the modern theory natural selection is differential
reproduction, plus the complex interplay in such phenomena as heredity, genetic
variation, and all the other factors that affect selection and determine its results.
In the Darwinism system, natural selection was mainly elimination, death of the
unfit and survival of the fit in a struggle for existence, a process included in
natural selection as it is now known but not forming all or even the major part of
that process.
2.6 SUMMARY
Evolution that has taken place in living things i.e., plants and animals is called
organic evolution. Various concepts (theories) explain the process of Organic
Evolution; the important ones are Lamarckism, Darwinism and Synthetic Theory
of Evolution. In this Unit we discussed the Lamarckism and Darwinism. The
former consists of four principles of evolution viz., internal urge of the organism,
direct environment and new needs, use and disuse theory and inheritance of
acquired characters. Darwinism consists of five principles viz., prodigality of
over production, variation and heredity, struggle for existence, survival of the
25
Human Evolution fittest (natural selection) and modifications of species. In this unit the Lamarckism,
Neo-Lamarckism, Darwinism and Neo-Darwinism are discussed with examples.
The difference between Darwinism and Neo-Darwinism is also presented.
Suggested Reading
Arumugam, N. 2009. Organic Evolution. Nagercoil, Saras Publications.
Das, B.M. 1991. Outlines of Physical Anthropology. Allahabad, Kitab Mahal.
Harry, H and Jurmain, R. 1991. Introduction to Physical Anthropology. San

Francisco, West Publishing Company.
Rami Reddy, V. 1992. Physical Anthropology, Evolution and Genetics of Man.

Tirupati. V. Indira.
Rastogi, V.B. 2003. Organic Evolution. New Delhi, Kedar Nath Ram Nath.
Sarkar, R.M. 1994. Fundamentals of Physical Anthropology. Calcutta, Vidyodaya

Library Pvt. Ltd.
Verma, P.S. and Agarwal, V.K. 1998. Concept of Evolution. New Delhi, S. Chand
& Company Ltd.
Sample Questions
1) Discuss Lamarckism.
2) Describe briefly the Neo-Lamarckism.
3) Describe briefly the Darwin’s theory of natural selection.
4) Write an essay on Neo-Darwinism
5) Write short notes on the following
a) Lamarck
b) Darwin
26
Theories of Organic
UNIT 3 SYNTHETIC THEORY Evolution
Contents
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Historical Development of the Concept of Evolution
3.3 Synthetic Theory
3.4 Mechanism of Evolution
3.5 Guiding Forces of Evolution
3.6 Neo-mutationism
3.7 Summary
References
Suggested Reading
Sample Questions
Learning Objectives
&
In this lesson we are going to understand
Ø what we really mean by the synthetic theory of evolution; and
Ø in a simple way the various concepts of evolutionary biology leading to the
modern evolutionary synthesis.
3.1 INTRODUCTION
Essentially, the concept of evolution implies the development of an entity in the
course of time through a gradual sequence of change, from a simple to a more
complex state. The idea was initially applied to the historical development of
life and word evolution was first applied to this process by the Herbert Spencer,
an English philosopher. The term “evolution” can be used in several ways. For
example, the planet earth as we know it now is the result of several historical
changes, which could be called as ‘Geologic evolution’. Similarly the historical
changes leading to the rise of human civilisation could be called as ‘cultural
evolution’. Various kinds of evolution may resemble one another in having the
characteristic of sequence of development stages. However, none of these can
be compared with the organic evolution because of the unique qualities of living
organisms. In this lesson, we shall be dealing with the organic evolution, which
is responsible for the unity and diversity of life.
Broadly, organic evolution means changes over time. It can be understood as
descent with modifications, i.e., some form of change within a lineage. It may be
defined as “progressive change in organism over time”. Evolution is the unifying
principal of biology that provides an explanation for differences in structure,
function and behaviour among organisms.
Evolution is the process by which populations of organisms develop (or acquire)
unique traits and pass them from generation to generation, which over long
stretches of time leads to new species, resulting ultimately into the vast diversity
of biological world. The concepts of evolution took some time to develop and
several finer points linked to evolutionary biology are still debated.
27
Human Evolution
3.2 HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE
CONCEPT OF EVOLUTION
The idea of evolution is not entirely of recent origin. The essence of the idea
appears in Greek writings of pre-Christian Era, such as those of Anaximander
(600 BC), but it was never generally accepted. The scientific theory of evolution
was not established until the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Major
contributions towards developing and establishing evolutionary concepts were
made by Lamarck and Darwin. During the post-Christian medieval period and
until the 18th century, the Christian theory of special creation was the dominant
thought. According to this theory, all living things come into existence in
unchanging form due to Divine Will. The theory was notably in opposition to
the concept of evolution. Another theory that received support during this period
was the theory of spontaneous generation, which proposed that living organisms,
at least the lower forms, arose spontaneously from non-living matter. The example
of appearance of maggots in uncovered meat in a few days and tadpoles swimming
in a puddle all of a sudden, were used to support spontaneous generation.
However, experiments by Francesco Redi in 1668, Spallanzani in 1765 and finally
Louis Pasteur in 1868 provided evidence that disproved this theory.
Contribution of Jean Baptist Lamarck: The first clear recognition and

demonstration of the facts of evolution was made by the French naturalist Jean
Baptist Lamarck (1774-1829). Lamarck discerned that all life is the product of
evolutionary change, that evolution resulted in the taking on of new adaptations
to the environment, and that the diversity of life was the result of adaptation.
Lamarck’s theory, popularly known as the “Theory of the Inheritance of Acquired
Characters”, basically consisted of two parts.
v New structures appear because of an ‘inner want’ of the organism.
v These structures are acquired in response to need and are then inherited by
subsequent generations.
He suggested that inner usage and need led to greater use or disuse of certain
organs and tissues bringing about some modifications in the organism, which
were passed on to the next generation. So an organism could pass on to its
offspring any characteristic it had acquired in its lifetime. The elongation of
neck from an original short-necked ancestor to the modern long-necked giraffe
due to stretching to reach leaves higher up on trees, driven by ‘inner need’, is a
common example of Lamarck’s theory. Lamarck was correct as far as the
significance of evolution was concerned. But his theory of inheritance of acquired
characters fails when subjected to scientific tests. Its failure was demonstrated
by August Weismann (1834-1914), a German biologists, by cutting tails of mice
for several generations. The offspring of tailless mice were always born with
tails, thus experimentally disproving the inheritance of acquired characters.
Though Lamarck was right in his insight as to the significance of evolution, but
his theory does not stand up under investigation.
Contribution of Charles Darwin: The key theory of evolution was provided

by genius of his time Charles R. Darwin (1809-1882), which converted the
scientific and intellectual worlds to accept the fact of evolution. Darwin’s
masterpiece book, “On the Origin of Species”, which appeared on November
28
24, 1859 had profound impact and changed our thinking forever in establishing Synthetic Theory
the concept of evolution. Darwin’s theory is popularly known as the ‘Theory of
Natural Selection’. Alfred Russell Wallace also came to similar conclusions
independently and he communicated his thoughts about natural selection in a
paper entitled “On the tendency of varieties to depart independently from the
original type” to Darwin. Darwin communicated his own documents along with
that of Wallace to the Linnaean Society and a joint presentation of two papers
was made to the Linnaean Society on July 1, 1858. Their joint paper “On the
tendency of Species to form Varieties; and on the Perpetuation of Varieties and
Species by Natural Selection” was subsequently published in August 1858 in
the ‘Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnaean Society’. This also prompted
Darwin to publish in 1859 his theory of Natural Selection, which he had been
developing for the last 20 years, in the form of a landmark book “On the Origin
of Species”. According to Darwin, the prime force for evolutionary change was
natural selection. Darwin’s theory of natural selection was based on two
observations and two facts:
v All organisms reproduce many more offspring than can survive.

v Organism within a population exhibits variability and this variation affects
an individual’s ability to survive and reproduce.
v The individuals best fitted to an environment survive, while individual
variants less-suited fail to reproduce (natural selection).
v The traits (variations) thus favored by selection are passed on to the next
generation (www.scienceforums.net).
Darwin gathered evidence for this theory during his voyage on the ship H.M.S
Beagle. Darwin’s ideas were influenced by the work of economist Thomas
Malthus (1766-1834). In his famous work, ‘An Assay on the Principal of
Population’, Malthus explained how populations produce many more off springs
than can possibly survive on the limited resources generally available. According
to him, a fast growing population that reproduces too quickly can outstrip its
resources and then crash (due to poverty, famine and disease) until the population
size settles to a level which the resources can support. Darwin called this a
“struggle for existence”.
Darwin realised that it was not chance alone that determined survival. Instead
survival depended on the traits of an individual, which may aid or hinder survival
and reproduction. Well-adapted or “fit” individuals are likely to leave more off
springs than their less well-adapted competitors. Darwin realised that unequal
ability of individuals to survive and reproduce could cause gradual change in a
population. The characters (variations) that help an organism to survive and
reproduce would accumulate in a population while those that hinder survival
and reproduction would decrease or even disappear. Darwin used the term ‘Natural
Selection’ to describe this process and perceived natural selection as the basic
mechanism of evolution. Darwin correctly understood that natural selection is
usually the most powerful mechanism of evolution but he did not completely
comprehended how it operated (www.scribd.com).
One of the major weaknesses of Darwin’s theory was its inability to explain the
sources of variations in traits within a species and how these variations were
29
Human Evolution inherited. The hereditary mechanism (pangenesis) proposed by Darwin could
not find wide acceptance. Darwin died before the mechanism of heredity was
established in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Mutationism: ‘Mutationism’ refers to the theories of evolution where mutations
are the main driving force of evolution. The concept of mutationism was first
proposed in 1901 by Huge de Vries, the pioneer geneticist. Though later associated
with Mendelian genetics, idea of mutationism began in the 1890s (before the
rediscovery of Mendel’s laws) through the works of Hugo de Vries and Williams
Bateson on naturally occurring discontinuous variations. This particular form of
mutationism adopted by Hugo de Vries is often called ‘macromutation theory’
where suddenly large mutations could change radically a species into another.
The ‘mutationist view’ began by abandoning Darwin’s idea of automatic
fluctuations, embracing instead the concept that variation emerges by rare events
of mutations. This view was expressed in the writings of important founders of
genetics, which included Thomas Hunt Morgan, Hugo de Vries and William
Bateson, among others. Mutationists assumed that heritable variation could not
be taken for granted. They understood evolution as a two-step process involving
chance occurrence of a mutation, followed by its persistence or elimination. The
mutationists denied that selection is creative and they conferred on mutation
some extent of control over course of evolution. Unfortunately, early geneticists
discarded all of Darwin’s ideas because they believed they knew something that
Darwin did not know. It even became fashionable to talk of death of Darwinism
during the first couple of decades of 20th century. Mutationist view was very
popular in the first three decades of the 20th century but it was eventually replaced
by the Darwinian view expressed in the ‘Modern Synthesis’ or ‘Neo-Darwinism’
or ‘Synthetic Theory’.
Contribution of Mendel: For any discussion on the synthetic theory of evolution,
the contribution of Mendel cannot be ignored. Darwin laid down the foundation
of evolution by hypothesizing that if a trait is advantageous it will increase in
frequency in a population because the offspring with the trait will survive and
reproduce better and will pass on that trait to their offspring. However, at that
time no one could explain how those traits could be passed over to the future
generations. The credit for discovering the mode of inheritance of traits goes to
the Austrian monk J. Gregor Mendel (1822-1884) who, through his breeding
experiments on garden pea plants developed a few simple rules of inheritance.
Mendel, the father of Modern Genetics, published his findings on inheritance in
1866 but his work remained largely ignored until it was rediscovered in 1900 by
Hugo de Vries and Carl Correns. Mendel was a pioneer who laid the foundation
for the whole of modern genetics. Rediscovery of Mendel’s principles led to the
rapid and explosive growth of the discipline of genetics and established the basis
for unraveling the deep secrets of biological reproduction and heredity. Mendel’s
experiments helped him realise a few simple rules of inheritance.
Mendel proposed that there were discrete “factors” of heredity that united during
fertilisation and then separated again in the formation of sperm and egg. It is
remarkable how correct Mendel was, particularly in view of the fact that he
knew nothing about DNA, chromosomes or meiosis (even the term ‘gene’ was
not introduced until 1909). He was convinced that organisms inherit two units
of each ‘factor’, one from each parent. Now we understand these ‘factors’ as
genes and that most complex organisms are diploid, that is, they can have two
30 copies of a particular gene or two different alleles and that alleles are not blended.
On the basis of his experiments, Mendel proposed the ‘Law of segregation’. Synthetic Theory
According to this law, when the gametes are formed in the parents, the heritable
factors (genes) separate from each other so that each sperm or egg gets one unit
of each pair. Mendel was correct. Today we understand that sperm and egg are
haploid, with only half the number of chromosomes and genes of the parents. He
also proposed what came to be known as the ‘Law of independent assortment’,
which states that the factors (genes) for various traits assort independently of
each other during the formation of sperm or egg. Mendel was partially right in
this respect. It is because approximately 25,000 genes of the human genome do
not float independently in the nucleus of the cell. Each gene is part of a
homologous pair of chromosomes, and normally in humans there are only 23
pairs of chromosomes. Only genes meant for different traits, which are located
on different chromosomes always truly assort independently.
Mendel published his findings in 1866, just seven years after Darwin’s ‘Origin
of Species’. These findings went unnoticed until 1900, when eventually the
mechanism of inheritance could be combined to natural selection. Shortly
thereafter, a theoretical evolutionary model known as the ‘Modern Synthesis’ or
‘Synthetic Theory’ was born. Once in 1953, James Watson, Francis Crick and
Rosalind Franklin explained the model of DNA molecule, the basic genetic
component of evolution was revealed.
3.3 SYNTHETIC THEORY

With the foregoing background of the basic concepts of evolution, let us now
understand the synthetic theory of evolution. This theory of evolution is essentially
a combination of Charles Darwin’s concept of natural selection, Gregor Mendel’s
basic understanding of genetic inheritance, along with evolutionary theories
developed since the early 20th century by field biologists, population geneticists,
and more recently by molecular biologists. It is the present understanding of the
process of evolution, which has been referred differently by different workers as
‘Neo-Darwinism, ‘Modern Synthesis’ and ‘Synthetic Theory’ etc. This is a
combination of Darwinism selection with theoretical population genetics. The
concept, also called as neo-Darwinism, was fundamentally developed by three
founders of theoretical population genetics namely R.A. Fisher in 1930, Sewall
Wright in 1931and J.B.S. Haldane in 1932 and later supported by others, especially
Theodosius Dobzhansky. In fact, the scientists who were important in shaping
the ‘modern synthesis’ theory included Theodosius Dobzhansky, Ernst Mary,
R.A. Fisher and George Simpson. The book, ‘The Genetical Theory of Natural
Selection’, by Fisher is considered a classic. The current understanding of the
mechanism of evolution, though acknowledging the role of natural selection,
differs considerably from the theory first outlined by Darwin. The advances in
genetics, pioneered by Gregor Mendel, have led to a sophisticated understanding
of the basis of variations and understanding of the basic of variations and the
mechanism of inheritance. Researchers have identified DNA as the genetic
material, through which traits are passed from parent to offspring, and identified
genes as discrete elements within DNA. Though largely faithfully maintained
within organism, DNA is both variable across individuals and subject to a process
of change or mutation (www.newworldencyclopedia.org).
In Neo-Darwinism, natural selection is assumed to play a more important role
than mutation, sometimes creating new characters in the presence of genetic
31
Human Evolution recombination. Most geneticists believed that the amount of genetic variability
contained in natural populations was so large that any genetic change could occur
by natural selection without waiting for new mutations. Further mathematical
geneticists showed that the gene frequency change by mutation was much smaller
than the change by natural selection (www.mbe.oxfordjournals.org).
With a more complete understanding of mechanism of inheritance, the biological

sciences now generally define evolution as the sum total of the genetically
inherited change in the individuals who are the members of the gene pool of a
population. It is now understood that the effects of evolution are felt by the
individuals but it is the population as a whole that actually evolves. Evolution,
as per modern synthesis, can be expressed simply as a change in frequencies of
alleles in the gene pool of a population. The modern synthesis also emphasises
the definition of species as a reproductively isolated group of organisms that
share a common gene pool (www.phsgirard.org). The modern theory of the
mechanism of evolution differs from Darwinism in the following three significant
aspects:
v It recognises several forces of evolution in addition to natural selection, of

which gene drift is equally important.
v It recognises that characteristics are inherited as discrete entities known as

genes and that variation within a population is due to the presence of multiple
alleles of a gene.
v It suggests that formation of new species is usually due to the gradual

accumulation of small genetic changes.
In other words, modern synthetic theory is basically about how evolution operates
at the level of genes, phenotypes and populations.
3.4 MECHANISM OF EVOLUTION

The synthetic theory explains evolution as consisting of two basic types of
processes: those that introduce new genetic variations in a population, and those
that affect the frequencies of variations already existing in a population. The raw
materials for evolution are the variations. Without genetic variation the population
cannot evolve.
Sources of variations
The various processes (or sources) that are responsible for introducing variations
in a population are mutations and gene flow.
Mutations
Mutations are considered as the ultimate source of all genetic variation. Broadly
speaking mutation is alteration of genetic material. These are permanent,
transmissible changes to the genetic material of a cell (usually DNA and RNA).
These can be caused by ‘coping errors’ in the genetic material during cell division
and also by exposure to radiation, chemicals or viruses. In multicellular organisms,
the mutations can be divided in to ‘germline mutations’ (that occur in the gametes
and can thus be passed on to the next generation) and ‘somatic mutations’ (which
32
often lead to malfunction or death of a cell and can cause cancer). The mutations Synthetic Theory
may be classified as ‘gene mutations’ and ‘chromosomal mutations’.
1) Gene Mutations: The spontaneous appearance of a new gene expression is

called a gene mutation. It is the result of a slight change in the chemical
structure of the segments of the DNA molecules that constitute a gene. It
may be substitution, insertion or deletion of single base. For example, an
adenine can be accidentally substituted for a guanine. Such errors in copying
DNA are referred to as gene mutations or point mutations. Although there
is self correcting mechanism in the replication of DNA that repairs such
small errors but it may not always find and correct every one of them.
Mutations can occur naturally as a result of occasional errors in DNA

replication. Sometimes extra copies of one or more genes are produced when
a DNA molecule is replicating. More often, however, sections of non-protein
coding DNA regions are duplicated or inverted, which is an important source
of genetic variation for a species. Spare copies of genes can mutate and
change their function overtime thereby producing a new variation
(www.anthro.palomar.edu).
Mutations appear to be spontaneous in most instances. Point mutations may

occur even in healthy people. Majority of them do not confer any significant
advantage or disadvantage because they occur in non-gene coding regions
of DNA molecules.
2) Chromosomal mutations: These are spontaneous changes in the structure
or number of chromosomes. Chromosome mutations differ only in degree
from gene mutations. The effect is more pronounced if the chromosomes
undergo spontaneous modifications, than if only single gene mutates.
Chromosome mutations are inherited once they occur. These can be of
various types given as below:
A) Change in number of chromosomes:
1) Gain or loss of a part of chromosomal set
2) Loss of an entire set of chromosomes (Haploidy)
3) Addition of one or more sets of chromosomes (Polyploidy)
B) Structural change in chromosomes:
1) Change in number of genes
a) Loss of genes, usually termed as ‘deletion’
b) Addition of genes, often called as ‘duplication’
2) Changes in arrangement of genes
a) Exchange of parts between non-homologous pairs of
chromosomes, termed as ‘translocation’
b) Rotation of a group of genes by 180 degrees within one
chromosome, often known as ‘inversion’.
Any of these major changes contributes to variability by changing the pattern of
gene interaction. Structural modification of chromosomes generally occurs as a
consequence of crossing over process during cell division. Normally, there is an
33
Human Evolution equal exchange of end sections of homologous chromosomes. But sometimes,
there is a reunion of an end section onto a chromosome that is not
homologous. Similarly there can be an orphaned end section that does not reattach
to any chromosome and the genes on such section are functionally lost
(www.phsgirard.org).
Irregular number of chromosomes can occur as a consequence of errors in meiosis

and the combining of parental chromosomes at the time of conception
(www.anthro.palomar.edu). For example, there could be three instead of normal
two autosomes for pair number 21, leading to a condition known as ‘Down
Syndrome’ in humans.
For a mutation to be inherited, it must occur in the genetic material of a sex cell.
Mutations provide genetic variability for various forces of evolution, such as
natural selection, to operate upon. For a mutation to be subject to natural selection,
it must be expressed in the phenotype of an individual. Selection favours mutations
that result in adaptive phenotypes and eliminates non-adaptive ones. Even when
mutations produce recessive alleles that are seldom expressed in phenotypes,
they become part of a vast reservoir of hidden variability that can show up in
future generations. Such potentially harmful recessive alleles add to the genetic
load of a population, even mutations that have a natural effect could become
advantageous or harmful if the environment changes to select for or against them.
The great diversity of life-forms seen in the fossil record is the evidence that
there has been an accumulation of mutations producing a somewhat constant
supply of variations upon which natural selection has operated for billions of
years. Thus, mutation has been a significant prerequisite for the evolution of
life. Another source of variation is recombination.
Recombination
It is the process of mixing or recombining the existing genes into a variety of
new genotypes. It is responsible for producing genetic combinations not found
in earlier generations. Biologists recognise the importance of recombination as a
source of genetic variation and as a significant partner with mutation, in
manufacturing the materials for evolution.
Recombination does not produce new variations (or alleles) but only rearranges
the existing genes in combinations not present earlier, thus adding to variability.
New combinations of existing genes are produced at beginning of meiosis during
crossing over when the ends of chromosomes break and reattach, usually on
their homologous chromosome. This crossing-over process results in an unlinking
and recombination of parental genes. Crossing over of the chromosomes is a
phenomenon that only occurs during meiosis by chiasmata. Crossing over does
not occur in asexual reproduction. During this process parental DNA gets
exchanged and the resulting chromosomes contain a mosaic of genes from the
mother and the father. The offspring has new combination of genes that did not
exist in either of the parents. Crossing-over and recombination are crucial for
maintaining genetic variability in successive generations. Recombination, thus
adds greater diversity to the gene pool of a population. The recombination is
significant to evolution. A single mutational change may be lost or passed without
any significant effect on a population. However, its effect may be enhanced or
modified by recombination. Thus variation is the raw material for evolutionary
change, and gene recombination and mutation its principle source. Mutation
34
alone may not have that pronounced effect without the impact of recombination Synthetic Theory
in spreading it in a population.
Another source responsible for genetic variation is gene transfer. It is the

movement of genetic material across species boundaries, including horizontal
gene transfer, antigenic shift, and reassortment is considered as gene transfer.
Viruses can transfer genes between species whereas bacteria can include genes
from other dead bacteria or exchange genes with living bacteria thereby adding
to dissimilarity.
Thus, variations are the raw materials on which various forces of evolution operate
to effect evolutionary changes.
3.5 GUIDING FORCES OF EVOLUTION

Natural selection and genetic drift are the major guiding forces of evolution that
act upon the existing genetic variability within a species to cause evolutionary
change.
Natural Selection
It is one of the strong forces of evolution. Natural Selection as guiding force of
evolution was the principle contribution of Charles Darwin to the evolutionary
biology given as early as 1859 in his book “On the Origin of Species”. However
Darwin did not fully comprehend how it operates, as mechanisms of genetics
were not known at that time. Natural selection favored those features of an
organism that brought it into a more efficient adaptive relationship with the
environment. Through the process of natural selection, species become better
adapted to their environments.
Under standard environmental conditions all genes in the gene pool of a population
come to equilibrium, and this equilibrium is maintained. In other words, gene pool
frequencies are inherently stable and do not change by themselves. The gene or
allele frequencies will remain unaltered unless evolutionary mechanisms, such as
natural selection and mutation, cause them to change. This understanding was
largely developed through mathematical modeling based on probability in the
early 20th century by an English mathematician Godfrey Hardy and a German
physician Wilhelm Weinberg. Hardy and Weinberg postulated that gene
frequencies in a population will remain stable if:
v all matings are random;
v mutation is not occurring;
v natural selection is not occurring;
v the population is infinitely large;
v all members of the population breed;
v there is no migration in or out of population; and
v every one produces the same number of offspring.
That means evolution will not occur if no mechanisms of evolution are acting on
a population, and the gene pool frequencies will remain unchanged. Hardy and
Weinberg developed a simple equation that can be used to find out the probable
35
Human Evolution genotype frequencies in a population and to track generational changes in them.
This came to be known as the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium equation (p2 + 2pq +
q2 = 1). In this equation, ‘p’ is defined as the frequency of dominant allele and ‘q’
as the frequency of the recessive allele for a trait controlled by a pair of alleles (A
and a).
However, it is highly unlikely that any of these seven conditions, let alone all of
them, is actually fulfilled in the actual world. Thus, evolution is inevitable. The
natural processes that result in changes in gene pool from one generation to the
next are the mechanisms that cause evolution. Natural selection is one such
mechanism or force that brings about evolutionary change by favouring
differential reproduction of genes, which produces change in gene frequency
from one generation to the next. Natural selection on its own does not produce
heritable genetic change, but once genetic change has occurred it acts to favour
some genes over others. When two or more gene combinations are present,
selection favours increased reproduction of the gene combinations most efficient
under the environmental circumstances, thus bringing about improvement in
adaptive relations between organisms and their environment.
Since the environment is never stable for greater period of time, the nature of
selection process also fluctuates. In a changed environment a trait may lose its
adaptive value and may not be encouraged by selection, which may start favouring
another trait that improves ‘fitness’. It is probably that many of the slight changes
in gene frequencies between generations may be due to changing selection
pressures. The example of peppered moth (Biston betularia) in connection with
industrial melanism in moths provides insight into the operation of selection
under natural conditions. In England, until 1845, all known specimens of this
moth were light in colour, but in that year a single black moth was taken at the
growing industrial centre of Manchester. It is presumed that its highest frequency
at that time in the moth population was not more than 1 percent. However,
frequency of black moths increased to nearly 99 percent of Manchester moth
population by 1895. This change in gene and genotype frequencies corresponded
with the spread of industry in England. The change from light to dark color in
dirty coal-dust covered areas of England is a good example of natural selection
favouring dark pigmentation of moths, which provided better camouflage from
predatory birds against dark background of soot-covered vegetation.
Natural selection moulds the genotypes of organisms so that they produce

phenotypes best fitted to their environments. Consequently, the gene pool
frequencies shift in the directions of their more adaptive alleles. But natural
selection does not operate directly on the genotypes. It acts through the phenotypes
of individuals and their gametes. It may be noted that whereas mutation and
genetic drift are random, natural selection is not, as it preferentially selects for
different mutations based on differential fitnesses.
Sexual Selection
It occurs when organisms which are more attractive to the opposite sex, because
of certain features, reproduce more and thus increase the frequency of those
features in the gene pool. These features may not always have a conspicuous
link to fitness. In humans, people usually select mates non-randomly for traits
that are easily observable. Cultural values and social rules normally guide mate
selection. Most commonly, mates are selected from among people who are like
36
themselves phenotypically with respect to traits such as skin colour, stature and Synthetic Theory
personality, etc. This is referred to as positive assortative mating. The net result
of this type of mating is a progressive rise in the number of homozygous genotypes
and equivalent decline in heterozygous ones in a population. Like recombination,
non-random mating can act as an ancillary process for natural selection as a
consequence evolutionary change. This is because any deviation from random
mating upsets the equilibrium distribution of genotypes in a population thus
affecting change in gene frequency or in other words causing evolution to occur.
However, the downside is that positive assortative mating results in an increase
in homozygosity of deleterious alleles if they are present in the gene pool,
particularly in some reproductively isolated small societies.
Gene Flow
The phenomenon of transference of genes from one population to another is
termed as gene flow. Evolution can occur due to gene flow as it can easily change
gene pool frequencies even if no other mechanisms of evolution are operating.
Gene flow takes place when there is migration of individuals into (immigrations)
or out of (emigration) the population. This physical movement of alleles, called
gene flow, tends to mix pools of genes that might not otherwise mingle. The
prevalence of international travel now a days has markedly increased the
possibility of gene flow in human population. Human gene flow is regulated to
a certain extent by culture, which determines how frequently populations interact
and interbreed. Gene flow mixes the alleles of different gene pools, thus stopping
them from diverging into separate species.
Genes may occasionally also flow between species. For example, segments of
DNA may be transferred from one species to another by viruses as they invade
cells of other organisms. This rare form of gene flow has been reported for some
species of fish, reptiles, insects, mammals and microorganisms, but it has yet to
be conclusively demonstrated for humans.
Genetic Drift
Although natural selection is a significant natural force; but it is not the only
force acting upon variation to produce evolutionary change. One such force is
genetic drift. It refers to the random changes in allele frequency because of chance
events. In small, reproductively isolated populations, chance factors produce
rapid changes in gene frequencies totally independent of mutation, recombination,
and natural selection. The smaller the populations, the more susceptible it is to
such random changes. The genetic drift operates in both large and small
populations, but it is only in the latter that these processes produce a significant
evolutionary effect. Studies in population genetics, principally by Sewall Wright,
have led to the recognition of the force of genetic drift or Sewall Wright effect
that plays an important role in population evolution.
Genetic drift, usually referred to as drift in evolution, mainly occurs in small

populations and may fix certain non-adaptive or neutral genes. The essential
feature of genetic drift is that the smaller the population, the greater are the
random variations in gene frequencies from one generation to the next. Thus,
drift must have played a major role in the early stages of human populations
which were numerically very small. However, even in populations of today, there
are culturally isolated groups, such as Jarwa and Onge of Andaman Islands of
India in which drift can still be an important evolutionary mechanism.
37
Human Evolution One cause of genetic drift is the ‘founder effect’ or the ‘founder principle’. It
occurs when a few individuals leave the original group and begin a new population
in a different location, or when some environmental change isolates a small
population from a larger one. The new gene pool may not be a representative of
the original population. The resultant new population usually contains high
frequencies of specific genetic traits inherited from the few common ancestors
who first had them.
Another cause of genetic drift is the ‘bottleneck effect’, which occurs when a
major catastrophe such as sudden climatic change, fire, devastating earthquake
or a new predator wipes out most of a population without regard to any previous
measure of fitness. When this happens, the few genes left in the gene pool may
no longer represent the original population, nor do they necessarily represent the
fit genes. The few survivors of such evolutionary bottlenecks may reproduce
resulting in a large population in subsequent generations. The consequence of
the bottleneck effect is the drastic reduction in genetic diversity of species since
most variability is lost at the time of bottleneck.
Speciation
The evolutionary process of formation of two or more species from one is known
as speciation. A species is basically a taxonomic classificatory category. There
are several species concepts that use different criteria to define a species. The
biological species concept is the most commonly used concept to group living
animals. According to this concept, a species is a natural population in which
individuals are actually or potentially capable of breeding with one another to
produce fertile, viable offspring and, under natural conditions; do not normally
interbreed with individuals of other species.
The accumulated microevolution or changes in allele frequencies in a population
lead to macro-evolution, which is speciation. In a sense, variation that exists
within populations increases to become variation between populations. Evolution
at the species level is the outcome of cumulative microevolution. The accumulated
changes may ultimately lead to reproductive incompatibility and thus to the
creation of species. For speciation to occur, some form of isolating mechanism,
even if only partial or spatial, is necessary for evolutionary divergence. Without
isolation the gene flow precludes evolutionary divergence. With isolation,
microevolution within the population groups (demes) may produce morbidly
divergent populations. The formation of two or more species often requires
geographical isolation of subpopulations of the species. Only then mechanisms
of evolution such as natural selection or genetic drift produce distinctive gene
pools. Isolation is therefore the key factor in the origin of new populations and
ultimately new species. Populations of a species may get isolated due to
geographic barriers like river and desert etc or by sheer distance in populations
having large geographic distribution, or islands separated by rising sea levels to
isolate subset of the population, or by mountain chains, etc. Depending upon the
extent of geographic isolation, four different modes of speciation are commonly
understood viz., allopatric speciation, parapetric speciation, paripetric speciation
and sympatric speciation.
Allopatric speciation
It occurs when a geographic barrier like a river, sea, mountain chain or desert
strip isolates a subset of the population and the forces of evolution start operating
38 independently on it.
Parapatric speciation Synthetic Theory
It is a type of speciation in which subsets of a population that covers a large

geographic distribution, over a variety of habitats, become isolated by distance
and selection and drift act differently on the gene pool in accordance with their
different environments. In this case, distance itself acts as a barrier to free gene
flow.
Peripetric speciation
It occurs when new species are formed in isolated, smaller peripheral populations,
which are prevented from exchanging genes with the main population. Genetic
drift is assumed to play an important role in this type of speciation.
Sympatric speciation
It is a rare mode of speciation because it occurs without geographic or physical
barriers. It refers to the formation of two or more descendant species from a
single ancestral species, all occupying the same geographic location. Behavioural
boundaries, like differences in vocalisations or courting rituals that prevent
complete gene flow can permit natural selection and sexual selection to operate
differently within the population, resulting in a subpopulation becoming a different
species.
Polyploidy and speciation

It is a change in chromosome number, characterised by the addition of one or
more sets of chromosomes than the normal number. Hybridisation between related
angiosperms is sometimes followed by doubling of the chromosome number.
The resulting polyploids are fully fertile with each other but are unable to breed
with either paternal type. Thus a new species is formed. Polyploidy appears to
have been a frequent mode of speciation in angiosperms.
3.6 NEO-MUTATIONISM
Mutationism, which began in the 1890 with the studies of Hugo de Vries and
William Bateson, was very popular view in the first three decades of the 20th
century. It was eventually replaced by the ‘Modern Synthesis’ or ‘Synthetic
Theory’, which is currently a widely accepted theory of evolutionary mechanism.
The contemporary view corresponding to mutationism could be termed as Neo-

Mutationism. With the arrival of molecular biology, interest in mutations as an
important factor in protein evolution has been shown by some scientists. A new
view is emerging that uses recent molecular studies of phenotypic evolution to
support the basic ideas of mutationism put forth by Thomas Morgan in 1932.
This is a new form of mutation theory on the role of mutation in the evolution
and is often referred to as neo-mutationism. One of the strongest advocates of
neo-mutationism is Masatoshi Nei. Scientists studying molecular evolution began
to suggest mutational explanation for patterns such as genomic nucleotide
composition. Phrases such as ‘new mutations’ or ‘mutation–driven evolution’
have emerged in the recent few decades that advocate a departure from the
‘changing gene frequencies’ view of ‘Modern Synthesis’ or ‘Synthetic Theory’.
These contemporary workers suggest that mutation plays a role in evolution that
was initially proposed by ‘mutationists’ but rejected by Modern Synthesis.
39
Human Evolution A main feature of this theory is how single mutations can have significant effects
to influence evolution.
While neo-Darwinism regards mutation as merely raw material and natural

selection as the creative force, the Neo-mutationism of Nei assumes that the
most fundamental process for adaptive evolution is the production of
fundamentally more efficient genotypes by mutation (especially birth and death
process of duplicated genes) and the recombination. Neo-mutationism suggests
that the basic genetic factor of phenotypic evolution is the mutational change of
protein-coding regulatory regions of genes and that evolutionary change of
phenotypic characters is caused by the so called ‘major-effect mutations’. It further
assumes that natural selection occurs as a consequence of mutational production
of different genotypes, and therefore it is not a cause of evolution. According to
Nei’s view, mutation (including gene duplication and other DNA changes) is the
driving force of evolution at levels of genes as well as phenotypes.
3.7 SUMMARY
Evolution is the unifying principle of biology, which provides an explanation
for differences in structure, function and behaviour among organisms. A major
breakthrough in the development of the concept of evolution was the Darwin’s
‘Theory of Natural Selection’. Before Darwin, during post-Christian Medieval
Period until the 18th Century, the Biblical theory of ‘Special Creation’ was the
dominant thought. The ideas of Lamarck and Wallace also significantly
contributed to the development of the concept of evolution. Darwin perceived
natural selection operating on natural variations as the basic mechanism of
evolution. However, he could not explain the sources and means of inheritance
of the variations. The credit for discovering the mode of inheritance of traits
goes to Gregor Mendel, whose laws of inheritance that were developed in 1866
were reinvented in 1901 by Hugo de Vries. ‘Mutationism’, which maintained
that mutations were the main driving force of evolution, was a popular view in
the first three decades of the 20th Century until it was replaced by the ‘Synthetic
Theory’, which is the present understanding of the concept of evolution.
Synthetic theory of evolution is basically a combination of Darwin’s concept of

natural selection, Mendel’s genetics, and the evolutionary theories developed by
population genetics and more recently the concepts of molecular biology. It
explains evolution as consisting of two basic processes: those that introduce
new variations in a population, and those that influence the frequencies of
variations already present in the population. The source of variations include
gene and chromosomal mutations and recombination, while the guiding forces
of evolution that act upon the existing variations include natural selection, sexual
selection, gene flow and genetic drift. The accumulated changes (variability) in
a population may ultimately lead to reproductive incompatibility and thus creation
of a new species. For speciation to occur, some form of isolating mechanism is
necessary for evolutionary divergence. The contemporary view regarding
mutationism is neo-mutationism, which competes with neo-Darwinism to explain
evolution. The basic difference between neo-mutationism and synthetic theory
or neo-Darwinism is about the relative importance of the main three mechanisms
of evolution, viz. the mutation, genetic drift and natural selection.
40
References Synthetic Theory
www.anthro.palomar.edu accessed on 22-12-2010

www.phsgirard.org accessed on 08-01-2011
www.mbe.oxfordjournals.org accessed on 10-03-2011
www.newworldencyclopedia.org accessed on 24-12-2010
www.scienceforums.net accessed on 14-01-2011
www.scribd.com accessed on 30-04-2011
Suggested Reading
Harrison, G.A., Weiner, J.S., Tanner, J.M. and Barnicot, N.A. 1977. Human
Biology: An Introduction to Human Evolution, Variation, Growth, and Ecology.
Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Mayr, E., 2001. What Evolution is? New York: Basic Books.
Savage, J. M. 1973. Evolution. New York: Amerind Publishing Co.
Sample Questions
1) Define evolution and trace the historical development of the concept of
evolution.
2) Explain the contribution of Darwin to the development of evolutionary
concept.
3) What is synthetic theory of evolution? Describe the fundamental
mechanisms of evolution as explained by the synthetic theory.
4) What is genetic drift? Discuss its role in evolution.
41
Human Evolution
UNIT 4 PALAEOANTHROPOLOGY
Contents
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Definitions of Palaeoanthropology
4.3 Principles of Palaeoanthropology
4.4 Scope of Palaeoanthropology
4.5 Human Evolution with Respect to Hominid Fossils
4.6 Ramapithecus
4.7 Australopithecus
4.8 Homo Erectus
4.9 Homo Neanderthalensis
4.10 Homo Sapiens
4.11 Summary
Suggested Reading
Sample Questions

This unit is designed to provide:
Ø fundamental concepts of Palaeoanthropology;
Ø introduction to the subject of Paleoanthropology: definition, principles, scope
and applications;
Ø fundamental concepts of Paleoanthropology to appreciate the advanced
concepts of Paleoprimatology and human evolution; and
Ø diagnosis, description, distribution through time and space, and phylogenetic
status of Ramapithecus, Australopithecus, Homo erectus, Homo
neanderthalensis and Homo sapiens.
4.1 INTRODUCTION
The pivot around which the whole evolutionary story rotates is the fossils. The
word ‘fossil’ comes from the Latin verb Fodre meaning “dig up”. Fossils are the
prehistoric remains of man and his ancestors found preserved today in the earth’s
crust of the geological past.
The palaeoanthropologists are in search of human origins, finding clues to the

mystery of our evolution. As more and more fragments of our past have been
recovered, the story of human evolution has been unraveled; the more fossils,
the greater our knowledge. New discoveries often create opportunities for
reassessing the existing data.
Palaeoanthropology can be broadly considered as the fusion of two separate

branches of anthropology viz., physical (biological) anthropology – especially
the study of fossil humans and archaeology – the study of human behaviour
42
from human material remains. Despite their apparent common aim, i.e. the Palaeoanthropology
understanding of early man, these two disciplines historically have been divided
both by subject matter and by theoretical orientation. An interdisciplinary approach
to palaeoanthropolgy is based on the expanding application of physical (especially
ecological) concepts to the study of early man. Palaeonthropology brings new
light to the scientific community regarding human evolution each time a new
fossil is discovered.
4.2 DEFINITIONS OF PALAEOANTHROPOLOGY

The meaning of the word palaeoanthropology is lexically deciphered as ‘palaeo’
(meaning ancient) + ‘anthropos’ (meaning man) + ‘ology’ (meaning science). It
is the science that deals with the study of evolution of man by unearthing the
fossilised remains left by our early ancestors.
Palaeoanthropology has been defined firstly by Comas (1960) as “the study of

hominid and anthropoid fossil remains, their proper interpretation and
consequently, the possible establishment of phylogeny for our own species”.
Howell (1967) defined palaeoanthropology in a much better way as “investigation
of biological relationships and the evolutionary history of the Hominidae and of
the developments among the Hominidae the capacities and capabilities for
culture”.
4.3 PRINCIPLES OF PALAEOANTHROPOLOGY

Any palaeoanthropologist should always have at least the following six principles/
objectives in mind while dealing with the subject of palaeoanthropolgy.
v Identification
v Form and function
v Associations of plants and animals
v Evolution in the different groups of organisms
v Dispersal and distribution of plants and animals in time and space and
v Correlation
Identification
Any investigator must know as precisely as possible what he is dealing with
since inaccurate information leads to erroneous conclusions. Frequently the fossil
is too incomplete or the group to which it belongs is not known well enough for
species identifications. Nevertheless, class, order and family can usually be
recognised by any one conversant with his field of study. For this careful
comparison is needed. If the species can be recognised, the specimens will be
much more useful than if only their generic status can be established. Identification
will be done by recognising the class, order and family and not only so, better
identification can go up to genus and species level.
Example: Identification is done only if we know the anatomical details of any

fossil specimen which we are dealing with. The dentition of fossil equids (Equus
and Hipparion) although are very similar but one must be able to distinguish
between genus Equus and Hipparion. In case of upper molars of Hipparion, the
43
Human Evolution protocone is isolated but it is united and continuous in Equus. The morphological
details between the genera can lead to correct identification otherwise it may
lead to wrong conclusions.
Form and function

By studying the structure of a fossil and drawing a parallel with living organisms
the habits of extinct primates as well as other animals or plants can be realised.
The form of the fossil then offers clues to how it functioned in the environment
in which it lived.
Example: Man’s pelvis (hip bone) is designed to transmit weight from the trunk
to the legs in comparison to the pelvis of the quadrupeds or brachiators (animals
who walk on four toes). The early human fossils indicate that such modification
of structure of pelvis over those of quadrupeds and brachiators was responsible
for bipedalism (walking erect on two legs as is done by the humans).
Associations of plants and animals

Assemblages of plants and animals and the nature of the sediments in which
they are entombed offer evidence of local environmental conditions of the past.
It must be realised that fossils are not dead objects in the eyes of a
palaeoanthropologist because he visualises them as they existed in their
environment in the past.
Example: The palaeoecological conditions of fossil primates (Adapoid primates,

Ramapithecus, Sivapithecus and Gigantopithecus, etc.) known from India and
elsewhere can be reconstructed by taking into consideration both faunal and
floral remains. It is also possible to reconstruct the community structure as well
as inter and intra specific competition for food and space amongst various groups
during the ancient time.
Evolution in the different groups of organisms

It has been shown that any type of plant and animal developed from an earlier
and simpler ancestral form by transmission and change of hereditary characters.
Changes were more rapid in some groups of organisms and slow in others or
they may have been greatly accelerated in some at certain times. Some groups of
marsupials (pouched animals) like the Opossum and fish with lung like structures
have changed very little in the last 100 million years or more.
Example: The cranial capacity of our ancestors has gradually increased from 5
million years to 2 million years (350 to 400 cc) and then from 780 to 1020 cc by
1.8 million years before present and ultimately up to 1300 cc in the present day
man. So the cranial capacity has greatly been accelerated in Australopithecus to
Homo erectus and Homo erectus to Homo neanderthalensis and finally to Homo
sapiens sapiens (i.e., from 350 to 1300 cc).
Dispersal and distribution of plants and animals in time and space

Much of the evidence for dispersal and distribution is based on the evolutionary
progression of animals and plants in the orders, families and genera and the
occurrence of their fossils in the rock sequence of the earth crust.
Example: Most primitive primates, i.e. the Pleisadapoid and Adapoid primates
which originated and lived during the Eocene and Paleocene of America and
44
Europe later on dispersed and migrated to reach the Indian subcontinent as well Palaeoanthropology
as China during the Miocene times. From Miocene onwards these primitive
primates might have branched to give rise to monkeys, apes and finally man.
Correlation
Much of the palaeoanthropologist’s time is spent in efforts to recognise synchrony
of biological and geological events demonstrated by evidences in the rock units
of the earths crust and in determining whether these events occurred in different
continents or in adjacent mountains and valleys. The biological events
demonstrated by the black Hawk Ranch fauna may be fairly clear in ones mind,
but palaeoanthropologist would want to know what kind of primates, animals
and plants were living in the other parts of world, that is, Europe, America and
Australia. So a correlation between the areas of one particular region may not be
different, because of the proximity of the two areas and they may have numerous
genera and species in common. However, it is difficult to correlate different
continents since the distance between them is greater and in all probability no
primate species could be found in these different continents.
Example: It is thought that the North America, South America and Australia
were once connected with each other but following the geographic separation
the Opossum developed into various marsupials which now inhabits Australia.
The time of their migration is not well known yet.
4.4 SCOPE OF PALAEOANTHROPOLOGY

Every science is beneficial to the human being in one way or the other.
Palaeoanthropology is also very useful in the following ways.
v Education and Relaxation
v Economic applications
v Knowledge of past nature
Education and Relaxation
People show great interest in knowing about the past life, their culture, habits,
etc. This is well demonstrated by thousands of people who visit museums
throughout the world to see something of the past life and some other forms of
life, which is truly unknown to them. Palaeoanthropology helps in satisfying
curiosity of general public about the evolution of the mankind and other major
mammals. Palaeoanthropology also finds application in exhibiting the fossils in
the museums for display purposes as well as it also provides great relaxation to
the palaeoanthropologist when he finds some rare fossil primate including other
mammals that no man has ever found.
Economic applications
Knowledge of the fossils as a guide to the sequence of rocks in the earth’s crust
has been used in locating gold and other ore-deposits, for example, gold occurs
in auriferous conglomerate at the base of the Cambrian over vast areas in Australia.
Proximity to these gold bearing formations can be determined by the age of the
fossils in the overlying sedimentary rocks. Coal beds have been located by similar
methods in the U.S.A and elsewhere. When polished, many limestone and fine
grained sandstones with well preserved fossils make some of the most beautiful
45
Human Evolution interior wall surfaces. Rich concentrations of uranium in fossil wood have also
been discovered. Bones of dinosaur and other mammals also contain uranium.
Knowledge of past nature

Palaeoanthropologist with their knowledge of the past life can reconstruct the
palaecology, palaeoenvironment and community structure which can provide
important clues about early humans and their interaction and competition with
past fauna and flora as well as about the evolution of man. Most of the knowledge
about the climatic conditions in the geological past comes from the study of
fossils.
4.5 HUMAN EVOLUTION WITH RESPECT TO

HOMINID FOSSILS
Human evolution is a lengthy process. The origin of man on this planet is a topic
of great curiosity to researchers as well as to common man, as new fossils are
discovered every year. Fossil evidence shows that the physical and behavioural
traits shared by all people originated from ape-like ancestors and evolved over a
period of at least 5 to 6 million years ago.
The subject matter and problem of human evolution as well as the human origins
has long fascinated the common man in general and the scientific world in
particular. Palaeoanthropologists have of late made significant discoveries in
Asia, Europe and Africa and elsewhere inferring relationship between man, apes
and monkeys in order to document the human evolution. On the basis of these
discoveries it has been possible to reconstruct various bodily dimensions and
also to identify major evolutionary trends responsible for transformation from
lower to higher primates. It is also important to gain an insight into the ecological
setting from which man evolved million of years ago.
Some questions which are being asked by every man and in every age are what is
the age of our planet? Or for that matter, also the duration of the history of man
on this planet along with their planetary spread.
The most telling evidence in support of the evolution of man as a continuous

biological phenomenon is supplied by palaeoanthropology. The reconstruction
of the story of evolution of man is a great jigsaw puzzle because to fit all pieces
of fossil evidence together is not an easy task. Consequent upon important
additions in the primate fossil record as well as the progress made in molecular
phylogenetics in the last almost one and half decades have witnessed some
significant changes in our understanding of the origins and evolution of not only
man, but also great apes from the common hominoid stock.
There are two categories of scientists: lumpers and splitters, depending upon the
usage of different types of methodologies and theoretical stand adopted by them.
There has been a lot of confusion in the mammalian taxonomy including those
of primates and it will continue until such time they are viewed as biological
entities that lived through time and space. Many scientists including
anthropologists dealing with fossil primates view the morphological differences
only in terms of new species/generas even when a lot of morphological and
statistical variability exists which in turn is attributable to aspects like sex, age,
46
population size, etc. The need of the time is that they have to be found consistent Palaeoanthropology
with observed as well as predictable behavioural and ecological patterns of the
primates in time and space. The primate fossil record is poor and within it, the
record of fossil man is still poorer.
4.6 RAMAPITHECUS
Class Mammalia Linnaeus, 1758
Sub class Theria Parker and Haswell, 1897
Infra class Eutheria Gill, 1878
Order Primates Linnaeus, 1758
Suborder Anthropoidea Mivart, 1864
Family Hominidae Gray, 1825
Genus Ramapithecus Lewis, 1934
Time and space: Middle and late Miocene.
Distribution: India, Pakistan, China, Kenya, Hungary, Turkey, Germany.
Known Species: Following species (a taxonomic category below the genus.
Theoretically members breed with one another but not with members of another
species) are included under genus Ramapithecus.
1) Ramapithecus punjabicus Pilgrim, 1910
Localities: Nagri Haritalyanagar, Ramnagar, Chinji, Kanatti, Sethi Nagari
and Gondakas Hsiaolungtan, Rudabanya, Melchingen.
2) Ramapithecus wickeri Louis Leakey, 1962
Localities: Pasalar, Maboko, Candir, Fort Ternan.
Diagnosis
Lewis (1934) diagnosed Ramapithecus as a “Small primate with delicate jaws
and teeth. Jaws short, dentition approaches the human type; dental arch divergent;
face only slightly prognathous; no diastema in dental series; incisors relatively
small, canines very small, root of upper canine ellipsoidal in cross-section, with
long axis normal to dental arch; upper premolars progressive; molar cusps broad
and rounded and of medium relief, side walls of molar crowns relatively steep
and crowns of medium height”.
Later Szalay and Delson (1979) diagnosed the same genus (a taxonomic category
between the family and species) mainly on the basis of jaws and teeth.
Ramapithecus shares characters with Sugrivapithecini with a complex of broad,
thick-enameled, rather high crowned cheek teeth, and apparently large cheek
teeth. Ramapithecus shares with other hominines further reduction of canine
crown height and general incisor size; which is partly incorporated into the incisor
row, the mandible robust, but not very deep, while the maxillary alveolar processes
are deep and inflated, and the cheek teeth may have quite vertical sides and low
relief, the extreme reduction of incisors and narrow palate with elongated tooth-
rows.
47
Human Evolution General description
Ramapithecus can be described as a relatively small hominid sharing certain
derived characters only with Homininae; most of the reported fossils are
fragmentary dental and jaw elements, with broad thick enamel, rather high
crowned cheek teeth and low anterior pre-molars. In addition to these,
Ramapithecus also shares few characters with other hominines and with
Gigantopithecus in having a small metaconid on lower anterior pre-molar as
well as further reduction of crown height and general incisor size. It is, however,
distinguished from Gigantopithecus and linked to hominines by the role of canine
which is partly incorporated into the incisor role rather than assuming occlusal
function with anterior premolar. The mandible of Ramapithecus is robust, but
not very deep and inflated, cheek teeth have relatively vertical walls (sides) with
low relief.
Phlogenetic status
The taxonomic position of the genus Ramapithecus has been a subject of
discussion. It has recently been widely considered as Miocene ancestor of
hominines, but the evidence does not yet permit the ready acceptance of this
view. Instead, it would appear that Ramapithecus shares a number of features
only with later hominines and thus can be considered the sister-genus of
Australopithecus and Homo, of course among known genera. Due to paucity of
fossil remains of Ramapithecus there is and was a lot of controversy as to its
taxonomic status.
It was Lewis (1934) who described and created a new genus i.e. Ramapithecus
discovered from Haritalyangar situated in the Bilaspur district of Himachal
Pradesh, Northern India; and classified the same as a Pongid but also emphasised
that it displayed some human traits. Later in the years 1960 and 1961, Simons
after careful consideration of Ramapithecus material treated it to be the earliest
known hominid in the world. Similar finds came from Southern Germany in
North Central Spain, Hungry, Candir (Turkey), China and Kenya, among others.
Now with the acceptance of the time scale presented by the immunological
evidence; a more and more complete fossil record as well as further analysis of
these remains from China and Siwaliks of Pakistan, there has now been an almost
consensus amongst a select group of researchers that Ramapithecus was non
hominid and needs to be included under the genus Sivapithecus known from the
Siwalik deposits of the Indian subcontinent. This has happened as a result of the
discovery of more complete skull and mandibular material as well as some
postcranial remains. Due to the fact that Ramapithecus and Sivapithecus are
almost indistinguishable from each other that is why all the fossil Ramapithecus
remains are now synonymized under the genus Sivapithecus. The genus
Sivapithecus also has a priority in the literature because it was created in the year
1910, while Ramapithecus was created in 1934.
The pongids and hominids cannot be distinguished on the basis of dentition;

postcranial remains can be of great importance to assign the fossil specimen to
either Pongid or Hominid lineage. Much more material of the genus Ramapithecus
is required before more definite suggestions can be made out of the genus.
Finally the phylogentic status of Siwalik fossil specimens once assigned to the
48 genus Ramapithecus are now considered by most researchers to belong to one or
more species of Sivapithecus and is no longer regarded as an ancestral form of Palaeoanthropology
hominids or the earliest known hominid in the world.
4.7 AUSTRALOPITHECUS
Subfamily Homininae Linnaeus, 1758
Genus Australopithecus Dart, 1925
Time and space: Pliocene to early Pleistocene.
Distribution: Southern and Eastern Africa
Included Subgenera:
Australopithecus (Australopithecus) Dart, 1925 and Australopithecus
(Paranthropus)
I) Australopithecus (Australopithecus) Dart, 1925
Distribution: Later Pliocene, Southern and Eastern Africa.
Known Species: Australopithecus (Australopithecus) africanus Dart, 1925
Localities: Laetolil, Omo Usno, Shungura member, Hadar, Makapan,
Sterkfontein, East Rudolf Koobi Fora Lower member, Taung, Olduvai
Bed I.
II) Australopithecus (Paranthropus) Broom, 1938
Distribution: Late Pliocene to Early Pleistocene, Southern and Eastern Africa.
Known Species: Australopithecus (Paranthropus) robustus, Broom, 1938
Localities: East Rudolf Koobi Fora Lower member, Omo Shungura, Olduvai
Bed-I, Lower Bed II, Swartkrans, Peninj, Kromdraai, Chesowanja.
Diagnosis
Australopithecus basically shares the major morphologically derived characters
of the Homininae, including large brain to body weight ratio, large posterior and
relatively small anterior dentition, with canines not honing but incisiform,
parabolic dental arcades, flexion of the cranial base and increasing cranial height,
anterior placement of the foramen magnum, development of upright, bipedal
posture as reflected in the pelvis, femur, and lumber vertebrae, elongated lower
limb compared to body size (referring to the fact that growth in some parts of the
body is related to growth in other parts e.g. cranial and cerebral) and compaction
of the foot with loss of hallucial mobility.
From Homo, Australopithecus is differentiated by smaller estimated body size,

relatively and absolutely small brain size (range 400-600+ cc); absolutely and
relatively large teeth, especially molars and premolars, face much large as
compared to neurocranium with anterior placed sagittal crest in most robust
individuals, maximum calvarial width about at mastoid level, mandibular fossa
transversally elongated and especially laterally positioned; supraorbital tori
prominent, but neither massive nor incorporated into steep frontal bone, nasal
bones “V” – upwards toward glabella, mandible more massive with internal
49
Human Evolution contour either “V” or pointed “U” – shaped not an “open –U”, stronger internal
tori and longer alveolar planum, corpus deepening somewhat mesially somewhat
more constant in depth; in fact more distinct sexual dimorphism, particularly in
canine and other dental dimensions; pelvis with relatively small sacroiliac articular
surface and acetabulum, relatively large iliac fossa, and widely splayed iliac
blades; femur with relatively small head, long neck, and low neck angle, and
possibly, relatively long forelimbs, at least in robust forms.
Description
The bones of the skull are relatively thin, cranial capacity usually ranges between
442 and 530 cc, braincase lacks the high vertical forehead of Homo sapiens and
high roundness of the skull vault. From the back, the widest point of the skull is
quite low on the brain case. The suture between the nasal and frontal bones has
the shape of an upside-down V. The brow ridges are poorly developed and behind
the brow ridges is a notable postorbital constriction. The facial skeleton is large
relative to the size of the brain case, often assuming a concave or dish shaped
contour. The jaw is relatively large, as are the jaw muscles. This is reflected in
the development of a sagittal crest in some individuals and the expansion and
flaring of the zygomatic arches. The molars and premolars are relatively large,
while the canines are small relative to the premolars. The pelvis is bowl-shaped
and shortened from top to bottom, similar in basic structure to the pelvis of
Homo sapiens. Evidence from pelvis, leg and foot bones leaves no doubt that
Australopithecus was perhaps an erect biped.
Phylogenetic status
Australopithecines were morphologically diverse group; the diversity is indicated
by the various taxonomic schemes devised to accommodate their numbers.
Different researchers have different ideas, most of the ‘lumpers’ recognise only
one genus called Australopithecus to accommodate at least four distinct species
at present i.e. Australopithecus africanus in South Africa, Australopithecus
robustus in East Africa, Australopithecus afarensis in Hadar (Ethiopia) and
Laeotoli (Tanzania) and Australopithecus ramidus in Afar ( Ethiopia) region.
The overall pattern of early human evolution in Africa appears to have taken the
following course. First was the early Australopithecus ramidus, the apparent
ancestral stock which appeared about 5 to 6 million years before present; later
came another smaller but better developed form, Australopithecus afarensis which
appeared around 3.75 million years ago; after that came the gracile and robust
forms i.e Australopithecus africanus and Australopithecus robustus which
appeared about 2 to 1 million years before present, respectively.
Some investigators argue that the important differences in dental proportions

between Australopithecus africanus and Australopithecus robustus, the gracile
and robust forms, respectively, do not correspond with allometric trends noted
among modern primates. According to them these differences may be
morphologically significant adaptations, perhaps indicating dietary modifications
or may be even social behaviour.
The genus Homo appeared to be and was apparently the descendant of one of the
Australopithecus forms, but, it is still not clear what led to the evolution of the
genus Homo. The phylogentic position of Australopithecus is quite clear that it
50
is a hominid and that is why it is included under the subfamily Homininae and Palaeoanthropology
the family Hominidae to which the present day humans also belong.
General Description
Raymond Dart, a young Professor of Anatomy at Johannesburg on 7th Feb, 1925
announced the discovery of an early Pliocene- Pleistocene hominid with a small
brain case. The general reaction of the world was one of the disbelief at that
time. The type specimen, an infant skull (about six years old), was discovered in
the end of year 1924 by workers in a lime stone quarry at Taung (Ta- ung = place
of lion), in what is now Botswana, South Africa. Dart named his find as
Australopithecus africanus (Southern African ape) and mentioned the many ape-
like feature of the skull including the small size of the brain ( 380- 500 c.c) and
pointed to its pongid affinities; albeit he also emphasised the fact that there were
a number of features of the skull and the dentition which were man-like. He
placed this new genus and species in a family intermediate between hominids
and pongids i.e. Homo-simiidae. It took Dart 73 days to work the skull out of
lime stone matrix and a total of four years to separate the lower jaw from the rest
of skull and it was in this year i.e. 1929 that his judgment was strikingly vindicated
and an unquestionably hominid dentition was revealed. The teeth of the juvenile
are very large, but morphologically similar to those of later hominids. No more
hominids were discovered at Taung and unfortunately now this fossil site has
been destroyed by quarry operations.
The gracile type and the robust forms of Australopithecus can be differentiated
as follows. The gracile form is small and light (20-40 kg), with an estimated
stature of 145 cm (4 feet and 9 inches). Its estimated cranial capacity is 442 cm3.
The facial skeleton is small, but the jaws are large in proportion to the rest of the
skull. The disk shaped profile is obvious. Gracile forms mostly occur between 3
and 2 millions of years before present. On the other hand, the robust form is
larger and more heavily built (35-55 kg). Its estimated stature is 153 cm (5 feet)
and the average cranial capacity is 530 cm3. The heavier jaw of robust form is
associated with very large molar and premolars but relatively small incisors and
canines. The massiveness of the jaw musculature is seen in the frequent
development of a sagittal crest. The above variability can be explained on the
basis of generic or species or subspecies or geographic variation or sexual
dimorphism or dietary differences. The robust forms range between 2.1 and 1.3
million years before present.
4.8 HOMO ERECTUS

Genus Homo Linnaeus, 1758
Species Homo erectus Dubois, 1891
Time and Space: 1.8 million years ago to 150,000 years ago.
Distribution: Asia, Africa and Europe.
Known Subspecies
The following subspecies (subdivision of a species, consisting of individuals in
a given geographical area, which differ slightly from, but which can interbreed 51
Human Evolution with other subspecies of the same species) are included under the Homo erectus.
Homo erectus javanensis Eugene Dubois, 1891
Locality: Trinil (Java)
Homo erectus pekiensis
Locality: Choukoutien (China)
Homo erectus narmadensis Arun Sonakia, 1984
Locality: Hathnnora (India)
Besides the above subspecies known from Asia, Homo erectus is also known
from Africa and Europe. The various localities are listed below.
Localities in Africa: Swartkrans (South Africa) Olduvai Gorge, Koobi fora, Ndutu,
Afar region (East Africa) Morocco and Algeria (North Africa)
Localities in Europe: Heidelberg (Germany), Vertesszollos (Hungary),
Greece- Petralona (Greece), Prezletice (Czechoslovakia) and Vergranne (France)
Diagnosis
Skull is large, with pronounced bony relief and predominance of facial region
over cranial. Cranial capacity is 750-1200 cm3, with a mean of 929 cm3. Skull
roof flattened; forehead falls away strongly rearwards; occipital region bulges
rearwards in the form of chignon. Maximum length of braincase 175-182 mm;
maximum breadth (found at the base of skull) 126-131mm, height of cranial
cavity 90-100 mm, sharp postorbital constriction and walls of braincase thick to
very thick are observed. Supraorbital ridge shaped like an awning, sharply
projecting and thickened towards sides; occipital ridge well developed. Upper
edge of squamosal slightly curved; mastoid processes small. Palate about 80
mm, face more prognathic (forward protrusion of lower face and jaw) than in
modern populations. Lower jaw was massive, with high and thick horisontal
branch and without a trace of mental prominence, ascending ramus broad to
very broad and low, a small diastema in the upper teeth, teeth large and human
type, femur about 450 mm long with completely straight diaphysis and well-
marked linea aspera.
General Description
Based on the various skeletal remains known from various parts of Asia, Africa
and Europe, Homo erectus shows a marked flattening of skull vault which is
noticeable besides the sagittal ridge that runs across the skull midline meant for
attachment of large chewing muscles. The bones of the skull are quite thick. The
greatest width of the skull is low on the skull vault. The cranial capacity in
Homo erectus varies from 700-1200 cc, lower values are found among earlier
representatives and higher values among later representatives of this genus and
species. The mean cranial value in Asian skulls comes to 929 cc. The face of
Homo erectus is characterised by large brow ridges above the eye orbits and
behind these large brow ridges the skull is marked by postorbital constriction.
The nasal bones are broad and flat and the face is more prognathic in comparison
to modern man. The mandible is heavily constructed and lacks chin. The teeth
are larger than those found in the present day man. The canines are sometimes
slightly projecting with a small diastema (a gap) in the upper dentition. The first
lower premolar is bicuspid with sub equal cusps. The second upper molar may
52
be larger than the first and the length of the third molar may exceed the second Palaeoanthropology
molar. The mandible is also reduced in size. The limb bones are essentially
modern.
Phylogenetic status
The definition of Homo has been enlarged to accommodate all erectus species
from Asia, Africa and Europe with only distinctions at the subspecies level such
as Homo erectus javanensis (Java), Homo erectus pekiensis (China) and Homo
erectus narmadensis (India). Phylogentically speaking there is only one genus
and one species with different subspecies belonging to different geographical
areas, which may differ slightly from each other, but which can interbreed with
other subspecies of the same species. The Asian remains assigned to Homo erectus
exhibit common morphological characters. The oldest sample of Homo erectus
appears in East Africa (dated 1.9 or 1.8 million years ago) while the Asian dates
are more of the order of 400,000 to 300,000 years ago.
This genus and species is probably the intermediate evolutionary step between
the lower Pleistocene Homo habilis and Homo sapiens. Although the line is still
quite hazy but some fragments of the transition can be seen in Africa, Asia and
Europe. A minority opinion states that Homo erectus was not on the direct
evolutionary line of Homo sapiens and some suggests that human evolution
bypassed Homo erectus in Asia. Although this means Homo sapiens arose directly
from African Homo habilis but further information and evidences are still awaited
to settle this point.
General Description
The first evidence of Homo erectus was discovered at Trinil along Solo river in
central Java by Eugene Dubois in 1891. Dubois named his find as Pithecanthropus
erectus meaning ‘The Erect Ape-Man’ because the fossil femur resembled that
of the modern Homo. Later, this species was renamed as Homo erectus javanensis.
The Homo erectus seems to have been cave dweller and was big-game hunter
associated with the Acheulean tool tradition. There are evidences of fire use.
Cooking of meat suggests that less food was eaten on the spot and more carried
back to the camp. The Homo erectus thus represents a level of cultural adaptation
that allowed its possessors to expand into new niches.
Morphologically Homo erectus conforms very well with the theoretical postulates
for an intermediate stage in the evolution of later hominids. In addition to this,
the existence of Homo erectus in the early part of the Pleistocene, antedating any
well-authenticated Homo sapiens, also provides it with an antiquity conforming
well to its supposed phylogentic relation. Some of the Homo erectus materials
illustrate a satisfactory graded series of morphological change from one type to
another and is probably chronologically and morphologically intermediate
between the Lower Pleistocene Homo habilis and Homo sapiens.
4.9 HOMO NEANDERTHALENSIS

53
Human Evolution Species Homo sapiens neanderthalensis King, 1864
Time and space: 75,000 to 35,000 years ago.
Distribution: Europe and the near East and possibly Asia.
Diagnosis
The Neanderthal face is extraordinarily robust, had a receding chin (or lacking
chin), large cheek bones, prominent brow ridges connected across the nasal bridge,
and a large nasal cavity (possibly an adaptation to the cold); have very large
canines and incisors relative to their molars and premolars; face and jaw
morphology may have been shaped by their use of the front teeth as tools; teeth
are arranged in a very broad U-shaped arch with the canines set in the curve
rather than on the sides of the arch, they are not projecting; lower jaws are massive
without simian-shelf; the skulls were more capacious than those of modern
populations; the zygomatic arches which encloses the temporal fossae are stouter
and much less curved than in modern man. Their brains were larger than ours;
the cranial capacity varies from 1300-1600 cc, skull was shaped differently than
ours: it had a low crown and bulged on the side and back; a characteristic trait
was the presence of an occipital ‘bun’ at the rear of the skull; another frequent
feature of Neanderthal molars was taurodontism (enlarged molar root cavity and
perhaps fusion of the molar roots); the bones of the trunk and limbs are well
preserved; pelvis was very high relative to its breadth, the iliac blades were much
flattened; the collar bones are long and arched.
General Description
Broadly defined, the Neanderthals and their culture have been traced from Near
East, Africa, Europe and possibly Asia.
Western European Neanderthal remains are found in sheltered and well watered
valleys of Southern France and similar parts of the Spanish and Italian peninsulars.
Neanderthals can be described as having large cranial capacities, ranging from
1525 to 1640 cc in males and 1300 to 1425 cc in females. The skulls are more
capacious. Neanderthal cranium has lower, flatter crown. Occipital bun which is
usually present has always been considered to be a Neanderthal trait. In addition
to this form major traits distinguish the Neanderthal face i.e. chin is definitely
receding or is absent, there are large cheek bones, the prominent brow ridges
curve over the eye orbits and connect across the bridge of the nose and there is
rather large nose and nasal prognathism. Their jaws and teeth also have some
distinguishing traits, such as, the jaws are usually large, the structure of teeth is
as in present day man but are large in size. Major distinction occurs in incisors
and canines, their anterior dentitions are differently larger than modern Homo
sapiens especially in breadth. Neanderthal postcranial skeletons mark them as
having been short, powerfully built individuals when compared with modern
human populations. They were just over five feet tall, their extremities were
short and stubby and their feet similar to ours.
Phylogenetic status
The neanderthal problem regarding its phylogenetic status has been circulating
for many years and some of the major questions are these: What is the evolutionary
position of the western European Neanderthals? Were they too specialised to be
in our evolutionary lineage? How does one interpret the intrapopulation and
54
interpopulation variability? In which areas of the world did Homo sapiens sapiens Palaeoanthropology
evolve?
Although some answers to these questions are becoming clearer with the discovery
of new forms and the re-examination of others; other questions are becoming
more difficult to answer. Earlier the term Neanderthal was originally applied to,
and designed to describe, forms from Western Europe only, but now it is used to
describe a wide array of fossils, many of which barely resemble the original
material.
There are conflicting view points concerning the taxonomic placement of the
western European Neanderthals. Some designate them as a separate species, Homo
neanderthalensis; most others refer to them as Homo sapiens neanderthalensis.
A major reason for this disagreement is the recognition of transitional forms that
cannot be satisfactorily assigned to either the Neanderthal or archaic Homo sapiens
sapiens.
Concerning the various interpretations of the Neanderthal material, the unilinear

school advocated by Hrdlicka (1927) was first to be proposed. This theory argues
that modern Homo sapiens sapiens arose directly through a number of
evolutionary stages, including the Neanderthals. It eliminates extensive side
branching and discounts most cases of argued extinction and vigorously argues
that the Neanderthal population, as typified in western Europe, formed a large
part and parcel of the genetic ancestry of modern Homo sapiens.
The two other view points, Preneanderthal and Presapiens (A theory suggesting
that Homo sapiens is a distinct, completely separate line from that leading to the
Neanderthals) school (Keith, 1925, Nallois, 1958) have much in common. Both
spilt the main stem of human evolution back to the time of Steinheim man and
Swanscombe man. Both consider western European Neanderthals to be dead
ends in human evolution, becoming extinct as the climatic conditions to which
they were adapted ameliorated. The Presapiens school, suggest that modern Homo
sapiens originated as distinct lineage, completely separate from the line leading
to the Neanderthals. Unlike the Preneanderthal school, the Presapiens school
holds that this divergence occurred before the Eeemian Interglacial, if not before
the Mindel glacial. Both schools employ the same evidence but differently. Some
adherents of the Presapiens school argue that Steinheim man led to the
Neanderthal population and that Swanscombe man, through Fontechevade man,
led to modern Homo sapiens.
Adherents of the Preneanderthal school view Steinheim man and Swanscombe

man as leading to another interglacial stem, for example, Ehringsdrof man, of a
basically Neanderthal nature. In this view, there was a broad and varying
population, one segment of which was an isolated European cold-adapted group
(the western European Neanderthals): the other segment inhabited the Near East
and become modern Homo sapiens. There are three morphological bases for the
Preneanderthal schools the so-called “overspecialisation” Neanderthals into
“modern” Upper Palaeolithic populations within a short time, and the coexistence
in other parts of the world of more modern-looking populations. The factor-
appearance of more modern-looking humans in other parts of the world is
essentially correct.
55
Human Evolution It is now generally recognised that the Neanderthals were a worldwide grade
intermediate between the earliest Homo sapiens and the earliest Homo sapiens
sapiens samples. The Neanderthal ancestors of Homo sapiens sapiens were forms
possessing modern-size brains coupled with an archaic-looking skull. The time
span of this group was from about 75,000 or perhaps 100,000 to 35,000 years
ago. The earliest possible ancestors of the European Neanderthals may be
represented by the Saccopastore and Krapina samples. These skulls show some
typical Neanderthal facial features, although the most complete specimens are
small brained compared to the later Neanderthals.
Recent redating of the Mousterian (Cultural assemblage commonly associated

with the Neanderthals) stone tool assemblage has not only doubled the time
span of the Mousterian but also expanded the time span of the Mousterian tool
manufactures, the Neanderthal man. The redating suggests that the period between
the last Neanderthals and emergence of Homo sapiens sapiens was long enough
for the evolution of Homo sapiens neanderthalensis into Homo sapiens sapiens.
This calls into question the view that the Neanderthals disappeared after
immigration of modern Homo sapiens into Europe. The redating also suggest
that Mousterian industries remained virtually unchanged over a long time period,
in marked contrast to the speed with which modern Homo sapiens tool industries
advanced during the Upper Palaeolithic times. This suggests fundamental
differences in Neanderthals and modern Homo sapiens societies that make it
more difficult to see how one could have evolved into the other.
General Description
The first described Neanderthal find came from Germany in 1856. Further finds
came to light in 1866 when a jaw accompanied by a Mousterian cultural
assemblage was recovered from a Belgian cave. In 1886 two additional skeletons
appeared from Spy cave in Belgium. Their culture was Mousterian which itself
is a complex derivative of earlier tool making complexes. Most of the European
Neanderthal material was recovered from the Dordogne region of southwestern
France. Other finds came from Spain, Italy, southeastern Europe, Russia and
Turkey. Until the 1930s it was assumed that European Neanderthals were slowly
driven to extinction by subsequent populations.
Neanderthals have been classified into three main types as under:
1) Western European (Classic) Neanderthals
2) Central and Eastern European Neanderthals
3) Eastern (Progressive) Neanderthals
Neanderthals were a heterogeneous population with more capacious skulls than
those of modern populations, accommodating a larger brain than common to
modern Homo. The skull shows a lower crown and a bun shaped protuberant
occiput besides a bulging on the side and back.
The face of Neanderthal man can be distinguished by a receding chin or lacking

the same, large cheeks besides prominent brow ridges curving over the eyes and
connected across the bridge of the nose. The nose appear to be large and it may
a functional adaptation to severe climates, serving to warm and moisten inhaled
air, since in cold climates the brain can be endangered by inhalation of cold air.
The jaws are large and give evidence of strong muscle attachments and even
56
certain dental traits suggest use of teeth as tools. The incisors are broader than Palaeoanthropology
those in modern populations and may have been important tools in environmental
manipulation. Lower jaws are massive and without simian-shelf. Teeth are
arranged in a very broad U-shaped arch with the canines set in the curve rather
than on the sides of the arch. They are also not projecting. The cranial capacities
were large, ranging from 1525- 1640 cc in six male skulls and 1300 to 1425 cc in
three female skulls. On an average the cranial capacity varies from 1300-1600
cc. The zygomatic arch which encloses the temporal fossae is stouter and much
less curved than in modern man. The postglenoid process is large and keeps the
mandibular condyle from butting against the ring like tympanic bone. The mastoid
process is small and almost rudimentary. European Neanderthal postcranial
skeletons mark them as short, powerfully built individuals just over five feet
tall. Their extremities were short; the hands and fingers were short and stubby.
Their feet were similar to ours, since we have a remarkably preserved Neanderthal
foot print cast in the wet clay of an Italian cave. The spine is short and massive.
Pelvis bone generally show hominid features. The pelvis was very high relative
to its breadth. The iliac blades were much flattened. The collar bones are long
and arched. Some researchers suggest that Neanderthals may have weighed 160
pounds or more.
Phylogentic status
Although less numerous remains were discovered from East and Central Europe
than from Western Europe, nevertheless they are very important. New fossil
finds from this area have filled some of the geographical and chronological gaps
in the fossil record. They have also blurred the boundary between classical
European Neanderthals and fully modern Homo sapiens populations. Major
eastern and central European materials come from Czechoslovakia and Hungry.
Some refer to them as transitional specimens, between modern and Neanderthal
populations.
Taxonomically speaking the transitional status of these materials suggests that

hominid evolution in eastern and central Europe was proceeding towards modern
Homo. The transitional forms are important since they display many traits found
in anatomically modern populations to varying degree. Chronologically, it extend
to the time period in which the oldest finds of fully modern Homo sapiens appear
even forms designated fully modern Homo sapiens exhibit some cultural and
morphological links to the past.
Such findings indicate that the appearance of Homo sapiens sapiens in Central
and Western Europe need not be explained in terms of a sudden east to west
migration but rather as local evolution in Neanderthal populations sharing basic
traits but differing in intensity and detail. As far as the Middle Eastern
(Progressive) Neanderthal are concerned some of the Middle Eastern populations
appear to be transitional. Middle Eastern forms are considered to be the members
of a late non-cold adapted Neanderthal group imperceptibly grading into fully
modern Homo sapiens sapiens. The most complete finds come from Israel and
Iraq; other remains come from six caves listed below.
Zuttiya near the Sea of Galilee
Tabun and Skhul at Mount Carmel.
Jebel Gafza near Nazareth.
57
Human Evolution Shukba, 17 miles northwest of Jerusalem.
And Amud near Lake Tiberias.
Although from the same geographical area and dating from approximately the
same time period, the skulls differ from one another. The richest and deepest
fossil sites are in areas where vegetation and game were most abundant. They
can be seen at two major sites at Mount Carmel viz., the Cave of et-Tabun (Cave
of the oven) and Cave of es-Skhul (Cave of the Kids).
It is difficult to generalise about the skeletal characteristics of Near Eastern and

Central Asian Populations contemporaneous with the Neanderthals of Europe.
Some specimens’ like-Tabun, Shanidar and Amud shared more features with
western Neanderthals than did Skhul. It has been suggested that physical
differences in the populations of the Near East and Central Asia may be of the
order of subspecific (or) racial variation. These populations constitute one part
of the species range that had more ties with the western European Neanderthals
and another variety with closer ties with populations in the direct line to Upper
and post-palaeolithic Homo sapiens.
The results of experiments on the effect of cold on the skin temperature suggest
that reduced frontal sinus area and an exposed nose and streamlined malar region
all Neanderthal features, act to reduce the effects of chilling. Relatively short
limbs are also features of modern human populations adapted to cold climates.
The broad anterior teeth, combined with reduced size of the cheek teeth and
lung, strongly buttressed cranium of the Neanderthals have been proposed as
unified response to the use of teeth for holding and fixing objects during tool
manufacture and food preparation.
4.10 HOMO SAPIENS

Species Homo sapiens sapiens
Time and space: 40,000- 10,000 years ago.
Distribution They appeared in various places of Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia
and the Americas.
Diagnosis
Because of the burial practices, many almost complete skeletons are preserved
and available for study and description. The diagnosis of Homo depends, to a
greater extent than usual on which specimens are included in the genus. The
diagnosis given is rather broad and major distinguishing features of Homo are:
The skull is high and well rounded. The forehead rises vertically above the eye
orbits and does not slope as in Neanderthal. The brow ridges are small. The face
does not protrude very much (an orthognathic face) and a strong chin is evident.
Modern humans have small faces tucked under enlarged brain cases. They
possessed large heads with modern cranial capacities (1300 to 1600 cc
approximately) wide faces, prominent chin’s and high bridged noses. The teeth
progressively become reduced in size, a change that is synchronised with the
58
reduction of the masticatory apparatus. This entails reduced chewing and perhaps Palaeoanthropology
a reduction in the use of teeth as tools. Canines become less sexually dimorphic
(marked differences in the characteristics of males and females) and they no
longer protrude past the occlusal plane. Modern pelvic girdle, that is adapted to
both bipedal striding and the birth of large headed infants; the acetabulum and
associated femoral head are large, as is the sacral articulation, while the iliac
fossa is small, femoral neck small and iliac blades are not splayed. Although the
stature of these Homo sapiens sapiens populations varied but the males appeared
to have attained a height comparable with the modern males, but the females
seems to have been somewhat shorter. The limb proportions are also as variable
as is found in the modern populations.
Some of the fossil forms possessed long face; long high and narrow heads with
strong jaw and seems to have been of medium to small body size. Some skulls
(i.e. Brno skull) belonging to a male shows primitive as well as progressive
features and they possess more accentuated brow ridge, a less rounded occipital
region, some alveolar prognathism and a low placed maximum breadth of the
skull, the forehead is high and bulging, the mastoid processes are large and the
chin is prominent.
Phylogenetic status
It is still being debated where populations of fully modern Homo sapiens evolved
but the only likelihood is that they appeared in different places during the Upper
Pleistocene times. During this period Homo sapiens sapiens populations were
largely migratory hunters and gathers; however, some evidences are also available
to point towards a sedentary life style as well. It is a well known fact that Homo
sapiens sapiens provides us with many beautiful examples of theirs artistic
expressions; like cave paintings, engravings and also sculptures.
These groups of Homo sapiens sapiens lived in larger groups and their social
organisation may also have been much more complex in comparison to their
predecessors.
Although exact dates of entry of Homo sapiens sapiens into Australia and New
world (Latin America) are still being revised but Australia appears to have been
inhabited by Homo sapiens sapiens. Their entry into New World via the Bering
land bridge might be even less than 40,000 years ago; some estimates are not
more than 20,000 years ago or even less.
General Description
The French and Italian fossil remains appeared first in the 19th century but were
discarded as modern burial. Close to 90 individuals are known. The famous
Cro-Magnon shelter located in the lime stone cliffs by the French Village of Les
Eyzies yielded some of the first remains. The remains (total skeletons, 3 males,
2 females and one fetus) were uncovered in 1868 while workers were building a
railroad through the valley. The Upper Palaeolithic sample is indistinguishable
from modern populations. They had small, non projecting face, broad, high
foreheads, protruding chins and cranial capacity estimated to a 1590 cc; their
variable height has been estimated as between 5 feet and 4 inches and 6 feet.
Other traces of French Upper Palaeolithic people come from the Combe Capelle
and Chancelade sites. The Combe Capelle individuals had a long face a long,
59
Human Evolution high, narrow forehead. They appear to have been of medium to small body size.
The Chancelade remains belong to late Upper Paleolithic stage than Combe
Capelle and Cro-Magnon. Chancelade apparently lived when cool weather
prevailed in Europe and their tools and reconstructed way of life originally led to
the suggestion that they were ancestral to Eskimo. Chancelade was short, about
4 feet 11 inches, had wide cheek bones, and a heavy jaw, indicating heavy chewing
stress. The skull was long and narrow, the nose narrow. If such traits are simply
listed the material looks Eskimo, however the total morphological pattern of the
skull does not support this assumption. The Eskimos like traits may simply be
responses to heavy chewing stresses and the use of teeth as tools.
A pair of interesting skeletons, possibly a mother and teen-aged son, comes from
the Grotte des Enfants, one of the Grimaldi caves on the Riviera. These skeletons
were originally called the “Grimaldi Negroids” because they supposedly exhibited
African traits. However the most likely explanation is that resemblance is a
coincidence due to limited population sample as well as the reconstruction errors.
Dwellings
Now it is very clear that Upper Palaeolithic population inhabited a great variety
of dwellings, rock shelters, (rocks overhangs as distinguished from deep caves)
were widely used. Trees were felled and propped against the rock face, perhaps
trellised by branches and skins. Large caves were inhabited; huts or tents built
inside caves were heated with wood or bone fires where rock shelters were rare
as in central and eastern Europe, remains of permanent dwellings were found.
Long shaped huts which are sometimes sunk into the ground have been found at
Pushkari in USSR. One hut measures 39 × 13 feet. At another site i.e. the Kostenki
I site there are traces of 2 dwellings each 120 × 49 feet plus 9 hearths situated on
the long axis and numerous silos of varying shapes and heights were discovered.
It is unlikely that this complex was accommodated under one roof.
Tool inventory
Upper Palaeolithic people produced such a culture which in variety and elegance,
far exceeded anything of their predecessors. Upper Palaeolithic groups made
fine tools and delicately worked bones. The Eurasian Upper Palaeolithic was
essentially a blade-tool assemblage characterised by an abundance and variety
of long parallel-sided implements called “blades”. The blade tool industry was
partially devised for working bone and wood. Out of the functional tool types
burins (chisel shaped blades) were probably utilised for engraving and working
wood, bone or antler, which might have been employed as handles or shafts by
scarping or shaving wood or hollow out wood or bone. Laural-leaf blades were
carefully made into thin sharp-edged knives or arrowheads, which the Upper
Palaeolithic people might have used as daggers.
New tools and weapons

New items such as polished pins or bone or antler awls are found in Upper
Palaeolithic tool kits. New types of points were probably hafted to sticks. The
late Magdalenian inventory (a cultural complex from western Europe dating
from 12,000 to 17,000 B.P.) included hooked rods employed as spear throwers,
barbed points, and harpoons for fishing, fishhooks, needles with eyes, bone and
ivory bodkins ( large eyed blunt needles), belt fasteners, and tools of undetermined
use. Many of these tools were highly decorative depicting hunt animals and may
60
have served as ceremonial items. The use of bow and arrow is first verified for Palaeoanthropology
the latter part of Late Palaeolithic people. Some 100 wooden arrows have been
recovered at the Mesolithic Stellmoor site, a former lake near Hamburg, Germany
(10,500 B.P.) 25% of arrows were designed to use with anterior tip, one such
arrow was found in situ in a wolf vertebra. The arrows were fire hardened. The
flint-tipped arrows may have been used for large game only, the untipped for
smaller game.
4.11 SUMMARY
Palaeoanthropology is the science that deals with the study of evolution of man
by unearthing the fossilised remains left by our early ancestors. It is the fusion of
physical anthropology and archaeology. Palaeoanthropologist should follow
certain principles/objectives like identification, form and function, associations
of plants and animals, evolution in the different groups of organisms, dispersal
and distribution of plants and animals in time and space and correlation while
dealing with the subject. Fossil evidence shows that the physical and behavioural
traits shared by all people originated from ape-like ancestors and evolved over a
period of at least 5 to 6 million years ago. Because of the burial practices, many
almost complete skeletons are preserved and available for study and description.
It is still being debated where populations of fully modern Homo sapiens evolved
but the only likelihood is that they appeared in different places during the Upper
Pleistocene times. During this period Homo sapiens sapiens populations were
largely migratory hunters and gathers; however, some evidences are also available
to point towards a sedentary life style as well. It is a well known fact that Homo
sapiens sapiens provides us with many beautiful examples of theirs artistic
expressions; like cave paintings, engravings and also sculptures. Homo sapiens
sapiens lived in larger groups and their social organisation may also have been
much more complex in comparison to their predecessors.
Suggested Reading
Brace, C.L. and Montagu, M.F.A.1969. Man’s Evolution: An Introduction to
Physical Anthropology, Macmilan
Buettner- Janusch, J. 1966. Origins of Man. New York: John Wiley
Kennedy, G.E.1980. Palaeoanthropology. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Poirier, F.E. 1990. In Search of Ourselves: An Introduction to Physical
Anthropology. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
Poirier, F.E. and McKee, J.K. 1999. Understanding Human Evolution, 4th ed.
New Jersey Prentice Hall
Simpson, G.G. 1953. The Major Features of Evolution. New York: Columbia
University Press
Szalay, F.S. and Delson, E. 1979. Evolutionary History of the Primates New
York: Academic Press
Sample Questions
1) Define Palaeoanthropology and discuss its objectives and scope.
2) Write a detailed essay on Ramapithecus.
61
Human Evolution 3) Discuss the geographical distribution and morphological description of
Australopithecus.
4) Write brief essay on Homo erectus.
5) Discuss the geographical distribution, salient features, tool kit and life ways
of Homo neanderthalensis.
62
MANI-002
PHYSICAL
Indira Gandhi
ANTHROPOLOGY
Block
5
HUMAN GENETICS
UNIT 1
Human Genetics 5
UNIT 2
Methods of Human Genetic Study 23
UNIT 3
Population Genetics 41
UNIT 4
Chromosomal Aberrations in Man 55
Expert Committee
Patiala
Dr. Nita Mathur
SOSS, IGNOU
Professor P Dash Sharma Mrs. Narinder Jit Kaur
Retired, Department of Anthropology Retired, Associate Professor in English
Ranchi University, Ranchi Government Mohindra College, Patiala
Unit Writers
Dr. Subir Biswas (Unit 1) Prof. A. J. S. Bhanwer Singh Professor P. Chengal Reddy
Reader (Unit 2 ) (Units 3&4)
Department of Anthropology Department of Human Genetics Retired
West Bengal State University Guru Nanak Dev University Department of Anthropology
Kokatta Amritsar S V University, Tirupati

August, 2011
ISBN-978-81-266-5549-6
Printed at :
BLOCK 5 HUMAN GENETICS
Introduction
Genetics is the study of heredity – it is sometimes defined as the science that
seeks to explain the similarities and differences that exist between organisms
related by descent. Though genetics is a more inclusive science of biology, but
geneticists also draw upon such related sciences as chemistry, mathematics and
physics in their efforts to ferret out all of the complex reactions which are involved
in the transmission of the inherited characteristics down through the generations.
Heredity plays an important role in the development of many human afflictions,

and knowledge of heredity’s exact role sometimes can be of great help in the
prevention, diagnosis and treatment of disease. Closely related to the medical
applications of genetics is the field of counseling. Most genetic counseling
concerns human defects which lie in the field of medicine. Many court cases
today rely on geneticists for valuable testimony. Questions of disputed parentage
may often be solved by identification of the blood types of the persons in question.
A geneticist has various methods of study which he can use in investigations of

problems of inheritance. Such investigations are done at the family level, through
pedigree analysis, at the population level through statistical analysis, cytological
studies for inherited abnormalities, and biochemical genetic studies at the family,
pedigree and at the population level of different human population groups.
We will discuss about all these under Block 5, which covers four units. Before
we discuss about human genetics in detail, we must understand the fundamental
laws of inheritance. We will be able to understand human genetics and it principles
in a better way if we have introductory knowledge about the structure and function
of cell, chromosomes, cell division, and how the chromosome numbers are
maintained in a population through generations, which will help us to understand
the various types of inheritance based on autosomes and sex chromosomes is
taken up in Unit 1 on Human Genetics. Unit 2 Methods of Human Genetics will
discuss in some detail about the methods of inheritance study through pedigree,
and the study of chromosomes on which genes are arranged in a linear fashion.
We will also touch upon briefly about chromosome chemistry, and will discuss
about the applications of genetic knowledge in human afflictions in diagnosis
and in paternity disputes. Unit 3 Population Genetics will discuss what are the
proportions of different genotypes in a population, and how the proportions of
genotypes existing in one generations be related to those in the next generations
in human population groups, and the agents of change in genotype frequency.
Though the movements and reactions of chromosomes during cell divisions are
very exact, however, there are occasional deviations from the normal procedure
and aberrant forms and arrangements of chromosomes results. We will discuss
aberrations involving portions of chromosomes, entire chromosomes, and
aberrations involving entire sets of chromosomes in Unit 4 Chromosomal
Aberrations in Man.
Human Genetics
4
Human Genetics
UNIT 1 HUMAN GENETICS
Contents
1.1 Introduction
1.2 History, Definition and Scope
1.3 Mendelian Inheritance in Man
1.4 Types of Inheritance
1.4.1 Autosomal Recessive Inheritance
1.4.2 Autosomal Dominant Inheritance
1.4.3 X-linked Recessive Inheritance
1.4.4 X-linked Dominant Inheritance
1.4.5 Y-linked Inheritance
1.5 Examples
1.6 Summary
1.7 Glossary
Suggested Reading
Sample Questions
Learning Objectives
&
Once you have studied this unit, you should be able to understand
Ø how a single gene or genes form the physical hereditary link between
generations, from parent to offspring;
Ø the determination of sex and the relation of sex to inheritance, and sex related
human traits; and
Ø the important factors of human diversity and ethnic variation.
1.1 INTRODUCTION
The field of anthropology is basically concerned with both biological and social/
cultural evolution as well as diversity of human population throughout the ages.
For understanding human genetics one needs to understand about physical
anthropology or biological anthropology which deals with the study of human
biology, evolution of the human organism, the relation between environment
and human organism, and genetic variations between individuals and groups.
The field of human genetics (of anthropological interest may be referred to as
anthropological genetics which is concerned with human population variation
study) uses pattern of genetic similarity and differences among different human
populations throughout the human ancestry to infer the history of human
evolution, migration, admixture and diversity. This would enable the scientists
in explaining how the modern Homo sapiens evolved through the stages of Homo
habilis and Homo erectus through the millennia to the modern man and the
reasons behind many of the biological differences that we observe in different
ethnic groups of the world.
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Human Genetics
Genetics is a branch of biology that deals with heredity or inherited variation
of genetic traits. The science of genetics studies the phenotypic (visible)
differences between individuals and attempts to relate them to underlying
genic or chromosomal differences. The hereditary units that are transmitted
through parent to offspring are called genes.
The word ‘gene’ is used frequently in genetics as a designation for each of the
small units of heredity within a cell. Genetics has proved to have numerous
practical applicatons because man has learned to use the discoveries in many
diferent fields. It is being used in such diverse areas as plant and animal breeding,
medical diagnosis, and genetic counseling, and even in cases of law. Genes are
biochemical instructions that are supposed to determine those inherited traits
that reside in the long molecules of deoxyribonucleic acid or DNA. Long
polynucleotide molecules of deoxyribonucleic acid, called DNA, are intimately
assocaited with chromosmes and are found exclusively in chromosomes. The
chemical composition of chromosomes includes histones, proteins and
deoxyribonecleic acid. The DNA is found only in chromosomes and is double
stranded. The genes are then, sections of the DNA ladder-like molecules; different
genes are different because they contain different sequence of the “letters’ A, T,
C, and G. DNA in conjunction with protein matrix may form nucleoprotein and
becomes organised as chromosomes that are found in the nucleus of the cell.
DNA is a stable molecule, however, on rare occasions a change or heritable
alteration may occur spontaneously, is called mutation which is the lead sources
of biological variation. In the study of heredity, we must clearly distinguish
between ‘genes’and ‘traits’. Genes are at the bottom of developemnt. On the
other hand, traits, such as hair colour, eye colour, size, shape, etc. are end products
of development. They require both the proper genes and proper environment for
their development.
1.2 HISTORY, DEFINITION AND SCOPE

Human Genetics, as the name indicates, describes the study of inherited variation
as it occurs in human beings. The inheritance of many traits, including human
traits is at present fairly well known. The biochemical studies on the constituents
of the chromosomes have given essentially the correct picture how heredity really
works at the molecular level. Genes can be the common factor of the most
inherited traits. Genes have become prominent in the nature versus nurture debate.
Study of human genetics can be useful as it can answer questions about human
nature, behaviour as well as understand the diseases and disease treatment, and
genetics of human life.
The science of genetics emerged from the famous work of Father Gregor Mendel
(1822-1884) while working at the Augustinian monastery of St Thomas at Bruno
in Moravia with the common garden pea. He published the results of his studies
in 1866 and thereby laid the foundation of modern genetics. In his paper, Mendel
proposed some basic genetic principles — the law of segregation, and the law of
independent assortment. The first one states that each parent contains two copies
of a unit of inheritance (later called gene), however, any one of two genes (called
allele) can be transmitted to the offspring through the gamete. Which allele in a
parent’s pair of alleles is inherited is a matter of chance. The second principle
states that the segregation of such gene pair (allele) occurs independently in
6 respect of other gene pair, i.e. the paired genes (allelic pairs) separate from one
another and are distributed to different sex cells. The result is that new Human Genetics
combinations of genes present in neither parent are possible. However, during
his (Mendel) lifetime very few people realised the importance of his path breaking
research. In 1901, Hugo de Vries, Carl Correns and Erich von Tschermak realised
that Mendel’s observations, conclusions and hypothesis have great importance
in the field of genetics. During early 1900s, researchers noted that chromosomes
behave like Mendel’s traits and also inherited in random combinations. In 1909
Wilhelm Johansen renamed Mendel’s characters as ‘gene’ and William Bateson
coined the term ‘genetics’ to study genes. Thereafter researchers repeated and
confirmed Mendel’s hypothesis and his (Mendel) ideas on the inheritance of
traits became more widely accepted and is now termed as Mendel’s laws of
inheritance.
Another milestone in the field of genetics is the discovery of the model for the
structure of DNA as a genetic material by J.D. Watson and F.H.C. Crick in 1953.
This was probably the key stone that unlocked an explosion in the field of human
genetics as a form of molecular revolution.
Following are some of the fields where human genetics may contribute its
knowledge for the betterment of the human society.
• To understand basic principles of inherited variation in man and to understand
application of genetics in human life, and
• To answer questions about human nature, understand the diseases and
development of effective disease treatment and health care.
1.3 MENDELIAN INHERITANCE IN MAN

Mendelian traits or traits of simple inheritance are mainly discrete in nature and
are controlled by alleles at single genetic locus. Therefore, in humans, traits or
disorders that a single gene specifies are said to be Mendelian traits. Currently
more than 4500 human traits are said to be inherited as per Mendelian principles;
and another large conditions are suspected to be Mendelian traits. Many of the
known Mendelian traits may be classified as disorders as per physical or mental
disability. However, the most prevalent Mendelian disorders are very rare, usually
affecting 1 in 10000 births or even less than that.
Human geneticist unlike others, who carried out experiment on plant or animal,
can’t have an access over experimental or controlled breeding. Hence they have
to confine their study by observing the mode of inheritance in a pedigree. A
Pedigree is a systematic drawing of the ancestral line of a given individual (both
father and mother side) or family tree of a large number of individuals that depict
blood relationship and transmission of inherited traits. A Pedigree can help to
determine the genetic basis of a particular trait, especially in human, where
experimental mating is not possible.
The term ‘pedigree’ (line of ancestors) is derived from French word ‘pie de grue’
means crane’s foot. The diagram of pedigree of large families with parents linked
by curved lines to their offspring often resembled a bird’s foot. You can tell a
mode of inheritance just by looking at a pedigree. Pedigree is built of shapes
connected by lines, vertical lines represent generations, horizontal lines that
connect two or more shapes at their centers represent parents and vertical lines
joined horizontally above them represent siblings. Matings are shown as 7
Human Genetics horizontal lines between two or more individuals. In case of shapes, square
indicate male, circles indicate female and diamonds for unknown sex. Different
shades or colours can be added to the symbols to identify different phenotype —
full coloured shapes for individuals who express the trait under study and half-
filled for carriers. Each generation is listed on a separate row labeled with Roman
numerals, whereas, individuals within a generation labeled by Arabic numerals.
Source: www.bio.classes.UCSC.edu
1.4 TYPES OF INHERITANCE

The patterns, in which Mendelian traits appear or transmitted in families, are
called modes of inheritance. On the basis of chromosome where genes are located,
you can find two types of inheritance - autosomal i.e. located on autosomes; and
sex-chromosomal i.e. located on sex chromosomes, X or Y. Both autosomal and
sex chromosomal inheritance may be subdivided as dominant or recessive
inheritance on the basis of expression of alleles. However in respect of Y
chromosome, there is no such subdivision like that described earlier. Hence, we
have five modes of inheritance — autosomal recessive inheritance, autosomal
dominant inheritance, X-linked recessive inheritance, X-linked dominant
inheritance and Y-linked inheritance.
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Mendel’s observation of two different expressions of an inherited trait in a single Human Genetics
locus (e.g. short or tall in respect of pea plant) narrates the facts that a gene can
exist in alternate forms, usually called allele. An individual having two identical
alleles is called homozygous, whereas the one with two different alleles is called
heterozygous. Hence an individual may be homozygous either by two dominant
alleles or two recessive alleles.
The allele that masks the effect of the other allele is called dominant (specifically
completely dominant) and the masked one is called recessive. Whether the trait
is dominant or recessive mostly depends upon the particular nature of the
phenotype. Sometimes the heterozygous behave like an intermediate or a mix
between homozygous dominant and homozygous recessive. Recessive disorders,
in many cases, tend to be more severe or lethal and produce symptoms at an
earlier age than dominant disorders.
If the genetic basis of a trait is known one can predict the outcomes of crosses.
These are Punnett square method, forked line method and probability method.
The ratios predicted from Mendel’s law, apply to a new allele combination to
each newly conceived offspring i.e. 50% chance of inheriting the allele, no matter
what was the previous combination. You can compare the situation with tossing
of coins; for first one the possibility of its being the head (or tail) is 50%. The
same is true for second or any subsequent tossing. Therefore, if there is a 25%
chance for a recessive disorder and first child is affected, there is no guaranty
that next three will not be affected. The best way to calculate the probability of
inherited traits was invented by Reginald Punnett and is called Punnett square.
This is a simple graphical way to calculate all potential combinations of genotype
for each time. You can start the same by drawing a grid of perpendicular lines.
Now put the genotype of one parent across the top and other one down the left
side. At last you can fill all the boxes by copying row and column letters (alleles).
1.4.1 Autosomal Recessive Inheritance

Autosomal recessive trait can affect both sexes in equal proportions and can (but
not necessarily) skip generation. The gene is carried on autosomes. For expression
of recessive trait to be displayed, two copies of trait or allele needs to be present,
which indicate that both the parents must be at least carrier for the specific traits.
Therefore, a recessive trait can remain hidden for several generations without
displaying the phenotype or diseases. The trait characteristically appears only in
sibs, not in their parents, offspring or other relatives.
Sometimes a rare autosomal recessive trait may occur in families where the parents
are close (blood) relatives, who are supposed to inherit the allele from a common
ancestor. The situation is called consanguinity. Marriages between relatives -
“consanguineous marriages”, as they are often called, are important genetically.
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Human Genetics Because closely related individuals have a higher chance of carrying the same
alleles than less closely related individuals. The children from consanguineous
marriages are more frequently homozygous for various alleles than are children
from other marriages. In some ancient societies like the Pharaohs of ancient
Egypt and the Incas of Peru favoured marriages of brothers and sisters of the
ruling dynasties, to keep the ‘royal blood’ pure. These are extreme cases of
consanguineous marriages. In some societies, more common types of close
consanguinity are observed in cousin marriages. Examples of other
consanguineous relations are those between uncle or aunt and nephew or niece
(third degree), between cousins (fourth degree) and between second cousins (sixth
degree). Consanguinity relations are identified by the number of steps from a
common ancestor to only one of the related individuals, namely, the one more
remote from him.
Source: www.migeneticsconnection.org
Some important characteristic features are:

• Occurrence and transmission is not influenced by sex;.
• Traits can express only in homozygous condition;
• In a pedigree you can find the trait only in siblings, not in their parents;
• On average ¼ th of the sibs of the proband are affected;
• In the instance of a rare disease, affected individuals have normal parents;
• Ratio of affected, carrier and non-affected is 1:2:1 (in sibs); and
• Parents of an affected child, in many cases, are close blood relatives.
Results from each of the six possible crosses are summarized in Table 1.1
Table 1.1: Summary of Autosomal Recessive inheritance
Parents Offspring
One parent homozygous Normal All the offspring will be homozygous
Other parent homozygous Normal normal
One parent homozygous Normal 50% probability that offspring will be
Other parent heterozygous Normal homozygous normal
(Carrier) 50% probability that offspring will be
10 heterozygous normal (Carrier)
Human Genetics
One parent heterozygous Normal 25% probability that offspring will be
(Carrier) homozygous normal
Other parent heterozygous Normal 50% probability that offspring will be
(Carrier) heterozygous normal (Carrier)
25% probability that offspring will be
affected
One parent homozygous Normal All the offspring will be heterozygous

Other parent affected normal (Carrier)
One parent heterozygous Normal 50% probability that offspring will be

(Carrier) heterozygous normal (Carrier)
Other parent affected 50% probability that offspring will be
affected
One parent affected All the offspring will be affected

Other parent affected
1.4.2 Autosomal Dominant Inheritance

Autosomal dominant trait, like autosomal recessive traits, can affect both sexes
in equal proportions; the gene is carried on autosomes but unlike previous one
does not skip generations. If no offspring inherits the trait in any generation its
transmission stops. The trait is called “dominant” because a single copy of the
trait, inherited from either parent, is enough to cause this trait to appear; the
dominant allele masks the recessive one. Hence both homozygous dominant
and heterozygous individual can express the trait. This often means that at least
one parent must have the trait to transmit; otherwise it may appear because of
mutation. Unaffected family members do not transmit the trait to their children.
Dominance and recessiveness are obviously developmental phenomena resulting
from genic action. They refer to the effect of a combination of differing alleles as
compared to the effect of a homozygous combination.
• Occurrence and transmission is not influenced by sex;
• Traits can express in both homozygous and heterozygous condition;
• You can find the trait in every generation of a pedigree;
• Affected individuals are usually born of normal parents;
• Affected individuals are always the product of a parent carrier of the same
character; 11
Human Genetics • Trait always transmitted by an affected person (if heterozygous he/she is
supposed to transmit the trait to half of the children and if homozygous to
all the children); and
• All children of a normal individual will be normal i.e. unaffected family
members do not transmit the trait to their children.
Table 1.2: Summary of Autosomal Dominant inheritance
Parents Offspring
One parent homozygous affected All the offspring will be homozygous

Other parent homozygous affected affected
homozygous affected
heterozygous affected
One parent homozygous affected 25% probability that offspring will be

Other parent heterozygous affected homozygous affected
normal
One parent heterozygous affected All the offspring will be heterozygous

Other parent heterozygous affected affected
One parent homozygous affected 50% probability that offspring will be

Other parent normal heterozygous affected
One parent heterozygous affected 50% probability that offspring will be
Other parent normal normal
One parent normal All the offspring will be normal

Other parent normal
Sex-Linkage: In the human species, the sex-chromosomes contain many more

genes than those concerned with sex-determination. These affect the widest range
of characters and bear no relation to sex. Genes carried in the same chromosome
are said to be ‘linked’ because they are assorted together. Haemophilia is due to
the operation of a recessive sex-linked gene. A woman, heterozygous for it is
therefore unaffected, since she carries the haemophilia gene (h) in one X-
chromosome, and its normal allelomorph (H) in the other. Normal women can
transmit haemophilia while a normal man cannot do so.
Sex-linked Inheritance: Colour blindness is an example of sex-linked inheritance

in man. Women are much less often colour blind than men. But if a woman does
happen to be colour blind, and if she marries a normal man, all of her sons are
colour blind but none of her daughters are.
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1.4.3 X-linked Recessive Inheritance Human Genetics
Sex-linkage was first discovered by Thomas H. Morgan (father of modern

genetics) in 1910. Sex-linked traits affect male and female differently. As human
male is hemizygous for X-linked traits, any gene on a male’s X chromosome is
expressed in his phenotype because there is no such second allele to mask its
expression. Therefore, the condition of dominant and recessive trait is limited to
female only. Females express X-linked traits or disorders when they are
homozygous for the disorder and become carriers when they are heterozygous.
Therefore female can transmit the trait as affected if her father is affected and
mother at least carrier. However male can transmit the trait if any of the parents
is affected or carrier (for mother). Therefore, the incidence is much higher in
males than females. These patterns of inheritance are also called crisscross
inheritance or skip generation inheritance, in which a character is inherited to
the second generation through the carrier of first generation. X-linked (both
recessive and dominant) traits are always passed on by the X chromosome from
mother to son or from either parent to daughter. The trait never passed from
father to son. The human male is hemizygous in respect of X-linked inheritance
as they have single copy of X chromosome.
• Occurrence and transmission is influenced by sex; males are more affected

than females;
• Affected male does not transmit the trait to his sons but always transmits to
all his daughters;
• Carrier female can transmit the trait to half of her children of either sex;
• The trait is transmitted from affected male through all his daughters to half
of his grandsons; and
• The trait may be transmitted through a series of carrier females; carrier shows
variable expression of the trait.
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Human Genetics
Table 1.3: Summary of X linked Recessive inheritance

Parents Offspring
Mother homozygous Normal All the offspring will be homozygous

Father Normal normal
Mother homozygous Normal All the daughters will be

Father affected heterozygous normal (carrier)
All the sons will be normal
Mother heterozygous Normal 50% probability that daughter will be

(carrier) homozygous normal
Father Normal 50% probability that daughter will be
heterozygous normal (carrier)
50% probability that son will be
normal
50% probability that son will be
affected
50% probability that daughter will be
heterozygous normal (carrier)
affected
Mother heterozygous Normal 50% probability that son will be

(carrier) normal
Father affected 50% probability that son will be
affected
Mother affected All the daughters will be

Father normal heterozygous normal (carrier)
All the sons will be affected
Mother affected All the offspring will be affected

Father affected
1.4.4 X-linked Dominant Inheritance

X-linked dominant inheritance shows the same phenotype as a heterozygote and
homozygote. Incase of an X-linked dominant inheritance, male to male
transmission is not there. This also makes it distinct from autosomal traits. X
linked dominant cannot be distinguished from Autosomal Dominant by progeny
of affected females, but only from the progeny of affected males. Affected females
are more common than affected males (but heterozygous females have milder
expression); on the other hand the traits (especially disorder) are more severe in
males than their female counterparts.
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Human Genetics
Some important characteristic features are-
§ Occurrence and transmission is influenced by sex; females are more affected
than males but may be with variable expressions;
§ Homozygous female transmitted the trait to all the children;
§ Male transmitted the trait to all the daughters but never to a son;
§ Affected males have no normal daughter;
§ Affected heterozygous females transmit the trait to half of their children of
either sex. Affected homozygous females transmit the trait to all their
children; and
§ X linked dominant cannot distinguish from Autosomal Dominant by progeny
of affected females, but only from the progeny of affected males.
Table 1.4: Summary of X linked Dominant inheritance
Parents Offspring
Mother homozygous affected All the offspring will be homozygous

Father affected affected
Mother homozygous affected All the daughters will be heterozygous affected

Father normal All the sons will be affected
Mother heterozygous affected 50% probability that daughter will be

Father affected homozygous affected
50% probability that son will be affected
50% probability that son will be normal
Mother heterozygous affected 50% probability that daughter will be

Father normal heterozygous affected
50% probability that daughter will be normal
50% probability that son will be affected
50% probability that son will be normal
Mother normal All the daughters will be heterozygous affected

Father affected All the sons will be normal
Mother normal All the offspring will be normal
Father normal 15
Human Genetics 1.4.5 Y-linked Inheritance
The genes located on the Y chromosome, whose alleles are absent on the X
chromosome are Y-linked genes or holandric genes (also hemizygous). Y-linked
inheritance occurs when a gene is transmitted through the Y chromosome. Since
Y chromosomes can only be found in males, hence Y linked genes are only
passed on from father to son and never appear in females. Therefore, there is no
skipping of generation and affected males have all affected sons, no females are
said to be affected for the trait (www.sakshieducation.com).
Some important characteristic features are-

• In pedigree, only males are affected;
• Affected male transmitted the trait to all his sons but never to his daughter;
and
• No skipping of generations.
Results from each of the two possible crosses are summarized in table 1.5
Table 1.5: Summary of Y-linked inheritance
Father Offspring
Father affected All the sons will be affected
Father normal All the sons will be normal
1.5 EXAMPLES
Traits/ Description Autosomal Autosomal
Recessive Dominant
Albinism: is a form of hypopigmentary Albinism Normal

congenital disorder, characterised by a pigmentation
partial or total lack of melanin pigment
in the eyes, skin and hair (or more
rarely the eyes alone).
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Human Genetics
Thalassemia: Human haemoglobin Thalassemia Normal
molecule consists of two alpha and two
beta globin chains conjugated with
heme. In alpha Thalassemia alpha chain
is missing or defective and in beta
Thalassemia beta chain is absent which
leads to iron overload and anemia.
Cystic Fibrosis: Cystic fibrosis is an Cystic Normal

inherited disease that causes thick, Fibrosis
sticky mucus to be built up in the lungs
and digestive tract. It is one of the most
common chronic lung diseases in
children and young adults, and may
result in early death.
Tay-Sachs disease: Tay-Sachs disease Tay-Sachs Normal

is caused by a mutation on chromosome disease
15. Tay-Sachs disease occurs when the
body lacks hexosaminidase A, a protein
that helps break down a chemical found
in nerve tissue called gangliosides.
Xeroderma pigmentosum: A disruption Xeroderma Normal

of affected person’s DNA’s ability to pigmentosum
repair damage caused by ultraviolet
radiation of sunlight.
Hitchhiker’s thumb: More formally Hitchhiker’s Straight thumb

known as “distal hyper extensibility of thumb
the thumb” can extend the top of the
thumb backwards nearly 90° when the
thumb is extended in a “thumbs-up”
position.
Dentinogenesis imperfecta: Pulp Normal teeth Dentinogenesis

chambers and root canals of teeth are imperfecta
obliterated with abnormal dentin. There
is also an increased constriction and
junction between the crowns and the
roots of the molar.
Cleft Chin: It is a Y-shaped fissure on No Cleft Chin Cleft Chin

the chin with an underlying bony
peculiarity.
Brachydactyly: Better known as Normal thumb Brachydactyly

clubbed thumb, is a condition where the
thumbs are shorter and stubbier than
normal. Brachydactyly is a genetically
inherited trait that is often dominant.
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Human Genetics
PTC taste sensitivity: Phenylthio- Non-taster Taster
carbamide also known as PTC is
anorganosulfur thiourea containing a
phenyl ring. A crystalline compound,
C6H5NHCSNH2, that tastes intensely
bitter to people with a specific dominant
gene and tasteless to others.
Achondroplasia: Characterized by Normal Achondroplasia

prominent forehead, low nasal root,
redundant folds in arms and legs
accompanied by short-limbed dwarfism.
Familial Hypercholesterolemia: Normal Familial Hyperc-

Characterized by high LDL in blood holesterolemia
resulting to deposition of cholesterol in
arteries, tendons, skin, etc., which may
leads to coronary artery diseases.
Traits/ Description X-linked X-linked

Recessive Dominant
Duchene muscular dystrophy: It is an Affected Normal

inherited disorder that involves rapidly
worsening muscle weakness.
Haemophilia A: Occurs due to the Haemophilia Normal

deficiency of factor VIII in blood. A
Affected persons are unable to produce
a factor needed for blood clotting,
therefore the cuts, wounds, etc., of
haemophilic persons continue to bleed
and sometimes (if not stopped by
clotting factors) leads to death.
Red green color blindness: Colour Red green Normal vision

perception is mediated by light color
absorbing protein in the cone cells of the blindness
retina in the eye. Colour blindness is
caused by an abnormality in any of the
receptor protein. Red green colour
blindness is the ability to perceive the
colour green and red.
G6PD deficiency: It is an inherited G6PD Normal

disorder in which the body doesn’t have deficiency
enough enzyme glucose-6-phosphate
dehydrogenase, or G6PD, which helps
red blood cells (RBCs) function
normally, and deficiency may cause
hemolytic anemia.
18
Human Genetics
Incontinentia pigmenti: Incontinentia Normal Incontinentia
pigmenti is a genetic defect on X pigmenti
chromosome which leads to unusual
blistering and changes in skin color.
Fragile X syndrome: Fragile X Normal Fragile X

syndrome is a genetic condition syndrome
involving changes in part of the X
chromosome resulting in mental
retardation.
Congenital generalized hypertrichosis: Normal Congenital

Person has more hair follicles which generalized
lead to dense and more abundant hypertrichosis
terminal hair. Generally, it causes excess
facial and upper body hair that covers
extensive areas of skin.
Y-linked traits
Hypertrichosis of ear: growth of hair on the rim of pinna
Testis determining factor (TDF)
Note: You can find out more examples from NCBI databases OMIM: Online
Mendelian Inheritance in Man
Sex-limited and Sex-controlled Traits

So far we have been discussing about sex-linked traits, but there are some such
genes which are sex-limited in their effect, that is, they are expressed
phenotypically in one sex only. In man sex-limited expression of genes occurs
in uterine (in female) and prostate (in male) cancer. Anatomical and physiological
properties of the female sex, such as width of pelvis or age of onset of menstruation
is a sex-limited expression. Similarly, sex-limited male characters such as type
of beard growth or amount and distribution of body hair, probably depend on
genes common to both sexes, but the penetrance and expressivity of the genes
are more limited to males. Sex-limitation is only the extreme example of control
of the expression of certain genotypes by sex.
When a genotype is expressed in both sexes but in a different manner in each,

we speak of sex-controlled, or sex-modified, genic expression. Sex-controlled
dominance has been suggested as an explanation of the pattern of inheritance of
baldness in man. Both sexes may be affected, but the high relative frequency of
affected males is notable. Some of these traits are controlled by the sexual
constitution of the individual and thus are under the influence of sex hormones.
1.6 SUMMARY
Mendel considered a single gene to be responsible for a single trait, but after the
discovery of other types of non-Mendelian inheritance it is now clear that many
genes may be involved for the production of single or many traits. Mendel’s
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Human Genetics laws also incorporate many of the modern discoveries which enriched these laws.
For example, chromosome or meiosis was discovered after Mendel’s work. Now
we can correlate that Mendel’s first law i.e. law of segregation is about anaphase-
I where homologous chromosomes segregate from each other. Similarly as per
second law, segregation of alleles for one character follow independently of the
segregation of allele of other character because each pair of homologous behaves
like an independent unit during meiosis. Again, especially after modern discovery,
we can understand that it is the gene and not the trait (as per Mendel) that are
inherited.
Since Mendel’s time, understanding of the mechanisms of genetic inheritance

has grown immeasurably. The simple rules of Mendelian inheritance do not
apply in elucidating many of the inheritance patterns, and are understood to be
non-Mendelian inheritance patterns.
1.7 GLOSSARY
Allele : an alternate form of gene that determine alternate
traits or characteristics.
Autosomal dominant : the inheritance pattern of a dominant allele on
autosomes.
Autosomal recessive : the inheritance pattern of a recessive allele on
autosomes.
Autosomes : a non-sex determining chromosome. Human has
22 pairs of autosomes.
Carriers : a heterozygous individual who possess a
deleterious recessive allele which is suppressed
by dominant normal allele.
Chromosome : a structure within a cell’s nucleus that carries gene
and consists of a continuous molecule of DNA
and proteins.
Consanguineous : relating to or denoting people descended from the
same ancestor.
Dominant trait : the trait that is expressed in the F1 generation.
DNA : a long linear polymer found in the nucleus of a
cell, formed from nucleotides and shaped like a
double helix; generally associated with the
transmission of genetic information.
Gene : a sequence of DNA that instructs a cell to produce
a particular protein.
Genetics : branch of biology that concerned with heredity and
variation.
Heterozygous : having two different alleles of a gene at a single
locus and produces different kinds of gametes.
Homozygous : having two identical alleles of a gene single locus
and produces only one kind of gamete.
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Mutant : an allele that differs from wild type allele, altering Human Genetics
the phenotype.
Mutation : any event that changes genetic structure; any
alteration in the inherited nucleic acid sequence
of the genotype of an organism.
Pedigree : a chart consisting of symbols for individuals
connected by lines that depict blood relationships
and transmission of inherited traits.
Probability : probability is a way of expressing mathematical
knowledge that an event will occur or has
occurred.
Proband : proband, or propositus, is a term used most often
in genetics to denote a particular subject (person
in human genetics) being studied or reported on.
Protein : a type of macromolecule that is the direct product
of genetic information.
Recessive trait : the trait that is masked in the F1 hybrids.
Sex cells : sex cells are the cells that give rise to the gametes
of organisms that reproduce sexually.
Sex Chromosome : a chromosome containing genes that specify sex.
Sex linked : genes that are part of a sex chromosome.
Variable expression : a genotype producing phenotype that varies among
individuals.
X linked dominant : the inheritance pattern of a dominant allele on X
chromosome.
X linked recessive : the inheritance pattern of a recessive allele on X
chromosome.
Y linked : the inheritance pattern of a gene on Y chromosome.
Suggested Reading
Cummings, M. R. 1997. Human Heredity: Principles and Issues. Belmont,
Wadsworth.
Gardner, E. J., Simmons, M.J. and Snustad, D.P. 1991. Principles of Genetics.
New York, John Willey & Sons.
Lewis, R. 2003. Human Genetics: Concepts and Applications 5th edition. Boston,
WCB McGraw Hill.
Stern, C. 1960. Principles of Human Genetics (2nd Edition). San Francisco and
London, W. H. Freeman and Company.
Strickberger, M. W. 2003. Genetics 3rd edition. New Delhi, Prentice Hall.
Website
Mendel Web: www.mendelweb.org
National Center for Biotechnology Information: Online Mendelian Inheritance
in Man: www.ncbi.nih.gov
www.sakshieducation.com 21
Human Genetics Sample Questions
1) What is autosomal recessive trait? From marriages between normally
pigmented carrier people and albinos what proportion of children would be
expected to be albino and normal? What is the chance in a family of three
children that one would be normal and two albinos?
2) What do you mean by X linked recessive trait? From marriage between
carrier female and affected male what proportion of children would be
expected to be Haemophilic?
3) What do you mean by Human Genetics? Write a brief note on Mendelian
genetics in Man.
4) What are X linked traits? How does X linked dominant trait is differentiated
from Autosomal dominant trait?
5) What is Pedigree? Draw a pedigree of X linked recessive traits in Man.
22
Human Genetics
UNIT 2 METHODS OF HUMAN GENETIC
STUDY
Contents
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Pedigree
2.3 Chromosome Analysis
2.4 Karyotype Analysis
2.5 Cytogenetic Methods
2.6 DNA and Recombinant Technology
2.7 Biochemical Methods
2.8 Paternity Testing
2.9 Twin Studies
2.10 Immunological Methods
2.11 Summary
References
Suggested Reading
Sample Questions

Once you have read the unit, you will understand that, there are:
Ø various classical and modern techniques developed for human genetics study;
Ø techniques aimed to put light on various processes that help to understand
and identify some specific diseases and disorders;
Ø classical genetic methods like pedigree studies and twin studies are very
important to understand the role of heredity and the environment in the
manifestation of some physical traits in man, and some physiological and
pathological conditions, and diseases like tuberculosis, cancer, etc.; and
Ø twin study methods help us to understand how much the variability observed
between different individuals, or individuals of the same familial group, is
due to hereditary differences and how much differences due to environmental
factors.
2.1 INTRODUCTION
At first sight, man appears to be an unfavourable object for genetic study. Plant
and animal geneticists use breeding methods to raise successive generations under
similar environmental conditions.
In man, however, the genetic diversity of individuals is great and
uncontrolled, and biological and social environment vary greatly. In man,
as we cannot do experimental crossing, so the studies on inheritance pattern
are based on a series of generations.
23
Human Genetics For human genetical study, the observer, that is the geneticist, and the object of
his observation, a family, or pedigree, of say three to four generations, is restricted,
as the duration of a generation is alike in the observer and in the object of
observation. Many factors affecting transmission of hereditary traits obey
statistical laws and are best studied when large numbers of offspring are available.
In man, these numbers are always small, even large human families fall far short
of the size desirable for statistical deductions.
Genetic differences between two individuals may consist of differences between

the alleles at a single pair of loci or between those at more than one pair of loci.
An example of a ‘single factor inheritance’ showing simple dominant inheritance
was found in an extensive pedigree of a rare type of unusually wooly hair in
Norwegian kindred, reported in the year 1932. It has been propagated for at least
five generations. So we find pedigree studies help us to understand the nature of
inheritance of a specific familial trait.
Through the statistical analysis of covariance and discriminant analysis of

morphological and anatomical traits the study of human diversity has been greatly
advanced.
Methods of human genetic studies may be taken up at the family / pedigree level
by simple or clinical observation, while at the cellular level through chromosomal
studies of particular cases in families. At the population level for understanding
human variation of different morphological anthropometric traits,
deramtoglyphics and other anatomical traits, population sero-genetical markers
like blood groups, PTC, ABH secretion etc., and biochemical traits like G6PD,
haptolobin and tranferrin, and other red cell enzyme polymorphisms through
electrophoretic methods are being conducted. Lately DNA fingerprinting
techniques are being used to assess migration and population affinities of different
ethnic groups and their biochemical relationship at different levels. These are
highly specialised methods of study of human population groups at the genic
level.
We will discuss briefly about all these methods of human genetic studies at the
family and population level, so as to make you aware about the different methods
of human genetic studies now normally being used by human geneticists.
2.2 PEDIGREE
A pedigree is a diagram of family relationships in which symbols are used to
represent people, and lines are used to represent genetic relationships. These
diagrams make it easier to visualize the relationships within the families,
particularly large extended families. Pedigrees are also often used to determine
the mode of inheritance of genetic diseases (Strachan and Read. 1999).
24
Various symbols used in pedigree analysis: Methods of Human Genetic
Study
(Adapted from: www.uic.edu)

We can use pedigree to study different modes of inheritance:
Autosomal Dominant inheritance
(p= proband)
(Adapted from www.bios.niu.edu/johns/genetics)
The major characteristics are following:
• It manifests in the heterozygous state i.e. in a person possessing both an
abnormal and normal allele,
• Gene is located on autosome,
• Both males and females are equally affected, and
• Vertical family history may be seen and male to male transmission is possible.
Example: Marfan syndrome, Huntington’s disease.
25
Human Genetics Autosomal recessive inheritance

The major characteristics are the following:
• The gene is located on autosome,
• Two copies of the mutant gene is necessary for phenotypic manifestations,
• Males and females are equally affected,
• Pedigree may show several sibs and cousins affected in the same generation
indicating a horizontal transmission, and
• Consanguinity is often present.
Example: Phenylketonuria, Homocystinuria, Cystic fibrosis
X-linked recessive inheritance

• The mutant gene is on the X-chromosome,
• One copy of mutant gene in males and two copies of mutant gene in females
are needed for phenotypic effect,
• Usually males are affected and transmission is through heterozygous (carrier)
females,
• No male to male transmission, and
• All daughters of affected males will be carriers.
Example: Duchenne’s muscular dystrophy (DMD), hemophilia, color blindness
26
X-linked dominant inheritance Methods of Human Genetic
Study

• Affected males have no normal daughters and no affected sons,
• The pattern of inheritance resembles autosomal dominant,
• No male to male transmission, and
• Affected heterozygous females transmit the condition to half of their children
of either sex and affected homozygous females transmit to all their children.
Example: Vitamin D resistant rickets, orofacial digital syndrome.
Y-linked inheritance

• Only males are affected, and
• Affected males must transmit the disorder to their sons.
Example: Male infertility.
27
Human Genetics Mitochondrial inheritance

• Trait is transmitted through affected females, and
• Affected males give rise to unaffected offspring.
Example: Inherited blindness (Leber’s hereditary optic neuropathy) and a type
of deafness (Muller and Young. 2001).
2.3 CHROMOSOME ANALYSIS

Genes form the physical hereditary link between generations. A typical human
body cell contains about 40,000 genes. The genes do not exist as a separate unit,
but are arranged in a linear order on thread like bodies known as chromosomes,
within the nucleus of a cell. Chromosomes become shortened and thickened
during cell division and can be seen clearly under the microscope.
Chromosomes are microscopic filamentous structures that contain an individual’s

genetic material. This genetic material serves as the “instruction manual” for the
body, containing the “directions” the body needs in order to form and function
properly. Human cells have a total of 46 chromosomes, which are arranged into
23 pairs. We inherit one member of each pair from our biological mother, and
the other member of each pair from our biological father. The first 22 pairs of
chromosomes are called “autosomes” and the last pair is called the “sex
chromosomes”. Females typically have two “X” sex chromosomes, while males
typically have one “X” and one “Y” sex chromosome (Tseng. 1995).
Let us know what is a chromosome analysis?
Chromosome analysis is a study of the number and general structure of all 46

chromosomes, it is also known as a karyotype. In a standard karyotype,
chromosomes from cells in the body are counted to ensure that the cells have the
correct number of chromosomes, and their structure is analysed to ensure that
there are no large pieces of material that are missing (deleted), extra (duplicated),
or rearranged in any way. It is important to realise that standard chromosome
analysis may not be able to detect tiny deletions or duplications of genetic material
and will not be able to detect single gene conditions, such as sickle cell disease.
Hundreds of different types of chromosome abnormalities causing well described
syndromes have been reported in humans. They fall into two categories:
28
ü Numerical Chromosome Abnormality means that a person has a total number Methods of Human Genetic
Study
of chromosomes different from 46; usually 47 or sometimes 45
chromosomes, in each cell of their body, respectively. An example of a
numerical chromosome abnormality is Down syndrome, which is caused
by having an entire extra chromosome 21, for a total of three copies of
chromosome 21 instead of two (www.genetics.emory.edu).
ü Structural Chromosome Abnormality means that a portion of the genetic

material has been rearranged in some way; for example, a piece of one
chromosome may be attached to another chromosome (translocation), or a
piece of a chromosome may be turned upside down (inversion). A
rearrangement may or may not result in obvious health problems. This
depends on whether the structural problem ultimately results in a net gain
or loss of chromosome material. If the chromosome material is simply in a
rearranged fashion, but all of the genetic information is present, the person
may have no symptoms and this is known as a balanced rearrangement
(www.genetics.emory.edu).
Fig. 2.1: Deletion and Duplication (Adapted from www.ghr.nlm.nih.gov)
Fig.2.2: Translocation between chromosome 20 and 4 (Adapted from www.ghr.nlm.nih.gov)

29
Human Genetics Requirement for chromosome analysis:
Chromosome analysis is recommended as a routine diagnostic procedure for a
number of indications, including the following:
• Problems noted during early growth/development,
• Stillbirths and neonatal deaths,
• Fertility problems,
• Pregnancy in women 35 years or older at the time of delivery, and
• Family History (Rowley. 2001).
2.4 KARYOTYPE ANALYSIS

Karyotype is the number and appearance of chromosomes in the nucleus of a
eukaryotic cell. The term is also used for the complete set of chromosomes in a
species, or an individual. Karyotype analysis involves visualization of
chromosomes under a microscope. Cells are collected from an individual, induced
to divide, and then arrested at metaphase. The chromosomes are stained with
certain dyes that show a pattern of light and dark bands (called the banding
pattern). The banding pattern for each chromosome is specific and consistent
allowing identification of each of the 24 chromosomes (Comai, 2005).
Karyotype analysis can be performed on virtually any population of rapidly

dividing cells either grown in tissue culture or extracted from tumors.
Chromosomes derived from peripheral blood lymphocytes are ideal because they
can be analysed three days after they are cultured. Lymphocytes can be induced
to proliferate using a mitogen (a drug that induces mitosis) like
phytohemagglutinin. The cultured cells are treated with colcemid, a drug that
disrupts the mitotic spindle apparatus to prevent the completion of mitosis and
arrests the cells in metaphase. The harvested cells are treated briefly with a
hypotonic solution. This causes the nuclei to swell making it easier for technicians
to identify each chromosome. The cells are fixed, dropped on a microscope slide,
dried, and stained. The most common stain used is the Giemsa dye. Other dyes,
such as fluorescent dyes, can also be used to produce banding patterns
(www.bookrags.com).
Chromosome spreads can be photographed, cut out, and assigned into the
appropriate chromosome number or they can be digitally imaged using a computer.
The chromosomes can be divided into seven groups (A-G) based on descending
order of size and position of the centeromere. The standard nomenclature for
describing a karyotype is based on the International System for Human
Cytogenetic Nomenclature (ISCN) (www.science.jrank.org).
Genetic counselors rely on karyotypes to diagnose abnormal pregnancies.

Amniocentesis is a routine procedure used in prenatal screening that involves
removing amniotic fluid for karyotype analysis. It also can be helpful in certain
cases to obtain karyotypes from parents to determine carrier status, which can be
relevant to recurrence risks in future pregnancies. Karyotype also may help
determine the cause of infertility in patients having reproductive difficulties
(www.bookrags.com).
30
Karyotype analysis is important for some abnormalities: Methods of Human Genetic
Study
Fig.2.3: Trisomy 21 (Down syndrome)
(Adapted from Human Genome Project)
Trisomy 21 is the presence of 3 chromosome 21 and causes the condition

commonly known as Down syndrome
Klinefelter syndrome
A male with the genotype 47, XXY with extra X chromosome leads which to
features of the condition commonly known as Klinefelter syndrome.
31
Human Genetics
Fig.2.4: Klinefelter's Synoromo
(Adapted from www.trueknowledge.com)
Turner’s syndrome: A female with genotype (45, X), with one X chromosome
missing
Fig.2.5: Turner's Syndrom

(Adapted from www.powerofthegene.com)
32
Methods of Human Genetic
2.5 CYTOGENETIC METHODS Study
Cytogenetics is a branch of genetics that is concerned with the structural and

functional studies of the cell, especially the chromosomes. It includes routine
analysis of G-banded chromosomes, other cytogenetic banding techniques, as
well as molecular cytogenetics such as fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH)
and comparative genomic hybridization (CGH).
(www.doctorsmedicalopinion.com).
Chromosome banding
Different staining methods can be utilised to identify individual chromosomes:
G (Giemsa) banding: This is the most commonly used method. The chromosomes
are treated with trypsin to denature their protein content and then stained with a
DNA binding dye known as Giemsa which gives each chromosome a
characteristic and reproducible pattern of light and dark bands (www.scribd.com).
Q (Quinacrine) banding: This gives a banding pattern similar to that obtained
with Giemsa and requires examination of the chromosome with an ultraviolet
fluorescent microscope (www.bogari.net).
R (Reverse) banding: In this technique, the chromosomes are heat denatured
before staining with Giemsa, yielding light and dark bands patterns which are
reverse of those obtained using conventional G banding (www.bogari.net).
C (Centromeric heterochromatin) banding: In C banding the chromosomes are
pretreated with acid prior to G banding, the centromeres and other heterochromatic
regions containing highly repetitive DNA are preferentially stained (Muller and
young. 2001).
2.6 DNA AND RECOMBINANT TECHNOLOGY

The recombinant DNA technology also called as genetic engineering, involves
artificial modification of genetic constitution of a living cell by introduction of
foreign DNA through experimental techniques. The tools which are required in
recombinant DNA include vectors, restriction enzymes, ligases and host organism.
Applications
• For the production of recombinant human peptide hormones:-These include
highly publicized family of products of recombinant DNA technology. These
include Insulin, Human growth hormone (HGH), Follicle stimulating
hormone (FSH), Luteinizing hormone(LH), epidermal growth factors,
gastrin, relaxin, neuropeptides (calcitonin) and secretin
– Insulin: Insulin is secreted by the â cells of the pancreas. It is required
for the cellular uptake of glucose for use in energy metabolism. When
produced in insufficient amount it causes diabetes mellitus. It is made of
51 amino acids, consisting of two interconnecting chains: chain A and
chain B. Chain A is made of 31 amino acids and chain B of 20 amino
acids. In the formation of recombinant insulin, the two chains are
synthesized in separate bacteria. In one vector the gene for chain A in
inserted and in other vector the gene for chain B is inserted and then
these two chains are joined in vitro with the help of disulphide bonds.
Humulin (human insulin) was the first recombinant DNA product to be
approved by food and drug administration insulin in 1986 (Gupta. 2003).
33
Human Genetics – Human growth hormone (HGH): This hormone stimulates growth and
cell reproduction. It is secreted by the somatotroph cells of anterior
pituitary gland. When present in insufficient amount it causes retarded
growth, body fat at the waist and dwarfism. It is made of 191 amino
acids. For the formation of recombinant human growth hormone the
gene for HGH is inserted into plasmid and then introduced to a host for
large production. It also consists of the 26 amino acid signal peptides
which are removed from the HGH molecule with the help of EcoRI
restriction enzyme.
• In production of recombinant vaccines: The recombinant technology is

responsible for the production of vaccines for various diseases such as
Hepatitis B, AIDS, Influenza, cholera and leishmaniasis.
– AIDS vaccine: In this vaccine, genes of the two glycoproteins gp120

and gp41 are introduced into a suitable vector. When vector containing
glycoproteins is injected into the patient, they stimulate antibody
production, that neutralise the gp120 and gp41 binding sites and thus
prevents its binding to the host T-lymphocytes.
– DNA vaccine: It consists of plasmids containing a protein encoding

gene, promoter site, cloning site for the gene, origin of replication,
selectable marker and a poly A tail termination sequence. These vaccines
are not infectious or replicative, so are safer for use. They elicit high
immune response and are used to protect against influenza, HIV
infection, several cancers (colon, renal, T cell lymphoma) and herpes
simplex virus (Yang et al.2002).
• In anti sense therapy

Antisense therapy, it is possible to synthesize a strand of nucleic acid
(DNA,RNA or a chemical analogue) that will bind to the messenger RNA
(mRNA) produced by that gene and inactivate it and effectively turning that
gene “off”. This synthesized nucleic acid is termed an “anti sense”
oligonucleotide because its base sequence is complementary to the gene’s
messenger RNA (mRNA), which is called the “sense” sequence. Antisense
drugs are being researched to treat cancers, diabetes and diseases such as
asthma and arthritis with an inflammatory component. One antisense drug,
fomivirsen (marketed as Vitravene), has been approved by the US Food and
Drug Administration (FDA) as a treatment for cytomegalovirus retinitis
(Biroccio et al. 2003).
2.7 BIOCHEMICAL METHODS

Protein purification: Protein purification is a series of processes used to isolate a
specific type of protein from a complex mixture. Protein purification is important
for the characterization of the function, structure and interactions of the protein
of interest. The various steps in the purification process may include the isolation
of the protein from a matrix, separate the protein and non-protein parts of the
mixture, and finally separate the desired protein from all other proteins. Separation
of the proteins depends on protein size, physio-chemical properties, binding
affinity and biological activity (Burgess. 2008).
34
Chromatographic methods Methods of Human Genetic
Study
• Ion-exchange chromatography separates proteins based on charge. Columns
can either be prepared for anion exchange or cation exchange. Elution of
the target proteins is done by changing the pH in the column, which results
in a change or neutralisation of the charged functional groups of each protein
(www.biotech.about.com).
• Size-exclusion chromatography (gel filtration) separates larger proteins from

small ones, since the larger molecules travel faster through the cross-linked
polymer in the chromatography column. The large proteins do not fit into
the pores of the polymer whereas smaller proteins do, and take longer to
travel through the chromatography column, via their less direct route.
• Affinity chromatography is a very useful technique for completing the protein

purification process. Beads in the chromatography column are cross-linked
to ligands that bind specifically to the target protein. The protein is then
removed from the column by rinsing with a solution containing free ligands.
This method generally gives the purest results and highest specific activity
compared to other techniques (Wilson and Walker. 2006).
Blotting: is a method of transferring proteins, DNA or RNA, onto a carrier (for
example, a nitrocellulose, polyvinylidine fluoride (PVDF) or nylon membrane.
Electrophoresis
Electrophoresis is the main biochemical technique for molecular separation.
Electrophoresis can be one dimensional or two dimensional. One dimensional
electrophoresis is used for most routine protein and nucleic acid separations.
Two dimensional separation of proteins is used for finger printing , and when
properly constructed can be extremely accurate in resolving all of the proteins
present within a cell (greater than 1,500).When the detergent SDS (sodium
dodecyl sulfate) is used with proteins, C all of the proteins become negatively
charged by their attachment to the SDS anions. When separated on a
polyacrylamide gel, the procedure is known as SDS—PAGE (Sodium Dodecyl
Sulfate- PolyAcrylamide Gel Electrophoresis). The technique has become a
standard means for molecular weight determination (Lodish et al. 2004).
2.8 PATERNITY TESTING

Blood Types and DNA
Occasionally, situations arise in which people require concrete, scientific evidence
of parentage, whether it be their own or that of someone else. In most instances,
maternity is easy to determine. The woman who gave birth to a child is obviously
that child’s gestational, genetic, and legal mother if she is not the surrogate mother
(www.nature.com).
Unfortunately, questions of paternity aren’t so easy to answer. In order to make a

determination of fatherhood, scientists work backwards from the child to the
potential parent to ascertain the actual nature of the relationship. In the past, this
involved identifying specific phenotypes (in particular, specific blood types) in
the child and using this information to either “rule in” or “rule out” possible
fathers. However, this system presented a number of problems, one of which
35
Human Genetics was that it often yielded inconclusive results. Thus, since 1990s, the more common
approach has been to consider the presence of particular genotypic markers when
attempting to establish fatherhood (and, in a handful of cases, motherhood)
(www.docstoc.com).
a) By using blood-typing: The best-known blood-typing system is ABO typing,

which involves the presence of antigens on red blood cells that are encoded
by the ABO locus on human chromosome 9. In the ABO system, the A
allele and the B allele are co-dominant, and the O allele is recessive. Thus,
if a person’s ABO blood type is O, he or she has two O alleles. If, however,
a person’s blood type is A, he or she has either two A alleles or one A allele
and one O allele. Similarly, if a person has type B blood, this indicates the
presence of either two B alleles or one B allele and one O allele. Finally,
some people have type AB blood, which means they inherited both an A
allele and a B allele (www.nature.com).
In cases when paternity is questioned, ABO blood-typing can be used to

exclude a man from being a child’s father. For example, a man who has type
AB blood could not father a child with type O blood, because he would pass
on either the A or the B allele to all of his offspring (www.docstoc.com).
b) DNA Markers and Electrophoresis: In the 1970s and 1980s, electrophoresis

of various biochemical markers became available. With this process, proteins
from a person’s blood or other tissue were placed onto a gel, such as potato
starch, agarose, or polyacrylamide. An electric current was then run through
the gel, and different forms or isozymes of the proteins were separated by
their electrical charge and/or size. Differences in isozymes relate to
differences in the alleles that code for these proteins. Thus, the presence of
certain identical isozymes in samples from both a child and his or her
potential father could be used to reveal the existence of a genetic relationship
between the two individuals. Interestingly, improvements in paternity testing
over the past several decades have not only led to an increase in the accuracy
of test results, but also to expanded application of various testing methods.
For example, as DNA technology has gotten more precise, it has become
possible to determine paternity using DNA from grandparents, cousins, or
even saliva left on a discarded coffee cup. Such DNA testing is clearly an
important part of criminal investigations, including forensic analysis, but it
is also useful in civil courts when the paternity of a child is in question
(Adams. 2008).
2.9 TWIN STUDIES

Establishing twin registers have an enormous potential for research on the genetics
of complex traits. Some of them have existed for decades and have carefully
collected longitudinal data on behavioural traits, diseases and environmental
risk factors in large samples of twins and their families. By making comparisons
between monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) twins, twin registers represent
some of the best resources for evaluating the importance of genetic variation in
susceptibility to disease. They are an excellent source for studying the significance
of the genotype-environment interaction and of the contribution of specific
36
polymorphisms to the total genetic variance. Recent advances in statistical Methods of Human Genetic
Study
modeling allow simultaneous analysis of many variables in relatives such as MZ
and DZ twins.
Classical twin studies.: The classical twin study compares phenotypic

resemblances of MZ and DZ twins. MZ twins derive from a single fertilized egg
and therefore inherit identical genetic material. Comparing the resemblance of
phenotypic characters of MZ twins for a trait or disease with DZ twins offers the
first estimate of the extent to which genetic variation determines phenotypic
variation of that trait. If MZ twins resemble each other more than DZ twins, then
the heritability (h2) of the phenotype can be estimated from twice the difference
between MZ and DZ correlations.
Types of twin study and their applications

v Classical MZ–DZ comparison: These studies estimate the contributions of
genetic and environmental effects to phenotypic variance, and test, for
example, for age, cohort and sex differences in gene expression.
v Multivariate analyses: simultaneous analysis of correlated trait

This type of analysis involves:
• direction of phenotypic casuality;
• causes of co-morbidity of two or more traits: multivariate modelling of
environmental and genetic correlations between traits;
• multivariate modeling to obtain genotypic (or environmental) values
for individuals;
• analysis of longitudinal data to study causes of phenotypic stability and
tracking over time; and
• testing of Genotype × Environment using measured environmental
indices.
v Co-twin control study: Case–control studies of MZ twins who are perfectly
matched for genes and family background; such studies can also be used to
study gene expression in discordant twins
Extended Twin Study: Studies of Twins and Their Families
• Parents of twins can be included to study cultural transmission and G ×
E covariance,
• Parents of twins can be studied in a quasi-longitudinal design to
determine genetic and environmental stability,
• Assortative mating can be studied if spouses of twins are included;
social interactions and special twin effects, such as prenatal hormone
transition, the ‘private language’ of twins and shared prenatal
environment, can be studied if siblings of twins are included, and
• Maternal effects, Genotype × Environment correlation and imprinting
can be studied if offspring of MZ twins are included.
Twin studies are very helpful to understand the role of genes and environment
for multifactorial traits (such as body height and weight, neuroticism and blood
lipid levels) and complex diseases (such as obesity, depression and cardiovascular
37
Human Genetics disease). Lifestyle risk factors such as smoking, exercise, diet etc. are important
for the development of complex diseases are often considered to be
‘environmental’, they might themselves be influenced by genes (Blickstein et al,
2005).
2.10 IMMUNOLOGICAL METHODS

Immunological techniques are important to detect emerging infectious agents
like dengue fever, West Nile fever, and Rift Valley fever and biological weapons
like Bacillus anthracis (anthrax) and variola major virus (smallpox), botulinum
neurotoxins, Yersinia pestis, and Francisella tularensis which are great threat to
public health. Following are the immunological methods are based mainly upon
antigen antibody reactions.
1) Agglutination Tests
2) Coomb’s Test (Antiglobulin Test)
3) Precipitation tests
4) Immunoelectrophoresis
2.11 SUMMARY
Modern techniques like Cytogenetic methods identify the underlying genetic
causes of various diseases/disorders. Immunological methods help to identify
the various infectious agents that aid in the manifestation of the diseases and
thus help in the cure. Methods like DNA fingerprinting are very important to
solve the paternity disputes and also help in forensics to identify the right culprit.
DNA recombinant technology brings hope and opportunity to cure the genetic
disorders that are otherwise incurable. Thus understanding and application of
the genetic methods is very important for better disease control and good public
health.
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Boomsa, D., Busjahn, A. and Peltonen, L.2002 Classical Twin Studies and
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Muller, R.F. and Young I.D. 2001. Emery’s Elements of Medical Genetics (11th
edition). Edinburgh; Churchill. Livingstone. Rooney DE .
Peruski, A., and Peruski, F. 2003 Immunological Methods for Detection and
Identification of Infectious Disease and Biological Warfare Agents. Clinical and
Diagnostic Laboratory Immunology. 10: 506–513.
Rowley, J. 2001. Chromosome Translocations. Nature Reviews Cancer 1: 246.
Strachan, T. and Read, A,P. 1999. Human Molecular Genetics (2nd edition).
New York; Wiley-Liss.
Tseng, C.C. 1995. Human Chromosome Analysis. Proceedings of the 16th
Workshop of the Association for Biology Laboratory Education 16: 33-36.
www.biotech.about.com accessed on November 18, 2010
www.bogari.net accessed on January 17, 2011
www.bookrags.com accessed on November 18, 2010
www.docstoc.com accessed on November 18, 2010
www.doctorsmedicalopinion.com accessed on April 29, 2011
www.dramarabiochem.blogspot.com accessed on March 10, 2010
www.genetics.emory.edu accessed on March 10, 2011
www.genetics.emory.edu accessed on March 11, 2011
www.nature.com. accessed on March 10, 2011
www.pathmicro.med.sc.edu accessed on April 10, 2011
www.science.jrank.org accessed on March 10, 2011
www.scientific-web.com accessed on March 10, 2011
www.scribd.com accessed on April 29, 2011
Yang, L., Li, S., Hatch, H., Ahrens, K., Cornelius, J.G., Petersen, B.E. and Peck,
A. 2002. In vitro Trans-Differentiation of Adult Hepatic Stem cells into Pancreatic
Endocrine Hormone Producing Cells. Proc Natl 99: 8078–8083.
Suggested Reading
Gardner, E. J., Simmons, M.J. and Snustad, D.P. 1991. Principles of Genetics.
New York, John Willey & Sons.
Lewis, R. 2003. Human Genetics: Concepts and Applications 5th edition. Boston,
WCB McGraw Hill.
Mange, E. J. and Mange, A. P. 1994. Basic Human Genetics. Sunderland; MA.

Sinauer Associates.
Stern, C. 1960. Principles of Human Genetics. San Francisco and London;

Freeman and Company.
Strickberger, M. W. 2003. Genetics 3rd edition. New Delhi, Prentice Hall.
39
Human Genetics Whittinghill, M. 1965. Human Genetics and Its Foundations. Calcutta, New
Delhi, Oxford and IBH Publishing Company.
Sample Questions
1) Identify the mode of inheritance in the given below pedigree?
2) What do you mean by chromosome analysis and what is the difference

between the numerical and structural abnormality?
3) To how many groups the chromosomes can be divided according to ISCN?
How can be chromosome analysis be used in prenatal diagnosis?
4) What are the main steps involved in karyotype analysis and why peripheral
blood lymphocytes are considered to be ideal for karyotype analysis?
5) What are the different staining methods utilised to identify chromosomes?
How SKY is different from FISH technique?
40
Methods of Human Genetic
UNIT 3 POPULATION GENETICS Study
Contents
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Mendelian Population
3.3 Genetic Polymorphism
3.4 Hardy-Weinberg Law
3.5 Deviations from Hardy-Weinberg Law or Factors Affecting Gene Frequencies
3.6 Consanguineous and Non-consanguineous Mating
3.7 Genetic Load
3.8 Summary
References
Suggested Readings
Sample Questions

Ø know the importance of population genetics;
Ø understand what Mendelian population is and clearly differentiate breeding
population and effective population;
Ø understand the concepts of genetic polymorphism;
Ø understand the significance of Hardy-Weinberg Law;
Ø explain how mutation, migration, selection, inbreeding, genetic drift,
consanguineous and non-consanguineous mating disturb the genetic
equilibrium and also clearly understand the process of evolution of
populations; and
Ø know what genetic load is, and understand the effect of consanguineous
marriages.
3.1 INTRODUCTION
Genetics, a discipline of biology, is the study of fundamental units of inheritance
called genes, heredity, and variation in living organisms. This hereditary material
(gene), whether as a unit of segregation, recombination, mutation, or function, is
the unifying idea basic to the field of genetics. In 1866, Gregor Mendel put
forward the mechanisms for heredity and variation. The Mendelian laws: the
independent segregation and recombination of dominant and recessive characters
constitute the cornerstone of the modern science of genetics. Mendel’s
monumental work (1866) on the principles of inheritance, that is, Mendel’s Laws
of inheritance, remained long ignored, and only received attention in 1900, sixteen
years after his death (1884). It was not until 1900, when three botanists, de Vries,
Correns, and Von Tschermak independently rediscovered the Mendelian
Principles. Later Mendel’s experiments were extended to many species of plants
and animals including man.
41
Human Genetics Human genetics is a subject of special interest to us as students of anthropology.
Human genetics itself is further subdivided into the areas of medical genetics,
biochemical genetics, cytogenetics, somatic cell genetics, immunogenetics, formal
or mathematical genetics, population genetics, and anthropological genetics.
These subdivisions of human genetics are closely interrelated and interdependent.
For example, the study of the distribution and evolution of the abnormal
haemoglobins in human populations witnessed the union of medical genetics,
biochemical genetics, formal genetics, and population genetics.
Population Genetics
Study of a whole population is, in fact, often superior to the collection of large
pedigree, because pedigree has unusual characteristics and is of specific interest,
and thus is not representative of a population. Within many populations an
equilibrium of genotypes prevails. This was first pointed out in 1908
independently by the mathematician G. H. Hardy and the physician W. Weinberg
whose several contributions laid the foundations of the genetic study of natural
populations of man and wild animals. The foundations by Sewall Wright, R. A.
Fisher and J. B. S. Haldane helped the formation of modern population genetics.
The mathematical theory of population genetics was developed in the early
twentieth century due largely to the work of Sewall Wright, Ronald Fisher, and
J. B. S. Haldane. So the population genetics deals with the consequences of
Mendelian laws on the composition of the population with special reference to
the effects of mutation, selection, migration, and chance fluctuation of gene
frequencies.
The population considered under Hardy-Weinberg law is a unique population. It

does not change genetically and cannot and does not evolve. It is an ideal
population, because it necessarily fulfilled certain “ideal” conditions and is a
mathematical abstraction, because no real population fulfills the ideal conditions
such as large size of the population with equal sexes, random mating and equal
fertility among all couples and another stipulation that the population must be
free from evolutionary forces.
3.2 MENDELIAN POPULATION

A population isolate is that group of persons within which individuals choose
their partners. Such an isolate is also called a Mendelian population. Ideally the
population isolate inhabits an island, a mountain valley, a peninsular region, a
forested area, or even a large area covering several villages, where the marriage
alliance is restricted within that endogamous group.
The general and simple definition of population is the number of people in an

area at a given time. It may be used in reference to the number of people possessing
a particular character or group of characteristics in an area at a given time. It is
difficult to define a particular population strictly, for the actual boundaries around
a specific human population are not always easy to find. A human population is
usually found in a particular place, and it is a coherent entity largely because of
geographical boundaries. Regardless of how they are circumscribed, the
significance that populations have for evolutionary genetics lies in the web of
genetic relationships within and between them—allele frequencies, consanguinity,
42
mating patterns, gene flow, natural selection, etc. The genetic approach uses the Population Genetics
concept of the Mendelian population, which Dobzhonsky has defined as “a
reproductive community of sexual and cross fertilizing individuals which share
in a common gene pool”. If the isolate or the Mendelian population is not changed
by natural selection, nor by mutation, nor by migration, and if the population
size is large and if individuals are not mating assortatively (that is, random choice
of partners), then the isolate is said to be in equilibrium. These assumptions are
fundamental to population analysis and for maintaining an equilibrium of
genotypes from generations to generations.
Although, all human gene pools are open to varying degree, it is evident that
panmixis does not take place within the total species. The more important
mechanisms maintaining genetic isolation of populations today are cultural rather
than geographical.
Breeding Population
In addition to the problem introduced by the biological openness of human-
population systems, accurate definition of a human Mendelian population is
complicated by the fact that man clusters in social groupings which may or may
not serve as biological breeding units. So the first problem of the population
geneticist, therefore, is to identify and describe, as accurately as possible, the
biological population before he can undertake an analysis of the gene pool and
forces acting on it. Because direct analysis of a population’s gene pool is
impossible, all conclusions regarding its composition are necessarily inferential,
and must be made on the basis of direct examination of the phenotypes of the
reproducing individuals. To infer the composition of a gene pool at a single
point in time the population geneticist must first enumerate and describe the
actual progenitors, that is, the parents in a population. These progenitors constitute
the breeding population.
3.3 GENETIC POLYMORPHISM

Genetic polymorphism is defined as the occurrence together in the same habitat
at the same time of two or more distinct forms of a species in such proportions
that the rarest of them cannot be maintained merely by recurrent mutation (Ford,
1940). Genetic polymorphism can also be defined as the occurrence in the same
population of two or more alleles at one locus, each with appreciable frequency
(Cavalli-Sforza and Bodmer, 1971). A formal definition, such as the above, based
on the frequency of genes that are found in a population is likely to be the most
satisfactory. At one time, polymorphism was defined in terms of the selective
mechanisms responsible for maintaining relatively high gene frequencies of two
or more alleles at a locus. Because it is difficult to determine these mechanisms
or the nature of these forces and therefore can hardly be useful in a definition.
This is the reason why it is difficult to accept unequivocally Ford’s definition.
However, it is likely that Ford’s definition applies to many, if not most, instances
of polymorphism (Ford, 1964).
Some knowledge of the theory of polymorphism is essential for a clear

understanding of the blood groups and the kindred phenomena. It should be
noted that the definition of polymorphism excludes the following forms of
variation.
43
Human Genetics v Geographical races, White, Mongoloid and Negroid types of man. These
are normally maintained by isolation from one another. It should be stressed
here, that the occurrence of polymorphism in one district and its absence or
different nature in another, may be an important attribute of distinct
communities.
v ‘Continuous variation’ under multifactorial (or environmental) control, such
as height, is brought about by cumulative effect of segregation taking place
at many loci. This cannot be considered as polymorphic condition, as it is
not maintained in the population by selection.
v The segregation of rare recessive, albinism for example or rare heterozygous
conditions, such as Huntington’s chorea, are eliminated by selection and
maintained only by mutation. Hence they cannot give rise to polymorphism.
It must be noted that polymorphism cannot normally be maintained
environmentally.
Genetic polymorphisms are very common phenomena in all human populations.
Most of the polymorphisms encountered in human populations so far fall into
two main categories: blood-cell antigens (blood groups) and blood proteins (serum
proteins). The first category of polymorphisms, the kind detected by
immunological techniques, is that of blood groups or blood cell antigens, of
which the ABO blood groups are an outstanding example. The second category
of polymorphisms, most of them detected by electrophoretic techniques, for which
complications due to incompatibility are not known or are not likely to occur,
comprises proteins found in the blood either in the free, liquid portion (serum or
plasma) or in its cells (red or white). The modern techniques of biochemistry
revealed how widely individual men and populations differ in the various enzymes
and proteins systems of the body.
Polymorphism in Man
The human polymorphism may conveniently be introduced by two examples
which reveal their essential qualities. Let us discuss about sickle-cell anaemia,
which is genetically controlled by a gene which produces the disease when
homozygous and is responsible merely for the sickling trait when heterozygous.
This gene affects the formation of haemoglobin, but not for all, it only affects the
structure of erythrocytes that assumes a sickle-like shape, that leads to haemolysis
severe enough to cause an extreme and often fatal anaemia. Those who merely
manifest the sickling trait appear on the other hand, to be perfectly healthy. Though
their blood also contains the exceptional haemoglobin, but in smaller proportion,
so the shape of the erythrocytes is normal when in circulation. It must be noted
that the anaemia is recessive while the formation of the abnormal haemoglobin
is not. In spite of the fact that the homozygotes suffer from this heavily lethal
disease which usually eliminates them, the heterozygotes are quite common in
certain regions of European population, as in some parts of Greece and Italy, and
in African tribes. Evidently the heterozygotes must have an advantage which
strongly counter-balances the destruction of the homozygotes in these areas.
Allison (1954) discovered that the sickle-cell trait confers marked immunity
against malaria especially, due to Plasmodium falciparum. The polymorphism
is established only in those places where malaria is common.
Allison (1954) further observed polymorphism involving another genetically
controlled disease, thalassaemia. Many homozygotes, and perhaps a few of the
44 heterozygotes, die, yet the gene is present in 10 per cent of the population in
some of the districts of Greece and Italy where malaria is endemic. In India, Population Genetics
particularly in parts of central India, such polymorphism exists where sickle-cell
anaemia has been found to be prevalent in malaria endemic regions.
One of the oldest known such polymorphism is the ability to taste phenyl-thio-
carbamide (PTC), or phenyl-thio-urea (PTU). For some people PTC has only a
faint taste or no taste at all; for others it has a very bitter taste. More specifically
there is a single dominant gene T (with incomplete penetrance) that determines a
high sensitivity for the taste of PTC. Non-tasters are homozygous for the recessive
allele t. When both parents are non-tasters, all their children are non-tasters.
When one parent is taster and the other is not, either all or half of their children
will be tasters, depending on whether or not the parent of the dominant (tasting)
type is homozygote or heterozygote.
Genetic polymorphisms may be ‘transient’ or ‘balanced’. Genetic polymorphisms

are called balanced, if selection favors the heterozygotes. When selection favors
the heterozygotes, a stable equilibrium may be achieved and substantial frequencies
of both alleles may be maintained in one environment. The balanced or stable
polymorphism is the result of natural selection operating as a stabilizing agent.
It is difficult to establish whether a polymorphism is stable or transient. However,

direct evidence for at least one balanced polymorphism is available; the
polymorphism for the group of haemoglobins, including haemoglobin S, in the
presence of malaria.
3.4 HARDY-WEINBERG LAW

Definition
Mathematician Godfrey Hardy and physician Wilhelm Weinberg independently
showed in 1908 that population gene frequencies remain constant from generation
to generation under a system of random union of gametes in fertilization when
the frequencies of the heterozygotes are equal to twice the product of the square
roots of the two homozygotes: p2 AA + 2pq Aa +- q2 aa = 1, where p and q are the
frequencies of genes A and a (p + q = l) in the population, which is ideally large,
with non overlapping generations, sexes equally distributed and all parents are
equally fertile, and where there are no changes in gene frequency due to mutation,
gene flow, selection or genetic drift, or where mutation and selection rates are
balanced so that there is no net change in gene frequencies.
This theory is considered as the cornerstone of population genetics because it

mathematically describes the behaviour of genetic traits through time within a
specific unit — the population. Actually, the population assumed under Hardy-
Weinberg Law is a unique population. It does not change genetically, i.e., it cannot
and does not evolve. It is a so-called ideal population, i.e., a hypothetical one,
which means that within it certain ‘ideal’ conditions must necessarily be fulfilled.
The ideal population is a mathematical abstraction, because no real population
ever fulfills all of the necessary conditions, that is, the population must be large,
the sexes must be equally distributed, mating must be random (panmictic1), all
parents must be equally fertile, and must be free from the four forces of evolution;
that is, mutation, natural selection, genetic drift, and gene flow.
1
A population undergoing random mating is often referred to as a panmictic population, or it is
said to be in a state of panmixia. 45
Human Genetics The Hardy-Weinberg Law deals with the simplest genetic case, that of a single
locus carrying only two alleles, p and q. The manner in which genetic stability is
maintained under a two-allele system is best understood if the gene pool is
visualized as divided into two component sexual units: one unit containing all
the male gametes (spermatozoa), carrying the alleles p and q, the other unit
containing all the female gametes (ova) in equal numbers. The relative proportions
of p and q are identical between the two sex units. If all the male and female
gametes mate randomly, the offspring will be distributed as shown in the box.
Whether or not the gene pool is initially in equilibrium, after one generation of
random mating, genetic equilibrium at a single locus is established and then
perpetuated at the same gene frequencies through subsequent generations.
Male gametes → P q
↓ Female gametes
P P2 pq
Q pq q2
Genotype frequencies: p2+2pq+q2
Let us examine what would be expected under random mating in a simple and
general case of an autosomal locus with two alleles A and a with frequencies, p
and q and the corresponding genotypes AA, Aa and aa with the corresponding
frequencies, p2:2pq:q2. The various mating types and the expected progeny are
given in the following table.
Mating Frequency Expected Frequency

Type of Mating AA Aa aa
AA x AA P4 P4
AA x Aa 2p3q p3q p3q
AA x aa p2q2 p2q2
Aa x AA 2p3q p3q p3q
Aa x Aa 4p2q2 p2q2 2p2q2 p2q2
Aa x aa 2pq3 pq3 pq3
aa x AA p2q2 p2q2
aa x Aa 2pq3 pq3 pq3
aa x aa q4 q4
Total * P4+2p3q+ p2q2 2p3q+4p2q2+2pq3 p2q2+2pq3+ q4
= = =
p2(p2+2pq+q2) 2pq(p2+2pq+q2) q2(p2+2pq+q2)
*p4+4p3q+6p2q2+4pq3+q4 = p2(p2+2pq+q2)+ 2pq(p2+2pq+q2)+ q2(p2+2pq+q2) =

p2+2pq+q2
The above table presents a formal demonstration or derivation that p2+2pq+q2 is

an equilibrium.
46
Applications of Hardy-Weinberg Law Population Genetics
More precisely, Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium postulates a set of conditions where

no evolution occurs. If all the conditions are satisfied, allele frequencies will not
change (that is, no evolution will take place) and a permanent equilibrium will
be maintained as long as these conditions prevail. However, it is obvious that the
Hardy-Weinberg ideal population can never be found in the real sense in human
populations. First, the formula provides a standard against which genetic change
in a population may be measured and predicted. The formula serves as a basic
theorem which can be expanded and elaborated by other mathematical models
that deal with changes in populations (Jurmain et al 1998).
Secondly, the Hardy-Weinberg formula may be applied to large populations to
provide an estimate of gene frequencies at a single point in time.
Population genetics is the study of allele frequencies in groups of

organisms of the same species in the same geographic area.
The genes in a population comprise its gene pool.
Microevolution reflects changes in allele frequencies in populations.
It is not occurring if allele frequencies stay constant over generations
(Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium).
Five factors can change genotype frequencies - nonrandom mating,
gene flow, genetic drift, mutation, and natural selection.
3.5 DEVIATIONS FROM HARDY-WEINBERG

LAW OR FACTORS AFFECTING GENE
FREQUENCIES
The discussion above relates to an ‘ideal’ population. By definition such a
population is large and shows random mating with no new mutations, and no
selection for or against any particular genotype. For some human characteristics,
such as neutral genes for blood groups or enzyme variants, these criteria can be
fulfilled. However, in genetic disorders, several factors can disturb the Hardy-
Weinberg equilibrium by influencing either the distribution of genes in the
population or by altering the gene frequencies. These factors include:
• Non-random mating
• Mutation
• Selection
• Small population size
• Gene flow (migration).
• Non-random mating
Random mating, or panmixis, refers to the selection of a partner regardless of
that partner’s genotype. Non-random mating can lead to an increase in the
frequency of affected homozygotes by two mechanisms, either assortative mating
or consanguinity.
Assortative mating
Assortative mating is the tendency for human beings to choose partners who
share characteristics such as height, intelligence and racial origin for marriage. 47
Human Genetics Consanguinity
Consanguinity is the term used to describe marriages between blood relatives
who have at least one common ancestor no more remote than a great-great
grandparent. Widespread consanguinity in a community will lead to a relative
increase in the frequency of affected homozygotes with a relative decrease in the
frequency of heterozygotes.
• Mutation
The validity of the Hardy-Weinberg principle is based on the assumption that no
new mutations occur. If a particular locus shows a high mutation rate then there
will be a steady increase in the proportion of mutant alleles in a population. In
that case the law will not be applicable.
• Selection
In the ‘ideal’ population there is no selection for or against any particular genotype.
In reality for deleterious characteristics there is likely to be negative selection with
affected individuals having reduced reproductive fitness in genetical sense, as the
genes would not be transmitted in the next generation. In the absence of new
mutations this reduction in fitness will lead to a gradual reduction in the frequency
of the mutant gene and will cause disturbance of Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium.
Selection can act in the opposite direction by increasing fitness. For some
autosomal recessive disorders there is evidence that heterozygotes show a slight
increase in biological fitness as compared with unaffected homozygotes. This is
referred to as heterozygote advantage. The best understood example is sickle-
cell disease in which affected homozygotes have severe anemia and often show
persistent ill-health. However, heterozygotes are relatively immune to infection
with Plasmodium falciparum malaria because if their red blood cells are invaded
by the parasite they undergo sickling and are rapidly destroyed. In areas in which
this form of malaria is endemic, carriers of sickle-cell anemia, who are described
as having sickle-cell trait, are at a biological advantage as compared with
unaffected homozygotes. Therefore, in these communities, there will be a tendency
for the proportion of heterozygotes to increase relative to the proportions of
normal and affected homozygotes. Once again this will result in a disturbance of
Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium.
We have earlier discussed about selection favouring heterozygotes as in sickle-
cell anaemia, and thalassaemia. There is also the opposite situation, that is
selection against heterozygotes, as we find in maternal-foetal incompatibility
(Erythroblastosis fetalis) as is observed for the allele R (Rh blood group), and
also for other blood group genes (Rh-ABO incompatibility).
Mutation alters genotype frequencies by introducing new alleles.
Heterozygotes and new mutations maintain the frequencies of deleterious
alleles in populations.
Different alleles are more likely to confer a survival advantage in different
environments. Cycles of infectious disease prevalence and virulence often
reflect natural selection.
In balanced polymorphism, a disease-causing allele persists because
heterozygotes resist a certain infectious illness or environmental condition.
Gene flow alters genotype frequencies by adding and removing alleles from
populations.
48
Population Genetics
Clines are gradual changes in allele frequencies between neighboring
populations.
Geographical barriers and language differences often create great differences
in allele frequencies.
Genetic drift occurs when a subset of a population has different allele
frequencies than the larger population.
The founder effect occurs when a few individuals leave a community to
start a new settlement. The resulting population may, by chance, either lack
some alleles from the original population or have high frequencies of others.
•` Genetic drift
In a large population the numbers of children produced by individuals with
different genotypes, assuming no alteration in fitness for any particular genotype
will tend to balance out, so that gene frequencies will remain stable. However, in
a small population it is possible that by random statistical fluctuation one allele
could be transmitted to a high proportion of offspring by chance, resulting in
marked changes in allele frequency from one generation to the next, so that
Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium is disturbed. This phenomenon is referred to as
random genetic drift. If one allele is lost altogether then it is said to be extinguished
and the other allele is described as having become fixed (www. faculty.ksu.edu).
• Gene flow (migration)
If new alleles are introduced into a population as a consequence of migration
with subsequent intermarriage, this will lead to a change in the relevant allele
frequencies. This slow diffusion of alleles across a racial or geographical boundary
is known as gene flow. The most widely quoted example is the gradient shown
by the incidence of the B blood group allele throughout the world. This allele is
thought to have originated in Asia and spread slowly westward as a result of
admixture through invasion.
3.6 CONSANGUINEOUS AND NON-

CONSANGUINEOUS MATINGS
There are two general patterns of mating in human populations: random and
non-random mating. Deviations from random mating can occur in two general
directions. People who are related can either marry more frequently or less
frequently than they would by chance. In the former case the mating system is
one of inbreeding and in the latter one of outbreeding. Assortative mating is
another important mating type which deviates from random mating. The
assortative mating is either positive or negative. Inbreeding is defined as mating
between close relatives. When the frequency of marriages between close relatives
who have one or more common ancestors exceed the expected frequency under
random mating in a population then it is called inbreeding and when it decreases
the expected proportion then it is called outbreeding. Marriage between close
relatives who have one or more common ancestors is called consanguineous
marriage. Non-consanguineous marriages are between individuals of opposite
sex who do not have a known common ancestor. Consanguinity refers to marriage
type and inbreeding refers to the mating pattern of the population. Consanguinity
is the term referred to describe the marriages between blood relatives who have
one or more common ancestors and consanguinity is the name given to close 49
Human Genetics relationships (as distinct from relationships by marriage). In positive assortative
mating, individuals tend to choose mates who resemble themselves (e.g., in native
language, intelligence, stature, skin colour, musical talent, or athletic ability)
more frequently than would be expected by chance. In negative assortative mating,
the mating pairs are dissimilar in phenotype than would be expected by chance.
All societies have rules which forbid marriage between close blood relatives
such as parent offspring and sibs (brother and sisters) called incest taboo. Though
incest taboo is a universal feature of human society, it is complemented by a
preference for marriage between certain other relatives. The most common form
of consanguinity in the human population is cousin marriage. Marriage between
children of siblings of the same sex (parallel cousins) is prohibited except in
some Islamic societies of the Middle East where marriage between a man and
his father’s brother’s daughter is common. There are in certain areas (South
India, Japan, etc.) where marriages are commonly observed between the children
of the siblings of opposite sexes (cross cousins). First cousin marriages make up
almost 10 per cent. In southern part of India, especially in the state of Andhra
Pradesh, among certain castes, uncle-niece unions also make up about 10 per
cent of marriages. Less frequent marriage types also occur in this part of India
such as the marriages between first cousins once removed, second cousins, double
first cousins and aunt-nephew.
The possible types of mating between different relationships are shown in the
following figure.
50
Fig. 4.1: The possible types of matings between different relationships
Population Genetics
People choose partners for marriage, and they do not contribute the same
numbers of children to the next generation. The marriage practices change
allele frequencies in populations.
Traits lacking obvious phenotypes may be in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium.
Consanguinity and endogamy increase the proportion of homozygotes in
a population.
Effect of Consanguineous Marriages
The main genetic consequence of inbreeding is an increase in the proportion of
homozygotes. Through inbreeding recessive genes are more easily brought to
the fore.
Inbreeding Depression
Usually, inbreeding causes deterioration and outbreeding causes improvement
of most of the characters. Animal breeders noticed that inbreeding particularly
always lead to a deterioration in many important qualities; fertility for instance,
tends to decrease and many an inbred stock, has lost because the fertility level
became too low for the maintenance of the line in generations. In addition, some
traits such as overall general size also decrease. This phenomenon of deterioration
on inbreeding is known as inbreeding depression.
Heterosis
In contrast to inbreeding depression, if two independent pure lines are crossed,
the hybrids between them (at least in the first generation) mostly show a
considerable increase in size, fertility and many other desirable traits. This has
been called hybrid vigor or heterosis, and clearly has a great potential for
application in agriculture and animal husbandry. The first practical application
of hybrid vigor as a technique for crop improvement was applied to corn and it
led to a very significant increase in production. This practice is now being
extended to other plants and animals. These inbreeding and outbreeding
consequences are also seen in man. The genetic effects of inbreeding are similar
to positive assortative mating. Both increase the frequency of homozygous
genotypes at the expense of heterozygotes, relative to Hardy-Weinberg
proportions. So it is clear that the inbreeding affects genotype frequencies and
inbreeding along with selection modifies gene frequencies in a population.
It should be emphasised that the increasing homozygosity i.e., the general effect
of inbreeding does not predict whether inbreeding is good or bad. It depends on
the nature of the homozygotes. Many instances can be cited of talented persons
whose parents were first cousins or otherwise closely related. Presumably
consanguinity made it easier for ‘good’ genes to come together in these cases
(example: Charles Darwin).
On the other hand, there is considerable evidence that homozygous recessives,
albinism, alkaptonuria, etc., and the lethals are encountered with greater frequency
in consanguineous marriages than in marriages of unrelated persons. Studies in
Japan, where inbreeding is greater have shown increased rates of infant mortality
and congenital abnormalities. Studies in France, Sweden, United States, and
Japan have shown increased frequencies of certain physical diseases, and mental
disorders among children of first cousin mating.
51
Human Genetics
3.7 GENETIC LOAD
Among source of variability affecting Darwinian fitness (adaptive value) may
lead to a genetic load. Crow (1970) proposed three definitions of genetic load of
which mostly used one is that the (expressed) genetic load is the fraction by
which the average population fitness is decreased in comparison with the genotype
showing the highest fitness.
It appears that some polymorphisms exist because recurrent mutations replace

genes lost to selection, whereas others exist because the heterozygote is adaptively
superior and causes several alleles to persist even though many are lost due to
selection against both homozygotes. The loss of individuals — often unseen
individuals — under either situation because they carry certain genes, has been
termed as genetic load of a species or population. So it is obvious that every
human population carries a burden of deleterious mutations which impairs the
fitness of the group. So the genetic load refers to the proportion by which fitness
is reduced in the population due to the operations of a factor such as mutation.
So the genetic load of a species is a measure of the number of deleterious traits

maintained in a population or of the damage to the population by the factors
under study. It may be measured as decreased average fitness, or somewhat more
specifically, as mortality, sterility, or morbidity due to specified causes, usually
deleterious alleles. The genetic load of a species may be partially hidden and
partially manifested. The genetic load depends on several variables — the
occurrence of mutations, the number of detrimental mutations, the number of
mutant recessive alleles, and the number of partially lethal mutant dominant
alleles.
Genetic Radiation Hazard

In every generation numerous mutations, of every possible degree of harmfulness,
will arise in human species; and in every generation, the carriers of some of
these mutants — persons afflicted with hereditary diseases, malformations, or
constitutional weaknesses — will die before they have children, or will remain
unmarried, or will produce fewer children than they would have produced if
they did not carry the mutant genes in question. The burden of genetic ill-health
and abnormality in human populations is very great. And this is more so because
of the genetic hazards of radiation. High-energy radiations cause two kinds of
damage to living matter — physiological and genetic. Physiological damage
consists of radiation burns, radiation sickness, and death, which occur soon after
the irradiation (as had happened when an Atom Bomb was dropped on the twin
cities of Japan by the Americans in 1945), and of various delayed effects, such
as malignant growths. Genetic damage includes the mutations induced in the
reproductive tissues and transmitted to the progeny. The genetic damage may
inflict harm on the descendents of the exposed persons, and that too for many
generations after the exposure.
3.8 SUMMARY
A population is a group of interbreeding members of the same species in a
particular area. Their genes constitute the gene pool. Population genetics considers
allele, genotype, and phenotype frequencies to reveal microevolution. Phenotypic
52
frequencies can be determined empirically. Genotype frequencies change if Population Genetics
migration, nonrandom mating, genetic drift, mutations, or natural selection
operate. In Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, frequencies are not changing. Hardy
and Weinberg proposed an algebraic equation to explain the consistency of allele
frequencies. The Hardy-Weinberg equation is a binomial expansion used to
represent genotypes in a population. According to Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium
all individuals mate with the same frequency and choose mates without any
consideration to phenotype. This seldom happens. We choose mates based on
certain characteristics, and some people have many more children than others.
Consanguinity increases the proportion of homozygotes in a population, which
may lead to increased incidence of recessive illnesses or traits.
Clines are changes in allele frequencies from one area to another. Clines may
reflect geographical barriers or linguistic differences and may be either abrupt or
gradual. Genetic drift occurs when a small population separates from a larger
one, or its members breed only among themselves, perpetuating allele frequencies
not characteristic of the larger population due to chance sampling. A founder
effect occurs when a few individuals found a settlement and their alleles form a
new gene pool, amplifying their alleles and eliminating others. Mutation
continually introduces new alleles into populations. Mutation does not have as
great an influence on disrupting Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium as the other factors.
The genetic load is the collection of deleterious alleles in a population.
Environmental conditions influence allele frequencies via natural selection.
Alleles that do not enable an individual to reproduce in a particular environment
are selected against and diminish in the population, unless conditions change.
Beneficial alleles are retained. In balanced polymorphism, the frequencies of
some deleterious alleles are maintained when heterozygotes have a reproductive
advantage under certain conditions.
Reference
Jurmain, R., Kilgore, L. and Trevathan, W. 1998. Essentials of Physical
Anthropology. Belmont California; Wadsworth.
www. faculty.ksu.edu accessed on February 19, 2011
Suggested Reading
Cavalli-Sforza, L. L. and Bodmer, W. L. 1971. The Genetics of Human
Populations. San Francisco; W. H. Freeman and Company.
Ford, E. B. 1967. Genetics for Medical Students. Sixth edition. London; Methuen
& Co. Ltd.
Hartl, D. L. and Clark, A. G. 2006. Principles of Population Genetics. 4th Ed.
Sunderland; MA. Sinauer Associates.
Mange, E. J. and Mange, A. P. 1994. Basic Human Genetics. Sunderland; MA.
Sinauer Associates.
Mueller, R. F. and Young, I. D. 1998. Emery’s Elements of Medical Genetics.
New York; Churchill Livingstone.
Stern, C. 1960. Principles of Human Genetics. San Francisco and London;
Freeman and Company.
53
Human Genetics Sample Questions
1) What is a population? List three populations.
2) Explain the differences among an allele frequency, a phenotypic frequency,
and a genotypic frequency.
3) What does Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium mean?
4) What are the conditions under which Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium cannot
be met?
5) Why is knowing the incidence of a homozygous recessive condition in a
population important in deriving allele frequencies?
54
Population Genetics
UNIT 4 CHROMOSOMAL ABERRATIONS
IN MAN
Contents
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Changes in Chromosome Number
4.3 Specific Autosomal Abnormalities
4.4 Sex Chromosomal Abnormalities
4.5 Mosaicism
4.6 Structural Abnormalities or Chromosome Rearrangements
4.7 Summary
Suggested Reading
Sample Questions

Ø define chromosome and chromosome abnormalities or syndromes;
Ø describe and distinguish different chromosomal aberrations in man with
examples;
Ø understand the causes for chromosomal anomalies; and
Ø understand the consequences of chromosomal aberrations.
4.1 INTRODUCTION
Chromosomes and genes
A chromosome is an organised thread-like microscopic structure found in the
cell nucleus of living organisms including man. Until 1956, it was thought that
the number of chromosomes in man was 48, when it was established that it is 46.
Each human cell, except for the gametes, i.e. ovum (egg) and the sperm cells,
contains 23 pairs of chromosomes (22 pairs of autosomes and one pair of sex
chromosome). Women possess two identical chromosomes called the X
chromosomes while men possess one X chromosome and one Y chromosome.
The ovum and sperm cells each contain 23 chromosomes (22 autosomes and
one X or Y chromosome). The behaviour of chromosomes at somatic cell division
in mitosis provides a mechanism that ensures the daughter cells to retain its own
complete genetic component. Similarly their behaviour in the reproductive cells
during gametes formation in meiosis enables each mature ovum and sperm to
contain a unique single set of parental genes.
In earlier lectures we have discussed about gene mutations, where a change occurs
from one allelic form to another, and such changes led to new inherited properties.
However, there are other type of changes, namely, changes in the quantity of the
chromosomal material and changes in its arrangement. The cellular and
developmental functioning of an organism depends not only on the presence of
the necessary alleles, but also on their harmonious interaction with each other.
Generally, the chromosomes remain unchanged but under certain natural or
artificial adverse circumstances certain structural changes may occur in the
55
Human Genetics chromosomes which alter the positions of gene or loss of some genes or changes
in chromosomal number. Any alteration in the number of chromosomes or changes
in gross structure of chromosome that disrupts this genetic balance generally
produces developmental abnormalities with profound phenotypic effects in the
form of physical effects and sometimes accompanied by mental imbalances. These
structural and numerical alterations which affect the phenotype of the organisms
in various degrees are collectively called chromosomal aberrations or anomalies
or abnormalities. These accumulated sets of abnormalities so produced are called
syndrome. If several specific abnormal traits present in the same individual are
transmitted to his offspring as a unit, as they often are, it can usually be assumed
that they depend jointly on a single gene. In medicine such group of characters is
called a syndrome. A well-known example of a syndrome is Marfan’s syndrome,
or Arachnodactyly (spider-fingeredness), so called because of the excessive length
of the bones of fingers and toes. Though abnormal chromosomes account for at
least 50 per cent of spontaneous abortions, only 0.65 per cent of newborns have
abnormal chromosomes as most embryos and fetuses with abnormal
chromosomes stop developing before birth.
Chromosomal Changes
Normally, every somatic cell contains a pair of each type of autosome, each pair
of autosomes has numerous pairs of homologous loci, and at each of these loci is
one of a pair of alleles. The harmonious genic action depends on the twofold
presence of each locus. Occasionally, however, abnormalities in the division or
the distribution of the chromosomes or of chromosomal sections may result in
some loci existing in triplicate or singly instead of as a pair. The abnormal
chromosomal types in many plants and animals have shown that development
does not proceed normally. Such imbalance in the genetic content of the zygotes
– two alleles of most loci but three, or one, of the loci of certain chromosome –
may result in early death of the zygote. Sometime, however, full development of
the zygote may occur but the individual will not be normal. One of the most
remarkable and abnormal syndromes in man is that called Down’s syndrome or
Mongolism, first described as a clinical syndrome in 1866 by Langdon-Down of
England. Affected individuals are characterised by physical abnormalities of the
face, eyelids, tongue, and other parts of the body and are greatly retarded both
physically and mentally. The incidence at birth is about 1/700 among Europeans.
This is caused due to the presence of a very small 47th chromosome, and the
small chromosome is present in triplicate, instead of duplicate, on chromosome
number 21, suggesting the synonym Trisomy 21.
56 Source: www.science.com
By 1959 a variety of chromosomal aberrations was demonstrated in man. Different Chromosomal Aberrations
in Man
types of abnormalities which can occur are divided into numerical, structural
and a third category consisting of different chromosome constitutions in two or
more cell lines. A chromosome anomaly or abnormality or aberration reflects an
atypical number of chromosomes or a structural abnormality in one or more
chromosomes. A karyotype is a full set of chromosomes arranged in an order of
their size from an individual which can be compared to a “normal” karyotype for
the species via genetic testing. Any anomaly in the chromosome may be detected
or confirmed in this manner. Chromosome anomalies usually occur when there
is a fault in cell division following meiosis or mitosis. These chromosome
anomalies can be organised and summarized into two basic groups, numerical
and structural anomalies (Table 4.1).
Table 4.1: Chromosomal abnormalities
Numerical
Aneuploidy – Monosomy
– Trisomy
– Tetrasomy
Polyploidy – Triploidy
– Tetraploidy
Structural
Translocation – Reciprocal
– Robertsonian
Deletions
Insertions
Inversions – Paracentric
– Pericentric
Rings
Isochromosomes
Different cell lines (Mixoploidy)
– Mosaicism
– Chimaerism
4.2 CHANGES IN CHROMOSOME NUMBER

The most obvious way of disrupting the balance of genes is by the variation in
number of chromosomes. There are two distinct types of abnormalities in
chromosome number. The first one involves the presence of extra entire sets of
chromosomes and the second type involves individual chromosomes instead of
entire sets of chromosomes. Human gametes are haploid (n) i.e. the gametes
carry 23 chromosomes. The gametes carry one complete set of chromosomes
consisting of 22 autosomes and 1 sex chromosome and whereas the somatic
cells in contrast are diploid (2n) and carry two haploid sets of chromosomes – 46
altogether. Abnormally higher multiple of the basic haploid (n) set is known as
polyploid (3n, 4n, and so forth). Polyploidy (euploidy, which means a good set)
in man is extremely rare. A triploid cell (3n) would contain 69 chromosomes
and tetraploid (4n) 92. Such genetic imbalance is intolerable in man and animals,
but quite common in plants. Triploidy in man is relatively rarely found in
57
Human Genetics spontaneous miscarriages and rarely survive beyond mid-pregnancy. Only eight
live-borns have been recorded and all have died soon after birth. Polyploidy can
arise from fertilization involving unreduced gametes (essentially complete non-
disjunction) containing 46 instead of 23 chromosomes, through fertilization of
an ovum with two sperms called dispermy, or by the failure of duplicated
chromosomes to separate into two daughter cells during mitosis – the observed
live-born mosaics. A few full triploids have been born prematurely, but none
survived more than several hours.
Chromosomal abnormalities in the form of aneuploidy (extra or missing
chromosomes) are very regular among humans. Roughly 8 per cent of all
conceptions are aneuploidy, and it is projected that up to half of all miscarriages
are due to some form of chromosome disorders. Sex chromosome disorders are
the most commonly observed type of aneuploidy in humans. Four common
categories of aneuploidy crop up in humans:
(i) Nullisomy – occurs when a chromosome is missing altogether (www.dummies.
com). Generally, embryos that are nullisomic don’t survive to birth; (ii) Monosomy
– Occurs when one chromosome lacks its homolog; (iii) Trisomy – Occurs when
one extra copy of a chromosome is present and (iv) Tetrasomy – Occurs when
four total copies of a chromosome are present and tetrasomy are extremely rare.
In humans, it is unusual to find individuals surviving with more than one extra
or one missing chromosome. If there is one extra chromosome present, which
means a particular chromosome is represented three times instead of the usual
paired diploid arrangement and the condition is known as trisomy for that
chromosome and is symbolized as 2n + 1 = 47. When one chromosome is missing
from the diploid complement, only one representative of a particular pair is
present, producing a condition known as monosomy symbolized as 2n -1 = 45.
24 different trisomies and 24 different monosomies are expected to occur in man
as there would be one trisomic and one monosomic for each of the 22 autosomes
and an X and a Y of each type. Of the 48 theoretical possibilities, only eight
aneuploids were observed in live-born children of whom six were trisomics and
three were monosomics. The types of aneuploids generally observed in man are
shown in table 4.2.
Table 4.2: Types of Aneupoids in live-born Children
Abnormal Name of the Year of
Chromosomal Syndrome Discovery Occurrence
Constitution
Trisomies
13, 13, 13 (47, + 13) Patau’s 1960 1 in 5,000 births
18, 18, 18 (47, + 18) Edward’s 1960 1 in 6,500 births
21, 21, 21 (47, + 21) Down’s 1959 1 in 800 births
X, X, X (47, XXX) Trisomy X 1961 1 in 950 female births
X, X, Y (47, XXY) Klinefelter’s 1959 1 in 1,000 male births
X, Y, Y (47, XYY) Jacob’s (Double 1961 I in 950 male births
Y Syndrome)
Monosomies
21, 0 (45, - 21) Al-Aish’s 1967 Very rare (about 3 known)
X, 0 (45, X) Turner’s 1959 1 in 5,000 female births
58
The meiotic error that causes aneuploidy is called non-disjunction. Non- Chromosomal Aberrations
in Man
disjunction is the failure of two members of homologous chromosome pair to
separate during cell division so that both pass to the same daughter cell. It is not
clear how non-disjunction is caused. But the factors implicated for the cause of
nondisjunction are aging, radiation and delayed fertilization after ovulation. The
principal cause of aneuploidy is an accident in meiosis that leads to an unequal
distribution of chromosome pair (www.scribd.com).
In meiotic cell division there are two instances in which non-disjunction can
occur – during first meiotic division or second meiotic division (see figure 4.1).
In either case, the result is the production of one or more gametes that carry an
extra chromosome and one or more gametes that lack a chromosome.
Fig.4.1: The effect of meiotic non-disjunction on gametic chromosome number
Source: Nagle, J.J. 1974 Heredity and Human Affairs. Saint Louis, The C.U. Mosby Company p. 256
4.3 SPECIFIC AUTOSOMAL ABNORMALITIES

Patau’s Syndrome or 13-Trisomy: This syndrome occurs in about 1 in 5000 live
births. Patau’s syndrome also has a slightly increased incidence with maternal
age. Generally they do not survive beyond three or four months after birth. The
patients having a trisomy of the 13th chromosome, are characterised by multiple
and severe body malformations, as well as profound mental deficiency.
Edward’s Syndrome or 18-Trisomy: This syndrome is about eight times less

frequent than the Down’s syndrome and affects about 1 in 6500 live births. The
children with Edward’s syndrome have multiple congenital abnormalities,
including severe mental and physical retardation. The head of such a patient is
laterally flattened. The hands are short and show little development of the second
phalanx. These children usually die before one year of age.
Down’s syndrome (21-Trisomy): One of the most familiar human aneuploidy is

trisomy 21. Originally studied by Langdon Down in 1866, it had been termed
mongoloid idiocy or mongolism because of suggested resemblance to that ethnic
feature. The condition is now referred to as Down’s syndrome. The persons having
59
Human Genetics this syndrome are mentally retarded and have markedly defective development
of the central nervous system. The face of such a patient has a moon-like
appearence, with a skin fold (epicanthus) at the inner part of the eyes. The nose
is flattened the ears are malformed; the mouth is constantly open; and the tongue
protrudes. The heart, hands and feet too remain defective.
Al-Aish’s Syndrome or 21-Monosomy: When one chromosome of the pair of

chromosome 21 becomes completely deleted 21-monosomy occurs and it remains
lethal to the patient. In 21-monosomics, the nose remains prominent, the distance
between eyes is shorter than normal, the ears are large and the muscles are
contracted. Its incidence is very rare.
4.4 SEX CHROMOSOMAL ABNORMALITIES

Different kinds of sex chromosomal numerical aberrations have been detected
in man. Most of them are caused either by meiotic non-disjunctions or mitotic
non-disjunctions. They are expressed phenotypically in the following different
kinds of syndromes:
Trisomy X or Triplo-X: Women with this syndrome have 47 chromosomes,

including three X chromosomes. XXX females are physically normal but many
are mentally retarded. Some are reported to have menstrual irregularities.
All kinds of syndromes are caused by meiotic non-disjunctions of sex

chromosomes and all of them are expressed phenotypically in dwarfisms, mental
retardation and various other physical abnormalities. Some of the triplo-X females
menstruate.
Klinefelter’s syndrome: This XXY condition (44 autosomes + XXY) occurs in

about 1 in 1000 newborn males. The patients of this syndrome have some degree
of mental retardation; growth and physical development are quite normal, but
the affected males are tending to be tall for their age. Puberty does not occur
normally and they remain sterile.
Turner’s syndrome: The persons with the karyotype of 45 chromosomes (44

autosomes and one X chromosome) have the symptoms of disease called female
gonadal dysgenesis. Such persons have female phenotype, but with rudimentary
gonads and without menstruation cycle during puberty, Further, a patient of
Turner’s syndrome is characterised by short stature, and a pronounced webbing
of the neck, and short fourth metacarpal (www.microbiologyprocedure.com).
4.5 MOSAICISM
Mosaicism
All forms of aneuploidy are not clear as discussed earlier as mixtures of aneuploidy
and normal cell lines are possible to exist within the same person. These are
called chromosomal mosaicism. Mosaicism is defined as the presence of two or
more cell lines in an individual or in a tissue which differ in their genetic
constitution and are derived from the same zygote (Fig.4.2). The degree of
abnormality may range from severe to negligible. Mosaicism may occur in two
ways. The most common one is the mitotic non-disjunction — that occurs at an
60
early stage of embryonic development and in this case one daughter cell will be Chromosomal Aberrations
in Man
trisomic for the chromosome in question and the other daughter cell will be
monosomic. Thus the individual is a chromosomal mosaic – an individual with
two or more chromosomally distinct cell lines.
Fig. 4.2: Chromosomal mosaicism as a result of mitotic non-disjunction

Source: Nagle, J.J. 1974 Heredity and Human Affairs. Saint Louis, The C.U. Mosby
Company p. 263
A – Zygotic non-disjunction, producing trisomic and monosomic cell lines and

B – Postzygotic non-disjcunction, producing three different cell lines.
The second manner in which chromosomal mosaicism may be developed is by
the loss of one chromosome as it moves towards the pole during mitosis. This is
known as anaphase lag and results in one cell line with normal chromosome
constitution and one with monosomy for the lost chromosome.
Chimaerism
It can be defined as the presence of two or more genetically distinct cell lines in
an individual derived from more than one zygote. The word chimaera is derived
from the mythological Greek monster which had the head of a lion, the body of
a goat and the tail of a dragon. In humans these are of two kinds, dispermic and
blood chimaeras (www.uqu.edu.sa). Chimeras are gynandromorphs like
individuals which are mosaics for different cells having various abnormalities
of sex chromosomal number. The occurrence of male and female cells in the
animal body in a mosaic like pattern is called gynandromorphism. However, the
different kinds of cells arise from different zygotes. The most common chimerism
in man occurs with the passage of fetal cells into the maternal circulation, in
which the immunization of ABO and Rh blood group takes place. This kind of
chimerism is called post-zygotic chimerism. Chimerism can also be produced
by double fertilization (zygotic chimerism) or by artificial means such as grafting
and organ transplantation.
61
Human Genetics
Polyploids have extra sets of chromosomes and do not survive for
long.
Aneuploids have extra or missing chromosomes.
Nondisjunction during meiosis causes aneuploidy.
Trisomies are less severe than monosomies, and sex chromosome
aneuploidy is less severe than autosomal aneuploidy.
Mitotic nondisjunction produces chromosomal mosaics.
Down syndrome (trisomy 21) is the most common autosomal
aneuploid, followed by trisomies 18 and 13.
Sex chromosome aneuploid conditions include XO, triplo-X, XXY,
XXYY, and XYY syndromes
4.6 STRUCTURAL ABNORMALITIES OR

CHROMOSOME REARRANGEMENTS
Chromosomes are prone to accidents that break and alter their individual structure.
Structural abnormalities are referred to the chromosomes having an abnormal
structure with a missing portion or a portion represented twice. They range in
size from those that are so small as to be almost undetected with the light
microscope to those that are so large as to be striking and obvious. Large scale
chromosome changes are called chromosomal rearrangements. A chromosome
rearrangement is a structural change in a chromosome such as a deletion,
translocation, inversion, or gene amplification. Chromosome rearrangements can
contribute to the transformation of a normal cell into a cancerous cell and are
therefore found in many cancer cells. The chromosomal aberrations may remain
confined to a single chromosome or may extend to both of the member of the
homologous pair. In considering chromosome rearrangements, it is important to
note whether the rearranged chromosomes still carry all of the genes they should
have in their proper dosage, although of course, in an incorrect arrangement, or
whether the rearranged chromosomes have lost or gained genes. A chromosome
rearrangement that retains all the genes in proper dosage is said to be a balanced
rearrangement. One that has lost or gained genes is said to be an unbalanced.
Four kinds of structural abnormalities of chromosomes are of great importance
in human genetics.
• Deletions or deficiencies (large parts of the chromosome are lost),
• Duplications (large parts of the chromosome are copied more than once,
making the chromosome substantially large),
• Inversions (a section of the chromosome gets turned around, reversing the
sequence of genes) and
• Translocations (parts are exchanged between non-homologous
chromosomes) (Fig.4.3).
62
Chromosomal Aberrations
in Man
Fig.4.3: The Four Types of Chromosomal Abnormalites or Rearrangements

Source: Hartl, D.L, 1985. Our uncertain heritage: Genetics and Human Diversity.
New York, Harper and Row Publishers
Deletions (Deficiencies)
In deletion or deficiency type aberration, a chromosome lacks either in an interstitial
or terminal chromosomal segment which may include only a single gene or part of
a gene. If break occurs near the end of a chromosome a small piece of the terminal
end is lost and thus, terminal deficiency occurs. Sometimes two breaks may occur
at any two points, releasing an intercalary segment which may remain rod-shaped
or may become ring-shaped, if its broken ends join and fuse, a ring-shaped
chromosome called deletion ring is formed (www.microbiologyprocedure.com).
The broken ends of original chromosome are fused and have intercalary or
interstitial deficiency. A deletion is the loss of a portion of a chromosome and, in
effect, represents partial monosomy. Breakage may occur by any of a number of
agents such as irradiation, chemicals, drugs, and viral infections. Deletions occur
in one of two ways:
ü the chromosome breaks during interphase of the cell cycle and the broken
piece is lost when the cell divides, and
ü parts of chromosomes are lost due to unequal crossing-over during mitosis.
The syndromes caused by the deletion of either short arm or long arm are associated
with mental and physical retardation. The physical abnormalities tend to be variable
from patient to patient. However, children with partial deletion of the short arm of
chromosome 18 sometimes have malformations in their ear and jaws and those
with partial deletion of the long arm of 18 have severe eye and ear defects.
Duplications
Duplications are the chromosomes having an extra part and gene sequences.
Traditionally, only large duplications could be visualized in karyotypes and, in
general, the more genes involved, the more severe the associated syndrome. Small
duplications tend to be less severe than deletions of small sizes. Small duplications
involving only a few genes, called repeats can be tolerated. In fact, such
duplications are thought to be an important evolutionary mechanism for the origin
of “new genes”. Duplications of large unwanted copies of portions of the
chromosome most often arise from unequal crossing-over. Most disorders arising
from duplications are considered partial trisomies because large portions of one
chromosome are usually present in triplicate. 63
Human Genetics Inversions
An inversion (see Fig. 4.4) involves breaks (a) in one chromosome, followed by
repair in the form of reversal of the broken segment (b), and restitution of the
broken ends (c), resulting in an inverted chromosome (d). The normal order of
genes of this chromosome is ABCD, but in the inverted chromosome the order
of the genes is ACBD. Depending on whether or not the centromere is included
within the inverted section, two kinds of inversions can be distinguished:
v paracentric inversion when the centromere is outside the inverted segment and
v pericentric invesion when the centromere is included in the inverted segment
of the chromosome.
Fig. 4.4: Inversion in a chromosome

Source: Hartl, D.L, 1985. Our uncertain heritage: Genetics and Human Diversity.
New York, Harper and Row Publishers, p- 185
The above example of inversion is called paracentric inversion. It is so called

because the inverted segment does not include the centromere. The pericentric
inversion is illustrated in Figure 4.5. When the breakpoints of a pericentric
inversion are at appropriate distances from the centromere, the inversion can
alter the physical appearance of the chromosome. In the illustrated figure a
metacentric chromosome (a) after its inversion it is converted to a submetcentric
one (b). Because of this kind of change the pericentric inversions can be
microscopically detected as the relative position of the centromere changes.
Inversions interfere with normal pairing during meiosis and may cause
nondisjunction of the improperly paired chromosomes. They also suppress the
effect of crossing over within the inverted section and retain groups of genes
intact, producing what have been called supergenes that can evolve (be selected
64 for or against) as units.
in Man
Fig. 4.5: Pericentric Inversion

Source: Hartl, D.L, 1985. Our uncertain heritage: Genetics andHuman Diversity.
New York, Harper and Row Publishers, p. 187
Heterozygous inversions can cause problem during meiosis. When synapsis occurs
during prophase 1, all regions of the inverted chromosome try to pair gene for
gene with the corresponding regions of the normal chromosome. To accomplish
this, the inverted region in one of the chromosomes must form a loop (see Fig.
4.6); this loop will permit gene-for-gene pairing with homologue. Thus, except
for a relatively small region around the breakpoints themselves, the normal and
the inverted chromosomes can synapse all along lengths. The result is the
formation of four gametes from the Anaphase I cell (see Fig.4.6), one will carry
the normal chromosomes, one will carry the inverted chromosome, and two will
have major abnormalities as a result of the crossover. In addition, among the
phenotypically normal offspring (whether the inversion is large or small, and
whether a crossover occurs or not), half will inherit the inverted chromosome
and the other half will inherit its noninverted homologue.
Fig. 4.6: (a) Synapsis in an individual who is hetetozygous for a paracentric inversion
showing a crossover within the inversion loop. (b) Anaphase I configuration
resulting from the crossover in (a). One of the chromatids involved in the
crossover is dicentric (solid arrows); the other is an acentric (open arrows)
New York, Harper and Row Publishers, p. 186 65
Human Genetics Similar to paracentric inversions, synapsis in meiosis produces an inversion loop
and crossing-over within this loop resulting in abnormal chromatids in pericentric
inversions also (Fig.4.7). The chromatids involved in a crossover within the
inversion loop of a heterozygous pericentric inversion will carry duplications
and deficiencies and will lead to offspring who have major chromosomal
abnormalities. Among the phenotypically normal offspring of an individual who
is heterozygous for a pericentric inversion, half will receive the inverted
chromosome and the other half will receive its noninverted homologue.
Fig. 4.7: (a) Synapsis in an individual who is hetetozygous for a paracentric inversion
showing a crossover within the inversion loop. (b) Anaphase I configuration
resulting from the crossover in (a). One of the chromatids involved in the
crossover has a duplication of A and a deficiency of D (solid arrows); the other
chromatid has a deficiency of A and a duplication of D (open arrows)
New York, Harper and Row Publishers, p.185
The larger the segments in the duplication and deletion in the recombinant
chromosome, the greater the degree of imbalance and the more likely miscarriage
will result. Also the smaller the size of the inversion, the greater will be the
degree of imbalance which will result in miscarriage of recombinant conceptions.
Translocations
Translocation is another class of structural abnormalities commonly found in
man which involves the detachment of a segment of one chromosome and
reattachment to another, usually nonhomologous, chromosome. The genetic
significance of this structural rearrangement is that genes from one chromosome
are transferred to another. These are of two types: (1) Reciprocal translocation
and (2) Nonreciprocal translocation. The reciprocal translocation is referred to
the structural rearrangement when segments of two nonhomologous chromosomes
are interchanged without any net loss of genetic material (Fig. 4.8). A special
type of nonreciprocal translocation is a Robertsonian translocation, in which
the centromeric regions of two nonhomologous acrocentric chromosomes become
fused to form a single centromere (Fig.4.9) (www.udl.es/usuaris).
In the reciprocal translocation as illustrated in Figure 4.8 no chromosomal material
is gained or lost and also each chromosome is monocentric. An individual who
carries the parts of reciprocal translocation (see (c) of Figure 4.8) would also
carry the normal homologue of both chromosome (i.e., ABCDE and YZ). Such
an individual is said to carry a balanced translocation because the individual
carries all the normal genes in their proper dosage; only the order of genes has
been changed. Individuals who carry only part of reciprocal translocation and
thus have duplications and/or deficiencies are said to carry unbalanced
66
translocations. When the interchanged parts of the reciprocal translocation are
large, the individuals with unbalanced translocations will have large duplications Chromosomal Aberrations
or deficiencies and would be expected to undergo spontaneous abortion. in Man
Fig. 4.8: Origin of a reciprocal translocation (c) from breaks ubtwo nonhomologous chromosomes
(a) followed by repositioning of broken ends and restitution of the breaks (b)
Source: Hartl, D.L, 1985. Our uncertain heritage: Genetics andHuman Diversity
New York, Harper and Row Publishers, p.189
Robertsonian translocation as illustrated in Figure 4.9 involves the interchange

of the long arm of one acrocentric chromosome with the short arm of a
nonhomologous acrocentric chromosome (see (a) and (b) of Figure 4.9) leading
to a tiny metacentric chromosome consisting of both short arms along with a
large metacentric chromosome consisting of both long arms (see (c) of Figure
4.9). The tiny metacentric chromosome frequently undergoes mitotic or meiotic
nondisjunction and is lost, but its loss has no detectable phenotypic effect owing
to the small amount of chromosomal material in tiny metacentric chromosome.
Robertsonian translocation is sometimes referred to as a chromosomal fusion or
centric fusion as there is a fusion of the long arms of two acrocentrics.
Fig. 4.9: Origin of Robertsonian translocation(c) from nonhomologous acrocentrics broken

as shown in (a) with restitution as in (b). In most cases the tiny metacentric
chromosome is lost
New York, Harper and Row Publishers, p.192 67
Human Genetics Chromosomes can also be fused end-to-end to shape a structure with two
centromeres. If one of these is inactivated, the chromosome fusion will be stable.
Such a fusion clearly occurred in the evolution of our own species. Human
chromosome 2, which is a metacentric, has arms that correspond to two different
acrocentric chromosomes in the genomes of the great apes. Detailed cytological
analysis has revealed that the ends of the short arms of these two chromosomes
apparently fused to create human chromosome 2.
Isochromosomes
An isochromosome is a chromosome in which both arms are identical.
Isochromosome is formed by the mirror image copy of a chromosome segment
including the centromere. It is thought to arise when a centromere splits
transversely in the wrong plane instead of along the normal longitudinal plane,
yielding two daughter chromosomes (Fig. 4.10), each of which carries the
information of one arm only but present twice. So these chromosomes show loss
of one arm and duplication of the other. They are perfectly metacentric
chromosomes. The isochromosomes are formed during mitosis and meiosis.
Fig. 4.10: Diagrammatic interpretation of the formation of isochromosomes. A) Normal

longitudinal spliting of the centromere (dotted line). B) Abormal transverse
splitting of the centromere (dotted line) forming isochromosomes
Source: Nagle, J.J. 1974 Heredity and Human Affairs. Saint Louis, The C.U. Mosby Com-
pany, p.271
Isochromosomes have been observed for the X chromosome with some regularity,
but they are virtually unknown in autosomes, except possibly for chromosome
21 in a few cases of Down’s syndrome.
Ring Chromosomes
A portion of a chromosome gets broken off and forms a circle or ring. A ring
chromosome is formed when a break occurs on each chromosome leaving two
sticky ends on the central portion which reunites as a ring. This can happen with
or without loss of genetic material. Ring chromosomes can be a centric or acentric
event.
Chromosome rearrangements can cause deletions and duplications.
In a Robertsonian translocation, the long arms of two different acrocentric
chromosomes join.
In a reciprocal translocation, chromosomes exchange parts.
68
If a translocation leads to a deletion or duplication, or disrupts a gene, in Man
symptoms may result.
Gene duplications and deletions can occur in isochromosomes and ring
chromosomes, and when crossovers involve inversions.
An isochromosome has two identical arms, introducing duplications and
deletions.
Ring chromosomes form when telomeres are missing.
4.7 SUMMARY
A Chromosome is a thread-like structure located in the cell nucleus of living
organisms. Generally, the chromosomes remain unchanged but due to certain
natural or adverse conditions the chromosomal number changes or certain
structural alterations may occur in the chromosomes which modifies the positions
of gene or loss of some genes. Abnormal Chromosome Number: A euploid
somatic human cell has 22 pairs of autosomes and one pair of sex chromosomes.
Polyploid cells have extra chromosome sets. Aneuploids have extra or missing
chromosomes. Trisomies (an extra chromosome) are less harmful than
monosomies (lack of a chromosome), and sex chromosome aneuploidy is less
severe than autosomal aneuploidy. Nondisjunction is uneven distribution of
chromosomes in meiosis. It causes aneuploidy. Most autosomal aneuploids cease
developing as embryos.
There are two different types of abnormalities in chromosome number, (1) the
presence of extra entire sets of chromosomes, and (2) involves individual
chromosomes instead of entire sets of chromosomes. Monosomic and trisomic
zygotes are usually the consequence of non-disjunction during meiotic cell
division. Non-disjunction is the inability of two members of homologous
chromosome pair to separate during cell division so that both pass to the same
daughter cell and the result is the production of one or more gametes that carry
an extra chromosome and one or more gametes lack a chromosome. There are
three types of trisomies and one monosomy of sex chromosomes observed in
man. Turner’s syndrome is a monosomy (XO, 45,X) and Klinefelter’s syndrome
(XXY, 47,XXY), Trisomy X syndrome (XXX, 47,XXX), and Jacob’s (Double
Y) syndrome (XYY, 47,XYY) are the trisomics. Among the autosomes, only
one monosomy is observed which is very rare. It is called Al-Aish’s syndrome
(21, 0 or 45, -21). There are three autosomal trisomics in man and they are Patau’s
syndrome (13, 13, 13 or 47, +13), Edward’s syndrome (18, 18, 18 or 47, +18)
and Down’s syndrome (21, 21, 21 or 47, +21).
A mixture of aneuploidy and normal cell lines are possible to exist within the
same person. These are called chromosomal mosaicism. The presence of two or
more genetically distinct cell lines in an individual derived from more than one
zygote is called chimerism. Chromosomes are prone to accidents that break and
alter their individual structure. Deletions and/or duplications result from crossing
over after pairing errors in synapsis. Crossing over in an inversion heterozygote
can also generate deletions and duplications. A chromosome with a deletion
(deficiency) has certain genes missing. Small duplications involving only a few
genes, are thought to be an important evolutionary mechanism for the origin of
“new genes”. In a Robertsonian translocation, the short arms of two acrocentric
69
Human Genetics chromosomes break, leaving sticky ends on the long arms that join to form an
unusual, large chromosome. In a reciprocal translocation, two nonhomologous
chromosomes substitute parts. A translocation carrier may have an associated
phenotype and generate some unbalanced gametes. Isochromosomes repeat one
chromosome arm but delete the other. This happens when the centromere divides
in the wrong plane during meiosis. Ring chromosomes form when telomeres are
removed, leaving sticky ends that hold on.
Reference
www.dummies.com
www.microbiologyprocedure.com
www.udl.es
www.scribd.com
www.uqu.edu.sa
Suggested Reading
Borgaonkar, D. S. 1977. Chromosomal Variation in Man. New York, Alan R.
Liss.
Gardner, R. J. M. and Sutherland, G. R. 2004. Chromosome Abnormalities and
Genetic Counseling. London,Oxford University Press.
Stern, C.1960. Principles of Human Genetics. San Francisco and London, W.
H. Freeman and Company.
Therman, E. S. 1993. Human Chromosomes: Structure, Be haviour and Effects.
New York. Springer-Verlag.
Whittinghill, M. 1965. Human Genetics and Its Foundations. Calcutta, New
Delhi, Oxford and IBH Publishing Company.
Sample Questions
1) Distinguish among a euploid, aneuploid, and polyploid. State which of the
following involve in aneuploid number of chromosomes: diploidy,
duplication, haploidy, triplication, Trisomy 21, Turner’s syndrome, XXYY.
2) Discuss classification of some structural mutants, and illustrate them
diagrammatically.
3) How many chromosomes would a person have who has Klinefelter syndrome
and also trisomy 21?
4) Describe an individual with each of the following chromosome constitutions.
Mention the person’s sex and possible phenotype.
a) 47, XXX; b). 45, X; c) (47, + 21) trisomy 21
5) List three types of chromosomal aberrations that can cause duplications and/
or deletions, and explain how they do so. List three causes of Turner
syndrome.
70
MANI-002
PHYSICAL
Indira Gandhi
ANTHROPOLOGY
Block
6
HUMAN GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT
UNIT 1
Principles of Growth and Development 5
UNIT 2
Methods and Influencing Factors 22
UNIT 3
Human Constitution and Physique 39
UNIT 4
Reproductive Biology 51
Expert Committee
Patiala
Dr. Nita Mathur
SOSS, IGNOU
Professor Barun Mukhopadhyaya Mrs. Narinder Jit Kaur
Indian Statistical Institute Retired, Associate Professor in English
Kolkata Government Mohindra College, Patiala
Unit Writers
Prof. R K Pathak (Unit 1) Prof. Indu Talwar (Unit 2 ) Prof. Satwanti Kapoor (Unit 3)
Department of Anthropology Department of Anthropology Department of Anthropology
Panjab University, Chandigarh Panjab University, Chandigarh University of Delhi, Delhi
Prof. S. V. Hittalmani (Unit 4)
Karnatak University, Dharwad

August, 2011
ISBN-978-81-266-5550-2
Printed at :
BLOCK 6 HUMAN GROWTH AND
DEVELOPMENT
Introduction
The study of human physical growth and development has been an important
part of physical anthropology and human biology since the founding days of
these disciplines. Needless to say, this topic has a rich historical tradition of
continuous research advancements and accumulation of huge amount of data on
physical growth and development of children from human populations inhabiting
the globe in diverse physical environments and geographical locations
experiencing enormous cultural and socio-economic diversity. Some estimates
suggest that systematic studies on growth and maturation dates back to mid-
1860s. During that time European anthropology considered the science of body
measurements to be a valid tool to assess body dimension and in American
Anthropology in the late 19th century, studies on human growth became evident.
Since then, the practitioners of physical anthropology in many countries including
India, collected data on growth and development of children in time and space
dimensions for assessment of growth patterns of children and evaluate factors
responsible for such patterns.
Human growth and development is a biocultural phenomenon. It is an important

biological process that incorporates a complex interaction among the biological
endowment of our species, the physical environment in which this species lives,
and the social, economic and political environments that are created by human
cultures. Since the basic pattern of human growth and development is common
for all human groups, it is considered that this basic pattern is the outcome of the
evolutionary history of the hominids, the living humans and our fossil ancestors.
The fact mentioned above justifies the interest of the biological anthropologists
and the human biologists to undertake research on human growth and
development. Furthermore, study of growth and development has an applied
anthropological and human biological value in terms of measuring child health
and nutrition.
With this backdrop, the four units in this Block are chosen keeping in mind the
necessities of understanding the important theoretical aspects of human growth
and development. Unit 1 portrays the basic concepts concerning principles of
growth and development, stages of growth before and after birth and characteristic
features growth curves pertaining to different parts of the body as well as its
organs. Unit 2 deals with methods of growth studies, merits and demerits of
these methods and the occurrence of secular trend in growth profiles of children.
Further, it considers the contribution of a variety of factors, viz. genetic,
environmental, nutritional, psychological and the like, influencing growth and
development. Unit 3 considers human constitution and physique, and discusses
concepts and various methods of somatotyping. Finally, Unit 4 gives an account
of the human reproductive biology, through a discussion on the reproductive
physiology of both the sexes, biological aspects of human fertility and other
important bioevents concerning maturation in one hand and aging on the other.
We are hopeful that these Units will be a source of motivation to the students to
sustain their interest in the topic of human growth and development.
Human Growth and
Development
4
Principles of Growth and
UNIT 1 PRINCIPLES OF GROWTH AND Development
DEVELOPMENT
Contents
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Concept of Human Growth and Development
1.3 Prenatal and Postnatal Growth
1.4 Growth Curves of Different Tissues and Different Parts of the Body
1.5 Summary
References
Suggested Reading
Sample Questions

After going through this unit, you should be able to:
Ø learn the basic concepts of human physical growth and development;
Ø understand the patterns of growth from the time of conception through birth,
infancy, childhood, maturity, old age; and
Ø get acquainted with normal growth curves which would help in
understanding the growing-up pattern of children and detection of any
abnormal physical growth.
1.1 INTRODUCTION
Any parent with grown-up children would have observed the milestones which
his or her children have passed as they grew from infancy to childhood, from
childhood to adolescence, and from adolescence to adulthood. However, few
parents have enough number of children to understand the variation in the rate at
which children mature and the relationship which exist between the age at which
various maturation processes occur and the end result in terms of adult physical
characteristics.
1.2 CONCEPT OF HUMAN GROWTH AND

DEVELOPMENT
From the practical point of view, the knowledge of human growth is very
important. Those concerned with variations in the physique of adults must know
how these physical dimensions are arrived at; the school teacher must know
what to expect, physically as well as mentally, from her students as they grow-
up; the doctor and nurse must learn to distinguish normal and abnormal growth
and know the effects of diseases on growth.
Change is the law of nature. An individual’s origin is from a fertilized egg which
undergoes the process of growth and development and ultimately turns into a
full fledged human adult. This cycle of changes is physical, mental, emotional,
etc. Growth and development are important natural processes in an individual. 5
Human Growth and Growth refers to increase in physical dimensions of an individual, e.g., increase
Development
in height, weight, etc. or various parts and organs of the body. It implies increase
in size or general bodily growth. The increase is limited by hereditary factors,
and influenced by environmental factors, such as, ethnicity, climate, diet and
many other factors.
Development refers to enhancement in the functioning of the human body. It

entails changes in structure, form, or shape. It takes into account the increase in
dimensions, change in proportions and adjustment of parts. Development is
evaluated by improvement in the performance of the human body. Development
is always gradual, progressive and diversified in form according to different
periods of growth.
Very often, the terms ‘growth’ and ‘development’ are used interchangeably
and considered to be one and the same. Both communicate to the
measurement of changes occurring in individuals. The term development
includes the perception and process of growth. But strictly speaking growth
refers to increase in size and development includes not only growth in size
but also functioning of body processes, growth in intelligence, understanding,
personality, etc.
Growth can be easily observed, measured, but development cannot be measured

easily. Growth stops as soon as an individual attains maturity, but development
of an individual is a continuous process throughout life. Growth refers to specific
characteristic of the body such as growth in height or arm length, but development
is concerned with the entire human body. Infact, for practical purposes these two
terms are not always differentiated.
1.3 PRENATAL AND POSTNATAL GROWTH

The entire period of growth can be divided into two major phases, i.e., Prenatal
(before birth) and Postnatal (after birth). The prenatal phase is further divided
in three distinct stages – the fertiized egg (ovum) or Zygote, the Embryo and
the Foetus. The stages of postnatal phase are – infancy, childhood, adolescence,
maturity and senescence.
Prenatal Growth
The period of prenatal growth is significantly important to the child’s future
well-being; the fact remains that it is the period about which, certainly, we do
not have much knowledge. For the first and second trimesters of pregnancy we
have to depend on cross-sectional studies. In the second trimester we also have
to rely almost completely on foetuses expelled from the uterus because one or
the other was abnormal, whereas during the earliest weeks of pregnancy we
have mostly normal products of social abortions. For later foetal life we can
study infants born prematurely, making the conjecture that these children have
grown before birth and will grow after it in exactly the same way as children
who remain in the uterus the average length of time, which is in normal cases.
Period of Egg: Fertilized Egg (ovum) or Zygote (first 2 weeks): We do not

know what forces are responsible for selecting one out of millions of sperm (i.e.
male gamete) which fertilizes the ovum (i.e. female gamete). Fertilization takes
6
place in one of the tubes which lead from the ovaries to the uterus. The fertilized Principles of Growth and
Development
egg spends some four to five days drifting down the tube and floating in the
uterine cavity before it implants into the wall of the uterus (the female organ in
which embryo/foetus develops). During this time the cells divide steadily so that
at the time of implantation, the blastocyst as it is called consists of around 150
cells. After implantation, the outer layer of the blastocyst undergoes a series of
changes which culminate in the formation of the placenta which gives nourishment
to embryo/foetus. A small proportion of the inner layer develops into the embryo.
Period of the Embryo (2 to 8 weeks): The period of the embryo is considered

to begin 2 weeks after fertilization and ends 8 weeks after fertilization. The child
now is recognisably human, with arms and legs, a heart that beats, and a nervous
system that shows the beginning of reflex responses to tactile stimuli, is called a
foetus. At this stage it is about 3 cm long.
This is a hazardous period, and many more ova are fertilized than come to fruition.
It is estimated that 10% fail to implant and of those that implant and become
embryos half of them are spontaneously aborted, usually without the mother’s
knowledge. Such abortion is in most cases due to developmental abnormalities,
either of the embryo or of its protective and nutritive surrounding structures. 5%
to 10% of fertilized ova have abnormalities of the chromosomes but amongst
newborns it is only 0.5%. Spontaneous abortions take care of this situation when
90% to 95% of all conceptions with these abnormalities are rejected.
The counting of age in the prenatal period remains problematic. Traditionally,

and because we have no better way, age tends to be counted from the first day of
the last menstrual period. This occurs on an average 2 weeks before fertilization.
Thus the most frequent age at birth is 280 days or 40 weeks, reckoned as
‘postmenstrual age’, but this represents only 38 weeks of true foetal age. However,
there are difficulties in individual cases. The interval from menstruation to
fertilization varies considerably; and again, menstrual bleeding may continue in
some women for 1 or even 2 months after fertilization.
The velocity is not pronounced in the embryonic period. Initially, during the first
2 months differentiation of the originally homogeneous whole into regions, such
as head, arms take place. Histogenesis which is the differentiation of cells into
specialised tissues such as muscle and nerve also occurs same time. Each region
transforms into a definite shape, by differential growth of cells or by cell migration
due to the process called morphogenesis. This carries on until adulthood and in
some parts of the body, into old age, though the major part of it is completed by
the 8th postmenstrual week.
Period of the Foetus (9 to 40 weeks): As has already been explained reliable

growth curves of the foetus are hard to come by. There are reliable data available
for body length of foetuses from about 10 to 18 weeks of postmenstrual age, and
for infants born prematurely from about 28 weeks onwards. No useful data is
available for 18 and 28 weeks. Figure 1.1 shows the distance and velocity curves
of body length in prenatal life, and for the first year after birth. The peak velocity
is experienced at about 4 month’s postmenstrual age. The solid lines shows the
actual length and length velocity; the interrupted lines interpret the theoretical
curve which is expected if no uterine restriction takes place in the last weeks of
pregnancy, followed by a compensating catch-up after birth.
7
Human Growth and
Development
Fig.1.1: Distance (above) and velocity (below) curves for growth in body length in prenatal
and early postnatal period
Source: Tanner, J.M., 1978. Foetus into Man: Physical growth from conception to mautrity
8 Cambridge; Harvard university Press
Due to the continuing cellular multiplication the high rate of growth of the foetus Principles of Growth and
Development
takes place compared with that of the child. As the foetus gets older, the proportion
of cells undergoing division in any tissue becomes gradually less and it is normally
few new nerve cells and only a small proportion of new muscle cells appear after
30 postmenstrual weeks. By this time the velocity in linear dimensions drops
sharply. There is however considerable difference in appearance of muscle and
nerve cells of the foetus as compared those of the child or adult, due to the fact
that early in development there is little cytoplasm around the nuclei. Great deal
of intracellular substance and a much higher proportion of water compared to
mature muscle are found in foetal muscles, while the later foetal and postnatal
growth of muscle comprises primarily of building up the cytoplasm of the muscle
cells. Then again salts are incorporated and the contractile proteins are formed
as a result the cells become bigger in size, the intracellular substance mainly
disappears and the concentration of water drops. This continues fairly vigorously
till 3 years and slows down subsequently. It briefly speeds up again in adolescence,
particularly in boys, under the influence of androgenic (male determining)
hormones. In the foetal nerve cells cytoplasm is added, and the cell processes
grow. Postnatal growth for most tissues is significant as a period of development
and enlargement of existing cells, while in early foetal life cell division and the
addition of new cells takes place.
It is also to be noted that growth in weight in the foetus follows the same general
pattern as that of height, except that the peak velocity is reached later, usually at
the 34th postmenstrual week. During the last 10 weeks in the uterus, the foetus
stores considerable amounts of energy in the form of fat. Up till about 26 weeks
postmenstrual age, most of the increase in foetal weight is due to accumulation
of protein as the main cells of the body are built up. From then on fat begins to
accumulate, both deep in the body and subcutaneously. It has been found that
from about 30 to 40 postmenstrual weeks’ fat increases from nearly 30g to 430g.
Since fat contains much more energy than protein or carbohydrate per unit volume
this represents a large reserve of energy available for the first, perhaps critical,
period after birth. Conversely, the creation of such a store represents a considerable
drain on the energy resources of the mother in the last weeks of pregnancy.
Fig.1.2: Velocity of growth in weight of singleton children

Source: Tanner, J.M., 1978. Foetus into Man: Physical growth from conception to mautrity.
Cambridge; Harvard university Press
9
Human Growth and The Effect of the Uterine Environment on Prenatal Growth: Evidence
Development
ascertains that, beginning at 34 to 36 weeks, the growth of the foetus slows
down owing to the influence of the uterus, whose available space by that time
becomes fully occupied. Twins slow down earlier, when their combined weight
is approximately the 36-week weight of the singleton foetus (Tanner 2011). In
Figure1.2, a velocity curve is plotted, created before birth from the differences
between weight means of singleton babies born alive at periods from 24 to 40
weeks and after birth from differences in weight means in a mixed longitudinal
study of a similar population in the U.K. A curve comparable in shape with usual
growth curves could be constructed by joining the top, 32-week prenatal point
with the first, 8-week postnatal point. Such a hypothetical curve would predict a
peak weight velocity reached at about 34 weeks. However, between then and 40
weeks, growth is held up; and the increase in velocity in the first 8 weeks after
birth represents a catch-up, on the part of those newborns that have been most
delayed in the uterus. Thus, there is a significant negative correlation between
length at birth and length gain in the first 6 months after birth, and also between
weight at birth and weight gain in the first 6 months. The smaller the baby, on
average, the more it grows at this time (Tanner, 1978).
In man it is observed that the correlation coefficient between length at birth and
adult height is only about 0·3. Again, the coefficient rises sharply during the
first year, and between length at age 2 and adult height the correlation coefficient
is nearly 0·8. These figures also reflect maternal control of newborn size. However,
it is not clear, how this control is exercised. The placenta grows at first more
rapidly than the foetus, but from about 30 weeks onwards its growth rate becomes
less than that of the foetus and the placenta/foetus ratio falls. The possibility
could be that the placenta simply cannot increase its capacity to supply enough
food to sustain the rapid 34-week foetal velocity. In animals like mice and guinea
pigs it seems likely that the limiting factor is blood flow, the size of the placenta
depending on the pressure at which the maternal blood reaches it, and the size of
the foetus depending, in turn, on the size of the placenta. Whether this is also
important in man is not yet known.
Poor environmental circumstances, especially of nutrition (inappropriate or low

nutrition), result in lowered birth weight in the human being. This seems chiefly
to be due to a reduced rate of growth in the last 2 to 4 weeks of foetal life, for
mean weights of babies born at 36 weeks to 38 weeks in various parts of the
world under various circumstances are rather similar. Mothers who, because of
adverse socio-economic circumstances in their own childhood, have not achieved
their full growth potential may produce smaller foetuses than they would have
done had they grown up under better conditions. Thus, two consecutive
generations or even more may be needed to reverse the effect of poor environment
on birth weight. In Guatemalan villages, for example, mothers of short stature
had babies of lower birth weight than did mothers of medium stature. A food
supplement given to the mothers during pregnancy had more effect on the birth
weight of children born to short mothers than on those born to medium-sized
mothers, but it did not wholly eliminate the difference as observed by Tanner.
10
So-called ‘Premature’ Babies: The average length of gestation is 280 days or Principles of Growth and
Development
40 weeks measured on an average from the beginning of the first day of the last
menstrual period. Nonetheless considerable individual variation has also been
observed. An international agreement deliberates lengths of gestation from 259
days (or 37 completed weeks) to 293 days (or 42 completed weeks). Babies born
within these period are called term babies, earlier to it are called pre-term babies
and those born later are post-term babies. Latest studies conclude that the limits
of normal term should be between 38 and 41 completed weeks rather than between
37 and 42 weeks.
Fig.1.3: Standards for birth weight for gestation age , first born girls.(a) 2,500 g, born at 36
weeks; (b) 2,500 g, born at 40 weeks
Until a few years ago all babies who weighed less than 2500 g (5½lb.) at birth
were designated ‘premature’ irrespective of their length of gestation or
physiological state. This definition as promulgated by World Health Organization
in 1948 caused much confusion and has now been dropped; the word ‘premature’
has disappeared from scientific use. Babies less than 2,500 g at birth according
to World Health Organization in 1961 are called ‘low birth weight’ babies. This
low birth weight may be due either to their being born early, or to their being
babies who are pathologically small for their length of gestation. The distinction
is made by the use of standards such as the one shown in Figure 1.3, which gives
the centiles for first-born girls only; children subsequent to the first one are heavier
on average by 110 g and boys are heavier than girls on average by 150 g. The
baby marked A weighed 2,500 g but was born a month early, at 36 weeks. She is
at the 25th centile for first-born girls of this gestational age, thus perfectly normally
grown. The baby B, also of 2.500 g, born at 40 weeks (full-term), is below the 5th
centile and thus of very questionable normality. Such a baby is known colloquially
as ‘small-for-dates’.
11
Human Growth and There exists a tendency for some mothers always to have relatively small babies
Development
and other mothers relatively large ones. Therefore, a more critical standard can
be constructed in which the weight of the new baby is compared with the birth
weight of his brothers and sisters with an allowance given for length of gestation.
To a great extent this trait of size at birth runs in families and therefore, is inherited,
possibly through characteristics of the maternal uterus rather than of the foetus
itself. This variation between families, however, remains strictly within the normal
range of birth weights. When we talk about small-for-dates babies we mean
those who are beyond these limits. A small overlap exists, for a very few normal
babies are necessarily below the arbitrary limit set for the upper bound of small-
for-dates infants.
The distinction between pre-term babies of normal weight for length of gestation
and babies who are light for their often normal length of gestation is an important
one. The purely pre-term infants catch up reasonably well and seem little worse
for their earlier experience of the outside world. Even those born as early as 28
weeks weighing 1000 g can be seen these days to grow at the very rapid rate
appropriate to their age and sent home 8 to 10 weeks later at the normal weight
for a full-term infant. This is possible providing nutritional supplements enriched
in nutrients in appropriate quantities.
On the other hand, babies who are light for length of gestation, i.e. small-for-
dates, do not on average catch up to normal, although they diminish the gap a
little. It is noted that the average small-for-dates child reaches about the 25th
centile for height, which implies that a considerable proportion of such children
remain below the 3rd centile limits of normal. A substantial proportion fails also
to develop the same level of mental ability as normal children.
Children can of course be both pre-term and small-for-dates. About one-third of

pre-term babies in the U.K. appear to be so. Such children fall clearly in the
small-for-dates category. The deficits in later size and ability get worse as the
birthweight decreases. Children between 2,000 and 2,500 g at birth having full-
term show little impairment of ability and only a slight size deficit. A considerable
proportion of those under 2,000 g, however, have some mental or neurological
defect. The chance of perinatal death (i.e. death-within -24-hours after birth)
increases. In a study of 44,000 consecutive births in the Royal Victoria Hospital
in Montreal, Usher and McLean found that the preinatal mortality was 54 per
1,000 births in babies born at term i.e.37 to 42 weeks with weights under the 3rd
centile for gestational age compared with 6 per 1,000 in babies with weights
between the 30th and 70th centiles. In babies of all lengths of gestation, perinatal
mortality was 16 per 1,000 amongst babies whose weights were between the 3rd
and 97th centiles for gestational age, but 189 per 1,000 for those whose weights
were under the 3rd centile for gestational age (Tanner, 1978).
Thus, it is documented that the prognosis for a small child born after a normal-
length gestation is very different from the prediction for an equally small child
born after a shortened gestation. Coming out of the uterus early is not in itself
harmful, while growing less than normally during a full uterine stay implies
pathology of foetus, placenta or mother.
12
It is a demonstrated fact that small-for-dates babies are a heterogeneous group, Principles of Growth and
Development
produced by several different causes. In countries where severe maternal
malnutrition occurs a proportion of small-for-dates babies are definitely due to
maternal malnutrition. But the malnutrition has to be fairly severe, for in this
situation the foetus is protected at the expense of the mother. In well-nourished
mothers disorders of the placenta may be responsible. Smoking in pregnancy is
seen to cause, a reduction of 180 g on average, in full-term foetal weight and a
30% increase in perinatal mortality. The size of reduction persists throughout
childhood. This reduction of weight brings some babies into the small-for-dates
category. Alcohol appears also to reduce foetal weight, and a large consumption
of alcohol may affect the foetus directly. This may cause a recognisable disorder
known as the foetal alcohol syndrome. Because of this syndrome, the face of the
baby has a characteristic appearance, due to insufficient development of parts
around the eyes, nose and upper lip. Some maternal diseases cause smallness-
for-dates, in particular rubella (German measles), which also may cause specific
deformities and deafness. In other instances it seems the foetus itself is disordered
and lacks the capacity to grow properly. According to some studies, mothers of
small-for-dates babies have a higher proportion of abnormal outcomes in other
conceptions (miscarriages, etc.) than do mothers of normal-sized babies.
Since the worst period for the small-for-dates baby seems to be the last part of
pregnancy, when she is, or should be, growing most, many doctors are now
advocating removal of these foetuses at 36 weeks, or even at 34 weeks in severe
cases. This is done by straightforward induction of labour and vaginal delivery.
Much research is therefore in progress to devise means of recognising these
foetuses in time for this action to be taken. To date, the most helpful guide to
intra-uterine growth insufficiency is measurement of the foetus by ultrasonic
means (Tanner, 1978). Ultrasound may be used early in pregnancy to measure
the length of the foetus’s back from crown of head to rump, and from about 13
postmenstrual weeks to measure the width of the head and the circumference of
the abdomen. It seems that screening all babies for crown to rump length between
6 and 12 weeks, for head width between 13 and 20 weeks, and for abdominal
circumference at 32 weeks, would detect over 90% of all small-for-dates babies,
with a negligible number of false positives (i.e. babies so diagnosed who were
really normal). Such a screening programme is well within the capabilities of
the medical services of industrialised countries.
Postnatal Growth (birth to maturity)

The amount of growth achieved obviously depends on the time for which growth
proceeds and on the speed of growth per unit time. Measurements taken on a
single individual at intervals can be plotted against time to produce a graph of
progress, whether they are derived from the whole body (e.g. height) or from
one of its components (e.g. leg length).
13
Human Growth and
Development
Fig. 1.4: Growth in height of de Montbeillard’s son from birth to 18 years; (above-4a)
distance curve, height attained at each year; (below-4b) velocity curve, increments
in height from year to year
Figure 1.4 shows the most famous of all records of postnatal human growth. It
demonstrates the height of a single boy, measured every 6 months from birth to
18 years. This is the oldest longitudinal record in existence, and it remains, one
of the best for the necessary illustration. It was made during the years 1759-77
by Count Philibert de Montbeillard on his son and it was published by Buffon in
a supplement to the Histoire Naturelle.
In Figure 1.4a is plotted the height attained at successive ages while in Figure 4b
the increments in height from one age to the next, expressed as the rate of growth
per year. If we think of growth as a form of motion and considered analogous to
the journey of a train then the upper curve is one of distance traveled and the
lower curve, one of velocity. The velocity, or rate of growth, naturally reflects
the child’s state at any particular time better than does the distance achieved,
which depends largely on how much the child has grown in all the preceding
14 years. Thus, for those substances which change in amount with age, the
concentrations in blood and tissues are more likely to run parallel to the velocity Principles of Growth and
Development
than to the distance curve. In some circumstances, it is the acceleration rather
than the velocity curves which best reflect physiological events (Tanner, 1978).
Figure 1.4b shows that in general the velocity of growth decreases from birth.
From 13 to 15 years in this particular boy, there is a marked acceleration of
growth, called the adolescent growth spurt. Some writers although distinguish
sharply the terms ‘adolescence’ and ‘puberty”. Some use puberty to refer to
physical changes, and adolescence to refer to psychosocial ones. From birth until
age 4 or 5 the rate of growth in height declines rapidly, and then the decline, or in
other words deceleration gets gradually less, so that in some children the velocity
is practically constant from 5 or 6 up to the beginning of the adolescent spurt. A
slight increase in velocity is sometimes seen to occur between about 6 and 8
years. This phenomenon provides a second wave on the general velocity curve,
sometimes called as ‘pre-adolescent’ spurt (Tanner, 1978).
The Adolescent Growth Spurt: The adolescent growth spurt is a constant

phenomenon and occurs in all children, though it varies in intensity and duration
from one child to another. The difference in size in men and women is to a large
degree due to differences in timing and intensity of the adolescent spurt. Before
adolescent spurt boys and girls differ only by about 2% in height, but after it by
an average of about 8%. The difference is partly because of later occurrence of
the male spurt allowing an extra period of growth, and partly because of a greater
intensity of the spurt (Tanner, 1978).
Fig.1.5: Typical individual-height attained curves for boys and girls

15
Human Growth and Figure 1.5 shows the typical girl as slightly shorter than the typical boy at all
Development
ages until adolescence. She becomes taller shortly after 11·0 years because her
adolescent spurt takes place two years earlier than the boys. At age 14·0 she is
surpassed again in height by the typical boy, whose adolescent spurt has now
started, whereas her adolescence is nearly finished. In the same way, the typical
girl weighs a little less than the boy at birth, equals him at age 8·0, becomes
heavier at age 9 or 10 and remains so till about age 14·5 (Tanner, 1978).
Fig.1.6: Typical individual height velocity height curves for boys and girls
The velocity curves given in Figure 1.6 show these processes more clearly. At
birth the typical boy is growing slightly faster than the typical girl but the velocities
become equal at about 7 months and then the girl grows faster until about age
4·0. From then till adolescence no difference in velocity can be detected. The sex
difference is best thought of, perhaps, in terms of acceleration, the boy decelerating
harder than the girl over the first four years. The typical girl begins her adolescent
spurt in height at about 10·5 and reaches peak height velocity at approximately
12·0 in the UK, and about three months earlier in the U.S.A. The boy begins his
spurt and reaches his peak just two years later. The boys’ peak is higher than the
girls’, on an average by 10.3 centimeters a year compared with the girls’ 9·0 cm/yr
as observed in U.K. It is noted that girls are always in advance of boys (i.e. closer
to their final mature status), even at birth (Tanner, 1978).
1.4 GROWTH CURVES OF DIFFERENT TISSUES

AND DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE BODY
General observations suggest that most body measurements follow approximately
the growth curves as described for height. Majority of skeletal and muscular
dimensions grow in this manner, and internal organs such as liver, spleen and
kidney also follow similar path. But then the brain and skull, the reproductive
16 organs, the lymphoid tissues of the tonsils, adenoids and intestines, and the
subcutaneous fat are exceptions to it. In Figure 1.7 these differences are shown, Principles of Growth and
Development
using the size attained by various tissues as a percentage of the birth-to-maturity
increment. Height follows the ‘general’ curve. The reproductive organs, internal
and external, have a slow pre-pubescent growth, followed by a very large
adolescent spurt.
Fig.1.7: Growth curves of different parts and tissues of the body, showing percentage of
total gain from birth to 20 years.
The brain, along with the skull, eyes and ears develops earlier than any other part
of the body and thus has a characteristic postnatal curve. The brain experiences
a very small adolescent spurt, which is if it occurs. Head length and breadth
experience a small but sure spurt, which can actually be attributed to thickening
of the skull bones and the scalp, and development of the air sinuses. The dimension
of the face is similar to the general curve. There is a significant adolescent spurt,
particularly in the mandible, ensuing in the jaw’s becoming longer and more
projecting, the profile straighter, and the chin more pointed. Nevertheless,
substantial individual differences, to the extent that a few children have no
detectable spurt at all in some face measurements is also reported.
Eye witnesses a slight adolescent spurt. Though myopia escalates constantly

from at least age 6 to maturity, a particularly speedy rate of change happens at
about 11 to 12 in girls and 13 to 14 in boys, as would be probable if there was a
somewhat greater spurt in the axial dimension of the eye than in its vertical
dimension.
It is observed that unlike the rest of the body, the lymphoid tissue has quite a
different growth curve from the rest of the body. Generally, it reaches its maximum
amount before adolescence and then, possibly under the direct influence of sex
hormones, declines to its adult value. 17
Human Growth and The subcutaneous fat layer also has its particular curve which is somewhat
Development
complex. The methods used to measure subcutaneous fat are x-rays or by picking
up a fold of skin and fat between the thumb and forefinger and measuring its
thickness with a special, constant-pressure caliper referred to as skinfold thickness.
Figure 1.8 shows the distance curves of skinfolds taken half-way down the back
of the arm (triceps) and at the back of the chest, just below the shoulder blade
(subscapular). Subcutaneous fat begins to be laid down in the foetus at about 34
weeks postmenstrual age, and increases continuously, to reach a peak at about 9
months after birth. Usually this is true for an average child. The peak may be
reached as early as 6 months or as late as 12 or 15. After 9 months, the skinfolds
decrease until age 6 to 8 when they begin to rise again. Girls have a little more
total fat than boys at birth, and the difference becomes gradually more marked
during childhood. From 8 years on, the curves for girls and boys diverge more
radically, as do the curves for limb and body fat. At adolescence the limb fat in
boys on average decreases (see triceps, Figure 1.8); the body fat (subscapular)
shows a temporary slowing down of gain, but no loss. In girls there is a slight
halting of the limb-fat gain at adolescence, but no loss; the trunk-fat shows only
a steady rise until adulthood (Tanner, 1978).
Fig.1.8: Distance curve of subcutaneous tissue
18
Post adolescent Growth: Growth, even of the skeleton, does not entirely cease Principles of Growth and
Development
at the end of the adolescent period. The limb bones stop increasing in length, but
the vertebral column continues to grow until about age 30 years, by apposition
of bone to the tops and bottoms of the vertebral bodies. Thus height increases by
a small amount, on average 3 to 5 millimeters. From about 30 to 45 years height
remains stationary, and then it begins to decline. Head length, head breadth and
facial diameters increase slightly throughout life. The widths of the bones in the
leg and in the hand, in both sexes also increase. For practical purposes, however,
it is useful to have an age at which we may say that growth in stature virtually
ceases, i.e. after which only some 2% is added. At present in the developed
nations such as North America and north-west Europe, the average boy stops
growing, in this sense, at 17·5 years and the average girl at 15·5 years. There is a
normal range of variation amongst individuals, amounting to about two years,
on either side of these averages.
Senescence: The one thing in life that is certain to occur is – death. It may be
sooner or later, and the manner in which it occurs may vary considerably. As one
grows older the chances are that death will be preceded by a varying period
during which the physical or mental faculties, or both, become gradually reduced.
It is these processes followed by death, which is called senescence. Senescence
could also be defined as including those effects which lead to a decreased
expectation of life as the age increases. We can measure senescence by finding
the death rate in a population. Senescence can be influenced by genetic as well
as environmental factors. The genetic component of senescence can be studied
by inheritance of longevity, which may be due to absence or presence of
predisposition to disease. The classical method of genetic analysis using twins
also gives interesting information. The difference in age at death between
monozygotic (identical) twins is only half of that between dizygotic (non-
identical) twins. But the correlation between ages at death of siblings is twice
that between parent and child. This suggests that environmental factors may also
be of importance. For example, lung cancer is a senescent disease, whether caused
by excessive smoking or atmospheric pollution, it is largely environmentally
determined.
1.5 SUMMARY
Growth refers to increase in physical dimensions of an individual, e.g., increase
in height, weight, etc. Development refers to changes in structure, form, or shape;
it includes increase in dimensions, change in proportions and adjustment of parts;
and provides improvement in the functioning of the human body. Growth and
development are influenced by hereditary and environmental factors.
The entire period of growth can be divided into two major phases, i.e., Prenatal
(before birth) and Postnatal (after birth). The prenatal phase is further divided
in three stages – the fertilized egg (ovum) or zygote, the embryo and the
foetus. The stages of postnatal phase are – infancy, childhood, adolescence,
maturity, senescence.
Prenatal Growth
Fertilized egg (ovum) (first 2 weeks) is the period when formation of placenta
and embryo occur.
19
Human Growth and Embryo (2 to 8 weeks) is the phase when the differentiation of the originally
Development
homogeneous whole into regions, such as head, arms and so forth occurs, due to
the differentiation of cells into specialised tissues such as muscle and nerve.
Simultaneously, each region is transformed into a definite shape, by differential
growth of cells or by cell migration by the process morphogenesis. At the end of
this period it is 3 cm long.
Foetus (9 to 40 weeks): At the beginning of this period the child is recognisably

human, with arms and legs, a heart that beats, and a nervous system that shows
the beginning of reflex responses to tactile stimuli, and is called a foetus. The
growth of height and weight follow similar increasing pattern, except that the
peak for height is reached at about 16 postmenstrual weeks, while that of weight
is reached at about 34 postmenstrual weeks. Up till about 26 weeks postmenstrual
age, most of the increase in foetal weight is due to accumulation of protein, but
from then on fat begins to accumulate. There is an increase in fat from 30 to 40
postmenstrual weeks from some 30 g to 430 g. Since fat contains much more
energy than protein or carbohydrate per unit volume this represents a large reserve
of energy available for the first, perhaps critical, period after birth.
The Effect of the Uterine Environment on Prenatal Growth: By the time the
foetus is 34 to 36 weeks the growth slows down due to the influence of the
uterus, whose available space is by then becoming fully occupied. This facilitates
a child to be successfully delivered. As a result of poor environmental situations,
especially of nutrition, lower birth weight is observed.
So-called ‘Premature’ Babies: Measured from the first day of the last menstrual
period, the average length of gestation is 280 days or 40 weeks. Term babies
born within 38 and 41 completed weeks are babies less than 2,500g at birth
‘Low birth weight’ babies (earlier known as ‘premature’ babies). The prognosis
for a small child born after a normal-length gestation is very different from the
prognosis for an equally small child born after a shortened gestation. Leaving
the uterus early is not in itself harmful, but then growing less than normally
during a full uterine stay reflects pathology of foetus, placenta or mother.
Postnatal Growth
From birth onwards children grow steadily, however, the rate of growth in height
gradually declines from birth till age 4 or 5 years, and then it almost remains
constant till beginning of the adolescent spurt. A slight increase in velocity
sometimes occurs between about 6 and 8 years, called as ‘pre-adolescent’ spurt.
The Adolescent Growth Spurt: Adolescent growth spurt is a constant

phenomenon experienced by all children. The timing and intensity of the
adolescent spurt is depicted in the difference observed in size in men and women.
2% of height difference is observed in boys and girls before adolescent spurt but
increases to an average of 8% after the spurt. Generally girls are shorter than
boys at all ages till they reach adolescence. But, girls grow taller after 11 years
because adolescent spurt is two years earlier than in boys. By the time she is 14
years a typical boy again overtakes in height. This is because of the onset of
adolescent spurt in boys while in girls it is nearly finished. Similarly, as for
weight, a girl is lighter at birth, equals at 8 years, heavier at age 9 or 10 and
remains so till about age 14·5.
20
Growth Curves of Different Tissues and Different Parts of the Body: Most Principles of Growth and
Development
body measurements follow approximately the growth curves described for height.
The great majority of skeletal and muscular dimensions grow in this manner,
and so also do the internal organs such as liver, spleen and kidney. The
reproductive organs, internal and external, have a slow pre-pubescent growth,
followed by a very large adolescent spurt. The brain, together with the skull
covering it and the eyes and ears, develops earlier than any other part of the body
and thus has a characteristic postnatal curve. The curve for lymphoid tissue reaches
its maximum amount before adolescence and then, probably under the direct
influence of sex hormones, declines to its adult value. There is a continuous
increase in subcutaneous fat with peak at 9 months after birth. Subsequently,
there is a decrease in skinfold until 6-8 years after which it starts increasing
again. Gender difference is observed with girls having little more fat than boys
at birth; this difference becomes more vivid during childhood.
Postadolescent Growth: Growth, does not entirely cease at the end of the
adolescent period. Though, the limb bones stop increasing in length, but the
vertebral column continues to grow until about age 30 years, by apposition of
bone to the tops and bottoms of the vertebral bodies. This results in increase of
height by a small amount, on average 3 to 5 millimeters.
Senescence: It is the process of becoming old. This stage starts from complete
maturity to death witnessed by accumulation of metabolic products, decline in
function and decreased potentiality for reproduction and survival.
References
Tanner, J.M. 1978. Foetus into Man: Physical Growth from Conception to
Maturity. Cambridge; Harvard University Press.
Suggested Reading
Bogin, B. 1999. Patterns of Human Growth. Cambridge; Cambridge University
Press.
Harrison, G.A., Weiner, J.S., Tanner, J.M. and Barnicot, N.A. 1988. Human
Biology – An Introduction to Human Evolution, Variation, Growth and Ecology.
London; Oxford University Press.
Tanner, J.M. 1978. Foetus into Man: Physical Growth from Conception to
Tanner, J. M. 2011. The Growth Process. Comprehensive Physiology. Information
University of London, London, United Kingdom Publication History Published
Online: 1 January, 2011 pp 1-35.
Sample Questions
1) What does the study of ‘growth’ and ‘development’deal with? Explain the
effects of uterine environment on prenatal growth.
2) Write an essay on various stages of postnatal growth of children.
3) Describe adolescent growth in children highlighting sex differences.
4) Describe growth curves of different tissues and parts of the body.
5) Short Notes: (i) Growth and Development (ii) Embryo (iii) Premature
babies (iv) Small-for- date babies. (v) Adolescent growth spurt (vi)
Postadolescent growth (vii) Senescence. 21
Human Growth and
Development UNIT 2 METHODS AND INFLUENCING
FACTORS
Contents
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Methods of Studying Growth
2.3 Secular Trends
2.4 Growth Gradients
2.5 Catch-up Growth
2.6 Genetic Factors Influencing Growth and Development
2.7 Biochemical Methods
2.8 Environmental Factors
2.9 Nutritional Factors
2.10 Effect of Disease
2.11 Socio-economic Status and Family Size
2.12 Urbanisation
2.13 Seasonal and Climatic Variation
2.14 Psychosocial Stress
2.15 Summary
References
Suggested Reading
Sample Questions

After going through this unit, you should be able to
Ø understand the longitudinal, cross-sectional and mixed-longitudinal methods
of studying growth;
Ø define and describe “Secular trends” as observed in different populations;
Ø describe growth gradients as observed in different segments of human body;
Ø understand the concept of catch-up growth; and
Ø understand and describe the influence of genetic, biochemical and
environmental factors including nutrition, disease, socio-economic status,
urbanization, seasonal and climatic variations and psychosocial stress on
human growth and development.
2.1 INTRODUCTION
We feel extremely happy while introducing you to the fascinating study of human
growth and development with special reference to its methodology and various
factors affecting it. Let me tell you that the process of human growth and
22
development which takes almost twenty years to complete, is a complex Methods and Influencing
Factors
phenomenon. To have a complete understanding of this process we must have
the knowledge about various methods of studying it, along with their advantages
and disadvantages. Both genetic and environmental factors influence human
growth and development. Every child acquires his genetic potential for a particular
adult size and shape from his parents and realises this potential when the
environment supports the genetic model that regulates development. The term
“genetic potential” usually means that every human being has a genetically
determined upper limit for adult stature, the ratio of leg length to sitting height
and other anthropometric dimensions/ ratios. Growth can be impaired when
there is a negative influence of the environment i.e. the child is suffering from
malnutrition or illness, or hormonal deficiency etc. However, the ability of
environmental influences to alter genetic potential depends on a number of factors
including the time at which they occur; the strength, duration and frequency of
their occurrence and the age and gender of the child. Therefore, it is extremely
important to have a clear understanding of how children grow under different
circumstances. What are the factors which influence human growth and
development? What is the velocity of growth of a child during recovery after the
nutritional stress (concept of catch-up growth)? What is the sequence in which
different segments of our body attain maturity (growth gradients)? It is a well
documented fact that children have been getting larger and growing to maturity
earlier over time in both developed and developing countries. This has been
referred to as “secular trends.” We must know about the causes for secular trends
observed in different populations.
In this lesson you will get answers to all these questions raised above. We are
going to learn in detail about various methods of studying human growth and
development along with their advantages and disadvantages. What do we mean
by secular trends? What do we understand by catch-up growth? What are growth
gradients? What is the role of genetic and environmental factors in regulating
human growth and development? The knowledge of all these aspects is very
important because of their implications in public health. Data gathered through
different methods of studying growth are used to establish growth standards or
norms of a population. Growth of children can be monitored using these standards.
With the help of such studies we are aware of the relationship between growth
and need for proper environment. We may change our children’s diets according
to the requirements for specific ages, which may lead to their improved growth
status. An attempt has been made to make you understand these important aspects
with the help of suitable examples wherever required to inculcate interest in this
subject.
2.2 METHODS OF STUDYING GROWTH

A well designed growth study is a prerequisite to monitor the health status of a
population. Rigorous thought should precede collection of data, regarding method
of study, time and cost involved with precise planning of sampling procedures,
careful training in anthropometric measurements and statistical methods to be
used for data analysis. In order to gain an understanding of the dynamics of
human growth and average growth patterns it is essential that the appropriate
methods are selected. Auxologists, anthropologists, nutritionists and health
professionals use precise methods of studying human growth while conducting
23
Human Growth and growth surveys of children in different populations. The most commonly
Development
employed methods by researchers to obtain age and sex specific growth data are
either cross-sectional or longitudinal. Both types of methods are required for a
full understanding of the growth process. These methods have been described
below:
Cross-sectional method
Human growth can be studied using cross-sectional method, which involves
measuring children only once during the entire span of the study. In this method
for example, all the children being measured by an investigator at age 9 are
altogether different from those at age 8, which in turn are different from children
being measured at 7 years and so on. In other words, the method of study using
different children at each age is called cross-sectional. In this method there is no
element of periodic assessment. Cross-sectional surveys provide information
about the distance curve of growth of any dimension of the body.
Advantages
Cross-sectional methods are obviously cheaper, less time consuming, can include
much larger number of subjects in a brief duration and provide important
information about the distance attainments or gross size attained by children
during a span of time (e.g., on average, a newly born child attains 10 kg of
weight and 78 cm. of supine length at 1 year of age.). This method is very useful
for constructing growth standards for communities. Cross-sectional surveys are
valuable in assessing the nutritional status and health related problems of children
prevailing in different communities at any given point of time.
Disadvantages
The major drawback in cross-sectional studies is that they can never reveal
individual differences in rate of growth (i.e. growth velocity) of different body
dimensions of children, since in this method we measure each child only once
without any periodic follow up. In fact, it is these individual differences which
reflect the cumulative effect of various genetic, environmental, hormonal,
nutritional, psychological, and socio- cultural factors on human growth. Moreover,
cross-sectional data do not provide precise information about timings of particular
phases of growth like onset of “Juvenile growth spurt” attainment of “Peak
height velocity” , “Peak weight velocity” etc. Though they give us an estimate of
the mean rate of growth of a population (by subtracting the mean height at 8.0
e.g., from that at 9) they tell us nothing about variability around that mean.
Therefore, as a caution, we should not compute “growth velocity” of any body
parameter based on cross-sectional data.
Discuss various methods of studying human growth giving their merits
and demerits.
Longitudinal Method
The method of study using the same child at each age is called longitudinal
method. In this method of studying human growth every child enrolled in the
study is periodically measured for one or many body measurements at fixed
intervals of time throughout the period of study. All children, say measured at
age 5.0 years will remain the same as those who were examined at 4.0 years.
Constancy of sample size and strict adherence to stipulated periodicity at which
24
children are to be followed up remain the most important prerequisite of this Methods and Influencing
Factors
method. A growth study may be longitudinal over any number of years. To obtain
the simplest type of velocity standards, individuals have only to be measured
twice i.e. once in a year. There are short term longitudinal studies extending
from age 3 to 6 for instance and full birth to maturity longitudinal studies in
which children may be examined once, twice, quarterly or even more times every
year from birth until 20 years or more depending upon the objective of the study.
However, in practice, due to various reasons it is not possible to measure exactly
the same group of children for a prolonged period.
The main drawback of a comprehensive longitudinal study is that it takes a long

time to complete and relatively small number of subjects can be followed. To
overcome these problems, ‘Linked longitudinal studies’ are undertaken i.e., studies
covering the ages 0 to 6, 5 to 11, 10 to 15, 14 to 20 years. Through this design
within a period of six years, whole age range of growing phase of human life is
spanned. However, efficient sampling of the population is crucial to obtain smooth
joins of the data collected during short intervals. For an intensive investigation
of the relation between continuously unfolding events in individuals and very
often for clinical investigations of growth disorders, long term longitudinal studies
even from birth to maturity are necessary. We need to use appropriate statistical
methods while working out the results of each type of study.
Advantages
Longitudinal studies besides providing information about the distance (gross
size), growth attainments also provide growth velocity related data i.e., about
individual rate of growth measured by increment between two successive periods.
Such studies also tell us about the timing of particular phases like ‘onset of
juvenile growth spurt’ or ‘adolescent growth spurt’ of individuals. As the growth
velocity denotes inherent capacity of a child to grow and develop, so these studies
help to understand the influence of genetic and environmental factors on the
growth dynamics of children.
During childhood we often have illnesses which are short-termed. Longitudinal

studies provide opportunity to have information about the duration of any disease
or nutritional insult with which any child might have remained afflicted with for
a longer period. Similarly, effect of intervention (medical/nutritional etc.) may
also be assessed with the help of these studies as children included in such surveys
are often monitored periodically.
Disadvantages
i) Longitudinal studies are very expensive and require great skills to organise.
ii) Studies are very laborious and time consuming. These studies require
patience, perseverance and motivation on the part of both subjects as well
as researchers who undertake it. The researchers have to stick to the already
planned periodic schedule during the entire duration of the study, which at
times becomes difficult to adhere to because of certain compelling
circumstances.
iii) Longitudinal studies involve examination of limited number of children. It
is not always possible to maintain consistency of sample size throughout
the entire span of study. Many subjects leave the study as they move to new
places because of social as well as occupational reasons. 25
Human Growth and Mixed-Longitudinal study
Development
A serial study in which a group of children is followed such that some children
leave the study and others join it as new entrants at different ages, giving various
degrees of longitudinally is termed as mixed longitudinal study. On one end
such a study results in accumulation of data with missing values, on the other
hand this design provides an opportunity to make up for the simple loss by
enrolling new subjects at any requisite age points. Mixed-longitudinal studies
are relatively cheaper to conduct and also less time and effort consuming as
compared to pure longitudinal studies. These studies also provide us with both
distance and velocity curves, however, estimation of growth velocity of different
body parameters from mixed longitudinal data involving missing values is a
tedious task and special statistical methods are required to get relevant information
out of such data. In some circumstances the manipulation of increments derived
from each individual measured twice or more is reasonably efficient and simpler.
The means of such increments may be used to calculate more efficient
measurement-at-given age or distance means at successive ages.
2.3 SECULAR TRENDS

Over the past hundred years in industrialised countries, and recently in some
developing nations, children have been getting larger and growing to maturity
more rapidly. This has been referred to as ‘the secular trend’ in growth. In other
words, the acceleration or retardation of growth and maturation as indicated by
changes in height, weight or other variables over time is called secular trend.
Many factors such as improved nutrition, control of infectious diseases through
immunizations and sanitation, widespread health and medical care, better living
conditions, changes in environmental and socio-economic factors, population
mobility (both geographically to urban areas and socially upward) may account
for increase in body size and biological maturation resulting in secular trends.
On the other hand wartime deprivations or natural calamities like famine, tsunami
may cause a decrease in growth.
The occurrence of a secular increase in height and weight has been well
documented from many European countries like, Sweden, Finland, Norway,
France, United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungry, the
Soviet Union, the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland and Austria. From the rest
of the world there are reports from Canada, the United States, Jamaica, Chile,
Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Hong Kong, China, Sechychelles and India
showing increase in height and weight over decades. Even the adult height of
Kalahari Bushmen in South Africa and Australian Aborigines has shown an
increase due to a more settled existence from the traditional hunting and gathering
life. The average secular increase in height in Europe and North America is
greatest during adolescence (2 to 3 cm. per decade), less during childhood (1 to
2 cm. per decade) and least for adults about 1cm per decade or less. Comparable
changes have been occurring in weight and other body dimensions. Secular trend
in birth length has also been observed in new born babies. Studies have noticed
rising trends in 11 European countries. Rates of 30 mm. per decade have been
achieved in Eastern Europe and Japan.
There has also been a secular change in the tempo of growth as is shown by an
advancement of age at menarche and age at peak height velocity. Maturation has
26
been getting earlier during the last hundred years by 3 to 4 months per decade in Methods and Influencing
Factors
most European countries. This trend is slowing down now in developed countries,
both in body size as well as in maturation. Recent studies have shown that the
increase has reached a plateau in countries like Germany and Poland due to the
fact that the corresponding populations had achieved their full genetic potential
or that their socio-economic conditions had ceased to further improve. Its
magnitude is such that in Europe, America and Japan it has dwarfed the differences
between occupational groups. In developing countries due to continuous
improvement of living standards, nutritional and health care, the secular trend in
various biological parameters is still observed. In India studies have reported
positive secular trends in height among high altitude Himalayan populations
over last three decades. A comparison in the heights and weights of Punjabi boys
from Patiala between 1950 and 1975 showed a negligible average increase in
magnitude of stature from 1950 to 1955, from 1955 to 1965 there is an increase
of 2.20 cm. and from 1965 to 1975 it is 4.90 cm. per decade. In the total period
of 25 years, an overall increase of 7.45 cm. has been noticed giving an increment
of height of 2.98 cm. per decade and for weight of 1.48 kg. per decade.
In three decades i.e., from 1962 to 1991 the age at menarche in Maharashtrian
girls has lowered by two years. Among Bengali Hindu girls a decrease of 5-7
days per annum was observed. In general, girls from upper socio-economic group
experience menarche earlier than the girls from lower socio-economic status.
Reports on stature and age at menarche of Punjabi Arora mothers and daughters
from Delhi also show a substantial increase in stature of daughters and an
advanced age at menarche as compared to their mothers indicating secular trends
towards increase in height and decrease in age at menarche.
Secular trends in growth in terms of the narrowing of ethnic differences in stature

have been discussed in some studies. Asiatic populations’ seen since 1990 are
much more comparable in stature to their counterparts to a different place in the
world. A comparable evaluation among affluent adolescents illustrates Asiatic
populations to experience earlier onset of pubertal growth spurt in stature than
other major populations but have similar peak height velocities. Studies on secular
changes in height and weight in populations are invaluable as they give
information on nutritional status in early life, evaluating the growth reference
standards and providing perception with regards to epidemiological trends of
lifestyle diseases.
2.4 GROWTH GRADIENTS

The bodily proportions of a child change with the advance in age. An estimation
of this change provides a measure of maturity. It is well known that different
parts of the human body grow at different rates and the sequence of their reaching
adult size also differs from one segment to another. One way in which the
organization of growth shows itself is through the presence of maturity gradients.
To explain it let us take the example of foot length, calf length and thigh length
in boys. When we plot the percentage of the adult value at each age for foot
length, calf length and thigh length, we find that the foot is nearer its adult status
than calf, and the calf is nearer than the thigh. Thus, our foot gets matured fastest,
followed by calf and thigh is the last in the sequence to achieve adult value. A
maturity gradient is said to exist in the leg, running from advanced maturity
distally to delayed maturity proximally. Similar gradient occurs in the upper 27
Human Growth and limb, where hand achieves its maturity status earlier than forearm, which in turn,
Development
acquires maturity earlier than upper arm. Moreover, girls are more advanced in
maturity at all ages than boys but the sequence of maturity in them remains the
same i.e. the-distal proximal gradient.
What are different types of growth gradients observed in different segments

of our body?
Many other gradients exist, some covering small areas only and operating for
short periods, others covering whole systems and operating throughout the whole
of growth. The head, for example, is at all ages in advance of the trunk, and the
trunk in advance of the limbs. This type of gradient is called cephalo-caudal
gradient. From early foetal life onwards the brain, in terms of its gross weight is
nearer to its adult value than any other organ of the body, except the eye. At birth
it is about 25 per cent of its adult weight, at 6 months nearly 50 per cent, at two
and a half years about 75 per cent, at 5 years 90 per cent and at 10 years 95 per
cent. This contrasts with the weight of the whole body, which at birth is about 5
per cent of the young adult weight and at 10 years about 50 per cent. Growth
gradients are easy to compute. Percentage of the adult value can be easily
calculated for each age group under study and plotted in a graph against each age
group.
2.5 CATCH-UP GROWTH

The term catch-up growth refers to the acceleration seen in many children during
recovery from serious illnesses or from environments that retard growth. Two
conditions are necessary for this designation
i) growth retardation as shown by previous low percentile levels of measures
and
ii) subsequent increase in these percentile levels.
It has been well documented that whenever a child suffers for a short period of
time from an illness or starvation he/she is able to return to his regular course of
growth, when conditions improve due to proper treatment given for the respective
problem. In doing so his initial growth velocity after recovery is unusually large
(higher than normal) than expected of children of his age. Such a higher than
normal velocity has been named ‘catch-up growth’ by Prader, Tanner and Von
Harnack in 1963. For example, if there are three children suffering from different
problems, first child from malnutrition, second from hypothyrodism and third
from cortisol producing tumour (growth-inhibiting), all three will show growth
retardation. However, when all three children get completely treated for the
respective conditions, then during recovery catch-up growth will occur in all of
them. The velocity during the initial period of catch up may reach three times the
normal for age, where after, it slows down to its normal velocity. The power to
stabilize and return to a predetermined growth curve after being pushed off the
trajectory is called by Waddington ‘canalization’ or homeorhesis (homeostasis
being the maintenance of a static condition and homeorhesis being the
maintenance of a flowing or developing one). The effect of unfavourable
conditions on growth seems to depend upon the duration and the severity of the
insult and age at which it occurs. Catch-up growth may completely restore the
28
situation to normal or it may be insufficient to do so. In less favourable Methods and Influencing
Factors
circumstances where treatment is incomplete or less effective, the child may
resume growth at a normal, but not higher than normal velocity. The result of
this may still be satisfactory, since if skeletal maturation is delayed, as is usual in
such circumstances, the growing period will be extended and thus the final height
will be close to normal, though reached late.
2.6 GENETIC FACTORS INFLUENCING

GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT
Children tend to resemble their parents in stature, body proportions, body
composition and rate of development. It may be assumed that barring the action
of obvious environmental influences (such as chronic illness or long term
malnutrition) these resemblances reflect the influence of genes that parents
contribute to their biological offspring. The term “genetic potential” usually means
that every human being has a genetically determined upper limit to adult stature,
the ratio of leg length to sitting height and other anthropometric dimensions. An
individual may achieve this genetic potential if the environment is free of insults
that delay or retard growth. The child’s development may be shunted from one
line to another in a situation when a particular environmental stimulus is lacking
at a time when it is necessary for the child. It is inferred that the ultimate size and
shape that a child attains as an adult is the result of a continuous interaction
between genetical and environmental influences during the whole period of
growth.
Discuss the role of genetic factors in regulating human growth.

Now let us understand the role and importance of genetic factors in regulating
human growth. Genetic factors are clearly of immense importance. Factors
affecting the rate or tempo of growth must be considered separately from factors
affecting the size, shape and body composition of a child. The genetical control
of tempo seems to be independent of genetical control of final adult size, and to
a large extent of final shape. Environmentally produced changes in tempo do not
necessarily seem to be separately controlled by genetical and environmental
factors. The genetical control of shape is much more rigorous than that of size,
presumably because shape represents chiefly how the cells are distributed, while
size represents more the sum of sizes of the various cells.
The most striking similarity in growth is seen in monozygotic twins, who share
the same genes and most aspects of the family environment. Siblings share fewer
genes and possibly few aspects of family environment also, but resemble each
other a great deal more than unrelated children. Family patterns of growth exist,
and closer the genetic relationship, the closer in general the growth pattern. This
is probably because growth and adult size and shape are controlled by numerous
genes, each of small effect, rather than by few major genes. Data on monozygotic
twins (MZ) reared together and apart have been reported by Shields (1962).
Those reared apart were more different in adult stature than those reared together,
but they were more similar than dizygotic (DZ) like- sexed twins. Shield illustrates
some individual cases of MZ twins reared apart where one twin was subject to
illness or neglect, showed considerable differences in size, showing the over-
riding effect of a poor environment.
29
Human Growth and Tempo of growth in height from birth to 4 years has been studied in twins in the
Development
longitudinal Louisville Twin Study. The analysis of the growth curves indicated
a strong genetic control of the rate of growth and especially, in change in rate.
Studies of the resemblance of siblings at the same age have been reported by
Garn and Rohmann (1966). In general correlation co-efficient of body length
measures between siblings are of the order of 0.3-0.5, though in some
measurements sister-sister values are higher than brother-brother ones. Siblings
are also highly correlated in birth weight, but this is mainly due to maternal
uterine factors.
The resemblance of body measurements between parents and children is also
marked, though not before the children are of about 2 years and showing more
effect of their own genes than the effect of uterine environment in which they
grew. From 3 to 9 years correlation coefficients of height between parents and
offspring are slightly under 0.5 and have been made the basis of standards for
childhood height allowing for height of the parents. There is little evidence that
on average one parent predominates in their effect on size, or that sons resemble
fathers and mothers daughters more than conversely. When the parents’ height is
known, the range of variation in adult height, represented by ± 2 standard deviation
of the mean is from 25 cm. in the general male populations to 17 cm. in a given
family, 16 cm. among brothers and 1.6 cm amongst monozygotic twins reared
together. At the same time length of limbs and trunk are also under genetic control,
while skeletal breadths and of course fat are less so.
Not only is physical size heritable but the timing and tempo of maturation also
are significantly controlled by genes. The genetical control of tempo of growth
is best shown by the inheritance of age at menarche. Monozygotic twin sisters
growing up together under best conditions reach menarche on an average 2 months
apart, whereas dizygotic twins differ on average by 12 months. The sister-sister
and mother-daughter correlations are close to 0.50, indicating high degree of
genetic determination of age at menarche. Thus, a large proportion of the
variability in age at menarche under these conditions is due to genetical influence.
It is thought that mother and father exert an equal influence on tempo of growth.
There are number of early studies of dental development that show calcification
and dental emergence were highly correlated within MZ twins than DZ twin
pairs, thus suggesting a heritability of 0.85-0.90. The general pattern of skeletal
maturation (i.e. the tendency to be an early or late maturing individual) also
suggests that the tempo of development is highly heritable with sib-sib correlations
of 0.45. The process of maturation is commonly believed to be controlled, at
least partially by genes independent from those controlling final size. Studies
have shown that siblings may reach identical adult height even though they
differed in the timings of maturational events.
Differences between populations are also due to differences in their gene pools,
in their environments and in the interaction. Studies have shown that Afro-
American children growing up under favourable conditions are a little taller and
heavier than Europeans and Euro-Americans living in the same cities. This is
partly or wholly because they are a little more advanced in maturity. Asiatics, on
the other hand, under equally favourable circumstances are smaller despite being
still further advanced in maturity. Even bodily proportions are different among
different three major racial groups. The relatively longest legs characterise the
Australians Aborigines and the Africans in Ibadan, with the former far exceeding
30
the latter. Londoners and Hong Kong Chinese both have relatively shorter legs Methods and Influencing
Factors
than Africans, but the Chinese pattern of growth seems to be different from the
European. Initially Chinese have relatively longer legs than the Londoners, but
during growth they consistently gain less in leg length per unit sitting height.
Asiatics have their characteristically short legs from about mid-childhood
onwards, to a degree which rapidly increases until growth ends than the
Londoners.
Racial differences in shape can also be seen in the relation of biacromial to
biiliac width. Afro-American boys and girls in Washington have considerably
narrower hips relative to shoulders than either Londoners or Hong Kong Chinese.
Chinese are not greatly different from Londoners in this respect except that
adolescent girls appear to gain more in hips. There are differences in body
composition also, Africans having more muscle and heavier bones per unit weight
at least in males, together with less fat in the limbs in proportion to fat on the
trunk (Eveleth and Tanner, 1976). The African new born is ahead of the European
in skeletal maturity and motor development. He maintains this advance for some
2 or 3 years in most areas in Africa after which nutritional disadvantage interrupts.
In America and Europe the African stays in advance in bone age and also in
dental maturity. The mean age at menarche for African descended was 12.5 years
and 12.8 years for European descended. Well off Asiatic groups have as fast a
tempo as Africans, in later childhood if not in earlier years. Mean age at menarche
in Hong Kong girls from affluent families was found to be 12.5 years.
Inherited differences of body build may arise by either genetic drift or natural
selection. If a small population colonizes a remote habitat, this group may by
chance have an unusual frequency of genes favouring a particular body form,
and because of limited opportunities for mating, these characteristics will persist
in subsequent generations. Moreover, there will be fewer heterozygotes than in
larger communities, and some gene combinations with a low initial frequency
may disappear from the population by mere chance. However, if a particular
body form has favoured survival, there will also be selective pressure increasing
the frequency of any related gene combinations with in the population. Further,
in an isolated population the apparent advantages of a particular body form might
be exaggerated by emergence of unusual pattern of diet and lifestyle within the
community.
2.7 BIOCHEMICAL METHODS

Growth trends and nutritional status of a child/community can be evaluated by
means of field surveys, with the help of clinical examination, anthropometric
measurements, biochemical tests and dietary intake along with information on
socio-economic, demographic and ecological variables. Nutritional
anthropometry is concerned with the measurement of the physical dimensions
and the gross composition of human body at different age levels. However, it
does not give specific information about the nutrients. For that information a
variety of biochemical tests are useful. Although biochemical estimations of
nutritional significance can be carried out on a variety of body tissues including
liver, muscle and bone. In practice in field surveys, tests are confined to two
fairly easily obtainable body fluids, blood and urine. Laboratory tests can be
altered by medications, hydration status, disease status or other metabolic process
such as stress. Biochemical tests can be employed to test the relative adequacy
31
Human Growth and of dietary intake, metabolic changes due to tissue malnutrition and depletion of
Development
body stores of proteins. Alterations in amino acid metabolism have been
demonstrated in Kwashiorkor caused by enzyme defects and inadequacy of plasma
proteins especially albumin.
Plasma from blood sample is required for examinations for albumin, vitamin A,
carotene, ascorbic acid and alkaline phosphatase. Fresh whole blood is used for
the determination of haemoglobin. Anaemia can occur from iron deficiency of
various nutrients. The principal ones are iron, folic acid and vitamin B12. Iron
deficiency may exist in the body as a result of inadequate dietary intake, poor
absorption or a combination of both. This is especially likely to happen in early
childhood when the iron needs are high and the food eaten tends to be poor
source of iron. We can detect anaemia by testing haemoglobin levels of children/
population and can compare these with standards of haemoglobin suitable for
the particular age groups. Haemoglobin levels are independent of climate, but
attention may be paid to the effects of high altitude as well as other causes of
anaemia, such as malaria, sickle cell diseases and folic acid deficiency. Urine
samples are used for detection of urea, thiamine, urinary iodine, and riboflavin
etc. However, when used as a measure of body muscle mass for creatinine
estimation, urine has to be collected over a time period- minimally three hours
and preferably twenty four hours. Creatinine, a product of muscle metabolism is
excreted into the urine and can provide accurate estimate of muscle mass
utilisation. This measurement can be affected greatly by renal function.
Biochemical investigation may give information on the nutrient supply to the

body as reflected by levels in a particular tissue, most often the serum, e.g.,
ascorbic acid. However, the concentration of an essential nutrient in a body fluid
may be reduced as a result of dietary deficiency, poor absorption, impaired
transport (as can result from plasma protein in protein calorie malnutrition),
abnormal utilisation or a combination of these. While the measurement of nutrient
concentration is helpful in suggesting the possibility of malnutrition, it does not
indicate the presence or define the degree of nutritional disease.
Some biochemical test can be undertaken that reveal metabolic changes resulting
from tissue malnutrition due to inadequate levels of essential nutrients, often of
long duration. The detection of such metabolic changes aids in the assessment of
nutritional status and in many instances indicates a state of deficiency with greater
certainty than does a mere lowering of tissue concentration of essential nutrients.
These changes sometimes precede the appearance of clinical manifestation of
malnutrition. A decreased availability of iodine to the thyroid may be the result
of its inadequate intake and can be detected as thyroid enlargement especially in
school children. The nutritional significance of the results of biochemical tests
in a community has to be correlated with all the other findings i.e. clinical,
anthropometric, dietary and ecological.
2.8 ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS

Growth is a product of continuous and complex interaction of heredity and
environment. A considerable proportion of the mean differences in body size
between the populations being observed are due to the effects of environmental
conditions. Some of the differences between individuals within populations are
also due to differences in environment. In the better-off populations of
32
industrialised countries these differences are relatively small, while in developing Methods and Influencing
Factors
countries the gap between well-off and poor is greater. A child may receive
numerous insults (diet low in calories or proteins) during growth and yet survive,
but bodily adaptations for survival are made which may result in smaller body
size. When environmental conditions improve the size of child also improves.
Many environmental factors influence rate of growth but most of them hinge
upon the level of nutrition besides infections from disease, socio-economic level
and family size, urbanization, climate and seasonal effects and psychosocial stress.
Enumerate the role of various environmental factors in regulating human

growth.
2.9 NUTRITIONAL FACTORS

Adequate nutrition is essential for normal growth at all ages. Malnutrition delays
growth. The period when the child is most at risk from the combination of
malnutrition and infection is from birth to 5 years. Many populations in developing
countries have mean birth weights at the same level as those in developed countries
but it is only after 6 months that the weight gains diminish as a result of the
interaction of undernutrition and infection. The slowing down in weight growth
in some areas coincides with age of weaning and the substitution of high starch,
low protein foods. It is also the age at which the mother’s lactating ability declines
so that satisfactory growth cannot be achieved by breast milk alone.
Researchers have discussed the question of whether under nutrition in the first
or second year of life necessarily leads to an adult deficit on body size. It has
been seen that children with severe protein-calorie malnutrition in early infancy
due to malformations or malfunction of the gut make a complete recovery in
height after surgical correction when brought in well off homes in a developed
country.
Evidently much depends on the circumstances when the severe episode of

malnutrition is over. Children less than five years admitted to hospital in tropical
countries with severe protein-calorie malnutrition (Kwashiorkor or Marasmus)
were followed after discharge. In most of such children complete equality of
height and weight with sibling controls was attained before puberty. In other
long term deficits were reported and their growth was not equal to their siblings
but was more close to the general population, a less appropriate control. Long
periods of under nutrition, often combined with chronic infections; certainly
have lasting effects on body size.
Body shape is made more resistant to nutritional stress or even disease than is
body size. Malnutrition in man does not alter significantly the shape of the body;
a malnourished European child by no means acquires the short legs of the Asiatic.
These days along with malnutrition, overweight is also causing an increasing
problem of obesity not only in developed countries but also in developing
countries. Recent evidence suggests that overfeeding in first year or 18 months
after birth may have much to do with the tendency to become obese later.
During the period of 5 years to adolescence the child is growing less rapidly and
presumably because of this few populations show height and weight means
decreasing further. A second period when the child may be especially sensitive
33
Human Growth and to influence of under nutrition is at adolescence. The calorie requirement increases
Development
at this time in level with the increased growth of the adolescent spurt. Lack of
sufficient calories may result either in a smaller spurt or a delay in the age of the
spurt. The latter reflects chiefly on accumulating deficit in the years preceding
adolescence. Tempo seems usually to be first thing affected. In data from well
off families in all populations, age at menarche is earlier than children from
underprivileged section. Girls from larger families also had consistently late
maturation than those from smaller ones. Poor nutrition during childhood slows
up skeletal maturation and also affects width of cortical bone. Thus, level of
nutrition of children in a population has to be studied in relation to their ecological
aspects and most importantly its implications on human growth and maturation.
2.10 EFFECT OF DISEASE

In well-nourished children the effects on growth of minor diseases are minimal.
An ill child is a poorly growing child, although the extent of slowing down
depends on number of factors. Poorly nourished children are more susceptible
to and more severely affected by infection than well-nourished children. Infection
in turn lowers the nutritional intake of the child, who in turn becomes prone to
repeated infections. Measles and whooping cough are severe diseases in
developing countries where chronic undernutrition may affect two third of the
population. In malnourished children suffering from measles the mortality is
many times higher than in well nourished children.
In developed countries with good nutrition measles is no longer considered a

severe disease and when it occurs it is more frequently in older children from 3
to 5 years rather than under two years. But in poorly nourished children the
weight loss associated with measles may take from 4 weeks to 3 months to regain.
Longitudinal studies have been carried out by researchers in Guatemala and
Jamaica to examine the effect of infectious disease on growth in the first three
years. Short term weight loss was frequently seen. In Jamaica the long term
picture was one of catch-up growth causing complete restoration of growth status,
but in Guatemala it was not completely restored. Therefore, it is very important
to protect children from catching infections by taking preventive measures for
their overall better growth.
2.11 SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS AND FAMILY

SIZE
Children from families belonging to the high or middle socio-economic groups
in any country are on average larger in body size than their counterparts in the
lower economic groups. High income and high educational level imply not only
better nutrition but often also better child care and better use of medical and
social services. Differences between socio-economic classes in height and weight
are found in developed as well as in developing countries. In the British National
Child Development Survey, a nationwide sample of children consisting of all
those born in one week of March 1958, an overall difference of 3.3 cm was
reported between seven years olds from the professional and managerial classes
and those from the unskilled, manual working class. Similarly in the U.S. national
sample of children measured by the National Centre for Health Statistics, children
aged 6 to 11 were some 3 cm taller in the rich families than in the poor ones. At
34
the University of Paris, the tallest students were children of parents in intellectual Methods and Influencing
Factors
professions while the shortest and heaviest from worker and peasant families.
Reports of socio-economic class differences in growth from developing countries
including India show the very great differences in height and weight of 5 years
olds in upper and lower social classes that exist in many cities.
These differences are compounded by differences in height and tempo according

to number of sibs in the family. First born children are somewhat taller than later
born children with the same number of sibs, since they have had a period of
being an only child. The more mouths to feed, it seems or simply more children
grow. This difference is solely of tempo, because children do not differ
systematically according to birth order when they are fully grown. All the
differences in social class may not be of direct environmental origin, however
classes are to some extent endogamous, and movement from one social class to
another in some countries is linked with size as well as ability.
In Belgium, young men who were moving up the scale occupationally (i.e. entering
a more prestigious and better rewarded occupation than their fathers) were larger,
healthier and scored higher on intelligence test than those who stayed in the
same or equivalent occupation. The downwardly mobile showed approximately
the opposite picture.
2.12 URBANISATION
Children in urban areas are usually larger than children in the surrounding rural
areas. Indeed the tendency towards greater size and more rapid maturation in
Europe in the last hundred years has been held to be a consequence of urbanization.
By urbanization we do not mean simply a high population density, other features
such as a regular supply of goods, health and sanitation services, large medical
institutions, educational, recreational and welfare facilities must be present. A
European or North American city is considerably different from urbanized area
in Africa or even a city in India or Japan.
Data from European countries on height and weight from Finland, Greece and
Rumania also shows that children in the cities are larger than those in rural areas,
but the amount by which urban children were taller and heavier varied. Eight
year old boys in Helsinki, for example, were 2.4 cm taller and 1.6 Kg heavier
than rural Finnish boys, while in Greece the urban-rural differences were twice
as great. During puberty the differences became greater, presumably because of
the earlier appearance of the adolescent spurt in city children. While part of
urban-rural differences results from earlier maturation. In developing countries
also the same trend is being witnessed, urban children being taller and getting
matured earlier than the rural children. Better off children, that is children who
live in parts of towns that are nearer to urban areas are considerably taller and
heavier than the rural children.
In every urban-rural comparison so far reported urban girls have an earlier

menarche than rural girls. As with growth in body size, age at menarche is closely
related to the health and nutritional level of an individual or a population. In a
study from Bombay even urban slum children have been reported larger than
children in the corresponding rural areas where even the poor were said to have
received more food in the first two years after birth than children in rural areas.
35
Human Growth and Many studies conducted in India on growth of rural-urban children also show
Development
better overall growth and earlier maturity among urban children than their rural
counterparts.
2.13 SEASONAL AND CLIMATIC VARIATION

A seasonal variation in rate of height growth has long been recognised in the
temperate zones. Children tend to grow faster in height in the spring and summer
and faster in weight in the autumn and winter. Marshall (1971) in a longitudinal
study found that in children 7 to 10 years of age maximum height velocities
were reached in 3 month, periods ending between March and July, and minimum
height velocities in the periods ending between September and February. During
the 3 months of fastest growth, a child on average grew three times as much as
during the 3 months of slowest growth. The cause of these differences is unknown.
Totally blind children showed similar variations in rate to sighted children but
failed to synchronize them with season of the year. Length of daylight seems to
play only a minor part.
Seasonal variation in height and weight growth is governed by the rainy and dry
periods in tropical areas. The rainy season is marked with food supply running
low and the frequency of infections is highest. In Gambia, children under 3 years
had good weight gains during the dry season but experienced low gains and even
weight loss during the wet period. In Tanzania, both African and European school
children displayed seasonal changes in height and weight gain, however the
differences in weight were not constant in both the groups. Change of season has
an impact on diet of an African child whereas that of the Europeans remains
relatively constant. Thus, it can be concluded that different factors may be
responsible for seasonal variations in the two areas.
Moreover, the effect of altitude on growth has also been studied. In general,
people living at high altitude are smaller than those living at sea level or plains.
The principal environmental factor affecting human physiology at altitude 3000
meters is the low atmospheric pressure which reduces the partial pressure of
oxygen in the inspired air. It results in hypoxia, a condition in which haemoglobin
carries less oxygen than at sea level and oxygen tension in the plasma is reduced.
Other factors which affect growth of man at higher altitude are cold, lower air
density and nutrition. As a result of adaptation to high altitude, the period of
growth is slow and prolonged; Individuals have larger chest circumference, higher
average lung size and higher haemoglobin concentrations as compared to
individuals living in plains and at sea level.
2.14 PSYCHOSOCIAL STRESS

Psychological stress has been found to be contributing towards relative failure
to grow in some children. It does this by affecting the secretion of growth hormone.
As soon as stress is removed secretion of growth hormone starts again, and in
clinical cases, a catch–up occurs. This is indistinguishable from the catch-up as
a result of administering of human growth hormone to a child who is permanently
deficient in growth hormone for structural reasons.
Studies have shown that the majority of children suffering from fairly severe
stress continue to grow when given sufficient food, even in astonishingly stressful
36
circumstances. Let us narrate the famous experiment of Widdowson of Cambridge Methods and Influencing
Factors
University who provided some proof that the presence of a sadistic school teacher
was a reason for affected growth in children in orphanage by slowing it down,
even though a simultaneous increase in the amount of food eaten is there. Some
earlier studies have shown that certain boarding-school boys grew more slowly
in term-time than they did in holidays at home. Tanner and Whitehouse confirmed
this finding. On the other hand it is quite possible that a boarding school may
provide the friendly atmosphere required for catch-up to a child whose growth
has been stunted by an adverse home. Thus, psychosocial stress can contribute
towards slowing down the growth of a child. Therefore, it is important to have a
congenial atmosphere at home as well as in schools and working places for the
normal growth of an individual.
2.15 SUMMARY
Growth is the result of three forces: the genetic program, action of environmental
factors and the interaction between the two. Potentialities of growth are inherent
at the time of the conception and are determined by genes but without a favourable
environment normal growth cannot occur. Different sets of hormones influence
growth at different ages. There are many environmental factors that influence
growth; an adequate supply of proper nutrients being one of the greatest
importances.
In this chapter we have tried to explain different methods of studying growth

keeping in mind the nature of the study and discussed their advantages and
disadvantages. This information will help you in choosing the most appropriate
method to be employed while undertaking growth studies. Short-term changes
in body size occurring between consecutive generations are called secular trends.
This word has been taken from a Latin word “Saeculum” meaning “for a
generation”. You may now be in a position to define and describe secular trends
as observed in different populations with the help of examples given in the lesson.
The role and importance of genetic factors has been explained in relation to
body size, body shape and tempo of growth with the help of family and population
studies. The environmental factors (nutrition, disease, socio-economic status,
family size urbanisation, seasonal and climatic variations and psychosocial stress)
which play an important role by acting on the genetic potential have been
explained in detail and it will be easier for you to understand the cumulative
effect of all these factors on human growth and development. The concept of
catch up growth i.e. accelerated velocity during recovery is a very fascinating
phenomenon and perhaps now you will be able to understand in your day to day
life while observing it in the family and among friends. Similarly, you can
understand the differential growth and maturity status of different body segments.
Anaemia and malnutrition are the most prevalent disorders prevalent in
developing countries. Biochemical methods can be used to detect anaemia,
malnutrition, hormonal levels and various other deficiencies as has been described
in the chapter. Thus, for anthropologists, growth data as an indicator of public
health and nutritional status of children assume ever increasing importance
because growth monitoring in children can serve as a powerful tool for appropriate
action to promote improved health and nutritional status.
37
Human Growth and References
Development
Eveleth, P.B.and Tanner, J.M. 1976. Worldwide Variation in Human Growth.
Cambridge. London; Cambridge University Press.
Garn, S.M. and Rohmann, C.G. 1966. Interaction of Nutrition and Genetics in
the Timing of Growth and Development. Pediatric Clinics of North America, 13:
353-79.
Marshall, W.A. 1971. Evaluation of Growth Rate in Height Over Periods of

Less Than One Year. Archives of disease in Childhood, 46: 414-20.
Prader, A., Tanner, J.M. and von Harnack, G.A.1963. Catch-up Growth Following
Illness or Starvation. Journal of Pediatrics, 62: 646-59.
Shields J. 1962. Monozygotic Twins. . London, Oxford University Press.
Suggested Reading
Cameron N. 2002.Human Growth and Development. New York, Academic Press.
Falkner, F. and Tanner, J.M. 1986. Human Growth- A Comprehensive Treatise.

New York; Plenum Press.
Tanner, J.M. 1989. Foetus into Man- Physical Growth from Conception to
Sample Questions
1) Give a brief account of various methods of studying human growth giving
their advantages and disadvantages.
2) What do you understand by catch-up growth? Explain it with the help of
examples.
3) Discuss the role of biochemical methods in evaluating human growth.
4) How do genetic factors affect human growth and development? Explain
with the help of examples from families and populations.
5) What do you know about environmental influences on human growth?
Explain the role of nutrition, socio-economic status and psychosocial factors
in detail.
38
Methods and Influencing
UNIT 3 HUMAN CONSTITUTION AND Factors
PHYSIQUE
Contents
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Concept of Somatotype
3.3 Methods in the Assessment of Physique
3.3.1 Viola’s Method
3.3.2 Kretschmer’s Method
3.3.3 Sheldon’s Method
3.3.4 Heath - Carter Method
3.4 Summary
References
Suggested Reading
Sample Questions
Learning Objectives
&
After going through this unit, you should be able to understand the:
Ø concept of somatotype;
Ø features of various somatotypes; and
Ø methods for assessing somatotypes which deal with variability in human
physique.
3.1 INTRODUCTION
Observation of variation in human body build and interest in relation of such
variation to temperament and disease susceptibility are as old as science. Earlier
studies on review of the history of human classification defined constitution as
the sum total of the morphological, physiological and psychological characters
of an individual, in large part determined by heredity but influenced in varying
degrees by environmental factors or simply the total biological make-up of an
individual. Physique which refers to individual body form is probably the single
aspect of constitution.
Somatotype refers to a quantified expression and description of the present
morphological conformation or physique of a person and the process of
appraising and defining it is known as somatotyping.
3.2 CONCEPT OF SOMATOTYPE

History of somatotyping can be traced back to the fifth century BC, when
Hippocrates offered two fold classification of physique:
Habitus phthisicus, long and thin individuals considered susceptible to
tuberculosis. 39
Human Growth and Habitus apoplecticus, short and thick build individuals susceptible to vascular
Development
disease leading to apoplexy.
Ever since that time, there have been several attempts to describe and classify
the humans. All the efforts ultimately lead to a common conclusion of describing
human body forms in two or three major types: lateral (round), muscular and
linear.
The study of physique has pivotal role to play in understanding growth, maturation
and performance. During the growth phase, it is clear that in childhood and
adolescent phase the genesis of the variation which is observed in adulthood
takes place. Somatotyping is an outstanding tool to explore the spatial temporal
variations and observe the changes occurring as a result of physical exercise on
human physique. Moreover it combines an appraisal of relative adiposity,
musculoskeletal robustness and linearity into a three scale rating. The development
of anthropometry added new dimensions to the study of morphology. Somatotype
distribution in various ethnic groups are markedly more restricted and dominated
by extreme somatotype than the nationality samples. Studies reveal that Eskimos
(Alaska) are primarily endo-mesomorphic, Manus (Papua New-Guinea) and
Caingang (Brazil) presents conspicuously mesomorphic somatotypes with
extremes towards mesomorphy. Strikingly, extreme ectomorphic somatotype is
shown by Nilotes of the Nile valley in Africa and many population groups living
in hot environments of the tropics.
3.3 METHODS IN THE ASSESSMENT OF

PHYSIQUE
As mentioned, there are different conventions which have described human forms
and nearly all categorize physiques into three categories corresponding to lateral,
musculature and linear types.
3.3.1 Viola’s Method (1921)

Viola, an Italian physician proposed a classification of biotype (physique) based
on a comprehensive system of anthropometric measurements. For general
purposes, he took ten measurements:
a) Sternum length
b) Upper abdominal height
c) Lower abdominal height
d) Length of the arm
e) Length of the leg
f) Transverse thoracic diameter
g) Antero-posterior thoracic diameter
h) Transvere hypochondric diameter
i) Antero- posterior hypochondric diameter
j) Bi-iliac or transverse pelvic diameter
40
Three compound measurements namely stature, trunk height and total abdominal Human Constitution and
Physique
height were also considered. By manipulating these measurements he derived a
measure of trunk volume and four morphological indices namely thoracic index,
upper abdominal index, lower abdominal index and total abdominal index. He
differentiated three morphological types:
1) Longytype: The longytype had long limbs relative to their trunk volume,
large thorax relative to their abdomen, a large transverse diameter relative
to anterior posterior diameter.
2) Brachitype: The brachitype was characterised by massiveness and robustness

of body, the reverse of longytype. They had short limb relative to trunk,
short transverse diameter relative to the antero-posterior diameter, short
thorax relative to the abdomen.
3) Normatype: The normatypes were in between longitype and brachytype

characterised by normally proportional limbs versus trunk, thorax versus
abdomen, transverse versus antero-posterior widths.
4) Mixed: Mixed type shows disproportion in human body. It lacks uniformity

in the physique.
The four indices failed to agree amongst themselves, one placing the
individual in one category and another else where. It is obvious that Viola’s
biotypology based on anthropometric measurements is morphological in
orientation.
3.3.2 Kretschmer’s Method

Kretschmer was a German psychiatrist. His system of classification relied entirely
on anthroposcopic inspection. He illustrated four physical and psychic types
derived from his clinical observations and minimum measurements:
1) Pyknic: The pyknic was broad, round and fat, sturdy and stocky.
2) Athletic: The athletic was heavily muscled with large thorax and shoulders
and narrow hips.
3) Asthenic: The asthenic was long, thin and linear.
4) Dysplastic : It denoted the incompatible mixture of different types in different
parts of the body.
Later he substituted the word leptosome for asthenic.
Criticism
This system is now entirely outdated.
a) It supposed that it was possible to classify people into separate discrete
types. This assumption was widespread up to about the 1930’s. The later
practitioners had to admit that most people fell in between the established
and obviously fairly extreme types.
b) It had also been criticized of limited sampling, scanty measurements, lack
of indices, subjective estimates, and failure to classify data according to
age, sex and social status.
41
Human Growth and
Development
3.3.3 Sheldon’s Method
William Herbert Sheldon (1898-1977) was an American psychologist and
physician. He introduced the concept and word ‘somatotype’ in ‘The Varieties of
Human Physique’ (1940). He defined somatotype as ‘quantification of three
primary components determining the morphological structure of an individual
expressed as a series of three numerals, the first referring to endomorphy, the
second to mesomorphy, and the third to ectomorphy’. The conceptual approach
is based on the premise that continuous variation occurs in the distribution of
physique and thus the variation is related to differential contributions of three
specific components, named on the basis of three embryonic germ layers:
Source: www.somatotype.org
v Endomorphy: It is characterised by the predominance of the digestive organs

and softness and roundness of contours throughout the body. In other words,
with increased fat storage, a wide waist and a large bone structure.
Endomorphs are referred to as fat.
v Mesomorphy: It is characterised by the predominance of muscle and bone,

skin is made thick by heavy connective tissue. The physique is normally
heavy, hard and rectangular in outline. In other words, with medium bones
and solid torso, low fat levels, wide shoulders with a narrow waist.
Mesomorphs are referred to as muscular.
v Ectomorphy: It is characterised by linearity and fragility of build; with

limited muscular development and predominance of surface area over body
mass in other words, with long and thin muscles or limbs or low fat storage.
Ectomorphs are referred to as slim.
The contribution of the three components defines an individual’s somatotype.
Method
Sheldon’s method of estimating somatotype utilises height and weight and three
standardised photograph of front, side and rear views of the nude subjects i.e.,
4000 college men standing before a calibrated grid. He summarized his
photoscopic (he called it anthroposcopic) somatotype method as follows:
42
Human Constitution and
Physique
Front view Rear view Back view

Source: www.Sports.jrank.com
a) Calculation of height/³ √weight ratio (HWR) or reciprocal ponderal index

b) Calculation of ratios of 17 transverse measurements/diameters (taken from
photographic negatives) to stature.
1) Four on head and neck
2) Three on the thoracic trunk
3) Three on the arms
4) Three on the abdominal trunk
5) Four on the legs
c) Inspection of the somatotype photograph, referring to a table of known
somatotypes distributed against the criterion of HWR, comparing the
photograph with a file of correctly somatotyped photographs, and recording
the estimated somatotype.
d) Comparison of the 17 transverse measurements ratios with the range of
scores for each ratio, to give final score
Each component of physique is assessed individually. Rating are based on a 7-

point scale, with 1 representing the least expression, 4 representing moderate
expression and 7 representing the fullest expression of that particular component
43
Human Growth and being assessed. The rating of each component determines the somatotype which
Development
is expressed by three numerals to sum of no less than 9 and no more than 12. The
first number refers to endomorphy, second to mesomorphy and third to
ectomorphy. Sheldon identified 76 different somatotype and most common are
3-4-4, 4-3-3 and 3-5-2.
The extreme somatotypes are:

1) Endomorphy
a) Various parts of the body are soft and
round
b) Head is round
c) Abdomen is flat
d) Arms and legs are weak and fatty
e) Upper arms and thighs are fatty
f) Wrist and ankles are splendidly built
g) Less linearity and less muscularity
h) More fat deposition
i) Somatotype rating is 7-1-1
2) Mesomorphy
a) Bony and Muscular
b) Heavy, coarse physique with rectangular
contour
c) Their head is massive and cubical
d) Shoulder and chest broad
e) Less fat and less linearity
f) Somatotype rating is 1-7-1
3) Ectomorphy
a) Typical characteristic is linearity
b) Face is thin
c) Forehead is high
d) Chin is receding
e) Chest and abdomen is thin and narrow
f) Less fat and less muscularity
g) Somatotype rating is 1-1-7
44 Source: www.ratemyarms.com
Criticism Human Constitution and
Physique
v The somatotype changes: Sheldon stated that the somatotype is a trajectory
along which an individual under average nutritional condition and absence
of major illness is destined to travel. He used the word ‘morphophenotype’
to refer to the present physique and ‘morphogenetic’ to refer to genetically
determined physique. He maintained that somatotype do not change
throughout because it does not change significantly for any measurements
except where the fat is deposited.
v Somatotype is not objective: Sheldon claimed that making measurements

on photographs has raised the subjective technique to strictly scientific and
objective level. He developed his own anthropometric method which depends
upon soft part outline in the photograph more than osseous landmark.
v There are two, not three primary components, for endomorphy and
ectomorphy are essentially the inverse of each other.
v Somatotyping omits the factor of size: In original method somatotype

measured only body shape independent of body size.
v The method of somatotyping was developed on adult males. Criteria for

defining somatotype components in children or females were not published.
v He used arbitrary scale that permitted no rating more than 7 or less than 1 in
any component and their sum is limited by the numbers 9 and12.
Sheldon’s objective method

Source: www.innerexnloration.com
To meet these criticisms Sheldon described a ‘new’ Trunk Index method derived
from the ratio of the areas of the thoracic and abdominal trunk measured on
somatotype photograph.
v This index is assumed to be constant throughout life. It is possible that in
the succession of the life phases the area ratio of thoracic trunk to abdominal
45
Human Growth and trunk remains constant, that the two area increase and decrease in the size
Development
in relation to one another.
v He asserted that the new system provided a measure of massiveness (HWR),
a separator for the kinds of mass into endomorphy and mesomorphy (The
trunk index) and finally a measure of degree of stretching out into space
(height). When the other two parameters are known, this is precisely what
ectomorphy is.
v In this new method height was used as a measure of size, and substituted for
ectomorphy.
v As a result of these changes, the sum of the somatotype components no
longer need be limited to sum of 9 to 12 but now can extend to sums of 7 to
15.
v The original matrix of 76 somatotypes expanded to 88.The trunk index matrix
gives 267.
Areas to measure when determining the trunk index
Source: www.innerexploration.com
46
3.3.4 Heath-Carter Method Human Constitution and
Physique
Heath J.E. Lindsay Carter

Physical anthropologist Professor, San Diego State University
Source: www.somatotype.org
Heath (1963) described certain limitations in Sheldon’s method and suggested

the following modifications to overcome them:
v Opening the component rating scales to accommodate a broader range of
variation by replacing the arbitrary 7-point scale with a rating scale of equal
appearing intervals. Beginning theoretically with zero (in practical beginning
with one half) and having no arbitrary end point.
v Eliminated the unjustified restrictions of sums of components to between 9
to 12.
v Construct a table that preserves a logical linear relationship between
somatotype rating and HWRs.
v Adopt a single table of HWRs (Height-Weight Ratios) and somatotype
suitable for both sexes at all ages.
Heath and Carter combined both photoscopic and anthropometric procedures to
estimate somatotype. Somatotype is defined as representing the individual’s
“present morphological conformation; expressed in a three numeral rating of
primary components of physique that identify individual features of morphology
and body composition”. In practice, the Heath-Carter method of somatotyping is
primarily in its anthropometric form. Anthropometry is more objective and
obtaining standardised somatotype photographs is difficult and costly.
The somatotype components and the dimensions used in the Heath-Carter

anthropometric protocol to derive each component are as follows:
1) Endomorphy (1/2-16th scale): The first component, endomorphy, is
described from the sum of three skinfolds namely the triceps, subscapular,
and suprailiac. It refers to relative fatness of a physique.
47
Human Growth and 2) Mesomorphy (up to 17th scale): The second component, mesomorphy, refers
Development
to relative musculoskeletal development adjusted for stature. It is described
as expressing fat-free mass relative to stature. Mesomorphy is derived from
biepicondylar breadths of the humerus and femur, flexed-arm circumference
corrected for the thickness of triceps skinfold and calf circumference
corrected for the thickness of the medial calf skinfold corrected of the
thickness of medial calf skinfold. Correcting the circumferences is simply a
matter of subtracting the skinfold thickness from circumference. These four
measurements are then adjusted for stature.
3) Ectomorphy (up to 9th scale): The third component, ectomorphy, is the
relative linearity of build. It is based on the reciprocal ponderal index.
There are three methods for obtaining a Heath- Carter somatotype. They are as
follows:
1) The photoscopic somatotype
2) The anthropometric somatotype
3) The anthropometric plus photoscopic somatotype
The anthropometric somatotype can be calculated from the 10 anthropometric
dimensions viz. height, weight and skinfolds (triceps, subscapular, supraspinale,
and medial calf), two girths (flexed upper arm and calf) and biepicondylar
breadths (humerus and femur).The algorithms for estimating a somatotype with
the Heath-Carter anthropometric protocol are as follows:
a) Endomorphy = -0.7182+0.1451 (X)-0.00068(X²)+0.0000014(X³)

Where, X = ∑3 skinfolds viz. triceps, subscapular and supraspinale skinfolds;
and adjustment for stature is made where X is multiplied by 170.18/height
(cm).
b) Mesomorphy = (0.858 × humerus breadth + 0.601 × femur breadth + 0.188

× corrected arm girth +0.161 × corrected calf girth)-( 0.131× stature)+4.50
Where, corrected arm girth = Arm girth – triceps skinfold in cm and corrected
calf girth = calf girth – medial calf skinfold in cm.
c) Ectomorphy = 0.732× HWR -28.58 (If HWR>40.75)

= HWR × 0.463-17.63 (If HWR>38.25 but <40.75)
= 0.1 (If HWR=39.25)
Where HWR = stature/ ³ √weight (kg).

The advantages of anthropometric somatotype are it provides
1) an objective method of somatotyping.
2) the best estimate of a criterion somatotype in the absence of a photograph.
Limitations
1) The first component endomorphy represents the fat free mass and second
mesomorphy components reflect the fat mass. The body components present
specific body composition concepts, which means it partitions body weight
48
into its lean and fat components. Sheldon’s original somatotype concept Human Constitution and
Physique
however refers only to body shape and not to body composition. Although,
both methods use the term somatotype, but it has different meaning in each.
2) Endomorphy has been found to correlate moderately well in terms of body

fat, though fat free mass correlates rather poorly with mesomorphy.
Moreover, the association of mesomorphy and limb muscularity is generally
low in athletes based on dual energy X-ray absorbtiometry. This needs the
validation of relationship implied in the concepts used to define physique.
3) The variation in the reproducibility of somatotype components in the Heath-

Carter anthropometric protocol is guided by intra-observer and inter-observer
measurement. An error of 0.5 somatotype units is there when the body
dimensions are measured by experienced technicians.
4) The validity of this method for children 6 years and below has not been
established. This could be one of the factors attributed to studies projecting
high ratings of mesomorphy in young children
3.4 SUMMARY
Human variability in body size, shape, and proportions due to age, sex, nutrition,
physical activity and environment are topics that are of considerable interest to
physical anthropologists and human biologists for a long time. Somatotypes
change due to growth or reduction of body constitution at differential rate.
Somatotyping, an index of physique/human variability has sought to identify
physical adaptations to environmental conditions such as heat, humidity, and
altitude. Furthermore, discerning the associations between fitness and physical
performance, and different somatotypes has been an important research task.
Anthropometric approaches are, of most part non-invasive methods that assess
the size, shape or body composition of an individual. Somatometry is considered
as one of the best tool for growth studies as these values are closely related to
nutrition, genetic makeup, environment, social and cultural condition, lifestyle
and functional status. Assessment of physique derived from different methods
viz Viola’s Method, Kretschmer’s Method, Sheldon’s Method and Heath - Carter
Method incorporates the terms endomorphy, mesomorphy and ectomorphy.
Somatotyping recognise continuous variation in the distribution of the
components of the physique. Finally, somatotyping is considered to be reasonably
good method for quantification of current shape and composition of the human
body and has been subject to continuous improvement in respect of its
methodological issues.
References
Saranga, S.P.J., Prista, A., Nhantumbo, L., Rocha, G.B.J. and Blangero,W. 2008
Heritabilities of Somatotype Components in a Population from Rural
Mozambiqu. José A. Maia. 20(6):642–6.
Panasiuk T.V. and Izaak S.I. 2000. Somatotype and the human body development
during first childhood. Morfologiia. 118(5):64-7.
Singh, A.P. and Singh, S.P. 2006. Somatotypic Variations: An Analysis of Some
Traditional Occupations. Journal of Human Ecology. 19(4): 249-251.
49
Human Growth and Suggested Reading
Development
Eston, R. and Reilly,T.(Eds) 2001 Kinanthropometry and Exercise Physiology
Laboratory Manual: Test, Procedures and Data. Volume 1: Anthropometry.
Second edition, New York; Routledge press.
Harrison, G.A.,Tanner, J.M., Pilbeam, D.R. and Baker, P.T. 1964. Human Biology-
An Introduction to Human Evolution, Growth and Adaptability. Third edition.
New York; Oxford Uiversity Press.
Malina, R.M., Bouchard, C. and Bar-Or.O. 2004.Growth, Maturation and

Physical Activity. Second edition. Illinois; Human Kinetiscs.
Carter, J.E.L and Heath, B.H. Roll. 1990. Somatotyping, Development and
Applications. Cambridge; Cambridge University Press.
Sample Questions
1) What do you understand by the term “physique”? Give an account on
different methods of classifying human physique.
2) Critically examine the various methods of studying human physique?
3) Briefly describe Heath-Carter method of assessing human physique and how
does it differ from Sheldon’s method?
4) What is somatotyping? Explain various methods of assessing somatotype
and give its significance.
5) What are different classification of constitutional types and body physique
given by different scholars?
50
Human Constitution and
UNIT 4 REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY Physique
Contents
4.1 Introduction
4.2 The Reproduction System
4.3 Reproductive Physiology of Male and Female
4.4 Organs of Male Reproductive System
4.5 Organs of Female Reproductive System
4.6 Physiology of Male Reproductive Process
4.7 Physiology of Female Reproductive Process
4.8 Biological Aspects of Human Fertility
4.9 Relevance of Menarche
4.10 Relevance of Menopause
4.11 Other Bioevents to Fertility
4.12 Summary
Suggested Reading
Sample Questions
Learning Objectives
&
After going through this unit, you should be able to:
Ø understand aspects of the reproductive physiology of male and female;
Ø learn the biological aspects of human fertility;
Ø highlight the differences between menarche and menopause; and
Ø indicate other biological issues related to fertility.
4.1 INTRODUCTION
In this unit we are going to understand about reproductive biology of males and
females, the biological factors related to human fertility and about menarche and
menopause. We will also study other bio events related to human fertility.
Now let us try to understand about the phenomenon of reproduction among human
beings. Reproduction is one of the essential characteristics of life. It is illustrated
in its primitive form by the action of single –celled amoeba in dividing into two.
Most of the cells of the human body have the same power of division by virtue
of which growth and repair are possible.
Reproduction in man and other higher animals is a complex process involving
the existence of two sexes, both of which play their respective roles in the
formation of a new individual, i.e. offspring.
The reproductive organs of the male and female differ in anatomical structure
and arrangement, each having functional specificities required for reproduction.
The function of the male organs is to form spermatozoa or sperms and implant 51
Human Growth and them within the female so that they can meet the ova. The female organs are
Development
adapted to form ova or eggs which, if fertilized by spermatozoa, remain in the
cavity of the uterus. Here an embryo or fetus is formed and is retained until the
individual grown in the uterus is capable of a separate and independent existence.
4.2 THE REPRODUCTION SYSTEM

Evolutionary biology clearly indicates that the sexes are separate among human
beings. As such the reproductive systems are separate and function independently.
Both male and female reproductive systems function with the help of different
hormones secreted by different glands, thereby they are responsible for different
functions and carry out reproductive process in a successful manner.
4.3 REPRODUCTIVE PHYSIOLOGY OF MALE

AND FEMALE
Before actually knowing about the reproductive physiology of males and females
it is better to understand the different reproductive organs involved in it. In this
sub unit we can discuss about the reproductive physiology of male and female
briefly.
Human beings are bi-sexual organisms wherein sexes are separate and as such
they have separate sex organs and these sex organs are specialised for carrying
out certain functions. In both the sexes, different organs are meant for different
functions in reproductive process. In subsequent sub-units we are going to discuss
about the structure of male and female sex-organs, the related endocrine secretions
and their functions in the process of reproduction in brief.
4.4 ORGANS OF MALE REPRODUCTIVE

SYSTEM
The male reproductive system includes the primary sex organs and accessory
sex organs. Primary sex organs are testes and the accessory sex organs are seminal
vesicles, prostate gland, urethra and penis.
Testis
Testis is the primary male sex organ or male gonad. It corresponds with ovary in
females. There are two testes (singular = testis) in almost all the species. Each
testis contains about 900 coiled tubules known as seminiferous tubules. The
seminiferous tubules produce sperms. The sperms enter the vas deferens, which
form the epididymis. It is continued as vas deferens.
Seminal Vesicles
The seminal vesicles are accessory sex organs in males, which are situated on
either side of prostate. Secretions of seminal vesicles are emptied into ampulla
of vas deferens. The enlarged portion of vas deferens is called ampulla. The
ampulla of the vas deferens is continued as ejaculatory duct, which passes through
prostate to form internal urethra.
52
Prostate Gland Reproductive Biology
Prostate gland is also an accessory sex organ formed by numerous secretory

glands. Secretion from prostrate glands follows the path to utriculus prostaticus
and is then emptied into internal urethra.
Urethra
Urethra has two parts namely, internal urethra and external urethra. Internal urethra
is the continuation of ejaculatory duct. Internal urethra passes through penis as
external urethra. Urethra contains mucus glands throughout its length, which
are called glands of litter. The bilateral bulbourethral glands also open into the
urethra.
Penis
Penis is the male genital organ formed of three erectile tissue masses, i.e., a
paired corpora cavernosa and an unpaired corpus spongiosum. The urethra passes
through penis and opens to the exterior and the spongiosum surrounds the urethra
and terminates distally to form glans penis.
Structure of Testis
The testes are ovoid or walnut shaped bodies having the organisation of compound
tubular gland. Both the testes are located in the sac like structure called scrotum.
Functions of Testis
• The gametogenic function and
• Endocrine function
The production of gamete cells is called the gametogenic function.
Spermatogenesis is the process by which spermatozoa are developed from the
primitive germ cells in the testis known as spermatogonia. Spermatogenesis
occurs in four stages.
1) Stage of proliferation
2) Stage of growth
3) Stage of maturation and
4) Stage of transformation
Now, we can discuss about how spermatogenesis takes place.

1) Stage of Proliferation
The spermatogonia near the basement membrane of seminiferous tubule are larger.
Each one contains diploid number of chromosomes (23 pairs in human males).
One member of each pair is from maternal origin and the other from paternal
origin.
During the proliferative stage, the spermatogonia divide by mitosis without any
change in chromosomal number. In human male, there are usually seven
generations of spermatogonia. The last generation enters the stage of growth as
primary spermatocyte.
53
Human Growth and 2) Stage of Growth
Development
The primary spermatocyte grows into the large cells. Apart from this, there is no
other change in this stage.
3) Stage of Maturation
After reaching the full size, each primary spermatocyte quickly undergoes meiotic
or maturation division, which occurs in two stages. In the first stage, two secondary
spermatocytes are formed. In the second stage, each secondary spermatocyte
divides into two spermatids. The significance of the two stages of maturation
division is that, each spermatid receives only the haploid or half the number of
chromosomes.
4) Stage of Transformation
The spermatids do not divide further but transform into spermatozoa by a process
called spermatogenesis.
4.5 ORGANS OF FEMALE REPRODUCTIVE

SYSTEM
Now we can try to understand about the female reproductive organs; specifically
their structure and functions. The female sex organs are situated in the pelvis
and for purposes of description may be divided into:
i) Internal organs: uterus, ovaries, fallopian (uterine) tubes, vagina
ii) External organs: mons veneris, labia majora and minora, clitoris, hymen
iii) Secondary organs: the breast or mamae (mammary glands).
Internal organs
In the following paragraphs you will briefly know about the female reproductive
organs, their structure and functions.
The Ovary
There are two ovaries (female gonads), right and left, lying on each side of the
upper pelvic cavity situated against the pelvic wall near the uterus. Each is
about the size of a large almond and is attached to the posterior aspect of the
broad ligament of the uterus by a fold of peritoneum. It lies immediately below
the fallopian tube which forms an arch over the top of the ovary and ends just
below its lateral margin.
Structure
Briefly the ovary may be described as having (i) a medulla in the centre consisting
mainly of fibrous tissue or stroma, and (ii) a cortex on the surface consisting of
a layer of epithelium (the germinal epithelium), a number of cystic spaces of
various sizes – the Graafian follicles – which contain the ova surrounded by a
little fluid, and a yellow body – the corpus luteum – formed after a Graafian
follicle has ruptured and discharged its contained ova and fluid.
54
Functions Reproductive Biology
i) To produce ova.
ii) The Graafian follicle secretes the hormone oestrogen
iii) The corpus luteum secretes the hormone progesterone.
The Fallopian Tube
The fallopian tubes, two in number, named after the 16th century Anatomist,
Fallopins, are about 10 cm (4 inch) in length and lie in the upper margin of each
broad ligament of the uterus, thus being surrounded by peritoneum. The outer
end of the tube is expanded and has an opening into the peritoneal cavity. This
is surrounded by a number of fringes – like processes, the fimbriae, which lie
close to the lateral part of the ovary. It has already been seen that the middle of
the tube curves round the ovary like an arch.
Structure
The fallopian tube has a muscular wall continuous with that of the uterus. Its
outer surface is covered by peritoneum, while its inner lining or mucous membrane
is formed of ciliated epithelium.
Function
Its function is to collect the ova discharged from the ovary in its fimbriated end,
and pass them along its interior towards the cavity of the uterus by the action of
its ciliated epithelium. Fertilization of the ovum by spermatozoa usually takes
place in the tube.
The uterus
The uterus (womb) is a hollow, pear-shaped organ situated in the pelvic cavity
above the urinary bladder and in front of the rectum. It has thick muscular walls
and a small central cavity. In the nulliparous women (those who have never
borne a child) it measures about 7.5 cm (3 in) in length, 5 cm (2 in) in width and
1.75 cm (1 in) in thickness. In multiparous (those who have previously borne
children) the uterus is still larger and its shape remains variable.
The uterus consists of (i) the fundus, (ii) the body and (iii) the cervix. The
fundus is the upper part of the uterus situated between the two fallopian tubes.
The body forms the greater part of the organ and is the portion between the
fundus and the cervix. The cervix or neck is the lowest portion, part of which
projects like an inverted dome into the vagina below. It is traversed by a canal
opening above into the cavity of the uterus by an orifice called the internal os,
and below into the vagina by the external os.
Attached to either side of the fundus of the uterus are the hollow fallopian tubes
(oviducts). The cavity of the uterus has, therefore, three openings – one into
each fallopian tube and one through the external os of the cervix into the vagina.
The fundus, the body and the cervix, except for that part which projects into the
vagina, are covered on their outer surface by peritoneum. The peritoneum on
the anterior surface of the body of the uterus, if traced forward, is found to be
reflected on to the superior surface of the bladder. That from the posterior surface
lines the lowest part of the pelvic cavity before passing on to the rectum. This
space between the uterus and the rectum is called the recto-uterine pouch of
Douglas. 55
Human Growth and The peritoneum passing laterally from the uterus extends to the side wall of the
Development
pelvis. It consists of two layers, the front layer being continuous with the
peritoneum covering the anterior surface of the uterus and the posterior layer
with that covering the posterior surface of the uterus.
This double fold of peritoneum passing from the side of the uterus to the wall of
the pelvic cavity is called the broad ligament. Between the two layers forming its
upper margin is situated the fallopian tube. It is, therefore, rather like a piece of
material draped to hang down on either side of a horizontal pole – the pole being
represented by the curved fallopian tube. Also enclosed between the layers of
the broad ligament is a fibrous band, the round ligament of the uterus which
passes from the side wall of this organ to the inguinal canal.
Structure
The walls of the uterus consist of three layers:
i) The outer serous coat of peritoneum.
ii) The thick middle layer consisting of involuntary, plain muscle (myometrium)
iii) The inner mucous coat called the endometrium.
Functions
i) To receive the fertilized ovum and to retain and nourish the developing
foetus throughout the duration of pregnancy.
ii) To expel the foetus at the end of pregnancy by the contractions of its muscular
walls.
iii) To play a part in the phenomenon of menstruation.
The vagina
This is a canal with muscular walls 8-10 cm (3-4 in) long which passes in a
downward and forward direction from the cervix of the uterus to its lower orifice
in the vulva. It is normally collapsed, and the length and diameter of the vagina
increased during sexual arousal. The main functions of vagina pertain to serve
as the passageway for menstrual flow, as a receptacle for the penis during coital
act, and as a part of birth canal.
It is lined by a thin type of skin which is thrown into a number of transverse folds
and is kept moist by the secretion of the mucous glands present in the cervix.
This secretion is slightly acid in reaction (due to lactic acid). The vagina is the
natural home for several microorganisms. Out of these some of the bacteria,
fungi and protozoa play important roles in maintaining the vaginal environment.
The breasts or mammary glands

The two breasts are glands which are accessory to the genital system, that is,
they take no parts in the actual process of reproduction. They are present in an
undeveloped form in the female before puberty as also in the male.
The fully developed female breast, while varying considerably in size, is circular
in outline and approximately hemispherical in shape. It lies on the pectoralis
major muscle, extending from the second rib above to the sixth rib below and
from the margin of the sternum on its medial side to the axilla on the lateral side.
56
Just below the centre is a small elevation, the nipple, in which the ducts of the Reproductive Biology
breast open. The nipple, in addition, contains a few plain muscle fibers which
cause it to become erect when stimulated. The function of the breasts is to secrete
milk during breastfeeding. It also serves as a stimulus for sexual arousal in both
the sexes. These glands are actually evolved from sweat glands. In humans, though
a single pair of breasts persists, in some individuals more than one pair is seen.
This condition is called polythelia. It is to be noted that each human female
breast is covered by skin and contains a variable amount of fat and the actual
mammary gland tissue. The breast size and shape variation occurs due to
differences in the amount of fat distribution. The quantity of milk secretion usually
does not vary according to breast size.
4.6 PHYSIOLOGY OF MALE REPRODUCTIVE

PROCESS
Now we can discuss the physiology of male reproductive process.
In the last sub unit i.e., 4.4 it is clear about the way how the process of
spermatogenesis takes place and now we will see the role of hormones in the
process.
The hormones which are necessary for spermatogenesis are:
i) Testosterone not only stimulates the process of spermatogenesis but is also
necessary for the formation of secondary spermatocyte from primary
spermatocyte.
ii) Follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) in addition to testosterone is also
necessary for the stimulation of the process of spermatogenesis.
iii) Luteinizing hormone (LH) is essential for the secretion of testosterone from
Leydig cells.
iv) Estrogen secreted by Sertoli cells is also necessary for the process of
spermatogenesis.
v) Growth hormone (GH) is essential for the general metabolic processes in
testis. It is also necessary for the proliferation of spermatogonia.
The above mentioned hormones act at different stages of spermatogenesis.
Endocrine Function of the Testis

Male sex hormones are called androgens. Testes secret three androgens,
i) Testosterone
ii) Dihydrotesterone
iii) Androstenedione. Testosterone is secreted in large quantities by testes and
by adrenal cortex in small quantity.
Functions of Testosterone
In general, testosterone is responsible for the distinguishing characteristics of
masculine body. In the foetal life, the testes are stimulated by human chorionic
gonadotrophins secreted by the placenta. But in childhood practically no
testosterone is secreted approximately until 10–12 years of age. Afterwards the
57
Human Growth and testosterone secretion starts and it increases rapidly at the onset of puberty and
Development
lasts throughout most of the remaining part of the life. It is also essential for the
growth of the external genitalia – penis, scrotum and other accessory sex organs
– genital ducts, seminal vesicles and prostate.
4.7 PHYSIOLOGY OF FEMALE REPRODUCTIVE

PROCESS
Before actually having a glance on female reproductive process we shall try to
know about functions of the female reproductive organs. The functions of the
female reproductive organs are directed to the following ends:
i) The formation of ova or ovulation.
ii) The preparation of the uterus to receive the fertilized ovum.
iii) The retention of the fertilized ovum within the cavity of the uterus until a
mature foetus is formed, capable of leading an independent existence, i.e.
pregnancy.
iv) The expulsion of the mature foetus, i.e. labour or parturition.
In the young female child, these processes are in abeyance. At a variable age, as
a result of the activities of the ductless glands, preparation for the reproductive
period in a woman’s life commences and is called puberty. The period during
which reproduction is possible usually extends from the early teens until the age
of forty-five to fifty, when it ends in the menopause (climacteric or ‘change of
life’), after which pregnancy does not occur.
Ovulation
Now you will know about the ovulation and its role in reproductive process. The
ovary contains many thousands of eggs or ova which lie dormant until the onset
of puberty. Active changes then take place in the ovary which results in the
periodic discharge of an ovum at intervals of a month.
A graafian follicle is a small cystic sac containing fluid and having the ovum
attached to its wall, which comes gradually to the surface of the ovary and ruptures
about two weeks after the commencement of the last menstrual period.
The ovum therefore actually passes into the peritoneal cavity but is soon caught
up in the fimbriae of the fallopian tube which closely surround the ovary. By the
action of the ciliated epithelium of the fallopian tube, the ovum is carried slowly
towards the cavity of the uterus. Within or little over ten days this stage of journey
of the ovum towards the uterine cavity is completed.
The ovum is either fertilized, in which case it becomes embedded in the wall of
the uterus and commences to grow into an embryo; or else it is discharged
unfertilized from the uterus in the menstrual flow.
Certain changes take place in a graafian follicle after its rupture and it becomes
a solid yellowish body called the corpus luteum. This body goes on developing
until the next menstrual period, when it gradually disappears and is replaced by
fibrous tissue. If the ovum is fertilized, however, the corpus luteum persists
throughout pregnancy and, it will be recalled, acts as a gland of internal secretion,
58 producing the hormone progesterone.
Menstruation Reproductive Biology
Our next concern is to know about the relevance of menstruation. This is a

function of the uterus established at puberty (average age, 12 to 13 years) as a
result of ovarian activity and consists of the periodic discharge of blood from its
cavity. It occurs on an average of every twenty-eight days until the menopause or
climacteric is reached, and lasts for three to five days. The amount of fluid,
which consists of blood, mucin and epithelial cells, varies between 90-200 ml
(3-7 fl. Oz). Menstruation ceases during pregnancy and is often not reestablished
until lactation is completed.
The purpose of the monthly cycle is to prepare the mucous membrane of the
uterus (endometrium) to receive a fertilized ovum. The endometrium undergoes
constant changes between one menstrual period and another and these changes
are made in preparation to receive the fertilized ovum. They are largely brought
about by the Follicle-Stimulating (FSH) and the Luteinizing (LH) hormones
secreted by the pituitary gland, and by estrogen and progesterone secreted by the
ovary. Menstruation is really a clearing up of these changes in the endometrium
when no fertilized ovum has arrived, and therefore in this sense it gives the
endometrium an opportunity to make a fresh preparation.
These changes are described as the menstrual cycle and may be conveniently
divided in the following way:
1) The secretory (pre-menstrual) phase, lasting for about 14 days before the
period, during which the endometrium becomes thickened and congested
and is in a state of preparedness to receive a fertilized ovum.
2) The menstruation period (three to five days) in which some of the epithelium
of the uterine mucosa is shed and is accompanied by bleeding. In other
words, no fertilized ovum has been received and the work of preparation
has been useless.
3) The stage of repair begins in the third or fourth days of the menstrual cycle.
4) The growth phase starts on the fourth day and continues up to fourteenth
day before the next secretory phase.
4.8 BIOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF HUMAN

FERTILITY
Before actually proceeding to know about the biological aspects of human fertility,
it is essential to know about the definition of fertility. Fertility is generally
indicated by the actual reproductive performance of a woman or group of women.
At the same time, we should know about the other related term ‘fecundity’.
Fecundity is the biological potential, i.e. the physiological capacity for
reproduction. The absence of this potential is known as infecundity. Fertility
can be described as the phenomenon of giving birth to children.
Now let us see how biological factors are responsible for the fertility among
human males and females. Biological factors play a very important role in
determining fertility. The onset of menarche in proper time, regular production
of healthy ova, the production of sufficient number of healthy sperms among the
males, etc. are important factors. The other biological factors influencing fertility 59
Human Growth and are health and disease, food habits, etc. Furthermore, genetic factors play an
Development
important role on human fertility, as well.
4.9 RELEVANCE OF MENARCHE

Now you will know about the importance of Menarche and its role in the
reproductive process. Menarche is the first menstrual cycle, or first menstrual
bleeding, in human females. From both social and medical perspectives it is
often considered the central event of female puberty, as it signals the possibility
of fertility. Girls experience menarche within a range of different ages after
attaining puberty. The timing of menarche is influenced by female biology, as
well as genetic and environmental factors, especially nutritional factors. The
average age of menarche has declined over the last century but the magnitude of
the decline and the factors responsible remain subjects of contention.
Menarche is the culmination of a series of physiological and anatomic process

of puberty. During this period, a number of physiological changes occur in the
girl’s body wherein secondary sexual characters appear. Menarche as a discrete
event is thought to be relatively a chance result of the gradual thickening of the
endometrium induced by rising but fluctuating pubertal estrogen.
Puberty signals the onset of adult sexual life, and menarche means the inception
of menstruation. At the start of about 8 years and usually terminating at the onset
of menstruation between ages 11 and 16 years i.e. at an average age of 13 years,
there is a gradual increase in gonadotropic hormone secretion by the pituitary
causing the period of puberty.
In the female, as in the male, the infantile pituitary gland and ovaries are capable
of full function if appropriately stimulated. However, as is also true in the male
and for reasons not understood, the hypothalamus does not secrete significant
quantities of growth hormone during childhood. Experiments have shown that
the hypothalamus itself is capable of secreting this hormone, but there is lack of
the appropriate signal from some other brain area to cause the secretion.
Therefore, it is now believed that the onset of puberty is initiated by some
maturation process that occurs elsewhere in the brain, perhaps somewhere in the
limbic system.
4.10 RELEVANCE OF MENOPAUSE

Now we can discuss about the menopause and its role in reproductive biology of
human beings. Menopause is a period of permanent termination of the primary
functions of the human ovaries, which are the ripening and release of ova and
the release of hormones that cause both the creation of the uterine lining and
later detaching of the uterine lining (a.k.a. the menses). Menopause is generally
experienced in women during their midlife, which is late 40s or early 50s. This
marks the end of fertile phase of a woman’s life.
There is major decline in the production of female hormones by the ovaries

during the change from reproductive to non-reproductive phase. It is not abrupt
but phases over a period of years and is accepted to be a natural consequence of
ageing. However, variations in the transition phase have been observed amongst
women. In some women the accompanying signs and effects can significantly
60
disrupt their daily activities and their sense of well-being. In addition, menopause Reproductive Biology
at younger age is experienced by women who have some sort of functional
disorder which affects their reproductive system (i.e., endometriosis, polycystic
ovary syndrome, cancer of the reproductive organ). These functional disorders
considerably hasten the menopausal process and result in health problems both
physical and emotional in the affected woman.
Now we can see the changes that occur in the physiological and psychological
aspects among the women. At this age, women should be ready to invite
menopause by making their mind. In certain cases counseling is also necessary.
At the time of menopause, a woman must readjust her life from one that has
been physiologically stimulated by estrogen and progesterone production to one
devoid of these hormones. The loss of the estrogens often causes marked
physiological changes in the function of the body, including (1) ‘hot flushes’
categorized by extreme reddening of the skin, (2) psychic sensations of dyspnea,
(3) irritability, (4) fatigue, (5) anxiety, (6) occasionally various psychotic states,
and (7) decreased strength and calcification of bones throughout the body. In
15% of women, these symptoms are of adequate measure to warrant treatment.
If counseling fails small quantities of estrogen reverses the symptoms and with
gradual tapering of the dose the postmenopausal women is likely to avoid severe
symptoms.
4.11 OTHER BIO-EVENTS TO FERTILITY

Here we can discuss the effects of few biological factors on human fertility.
These factors include contraception, abortion and sterilization. All these factors
are so important that these need careful study. In every society, now-a-days there
is a tendency that family should be small, population explosion should be checked.
i) Contraception
Contraceptive practices affect fertility by decreasing the chance of conception.
There is a considerable variation in the effectiveness of practicing contraceptive
methods as projected in theory and while in actual use. Effective rates of more
than 95% are reported using contemporary methods such as oral pills and
intrauterine devices. Older methods such as condoms and diaphragm can be
more than 90 per cent effective, when used regularly and correctly, but their
average use effectiveness is lower because of irregular or incorrect use. Natural
methods of contraception viz. withdrawal or abstinence are also in use with
variable degree of effectiveness in human groups
ii) Abortion
Induced abortion diminishes fertility by terminating pregnancy not by affecting
fecundability. Practice of abortion in human societies dates back to ages and is
rather common in some settings. Statistics reveal that officially registered
percentage of pregnancies terminated by abortion is more than one-third in some
countries and substantial numbers of unregistered abortions are perhaps prevalent
even in countries where they report very low rate.
iii) Sterilization
The complete elimination of fecundability can be brought about by sterilization.
The surgical procedures of tubectomy and vasectomy have become common in 61
Human Growth and diverse nations and cultures. In USA voluntary sterilization has become the
Development
most prevalent single means of regulating fertility, typically adopted by couples
who have achieved their desired family size. In India sterilization has been
encouraged on occasion by various government run incentive programmes.
4.12 SUMMARY
Reproductive Biology is one of the important subjects in science. Evolutionary
biology clearly indicates that the human beings are bi-sexual. As such both the
sexes possess different reproductive system and function independently with the
help of different hormonal secretions. To study both male and female reproductive
systems, it is essential to understand the different organs of males and females.
The physiological aspects of these two systems are also very important to
understand their functions. Physiology of both male and female reproductive
processes mainly involves the secretion of different hormones and their functions
at different levels. In reproductive biological studies much emphasis has been
laid on the term fertility. Fertility can be described as the phenomenon of
childbearing. Both biological and non biological factors play an important role
in determining fertility. At the same time we can put stress on two important
terms mainly involved in the reproductive process, i.e., menarche and menopause.
Menarche can be defined as the first menstrual cycle that a female experiences.
Menopause is a term used to describe the permanent cessation of primary functions
of the ovaries, thus terminating the reproductive capacity of the female.
Contraception, abortion and sterilization are said to be the other factors that
control or terminate the pregnancies.
Suggested Reading
Guyton, A.C. and Hall, J.E. 1996. Text book of Medical Physiology. Bangalore,
India; Prism Books (P) Ltd.
Gordon, S.W. and Winwood, R.S. 1982. Anatomy and Physiology for Nurses.
London; Edward Arnold (Publishers) Ltd.
Sears. W.G. and Winwood, R.S. 1978. Anatomy and Physiology for Nurses and
Students of Human Biology. London; England; Edward Arnold..
Jones, R.E. 1997. Human Reproductive Biology (2nd Edn.) San Diego, California;
Academic Press.
Hansraj, 1984. Population Studies. Delhi; Surjeet Publications.
Sembulingam, K. and Sembulingam, P. 2005. Essentials of Medical Physiology.

New Delhi; Jaypee Brothers, Medical Publishers.
Sample Questions
1) Describe the reproductive physiology of male and female.
2) Write a note on male and female reproductive organs.
3) Explain the role of hormones in female reproductive system.
4) Explain the importance of menarche and its role in reproductive process.
62 5) Examine the relevance of menopause in reproductive process.
MANI-002
PHYSICAL
Indira Gandhi
ANTHROPOLOGY
Block
3
PRIMATE STUDY
UNIT 1
Living Primates 5
UNIT 2
Primate Behaviour 24
UNIT 3
Phylogeny of Living Primates and Primate Anatomy 42
Expert Committee
Patiala
Dr. Nita Mathur
SOSS, IGNOU
Professor V. Rami Reddy Mrs. Narinder Jit Kaur
Retired, Department of Anthropology Retired, Associate Professor in English
S V University, Tirupati Government Mohindra College, Patiala
Unit Writers
Professor P. K. Seth (Unit 1 & 2) Professor R. P. Srivastava (Unit 3 )
Retired, Deptt. of Anthropology, Retired, Deptt. of Anthropology
University of Delhi, Delhi University of Lucknow, Lucknow.

August, 2011
ISBN-978-81-266-5547-2
Printed at :
BLOCK 3 PRIMATE STUDY
Introduction
Man is primate of the primates with a unique place in the animal kingdom due to
most distinguishable primate characteristics. He and the non-human primates of
apes and monkeys descended from a common ancestor. The non-human primates
particularly the apes are our close relatives. Primates as multi-cellular animals
are mammals with a rather generalised anatomy. Two categories can be
distinguished among the primates: prosimians or lower monkeys (tree-shrews,
lemurs, lorises and tarsiers), anthoropoids or higher primates (New World or
platyrrhine monkeys, Old World or Catarrhine monkeys and man). There are
many characteristics which are common to both the groups of primates. Humans
are closely related to great apes as shown by anatomical- molecular-behavioural
evidences inspite of many typical characteristics in which they differ from each
other. The ancestral or basal primate stock separated from the common eutherian
stock, emerged as an independent order and evolved as prosimians during
Palaeocene of 70-60 myr BP, as cuboids and pongids of Oligocene of 40-20 myr
BP, and as protohominids during Pliocene of 12-4 myr BP. Squirrel-like, simple
prosimian primates made their first appearance, followed by their adaptive
radiation till the Oligocene time when the New World monkey and the anthropoid
apes came to the scene. The predominance of the latter continued during the
Miocene epoch. During the Miocene and Pliocene epochs the Pliopithicus-
Proconsul-Dryopithecus-Ramapithicus groups made remarkable progress in the
Old World. Of all the classifications of primates, the one by G G Simpson seems
to be most convincing.
The human behaviour including that of the extinct hominids can be best
understood and interpreted from the studies of non-human primates in their natural
setting. This has to be gauged from the findings of field investigations among
the non-human primates on their activity pattern, social organisation, mating
patterns, reproduction, parental care, territoriality, communication, life span,
dominance and aggression, communication, social behaviour, sexual behaviour,
and so on. These behavioural aspects have been examined among such non-
human primates as rhesus monkeys, baboons, presbytis, and great apes. The
rhesus monkey helped in the discovery of Rh factor, which has been found to be
hereditary in Homo sapiens. The great apes have been found to be similar to
humans in anatomical, physiological and behavioural traits.
In the construction of primate phylogenies including those of hominids, the

biological sciences of palaeontology, comparative anatomy and morphology
played a significant role. These methods have been found to be inadequate in the
matter of convincing interpretation of the phylogenies. Recent advances in modern
genetics revealed the development of important techniques and approaches of
signal importance in understanding the relationships between the great apes and
man. Among these can be mentioned the immunological technique, molecular
approaches, DNA hybridisation, mobile DNA elements approach, and human-
chimpanzee-gorilla tricnotomy. Morris Goodman’s 1960s analysis revealed
greater similarity between African apes and man than between Asian apes and
humans. Sarich and Wilson through their molecular approach in 1971 found that
man; gorilla and chimpanzee shared a common ancestor about five million years
Primate Study ago. Yunish and Prakash, Mai and kluge all in 1983 and Schwar in 1984 found
biomolecular similarities between man and African apes. DNA hybridisation,
mobile DNA elements approach and man-gorilla-chimpanzee trichotomy also
support the above findings. The process of hominisation is supported by details
of comparative anatomy of man and apes in the context of skull, spine, pectoral
girdle, pelvic girdle, and lower limbs. The block on Primate Study will facilitate
in understanding Man better.
4
Living Primates
UNIT 1 LIVING PRIMATES
Contents
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Definition
1.3 Characteristics
1.4 Evolutionary Trends
1.5 Classification
1.6 Distribution
1.7 Adaptation
1.8 Summary
1.9 Glossary
References
Suggested Reading
Sample Questions

We consider ourselves as the highest among all beings. But we hardly know
about ourselves. Once you have studied, this unit you will be able to understand
the
Ø distribution of MAN including non-human primates (our closest relatives);
Ø characteristics of MAN including non-human primates;
Ø classification of MAN including non-human primates; and
Ø evolution of MAN including non-human primates.
1.1 INTRODUCTION
That modern MAN, Homo sapiens sapiens, is a primate and a close cousin of
monkeys and apes cannot be denied. Yet, few people understand the relationship
between them. Neither man nor the non-human primates can be defined on the
basis of one or two features. They can be best defined on the basis of the general
pattern displayed by them or by the complexes of their characteristics. So, what
do we mean by the term primate (as this term also includes human beings)?
Unless we know this, it would be difficult for us to proceed with our discussion
on living primates, “our close relatives”.
Carl von Linnaeus, a Swedish botanist, chose the term ‘primate’(meaning first
or the highest amongst all), for the specific order Primates of Animal Kingdom,
Class Mammalia, including humans and the nonhuman primates, i.e., lemurs,
tree-shrews, lorises, aye-ayes, pottos, bush babies, tarsiers, monkeys and apes.
From a little shrew like ancestor, these animals are dominating this kingdom.
The evolutionary story of the primates – beginning from the prosimians at
one end of the spectrum to the highly complex man at the other end – is
now revealed in an ever new and fascinating manner.
5
Primate Study Within the Class Mammalia, there is tremendous diversity — from tiny shrews
to gigantic whales, from flying bats to burrowing badgers, from pronghorns to
sloths, from opossums to artists and engineers and mammalogists.
1.2 DEFINITION
Primates are multicellular animals (metazoans), possess an internal skeleton
(chordata), segmented vertebral column (vertebrates), maintain constant body
temperatures within a few degrees like other mammals and birds (homeotherms),
are mammals for they possess a complex of traits such as mammary glands,
suckling of young ones, hairy body, give birth to young ones, warm blooded,
heterodontism, have a single dental arch which articulates with the squamosal
bone of the skull, have the thorax separated from the abdomen by a muscular
diaphragm and are diphyodont. The primates have retained rather a primitive
and generalised anatomy, which lacks many specialisations; they are not radically
changed from earliest mammals, especially those ancestral to primates.
Primates represent the 7th largest order (including both living and extinct) with
51 genera and 168 species. Of these, 16 genera and 50 species are in the New
World. This order is often considered to be the most important of the mammals.
No one denies that modern man is a primate yet few people understand why man
is classified with animals such as the tree shrew, loris and aye-aye. Most nonhuman
primates occur in tropical areas. Because of his (Man’s) cultural and biological
plasticity, man adapts to most biomes.
None of these traits characterise all members of the order Primate. There are
always exceptions to singular traits. Even today the classic definition of the order
Primate propounded by Mivart in 1873 holds good. Primates cannot be easily
defined as they are characterised by a combination of primitive features and
progressive trends; for instance, primates can be defined as under:
“Unguiculate, claviculate, placental mammals; with orbits encircled by bony

rim; three kinds of teeth; at least at one time of life; brain always with a posterior
lobe and a calcarine fissure; the innermost digits of at least one pair of extremities
opposable; hallux with a flat nail or none; a well-developed caecum; penis
pendulous; testes scrotal; always two pectoral mammae (Mivart, 1873)”.
1.3 CHARACTERISTICS
There are no distinguishing features which characterise them all – except a
negative one, i.e. their lack of specialisation. Primates are distinguished from
other mammals by one or more of the following traits: unspecialised structure,
specialised behaviour, a short muzzle, comparatively poor sense of smell,
prehensile five-digit hands and feet possessing flat nails instead of claws, acute
vision with depth perception due to forward-facing eyes, a large brain, and
prolonged pre- and post-natal development. Most species bear a single young
and live in troops headed by a male. They include the prosimians or lower monkeys
lemurs, lorises and tarsiers and the anthropoids or higher primates (New World
monkeys, Old World monkeys, and apes and man). Primates range in size from
the Mouse Lemur, which weighs only 30 grams (1.1 oz) to the Mountain Gorilla
weighing 200 kilograms (440 lb). Monkeys range in size from the Pygmy
Marmoset measuring 140 to 160 millimeters (5½–6½) long (including tail) and
6
weighing 120 to 140 grams (4–5 oz), to the male Mandrill of about one metre Living Primates
(3.3 ft) length and having a weight of 35 kilograms (77 lb). Some are arboreal
(living on trees) while others live in the savanna. Their diet differs amongst
various species. It may contain any of the following: fruits, leaves, seeds, nuts,
flowers, eggs and small animals (including insects and spiders).
In the past, tarsiers (commonly called as owl monkey) have been grouped together
with the strepsirhines as prosimians, because they retain many primitive features
which are absent in higher primates. Tarsiers are crepuscular and have very large
eyes unlike in any other primate. They have adapted to a specialised lifestyle as
vertical clingers and leapers. However, tarsiers share a number of distinctive
specialisations with anthropoids that suggest that they are more closely related
to each other than to the strepsirhines. Hence, tarsiers and anthropoids (higher
primates) are classified together as haplorhines.
The following are the main characteristics of the primates:
v The anatomy of Primates enables them to maintain semi-erect and erect
postures and locomotor patterns.
v They have pentadactyl hands and feet (a very primitive trait).
v They have flattened nails on each of their digits excepting tree shrews.
v They possess a relatively low density of body hairs (hair instead of fur).
v They have fewer tactile hairs.
v The olfactory area of their brain is reduced. They thus have an increased
dominance of vision over smell, and reduction in the length of the (nose)
snout
v The visual area of their brain is expanded.
v Their eye sockets are completely encircled by a bony ridge. Their eyes are
more forwardly directed on the skull (for binocular vision) suggesting
development of a stereoscopic vision.
v They show an increased reliance on stereoscopic vision at the expense of
smell (the dominant sensory system in majority of the mammals).
v Some primates have developed a three color vision.
v They have pseudo-and true-opposability of the thumb and the great toe (i.e.,
the two function, to a varying degree, independently of the other digits.
They are widely separated from them); usually they have both these digits,
on hands and feet, opposable for grasping purposes.
v Some have prehensile tails.
v They possess relatively larger and complex brains.
v Most female primates have a simple unicornuate uterus.
v They are placental mammals with longer gestation period and generally
give birth to only one or two infants at a time.
v They have year round fertility.
v Their infants have prolonged physical and emotional dependence upon their
mothers, i.e. they have a longer period of infant dependency and parenting.
v They have prolonged growth and maturation periods and long life spans.
7
Primate Study v They display a reduction in the number of teeth, i.e. they have an incisor
and premolar less in each half of the upper and lower jaws unlike those in
the primitive placental mammals.
v They have retained a primitive clavicle.
v They possess a separate radius and an ulna in the forearm and a separate
tibia and a fibula in the lower leg (excepting tarsier).
v They show reduction in the length of their external tail.
v They possess a shortened vertebral column.
Prosimians, the simplest and the lowliest of the primates, have comb-like incisors
and canines (lower front teeth forming a toothcomb; also known as procumbent
lower incisors and canines); and a specialised claw on their back feet for grooming
whereas monkeys use their hands.
Platyrrhines display a variety of quadrupedal locomotor types ranging from
squirrel like scrambling to leaping and forelimb suspension. Atelines and capuchin
monkeys are distinctive among primates in having a specialised prehensile tail
that can grasp around branches for extra support. Their dental formula (DF) is
2.1.3.3. Though this DF is similar to that of prosimians yet the typical prosimian
tooth comb is absent in them.
Strepsirhines have elongated and forwardly projecting lower front teeth that form
a toothcomb. These teeth are used for grooming the fur and for obtaining resins
and gums from trees as source of food. The digits of the hands and feet bear
flattened nails, rather than claws, excepting the second toe, which has a sharp
toilet claw for grooming. They also have a moist, naked rhinarium and cleft
upper lip (similar to the wet noses of dogs). Most strepsirhines are nocturnal and
have large eyes. Their brain size is relatively small and the snout tends to be
longer than the haplorhines.
The Old World monkeys include some terrestrial species such as the baboons
and man, whereas the New World monkeys are exclusively arboreal. Some New
World monkeys have a prehensile tail for grasping. Cercopithecids or the Old
World monkeys, and the hominoids or apes and humans are distinguished from
Ceboidea in the development of a tube like (rather than ring like) tympanic bone
to support the eardrum (refer table below):
Ceboidea Cercopithecoidea Hominoidea
Platyrrhines Catarrhines Apes (Pongidae)
New World Monkeys Old World Monkeys Man
(NWM) (OWM) ( Hominidae)
Flat nosed Sharp nosed Sharp nosed
Broad nasal septum Narrow nasal septum Narrow nasal septum
D.F. 2.1.3.3; an D.F. 2.1.2.3 D.F. 2.1.2.3
extra premolar
Bilophodont Dryopithecus pattern of
lower molar
Incisors broad and Incisors broad and
spatulate spatulate
Prehensile tail Tail never prehensile Tail altogether absent
8
Living Primates
(Broad nasal septum) (Narrow nasal septum)

Platyrrhines (Ceboidea or NWM) Catarrhines (Cercopithecoidea or Hominoidea; OWM)
Source: Seth, P.K and Seth, S. 1986. The Primates, New Delhi, Northern Book Centre
Diagrammatic representation of the nasal septum in the NWM and OWM

Catarrhines (OWM; DF 2.1.2.3) are a highly successful group comprising more
than 80 species. They are distinguished from other anthropoids in having
bilophodont molar teeth which bear a pair of transverse crests. They also have
naked, roughened sitting pads on their rumps called ischial callosities - a feature
they share with hylobatids.
Hominoidea is the superfamily to which both apes and humans belong. MAN
shares numerous structural similarities with the apes but the most significant
feature is the absence of tail, large body size and shortened trunk. Hominoids are
distinguished from cercopithecoids by the occurrence of primitive nonbilophodont
molars, larger brains, longer arms than legs (except in humans), a broader chest,
a shorter and less flexible lower back, and absence of tail. Many of these
specialisations are related to a more upright posture in apes associated with a
greater emphasis on vertical climbing and forelimb suspension.
Hominoids contain two families: pongidae and hominidae. Pongidae includes
the hylobates (gibbons and siamangs), and the great apes (orangutan, chimpanzee
and gorilla). The Hominidae includes the humans (Homo sapiens) only. The
gibbons and siamang (Hylobates) are the smallest of the hominoids (4–11 kg or
9–24 lb), and due to which they are sometimes referred to as the lesser apes. The
nine or so species are common throughout the tropical forests of Asia.
The great apes are remarkable in having the longest arms in any primates, which
are 30–50% longer than their legs. The gibbon and the closely related siamang
of the superfamily Hylobatinae are characterised by their highly specialised mode
of locomotion, called brachiation, by which they swing below the tree branches
using only their forelimbs. They are small tailless, arboreal apes having ischial
callosities and exceptionally long arms including prehensile hands.
The Gibbons are fruit eaters, whereas the larger siamang consumes a higher
proportion of leaves in its diet. Hylobatids live in monogamous family groups in
which males and females are similar in size.
The Great apes are included together in their own subfamily of Ponginae to
distinguish them from humans, who are placed in the family Hominidae. However,
recent anatomical, molecular, and behavioural evidence has confirmed that
humans are closely related to the great apes, especially the African apes. For this
reason, most scientists now classify them together in a single family, the Hominidae. 9
Primate Study Let us now find out the typical characteristics in which MAN differs from Apes
MAN APES
Orthograde locomotion Pronograde locomotion
Great toe largest Great toe not the largest
Forward positioning of foramen Foramen magnum backwardly directed
magnum
Strong development of mastoid Mastoid processes not well developed
processes
Vertebral column has moved Vertebral column dorsally placed
anteriorly into thorax
Dorsal shift of shoulder joints Shoulder joints and scapula laterally
and scapula placed
Largest brain Small brain
Marked reduction in the size of Large face and lower jaw
face and lower jaw
Everted chin Receding chin
Forward positioning of eyes Obliquely laterally directed eyes
Post-canine length less More post canine length
Canine size same as other teeth Canine protrudes out of the tooth rows
1.4 EVOLUTIONARY TRENDS

The oldest known fossil remains of primates appeared about 60 mya. Man, even
today, is regarded as the most evolved among the primates. These earliest primates
were small, forest dwelling, and insectivorous mammals not larger than a rat.
The Primate adaptive radiation began sixty-five to seventy million years ago in
the Palaeocene epoch. Though the living primates could be arranged in order of
increasing their anatomical and behavioural complexity, they are the end products
of their own evolutionary lines.
Early Tertiary Period

The climate of the early Tertiary period — about 66.4 million years ago - was
warm with wide tropical and subtropical zones extending from the equator up to
the higher latitudes in both the Old and the New World. During this period, the
most primitive of the primates were in existence. During the Palaeocene epoch,
which lasted for about 8.6 million years (c.66.4 million-c.57.8 million years
ago), there were many primates in existence. Three of these families had long
chisel-shaped teeth that resembled those of the rodents with which they competed
for a similar ecological niche, or habitat.
During the Palaeocene and Eocene epochs (from about 66.4 million to about
36.6 million years ago) early in the Tertiary period, more advanced primates
appeared. During these epochs, an explosive primate radiation took place which
dwindled in the Oligocene (Oligo = small). Lemuroids, Tarsioids and Platyrrhines
have been recognised in the Palaeocene and Eocene epochs of America, Europe,
Egypt and Burma. The Adapidae family represented by the Lemuriformes, was
10
the most widespread one as per the fossil record. The Tarsiiformes are known Living Primates
from one family, the Omomyidae. The characteristic tarsioid (tarsier-like)
specialisation of the skull and hind limbs were already well advanced in the
known fossil forms, but some of the European genera have some structures
indicating relationships with the early monkeys.
The New World witnessed the appearance of three-fourth of the primates. Their
development and human origins probably took place in the Old World.
Amphipithecus, implying both ways an ape, a platyrrhini, found in the Eocene
of Burma is considered to be ancestral to the Parapithecus (Para = near) of
Egypt. Generally speaking, there is hardly any fossil evidence of the Eocene
ancestors of the Old World monkeys and apes. Thus, the Eocene epoch terminated
after about 30 million years of primate evolution with lemur-like and tarsier-like
forms.
Later, during the Oligocene epoch (36.6 to 23.7 million years ago) which followed,
there came into existence primitive monkeys and exceedingly primitive
anthropoid apes. The Fayum deposits of the Oligocene epoch in Egypt yielded
fossil remains of Propliopithecus (Pro = before, Plio = more), the earliest
anthropoid ape on record (they had small brains, long snouts, skulls resembling
those of monkeys or lemurs and their teeth like those of modern apes; they lived
in trees and had tails) and Parapithecus (known from some lower jaws 30 mya),
a very small sized (squirrel-like) and earliest Old World Monkey on record having
a generalised Tarsioid appearance. Gregory regarded Propliopithecus as a
primitive gibbon and Parapithecus as a primitive monkey. These fossils are
distinguished by traits normally necessary for adaptation to arboreal life: grasping
extremities, nails instead of claws, pentadactyly, an opposable thumb and a big
toe, forearm consisting of ulna and radius, reduced snout, forwardly directed
eyes and orbits closed from behind, and enlarged visual centers.
Apidium, which is also included in the family of Parapithecidae, could be the

forerunner of African monkeys. The Egyptian Oligocene epoch also contributed
to several primitive fossil apes including Aeolopithecus, which may be an ancestral
gibbon, and Aegyptopithecus, which may be ancestral to the modern great apes.
One other fossil ape from the Fayum that deserves special mention is
Propliopithecus, formerly believed to be an ancestral gibbon. It has been
suggested, primarily on the basis of its generalised dentition, that Propliopithecus
is possibly ancestral to the hominids.
The Miocene Epoch

About 23.7 million years ago the Miocene epoch began and lasted about 18.4
million years. It was a incredible phase in primate evolution which witnessed an
increase in the number of larger primates that were widely spread throughout the
Old World, including Europe, Asia, and Africa. The large Miocene hominoids
appear to belong to three groups, the Sivapithecus, the Dryopithecus, and the
Proconsul groups.
The Miocene fossil forms of Asian and African apes suggest that the Asian apes
formed a distinct category which diversified in Asia and Southeast Europe by
fourteen million years ago (e.g., Sivapithecus, Ramapithecus, etc). There were
other significant fossils reported from the Miocene of Europe, Egypt and Africa.
The lower Miocene epoch is often referred to as the ‘Age of Apes’. Skeletal
11
Primate Study remains from Africa were classified into three major groups: Proconsul (a non-
specialised ape), Sivapithecus (a transitional form between the anthropoids and
man), and Limnopithecus (an early type of gibbon).
From Europe, the fossil material of Pliopithecus was recovered. The name means
that the individual is thought out as ancestral to the modern gibbons. A small-
sized primitive gibbon (Prohylobate) frequented Egypt during the Miocene. This
ape was slightly bigger in size than the Propliopithecus. This epoch, thus, saw
the rise of the generalised apes of large size which are regarded as the offshoots
of Propliopithecus of Oligocene.
Dryopithecids (a very heterogeneous group) and Oreopithecus were inhabiting

in India and Europe during the Pliocene. Pliocene signals the decline, both in
numbers and diversification, of these closely related Miocene forms and the
commencement of the primitive hominids. The Dryopithecus group comprises
the first specimen of the Dryopithecus fontani found in 1856 in Saint-Gaudens
in France. Its molars possess five cusps and the Y-5 pattern -its fissure pattern is
typical of dryopithecines.
The Proconsul groups are known from the early Miocene period of Africa. It
includes three species— Proconsul africanus, Proconsul nyanzae, and Proconsul
major—as well as Rangwapithecus gordoni and several other smaller-bodied
apes. The second group of Middle Miocene apes (all from East Africa) is
represented by the Oreopithecidae, which includes Nyanzapithecus, the large
Afropithecus, and two species of Kenyapithecus.
Dryopithecinae
These fossil remains represent the most interesting and the controversial part of
the primate evolution. The entire subfamily Dryopithecinae has been named after
a mandible (Dryopithecus fontani) by Lartet. Similar finds have been reported
from China, northern India, Africa and parts of Europe, viz., France, Germany,
and Spain. The dryopithecines are a very heterogeneous group representing a
stage of primate evolution rather than a single phylum and its branches. Numerous
species of Dryopithecus have been described. They show considerable variation
in their dental anatomy, some suggesting closeness to the chimpanzee, some to
the orangutans and yet others to the gorilla.
This ape complex is represented by teeth, jaw fragments, cranial and long bones
(humerus shaft, ulna and a femur). The humerus bone, with its both ends missing,
was reported from France and uncertainly labeled as that belonging to
Dryopithecus fontani. A complete femur found in Germany has been assigned to
Paidopithex (Boule and Vallois, 1957). These long bones are gibbon-sized.
Dryopithecinae fossils range in size from animals as big as gibbons to as large or
larger than the modern gorillas. They are distinguished from the Hominidae on
the basis of their dentition alone.
The incisors are small and more vertical compared to those of the Ponginae.
Canines are larger than those in the Hominidae. The lower premolar is sectorial
in shape. The molars usually increase in size within the series M1<M2<M3.
Their characteristic ‘Y-5’ cusp pattern is not commonly found in modern man.
This suggests that the pattern is of fossil origin. The primordial crown pattern of
human lower molars is comprised of set of three grooves in the form of ‘Y’ lying
12
on its side with its tail pointing forwards and its two arms pointing to the rear. In Living Primates
each obtuse angle are stationed two cusps, and in the acute angle, a fifth cusp is
located forming the Y-5 pattern (Coon, 1963). In the teeth of modern human
beings, the molar crown patterns have been simplified in two ways: the groove
pattern has changed from ‘Y’ to a simple ‘+’ and the number of cusps has reduced
from five to four or even less (three or two).
Pliocene of Siwalik Hills in North India is a highly productive radiation center

of fossil pongids during the second half or late Miocene and lower Pliocene.
Dryopithecus
Dryopithecus, a genus of extinct apelike animals, is representative of a group of
small, generalised apes that contains the ancestors of both the modern apes and
humans. Although Dryopithecus has been known by a variety of names based
upon fragmentary material found over a widespread area including Europe, Africa,
and Asia, it appears that only a single genus is represented. Dryopithecus is
found as fossils in Miocene and Pliocene deposits (23.7 to 1.6 million years old)
and apparently originated in Africa.
Ramapithecus
The first Ramapithecus fossils (fragments of an upper jaw and some teeth) were
discovered in 1932 in fossil deposits of the Siwalik Hills of Northwestern India.
No significance was attached to these fossils until 1960, when Elwyn Simons of
Yale University began to study them and ‘fit’ the jaw fragments together (refer
Figure below). Based on his observations of the shape of the jaw and dentition
¯ which were transitional between those of apes and humans, Simons advanced
the theory that Ramapithecus represented the first step in the evolutionary
divergence of humans from the common hominoid stock that produced modern
apes and humans.
Ramapithecus (from the Middle and Late Miocene epochs) represents the earliest
known hominid and its existence establishes from that of the African apes fifteen
million years ago. This basic tenet is now regarded as questionable, even if an
alternative ‘correct’ answer cannot be provided. Lewis (1933) first described the
fossil remains of a fragment of an upper jaw from Haritalyangar in the Siwalik
Hills (India) and christened it Ramapithecus brevirostris. This fragment has a
wide curving jaw with an arched palate (man-like feature) and was so named as
it resembled the Indian God ‘Lord Rama’. It has a short snout, a feature
characteristic of the apes.
Ramapithecus punjabicus (upper and lower jaws fit very well)

13
Primate Study According to Simons, the two jaws fit i.e., this lower jaw fits with the widely
curving upper jaw fragment denoting that the two might have belonged to same/
similar individuals. The facial features (sloped and slightly concave facial profile)
and the anterior dentition (forward jutting of canines) suggest similarities with
orangutans.
From amongst the various ramapithecinae finds, the ‘Brahmapithecus’ lower

wide jaw fits well with the upper jaw fragment of Ramapithecus brevirostris
(Simon, 1961). This clearly shows that the two are the same.
Gigantopithecus
Gigantopithecus mandible
Gigantopithecus remains from the Siwaliks of India have been dated as ca. 6.3
mya. Hominid features of Gigantopithecus bilaspurensis from the Indian Siwaliks
(for instance, marked reduction of the front teeth, relatively small canine and
tooth wear) suggest that hominid-like tendencies were already underway some 5
to 10 mya in the Pliocene period. Being considerably older than the Chinese
Gigantopithecus, these remains provide newer insights into the initial stages of
differentiation of hominoids and man-like primates. These Siwalik finds were
found associated with antelopes and primitive elephants further indicating that
they inhabited open woodland areas. It can also be argued that the hominoids
were displaced from India and after the emergence of MAN, they made a re-
entry? The Siwalik hominoids probably used ad-hoc tools to compensate for the
reduction of the anterior dentition, exposure to forest ecology accompanied by
dietary change and emergence of incipient bipedality (Simons and Pilbeam, 1965).
Lower jaw of Gigantopithecus blacki and right lower molar of Gigantopithecus
14
Living Primates
1.5 CLASSIFICATION
There are numerous classifications of primates suggested by various scientists.
However, the classification of Simpson (1945), based on their morphology, is
widely accepted, and is given below:
Taxonomic Groups including Members
category primates
Kingdom Animalia Multicellular (have sexual reproduction,
nervous system, differentiated tissues)*
Phylum Chordata Animals with vertebral column
Nonchordata Animals without vertebral column
Class Aves Animals with feathers, wings formed by
forelimbs
Pisces Animals having gills throughout life,
usually have fins
Amphibia Animals with 4 pentadactyl limbs; pelvic
girdle unlike fish, have eggs without
protective shell, fertilised without coition
Reptilia Animals having no direct articulation of
dentary bone with the skull, homodont,
polyphyodont
Mammalia Warm blooded furry animals, heterodont
animals, diphyodont, single dentary arch
which articulates with squamosal bone
of skull, thorax separated by a diaphragm
from abdomen, and all other animals that
suckle their young
Subclass Prototheria Egg laying mammals
Metatheria Pouched mammals
Eutheria Placental mammals
Order Insectivora Ordinarily insect eaters, small and
nocturnal, simple brain
Chiroptera Ulna reduced to a vestige, have wings to
fly
Dermoptera Larger than chiroptera
Edentata Usually without teeth, slow in
locomotion
Pholidota Really toothless, scales on their body
Primates Prosimii (the lower primates: tarsiers,
lorises, lemurs, etc.)* and Anthropoidea
(monkeys, baboons, apes and man)*
Suborder Prosimii Lemuriformes, Lorisiformes,
Tarsiiformes (the most primitive of the
primates)*
15
Primate Study
Anthropoidea Ceboidea (Platyrrhines/New World
Monkeys)*, Cercopithecoidea
(Catarrhines/Old World Monkeys)* and
Hominoidea
Superfamily Ceboidea Cebidae and Callitrichidae (monkeys:
owl, saki, howler, capuchin, spider and
goeldi’s, marmosets)*
Cercopithecoidea Cercopithecidae (monkeys: rhesus, drill,
baboon, colobus, nasalis, langur etc)*
Hominoidea Pongidae and Hominidae
Family Pongidae Hylobatinae (gibbon, siamang)* and
Ponginae (orangutan, chimpanzee,
gorilla)*
Hominidae Man (Homo)*, ape-man
(Australopithecus)*, and early ape-man
(Ramapithecus)*
Genus Homo Early man (Homo erectus)* and modern
man (Homo sapiens sapiens)*
Species sapiens Modern humans including early
subspecies and all living races
*Text within brackets as suggested by other taxonomists

Yet another classification of the primates has been is proposed by (Hill, 1957-
63):
Order Primates
Suborder Strepsirhini (Prosimians) (or curly-nosed primates, to include non-
tarsier prosimians)
Infraorder Lorisiformes
Superfamily Lorisoidea
Family: Lorisidae (lorises)
Galagidae (bush babies)
Infraorder Lemuriformes
Superfamily Lemuroidea
Family: Cheirogaleidae (dwarf lemurs)
Lepilemuridae (sportive lemur )
Lemuridae (true lemurs)
Indriidae (sifakas, indri, woolly lemur)
Daubentoniidae (aye-aye)
Suborder Haplorrhini (or dry-nosed primates)
Hyporder Tarsiiformes
Superfamily Tarsioidea
Family Tarsiidae (tarsiers)
Hyporder Anthropoidea
Infraorder Platyrrhini (“flat nosed”) or New World monkeys of South and Central
16 America
Living Primates
Superfamily Ceboidea (New World Monkeys)
Family: Callitrichidae (marmosets, tamarins)
Cebidae (capuchins, squirrel monkeys, douroucoulis, titis)
Atelidae (sakis, uakaris, howler monkeys, spider monkeys, woolly monkeys)
Infraorder Catarrhini (narrow nosed)(of Africa and south eastern Asia)
Superfamily Cercopithecoidea
Family Cercopithecidae (Old World monkeys)
Superfamily Hominoidea
Family: Hylobatidae (gibbons, siamang)
Hominidae (orangutans , gorillas, chimpanzees, humans)
1.6 DISTRIBUTION
The prosimians are subdivided into three major groups: the lemuroids, which
are restricted to Madagascar (more than 30 species are represented, belonging to
five different families); the lorisoids, which are found throughout tropical Africa
and Asia; and the tarsioids (tiny primates) (weighing only about 120 g), which
inhabit the islands of Southeast Asia (all belong to a single genus, Tarsius).
The platyrrhines from South and Central America are a diverse group of primates
comprising more than 50 species and 16 genera. All members of the suborder
Ceboidea (NWM/platyrrhines) are arboreal. They are widely distributed
throughout tropical forests extending from Mexico to northern Argentina. The
catarrhines include all anthropoid primates from Africa, Asia, and Europe. The
Old World monkeys are widely distributed throughout sub-Saharan Africa and
tropical Asia. They also occur in the extreme southwestern tip of the Arabian
Peninsula, northwest Africa, Gibraltar (their only European record), and East
Asia.
Apes
The gibbons and siamang (Hylobates) are the smallest of the pongids (4–11 kg
or 9–24 lb), and for this reason they are sometimes referred to as the lesser apes.
The nine or so species are common throughout the tropical rain forests, and the
semi deciduous mountain forests of Southeast Asia. They are known for their
remarkably longer arms than in any other primates, which are 30–50% longer
than their legs. This is related to their highly specialised mode of locomotion
called brachiation by which they swing below the tree branches using only their
forelimbs. Gibbons are fruit eaters, while the diet of larger siamangs incorporates
a higher proportion of leaves.
The great apes include the orangutans (Pongo) from Asia and Gorillas (Gorilla)
and chimpanzees (Pan) from Africa. The orangutan is restricted to the tropical
rainforests of Borneo and northern Sumatra. They are large, arboreal primates
and climb cautiously through the trees using all four limbs for support. Orangutans
subsist mainly on fruits (www.accessscience.com).
The Gorillas are the largest of the hominoids found in tropical Africa. Because
of their huge size, gorillas are almost completely terrestrial, although females
and young individuals frequently climb trees. They often build nests on the ground.
Gorillas move quadrupedally. Like the chimpanzees, their hands are specialised
for knuckle-walking when the weight of the animal is borne on the upper surface 17
Primate Study of the middle joints of the fingers. They are of two types: mountain Gorillas and
lowland Gorillas. Mountain Gorillas eat a variety of leaves, stems, and roots,
while the lowland gorillas eats a larger proportion of fruits. They live in groups
which consists of a dominant male, several adult females, sub adults, and infants.
There are two species of Chimpanzees, the common Chimpanzee (Pan

troglodytes) and the bonobo or pygmy chimpanzee (Pan panicus). The common
chimpanzee is far and wide distributed in the forests and woodlands stretching
across equatorial Africa. The pygmy chimpanzee is limited to the tropical
rainforests of the Congo. Both species make nests and feed in trees, but they by
and large travel on the ground. Common chimpanzees have eclectic diets,
including meat, which they get hold of by hunting small to medium-sized
mammals. Tool-using behaviours are common among them and more than a
dozen simple tool types have been recognised. Chimpanzees are gregarious and
sociable animals. They live in communities where there are many males that
divide into smaller subgroups for foraging.
1.7 ADAPTATIONS
Primates have diversified in arboreal and terrestrial habitats (trees, bushes and
land) and retain many characteristics facilitating adaptations to these
environments:
v Retention of the collar bone in the pectoral girdle.
v Shoulder joints with a high degree of movement in all directions.
v Possession of five digits on the fore and hind limbs with opposable thumbs
and big toes facilitating them in grasping objects and climbing trees.
v Presence of nails on the fingers and toes in most species.
v Presence of sensitive tactile pads on the ends of the digits.
v Orbits encircled in a bony rim facilitating rotation of eyeballs in the socket.
v Trend towards a reduced snout and flattened face supposedly leading to the
development of vision at the expense of olfaction.
v Complex visual system with stereoscopic vision, high visual acuity and color
vision – all contributing to quicker movements on the trees.
v Large brain in comparison to body size especially in simians.
v Differentiation of the enlarged cerebral cortex.
v Reduction in the number of teeth compared to primitive mammals.
v Three kinds of teeth.
v Longer gestation and developmental period; and
v Trend towards holding the torso upright leading to bipedalism.
Primates exhibit a wide range of characteristics. Some primates, inclusive of
some great apes and baboons, do not live primarily in trees. But all species possess
adaptations for climbing trees. Their locomotion techniques include leaping from
tree to tree, walking on twos or fours limbs, knuckle-walking, and swinging
between branches of trees (known as brachiation). The three-color vision has
developed in some primates.
18
Living Primates
1.8 SUMMARY
We consider ourselves as the highest among all beings. But we hardly know
about ourselves. Modern MAN, Homo sapiens sapiens, belongs to the group of
mammals known as Primates and is a close cousin of monkeys and apes. Yet,
few people understand the relationship between them.
Here in this unit, we find that neither man nor the non-human primates can be
defined on the basis of one or two features. They can be best defined on the basis
of the general pattern displayed by them or by the complexes of their
characteristics. So, what do we mean by the term primate (as this term also
includes human beings)? The term ‘primate’ means first or the highest amongst
all. Primates belong to the Animal Kingdom, Class Mammalia and include humans
and the nonhuman primates, i.e., lemurs, tree-shrews, lorises, aye-ayes, pottos,
bush babies, tarsiers, the monkeys of the New World and Old World, and also
the apes.
As primates, we all share many characteristics; for instance,

v overlapping fields of vision due to the forwardly directed eyes (this allows
for greater 3D vision),
v fine ability to grasp and handle objects in our hands and
v enlarged brain relative to body size.
In this Unit, we also discuss the distribution, classification, evolutionary trends,
typical physical characteristics, and similarities and dissimilarities within primates
including man.
The distinctive features of all the primates (include prosimians, monkeys, apes,
and humans) are that they have:
v hair instead of fur;
v nails instead of claws;
v opposable thumb and big toe (thumb/big toe can touch all other digits) –
The exception is humans in which the big toe is modified for bipedal walking;
v prehensility – ability to grasp with fingers and/or toes;
v pentadactyly – five digits on each hand;
v padded digits with fingerprints;
v reduced olfactory sense and dependent on vision more than smell;
v stereoscopic vision – forward rotation of eye with protective bony structure;
v binocular vision– both eyes focus on one object (depth perception); and
v large brain compared to the body size – high level of intelligence.
We find that primates have a two-fold division: prosimians (lowliest of primates)
and Anthropoidea. The Anthropoidea further includes new world monkeys
(platyrrhines – flat nosed) and the old world monkeys (catarrhines - sharp nosed).
We find that chimpanzee is closest to MAN genetically. Humans and chimpanzees
have very similar DNA (about 98% of human and chimpanzee DNA is identical).
Genetic studies show that chimpanzees and humans share a common ancestor. 19
Primate Study Gorilla is the largest primate on earth and the most powerful of all the primates,
a group which includes everything from small arboreal creatures such as the tree
shrew, bush babies, several types of monkeys to humans.
1.9 GLOSSARY
Apes : Gibbons, Siamangs, Chimpanzees, Gorillas and
Orangutans.
Arboreal : tree dwelling.
Bipedalism : walking on two limbs.
Brachiation : swinging from branch to branch using forearms.
Caecum : end part of intestines.
Claviculate : have a clavicle (collar bone).
Dental formula (D.F.) : number/type of teeth in each half of the lower and
upper jaws; for instance, human D.F. is 2.1.2.3; each
half of jaw has 2 incisors, 1 canine, 2 premolars, 3
molars; total number of teeth = 32.
Extremities : limbs, i.e. arms and or legs.
Great apes : Orangutans, Chimpanzees and Gorillas.
Hallux : great toe.
Ischial callosities : hardening of skin in the region of buttocks which
comes in contact with the surface while sitting.
Knuckle walking : walking using bent fingers.
Lesser apes : Gibbons and Siamangs.
Opposable : oppositely directed.
Orbits : eye sockets.
Pectoral mammae : mammary glands on chest region.
Penis pendulous : male genital organ hanging outside body.
Pentadactyl : having five digits (fingers or toes).
Placental mammals : mammals with umbilical cord.
Pollex : thumb.
Quadrupedalism : walking on all four limbs.
Terrestrial : ground dwelling.
Testes scrotal : testes in the scrotum.
Three types of : (trichromacy or trichromaticism) is the condition of
colour vision possessing three independent channels for conveying
colour information; derived from three different cone
types. Organisms with trichromacy are called
trichromats. Their retina contains three types of
colour receptors (called cone cells) with different
absorption spectra. Trichromatic colour vision is the
ability of humans and some other animals to see
20
different colour, mediated by interactions among Living Primates
three types of colour -sensing cone cells.
Unguiculate : have nails on fingers and toes.
References
Boule, M. and H.V. Vallois 1957 Fossil Men: A Textbook of Human
Palaeontology. London, Thames and Hudson.
Osman Hill, W. C. 1953-1957 Primates. Edinburg, Edinburgh University Press.
Seth, P. K. and S. Seth 1986 The Primates. New Delhi, Northern Book Centre.
Simons E.L. and S.R.K. Chopra 1969a A preliminary announcement of a new
Gigantopithecus species from India. In Recent Advances in Primatology. Ed.
H.O. Hofer. Basel and New York: S. Karger. 2: 135¯142.
Simons, E.L. and S.R.K. Chopra 1969b Gigantopithecus (Pongidae,
Hominoidea): A New Species from North India. Postilla (Yale University Peabody
Museum of Natural History) 138:1¯18.
van Valen, L. and Sloan, R.E. 1965 The Earliest Primates. Science 150:743–
745.
www.accessscience.com/content/Primates.
Suggested Reading
Chopra, S.R.K. 1979a. Early Man in North West India. New Delhi: Allied
Publishers Private Limited.
Chopra, S.R.K. 1979b. Palaeontological evidence bearing on the problem of

human origins in North-West India. In “Early Man in North West India. (edited
by S.R.K. Chopra). New Delhi: Allied Publishers Private Limited. pp 1– 19.
Chopra, S.R.K. and S. Kaul 1979. A New Species of Pliopithecus from the Indian
Sivaliks. Journal of Human Evolution 8: 475– 477.
Clark, W.E. Le Gros 1934. Early Forerunners of Man. London, Bailliere Tindall
&Cox.
Clark, W.E. Le Gros 1965. History of the Primates. London, British Museum of
Natural History. .
Wood, J.F. 1948. Hallmarks of Mankind. London, Bailliere Tindall and Cox.
Hooton, E.A. 1954. Up From the Ape. New York, The Macmillan Company.
Lewis, G.E. 1933. Preliminary Notice of a New Genus of Lemuroid from the
Siwaliks. American Journal of Science 26: 134– 138.
Lewis, G.E. 1936. A New Species of Sugrivapithecus. American Journal of Science

31: 450– 452.
Lewis, G.E. 1937. Taxonomic Syllabus of Siwalik Fossil Anthropoids. American

Journal of Science 34:137– 147.
21
Primate Study Lewis. G.E. 1934. Preliminary Notice of New Man-like Apes from India: Scientific
Research of the Yale India Expedition. American Journal of Science 27:161–
181.
Lydekker, R. 1878. Notices of Siwalik Mammals. Records of Geological Survey

of India, Calcutta 11:64– 104.
Lydekker, R. 1879. Notices of Siwalik Mammals. Records of Geological Survey

of India 12: 33– 52.
Lydekker, R. 1886. Siwalik Mammalia. Supplement one. Memoirs of the

Geological Survey of India 10: 1– 18.
Seth, P.K. and S. Seth 1986. A review of evolutionary and genetic differentiation
in primates. In Primate Evolution. Eds. Else and Lee Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press. Procs. 10th Congress of the International Primatological Society.
Vol. 1, pp 291¯306.
Rami Reddy, V 1992. Physical Anthropology, Evolution and Genetics of Man.

Tirupati: V Indira.
Simons, E.L. 1960b. Apidium and Oreopithecus. Nature 186:824¯826.
Simons, E.L. 1961. The Phyletic Position of Ramapithecus. Postilla 57:1¯9.
Simons, E.L. 1964. The Early Relatives of Man. Scientific American 211:50-62.
Simons, E.L. 1969. The Origin and Radiation of the Primates. Annals of New
York Academy of Sciences 167:319¯331.
Simons, E.L. 1972. Primate Evolution. –An Introduction to Man’s Place in Nature.
New York: Macmillan.
Simons, E.L. 1974. On the Discovery of Gigantopithecus in north India. In

Perspectives in Palaeoanthropology. Ed.A.K. Ghosh. Calcutta: Firma K.L.
Mukhopadhyay. pp 1¯7.
Simons, E.L. 1977. Ramapithecus. Scientific American 236(5):28¯35.
Simons, E.L. and D. Pilbeam 1965. Preliminary Revision of the Dryopithecinae

(Pongidae, Anthropoidea). Folia Primatologia 3:81¯152.
Simons, E.L. and D.R. Pilbeam 1972. Hominid Palaeoprimatology. In: The
Functional and Evolutionary Biology of Primates. Ed .R.H. Tuttle. Chicago:
Aldine. pp: 36¯62.
Simons, E.L. and D.R. Pilbeam 1978. Ramapithecus. In: Evolution of African
Mammals. Ed: V.J. Maglio and H.B.S. Cooke. Massachusetts: Harvard University
Press. pp 147¯153.
Simpson, G.G. 1945. The Principles of Classification and a Classification of

Mammals. Bulletein of American Museum of Natural History, New York. Vol.
85
Simpson, G.G. 1949b. The Meaning of Evolution. New Haven: Yale University
22
Press.
Sample Questions Living Primates
1) Who is Man?
2) Who are his immediate relations and why?
3) What are Man’s distinguishing physical characteristics?
4) How does MAN differ from his nearest relatives?
5) What do you know about the evolution of MAN?
23
Primate Study
UNIT 2 PRIMATE BEHAVIOUR
Contents
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Activity Pattern
2.3 Social Organisation
2.4 So What Sort of Behaviours do We See in Primates?
2.5 Rhesus Monkey (Common Monkey)
2.6 Papio (Commonly Known as Baboons)
2.7 Presbytis (Hanuman Langur)
2.8 Lesser Apes (Siamangs and Gibbons)
2.9 Great Apes: Orangutan
2.10 Chimpanzee
2.11 Gorilla
2.12 MAN and Other Primates
2.13 Summary
2.14 Glossary
References
Suggested Reading
Sample Questions

MAN is a primate. However, it is difficult to understand why he behaves
differently under different situations. At the same time, it is not possible to study
man in the laboratory. In order to understand his changing behaviour, emotions,
etc., under different conditions, it is important to study the behaviour and social
structure/organisation of non-human primates and then extrapolate that to MAN.
Once you have studied this unit you will be able to understand
Ø primate behaviour under different ecological conditions; and
Ø insight into the behavioural variables as seen in MAN.
2.1 INTRODUCTION
The very fact that non human primates have been so frequently used in biomedical
researches shows that structurally, physiologically and behaviourally, they display
greater similarities to the Homo sapiens.
It is only on man’s closest relatives, the non-human primates, that behavioural

studies can be conducted and extrapolated to MAN. The social behaviour of the
non-human primates may be viewed as a simplified model of human behaviour.
So the question arises as to how we can study primate behaviour? Study of their
behaviour in captivity is not their natural behaviour but conditioned behaviour.
24
Thus, we need to understand how they adjust into their environment, i.e., to Primate Behaviour
understand the life style/behaviour of our non-human primate relatives in their
natural habitats. This depends on a number of variables, including different types
of trees on which they move, sleep and collect food (amount and types of food
needed as also food distribution across the habitat occupied) during different
seasons. As such, non human primates occupying different environments must
meet different demands. Many of the behavioural differences prevalent among
them reflect adaptations to this diversity. For instance, different primate groups
live within a single forest but move and feed on different levels and or on different
types of trees (e.g. bamboos, palms, vines, etc.). Most primates eat a variety of
foods resulting in differential development of teeth. For example, insectivores
have pointed cusps on their teeth, plant gum eaters have typically sturdy incisors
and sometimes canines that protrude forward for scraping off gum, frugivores
have wide incisors and low rounded molar cusps for scraping out the fruit from
the rinds, and folivores have sharp ridged molars for shearing leaves into tiny
bits.
The ultimate needs of human and non-human primates are not as divergent as
they appear since the survival of both depends upon the conservation of the
natural habitats. Rapid urbanisation and industrialisation is not only forcing the
non-human primates to move into smaller home ranges but it is also disturbing
their ranging patterns (due to destruction of trees, undergrowth and arboreal
pathways), group structure, dominance, etc. Such demographic changes and
ecological disturbances transform their behaviour as well as movement patterns,
temporarily if not permanently.
Researchers on the above lines reveal that urban primates depict higher
competition and aggressive instinct than their forest counterparts. On the contrary,
the role of leadership and dominance is much more defined amongst the forest
primates in tune with the exigencies of the environment. Aggression is quite
common among the urban primates whereas communication is well developed
amongst the forest monkeys. Seasonal changes in the ecosystems and the annual
variations in the weather year after year influence their daily activity pattern.
2.2 ACTIVITY PATTERN

Primates normally begin their day early in the morning and retire to their sleeping
areas (usually trees, abandoned buildings, etc.) in the evening. Their major
activities that occupy them most of the day are eating, travelling and resting;
they have well defined areas through which they move in groups in search of
food and places to rest or sleep. Grooming, playing, fighting and mating activities
occupy a small fraction of their time budget. Of course, the amount of time they
spend in each of these activities varies according to the season, availability of
food, and the habitat occupied by them.
All primates have a home range or territoriality which they defend from other
groups. The neighboring groups actively defend the boundaries of their home
ranges. Ranges of non-territorial primates may overlap. At times, when different
groups occupying the same territory come face to face, an encounter occurs leading
to fight with the lesser dominant group yielding to the higher-ranking group.
25
Primate Study
2.3 SOCIAL ORGANISATION
Living in social groups is one of the significant characteristics of primates. They
solve their major adaptive problems within this social context. Social groups
among non-human primates probably formed due to two main selection pressures:
predation (gaining protection by living in groups) and group life (increasing the
efficiency in acquiring food sources in the forest). The richness of the environment
determines the composition of the population, a poor habitat supporting fewer
non-human primates than the richer one.
Many different patterns of social organisations exist among the primates. Usually,
the primate social group includes members of all ages and both sexes. This
composition does not vary significantly during the annual cycle.
The following are the main social groups that can be encountered among the
living primates:
v Solitary individuals, e.g. a mother and her dependent offspring, adult males
and adult females.
v Family, or monogamous pairs (a mated pair and their young ones).
v Multi-male groups (several adult males, several adult females, and their
young ones).
v Offspring and (perhaps) several non-sexually active females.
v Uni-male groups.
v Single male (or harem) groups (a single adult male, several adult females,
and their offspring).
v All female groups (several adult females and their offspring).
v All adult male groups.
These categories reflect the sizes of the social groups. But medium sized groups
of about a dozen individuals can have either one or several males. In any case,
groups of a given size need not have the same internal structure. This applies to
dominance hierarchies. For instance, in multimale groups of macaques and
baboons, there is a clear rank order among the adult males, whereas it is absent
in the multimale groups of spider monkeys and chimpanzees. Besides these,
there are other social groups such as foraging and hunting groups.
Group life is likely to increase competition for resources and any benefits of
groups must outweigh the costs of such competition. The nocturnal primates
live in monogamous family groups. They are not gregarious animals. The diurnal
species usually live in relatively large and stable groups. Most of the diurnal
species form sizeable groups.
For all primate species, the primary social link is the mother-infant bond. In
group living primates, relationships between females and successive generations
of their female off springs usually form the core of the group. Primate social
groups are stable only in a relative sense, as individuals migrate between them
when they become sexually mature. In most of the groups, males leave the group
whereas females remain behind.
26
Mating and Paternal Care Primate Behaviour
Mating and paternal care are the keys to successful reproduction. From amongst
the primates, females must make a substantial commitment of time and energy
to pregnancy and lactation once they have conceived. This naturally leads females
to emphasise parental care.
Females in Groups
The females generally protect themselves by living in groups. As a consequence,
the males usually compete for control over such groups of females. A single
dominant male might be able to keep other competitors away when groups are
small (e.g. less than 10 females) and thereby monopolise matings with the females
within the group. Primates living in more open country like the baboons and
macaques are exposed to much greater risks of predation and thus tend to live in
larger groups. As groups become large, a male cannot prevent other males from
joining his group. This also leads to competition for access to females for mating.
In large multimale groups like baboons and macaques, males are usually organised
in a dominance hierarchy. Most of the matings are generally performed by one or
two ‘top’ ranking males.
Home Range/Territory
This is an area in which the non-human primates normally confine themselves
for their day-to-day activity. This may or may not change during the individual’s
lifetime. The changes vary according to both the species and their sex. Home
range is often described as an area, which provides the animal or group of animals
with food.
Individuals or groups of most of the non-human primates actively defend part or

all of their home range against other members of their own species with displays,
vocalisations and interactions. On the other extreme, baboons have an extensive
overlapping area between their home ranges, within which groups usually avoid
each other. The degree of territoriality depends on the costs and benefits of
defending resources as in the case of scarce water resources, food resources, and
so on.
2.4 SO WHAT SORT OF BEHAVIOURS DO WE SEE

IN PRIMATES?
Social Grooming
Social grooming is a regular primate activity. Allogrooming (others) is an
important affiliative mechanism. It can be used to fortify links: subordinate
animals tend to groom more dominant ones; males groom females for sexual
access.
Social grooming is an important and a unique primate entity since it facilitates
social cementing of the organisation of the group. This activity eases the
interaction between the individuals where there is a possibility of friction and/or
aggression thus resulting in the establishment and/or strengthening of friendly
social relations among the animals within the group. It plays an important role in
the life of most of the non-human primate. It also helps in keeping the body
clean since it removes parasites and debris from the fur and the skin. 27
Primate Study Parental Care
An infant usually depends upon its mother for 2-6 months after birth for food,
etc., depending upon one’s size, etc. Most infants are usually carried by their
mothers for a further period of 6 to 12 months. The infants also depend upon
their mothers for support during fight or for protection against danger for another
3 to 4 years. Some females as among baboons and rhesus monkeys have longer
inter-birth intervals enabling the mothers to invest more time and energy in the
care of each infant.
Reproduction
In all primates, except for humans (and perhaps Chimpanzees), the females are
seasonally or cyclically receptive. This is usually associated with visual changes
such as genital swelling clearly indicating that the females are experiencing heat.
Pair bonding of any sort is rare among primates though Gibbons seem to be life-
long monogamists. Also some New World monkey groups such as marmosets
have only one reproductively active pair in any group. Chimpanzees have been
seen to have consortships of several weeks where copulation is frequent.
Mother-Infant Relationship
It has been observed that this mother infant bonding is required to allow the
infant to be able to interact properly as an adult. This attachment between the
mother and her infant which begins at birth itself is the most fundamental social
unit within the primate social relations and begins at birth itself. Infants are
mostly cared for by their mother. Primates learn what to eat, where to find food,
how to eat different foods, mating rituals, social structure, and females learn
maternal behaviour.
Dominance
Primates are mostly group-living animals and tend to form “dominance
hierarchies”. These hierarchies are also referred to as status rank. A dominant
individual always gets priority and even in a confrontation his is usually the last
word.
Animals higher in the hierarchy tend to displace lower ranked individuals from
resources like mates, space and food. The hierarchy is not a fixed one and depends
on a number of changing factors such as age, sex, body physique, aggression and
even intelligence perhaps.
Dominance serves to organise social interactions. Since the primates are born
within the group and grown therein, they learn the processes and norms of
behaviour by sheer observation. This helps in avoiding chaotic and unpleasant
situations within the group.
Males are generally dominant over females in most of the non-human primate
societies. Higher ranking males are also responsible for protecting the group,
particularly the females in estrus or with off springs, from predators or from
attack by other groups.
Aggression
Aggression is either intra- or inter-specific and is generally associated with one
or more of the following: competition for food, defense of an infant by its parents,
28
struggle for dominance or change in social status, failure to comply with signals,
the consort formation at oestrus, and changes in the internal biological state of Primate Behaviour
the animal. Aggression builds up spontaneously and must be released. It has
been shown that hierarchies are considered to reduce the amount of aggression
but when hierarchies are most rigid, aggression is most common.
Communication
The communication system of the non-human primates which includes scents,
body postures, gestures, and vocalisations as monkeys and apes is rather an
expanding field. From the human perspective, we often find it easier to associate
sounds with specific meaning, whereas among the non-human primates, gestures
and actions are often used. Presentation and mounting behaviour is often used to
diffuse potentially aggressive situations. Yawns exposing teeth are often threats,
like direct eye contact. Facial expression is important too. It’s very obvious in
chimpanzees: their expression often appears all too human-like, but other primates
also use stereotyped eyelid flashes or lip slaps.
‘Display’ communicates to other members one’s emotion such as greeting, fear,

threat, happiness, danger, pain, hunger, courtship etc., through a wide variety of
body movements, facial expressions, vocalisations and olfactory signals. A display
primarily communicates information that is useful to an individual of the group,
to the social group to which he belongs and to other species.
We have now familiarised ourselves with basic behavioural characteristics of

non human primates. Let us now examine the behavioural aspects of some
common non human primates such as Rhesus monkeys, baboons, presbytis and
great apes (Orangutan, Chimpanzee and Gorillas).
2.5 RHESUS MONKEY (COMMON MONKEY)

Hindus regard the rhesus monkey as God Hanuman and as such it is considered
as sacred in India. These monkeys are omnivorous feeders and often raid cultivated
fields and gardens.
Social Behaviour
They live in large multimale-multifemale groups. Macaques (rhesus monkey)
live in troops of varying sizes in which both males and females have well-defined
rank. Ranking females benefit from easier access to food and water, space, and
grooming partners. Their group sizes range from 5 to 80; at times groups as large
as 125 individuals are also encountered. Macaques have a variable social structure.
Matrilineal hierarchies are very strong. As in many Old World monkeys, females
get genital swellings when they are in oestrus (sexually receptive). This occurs
often in multimale groups. In this way, all the males become aware that the
female is for copulation. For this purpose, they compete with one another and
ultimately the stronger male will copulate with her.
After a conflict, they have a ritual reconciliation behaviour in which the

subordinate presents its hindquarters to the dominant, which clasps the presenter
by the rump. The dominant animal may present to a low-ranking individual to
reassure or pacify it. This eases the tension between individuals. Grin, teeth
chattering, and lip-smacking are other signs of submission. Grooming is a form
of social interaction that promotes appeasement and group cohesion. The teeth- 29
Primate Study chattering face is a greeting or appeasement signal. When attacked by a high-
ranking animal, a stump tail macaque may redirect its aggression by attacking a
nearby subordinate.
Sexual Behaviour
Male rhesus monkeys make intense sexual friends. Males, especially younger
ones, use a number of ritualised erotic “greeting” gestures with one another,
including embracing, face-licking or kissing, fondling or grabbing of the erect
penis, mounting and rump fingering.
Reproduction
Dominant males copulate with high-ranking females throughout their oestrus
cycles. When low-ranking males mate, they are often interrupted by the dominant
male; to avoid interruption, they mate while he is mating with another female
(www.cellar.org).
Vocalisations
The most common vocalisation of rhesus monkeys is a ‘coo’ used when
approaching other group members to avoid aggression and initiate grooming or
other friendly interactions.
2.6 PAPIO (COMMONLY KNOWN AS BABOONS)

Baboons have complex social systems. The average size for a baboon troop is
closer to 40-80 individuals (at times as large as 200 individuals). All live in a
multimale - multi-female social group. Males fiercely defend the group. Baboons
normally sleep in large troops, no matter what their foraging patterns are, in
some high place where they are protected from predators. Mutual grooming
functions as a strong social bond.
Dominance
All baboons have strong dominance hierarchies where ranks are inherited from
the females. Females outnumber male group members, though males tend to be
dominant, herding females around and determining their foraging direction. The
highest ranking male of the group is dominant over all other males and females.
There is a ranking system between the females that is established at birth. A
daughter assumes the rank just below her mother. The ranking of the females is
stable, where as that of the males frequently changes. The dominant male is
challenged by other males who want to be in the highest ranking position.
Males will often, though not always, live elsewhere. Male olive baboons use
infants as “social buffers” in dominance struggles. Males may change troops
more than once in the course of their lives.
Reproduction and Lifespan

Baboons attain sexual maturity from 3.5 to 6 years (approx) whereas the males
become mature when they are of 60 months. Oestrus cycles run roughly for 30-
35 days. Gestation time varies from 170-190 days with most falling around 180
days. Infants are born throughout the year. Baboons live around 35-45 years.
30
Communication Primate Behaviour
Baboons communicate through a variety of facial, gestural, postural, olfactory

and vocal means. Lip smacking is associated with affiliative behaviour.
2.7 PRESBYTIS (HANUMAN LANGUR)

Activity Pattern
The word “langur” means “long tail” in Hindi language. They are generally shy
creatures, spending most of their time in the trees, although some langurs spend
a major part of their time on the ground. Langurs are most active in the early
morning and late afternoon. They sleep in a shady grove during the hot midday
hours. Feeding occurs at dawn and again during the evening. The Hanuman
langur often feeds in troops, which contain males and/or females of various ages.
A troop of langurs returns to the same resting place every night. They sleep on
the extremities of branches, a precaution against large beasts of prey. Groups
may forage over several kilometers in the course of a day.
Their home range varies between .05-13 km for groups containing both males
and females, and 7-22 km for all-male groups. A portion of the home range is a
core area in which most of the time is spent.
Social Behaviour
Langur groups range between 13-37 individuals. But this can swell up to 125
when several groups gather at rich food areas. Groups usually consist of 8 - 125
individuals. Males without females form bachelor groups of 2-32. Langurs have
variable social structure: one male-multifemale, multimale-mutifemale, all
females with infants and adolescent males and females and all male groups.
Bisexual groups usually contain between 10 and 30 members – one adult male
besides adult females, young individuals of both sexes and infants. All male
troops are more variable in number, and comprise solely of adult and subadult
males. Larger groups may break into subgroups in some seasons. In the groups
with several males, the high-ranking males can mate with any female, while the
other males can only mate when they can sneak by the high-ranking males.
Females stay in the same home-range for their whole lives in association with
their mothers, grand-mothers, sisters, daughters and aunts. These home ranges
slightly overlap.
Reproduction
The young ones are weaned in 10-12 months. Female langurs become sexually
mature at 3-4 years, and the males at 4-5 years. They however do not mate until
they attain 6-7 years of age. Gestation lasts for about 190-210 days. Mothers
usually bear one infant at a time. The oestrus cycle is about 24 days long. But if
the infant is lost, cycles can resume within 8 days. The normal interval between
births is 15-24 months.
Infanticide
When a male takes over a troop, he will kill the infants to gain a reproductive
advantage. Normally, a female takes around nine months to wean her young one
and another year or so to be sexually receptive again. Infanticide serves to shorten
31
Primate Study this waiting period as females whose infants have been killed will be in oestrus
shortly. As such the new male will establish himself as the leader.
Locomotion
They move through the forest and on the ground quadrupedally. Langurs also
use a leaping gait on trees through the forest. Their tails can be up to three feet
long and are used as balancing rods (like a bamboo pole) for swinging in the
trees. Langurs can be entirely terrestrial or entirely arboreal depending on the
ecological situation. In areas where trees are scarce, the langurs adapts well to
life on the ground. When on the ground, langurs walk or run on all four feet. In
the trees, they are remarkably agile. Langurs can jump horizontally from 3-5 m.
The grasping capacity of their hands and feet allows them to move on the trees at
great speeds.
Communication
Presenting behaviour is performed by the female to elicit copulation from the
male. From this condition the male understands that the female is ready for
copulation. Head-shaking precedes the display of the female presenting behaviour.
In the morning, the resident male in a group of females gives long-distance shouts,
viz., whoop, whoop! They produce a variety of sounds, e.g., a joyous “whoop”,
a guttural alarm, and a booming whoop.
Lifespan
Langurs can live up to 20 years in the wild and about 25 years in captivity.
2.8 LESSER APES (SIAMANGS AND GIBBONS)

The lesser apes are monogamous and live in small stable family groups consisting
of an adult male and an adult female (for life) and their immature off springs.
Unlike great apes, these lesser apes do not make sleeping nests. They simply
sleep (in sitting posture) between the forking branches of the trees.
They have a throat pouch (also known as gular sac) which enables them to make
louder calls. This hooting can be heard up to longer distances (approx 2-3 kms)
through the dense rain forests. These apes in the morning make loud territorial
hooting calls and menacing gestures signaling their presence in the area. Such
calls warn others to stay away from their territory particularly from the local
fruit trees. These diurnal apes are otherwise quite social animals. They are
territorial and emigrate from their natal groups around adolescence.
2.9 GREAT APES: ORANGUTANS

Orangutans are the largest and rarest of the great apes. They are found in the
tropical rain forests of Borneo and Sumatra in the southeastern islands of Asia.
Males often grow to over 150 pounds with a high degree of sexual dimorphism.
They are arboreal and good climbers having much longer arms than legs. But on
the ground, they have an obliquely quadrupedal mode of locomotion, generally
knuckle walking.
32
Orangutans are intelligent, peaceful and predominantly frugivores. Adult males Primate Behaviour
and females forage independently in their habitat.
Social Behaviour
Orangutans have little social organisation, their maximum group size being the
mother with her infant. A couple may have brief associations when the female is
in oestrus. A few orangutans may congregate at a good fruit tree. Orangutan
adult males mostly lead a solitary life, except when they copulate with females.
This is probably because their food is scattered thinly throughout the rain forest.
Further they need lots of food owing to their being large creatures.
Their population densities range from 0.2 to 5.0 individuals per sq km. Local
variation has been reported in the social structure of the orangutans. Adult males
occupy larger home ranges than adult females and are hostile to one another.
Males’ home ranges are often 2 - 6 sq. km. in size, and overlap the ranges of
several females.
To avoid violent disputes, males make distinctive ‘long call’ unique to orangutans
which produces a booming sound that can be heard up to 1km away. In this way,
males avoid each other.
Orangutans are active during the day and are almost exclusively arboreal. They
forage in the early morning, resting during the midday heat and resume their
activity in the afternoon. They live alone in large territories probably due to their
eating habits.
Orangutans also construct a sleeping nest high up in the trees to rest at night. But
only the lighter female and juveniles do this. The heavier males usually sleep on
the ground. Each night, they construct nests out of leaves and branches. The
nests are of a platform style ranging from 40 to 60 feet high in a tree.
Reproduction
Orangutans have a very low reproductive rate. They mature and become capable
of reproducing when they are 7 to 10 years old by which time they attain their
adult size. The males however continue to grow until they are 10 years old and
do not have successful mating until they are about 14 years of age.
A female usually has her first infant at the age of 12-15 years. It gives birth to
one offspring at a time. They give birth once in every 3-8 years. Their gestation
period is 227 to 275 days (8 to 9 months). The young ones are not weaned from
their mothers until they are 3 ½ years old. The female orangutans have an estrous
cycle of about 30 days in length.
The male and female adults come together only for a brief period of courtship.
For purposes of mating, males prefer fully adult females. The choice of sexual
partners is very much a prerogative of females. When she is ready to mate, the
female listens to the loud calls of males following which she reaches out to one
of them for mating.
Mother - infant
Like human children, orangutan babies have to be taught everything that they
need to know to survive. Since males have nothing to do with the female after
mating, the mother takes the responsibility of teaching the infant. The mother
even feeds her baby pre-chewed food until it can eat on its own.
33
Primate Study A newborn orangutan weighs 2 kg and remains totally dependent on the mother
for the first 18 months. A female adult usually establishes a territory near her
mother often overlapping with hers. A male travels far away to establish a separate
territory.
Life Span
Orangutans live about 50 to 60 years in captivity while their life span in the wild
is only 40 to 50 years.
Locomotion
Orangutans have longer and more powerful arms than other great apes. Their
arms measure 2.2 m across in their outspread position. They are longer than their
height. In contrast, their legs are short and weak. Too heavy to brachiate, the
adult orangutans swing slowly, not letting go of a branch until they reach the
next branch. They usually move slowly and deliberately using all the four limbs.
Orangutans usually move in the forests by swinging from one branch to another
called brachiating. On the ground, they usually walk on all fours. Though they
have really mobile joints, they do not really swing like the gibbons. It is more
like climbing with four hands. Adult males get so big that they sometimes have
to get down and walk from one tree to the next!
As one of man’s closest relatives, the orangutan (Asiatic great ape) or commonly
referred to as ‘man of the forest’, is a severely endangered species.
Communication and Vocalisation

Orangutans are quieter but make very long, loud calls that can be heard through
forests for up to 1 km for territorial and courting purposes. Males have a large
throat sac that lets them make these loud calls. They scream when scared, and
males sometimes roar.
Tool Use
Orangutans show a remarkable ability to arrive at certain trees just when their
fruit is ripening. Like other great apes, they have been observed to use tools but
less extensively than has been observed in chimpanzees.
They use sticks for digging and winkling out edible seeds from a spiny fruit
case, or use a stick even to hit a snake. They may also use sticks to fight each
other or scratch themselves.
2.10 CHIMPANZEE
Chimpanzees are diurnal, semi terrestrial and generally frugivorous. During the
dry season seeds, nuts, flowers, leaves, resin, eggs , etc., form the important food
resources.
Social Behaviour
Chimpanzees are social animals and are active during the day (diurnal). Their
social structure can be categorised as fusion-fission. They live in small, stable
groups (called communities or unit groups) of about 40-60 individuals who would
defend a common territory. Smaller subgroups of 6-7 chimpanzees stay together
34
for a while, with the membership changing over time. A 38 year long study in the
Gombe Stream Reserve revealed that the number of individuals in the main Primate Behaviour
study community ranged between 40 and 60.
Chimpanzees live in relatively large and complex social groups based on

permanent relationships among males. All chimpanzees are highly sociable.
Common chimpanzees live in loose, extended groups that may include more
than 100 animals. Social-bonding among them is not as strict or structured as in
gorillas and relations within a group are complex. It is hard to identify groups
because their members travel around individually, in pairs and other combinations.
But they usually forage alone.
Grooming one another (cleaning the hair of another chimpanzee) is an important

activity by which they maintain positive relationships. This kind of behaviour is
a major occupation among chimpanzees. Males do social grooming with a wider
range of individuals than females do. Grooming plays a vital role in establishing
and reinforcing bonds. Chimpanzees are particular about their territoriality.
Like other apes, they build bowl shaped sleeping nest in trees with leaves and
other plant material usually at a height of 6-25 m from the ground for safety
from predators. Every evening, chimpanzees construct a new “sleeping nest” in
the trees where they curl up and sleep. They use the same nest for several nights
if the troop is not on the move. They keep their nests clean. Each adult makes its
own nest, only young chimpanzees share their mother’s nest, until the next baby
is born.
Dominance
Within the community, there is a linear hierarchy with one of the males emerging
as number one (or alpha). All adult males dominate all females. The males of a
community regularly patrol their boundaries. Adolescent females may migrate
into a new community permanently. When they become pregnant, they move
back to their own natal group.
Hierarchy is based on age and size as well as on alliances and friendships. A

male chimpanzee gains rank or dominance on the basis of his mother’s higher
rank. In such fluid communities, aggressive behaviour is common which seldom
results in outright violence.
Male chimpanzees proclaim their dominance with spectacular charging

displays during which they may hurl themselves along the ground, or stand
upright, slap their hands, stamp their feet, drag branches, or even hurl rocks
(www.janegoodallug.org).
Sexual Behaviour
Mothers engage in sexual activity fairly often with their infants. Young females
typically experience a one-to-three year period of long adolescent sterility
following their first menstruation. During this period, they mate heterosexually
without conceiving. Incestuous matings between adults are not common
(www.forum.philosophynow.org).
Reproduction
There is no distinct breeding season among chimpanzees. They mate whenever
a female ‘comes in season’ whereupon she develops massive pink swellings on
35
Primate Study her hind region lasting two to three weeks or more and occurring every four to
six weeks. This condition is an invitation for males for copulation. Chimpanzees
attain full growth and are able to reproduce by the age of 12-13 years. Female
chimpanzee’s pregnancy period lasts 8.5-9 months. They usually have a single
baby at a time; twins are rare. The female gives birth once every 4 to 5 years. The
gestation period ranges from 230 to 250 days (8 to 9 months). The females are
good mothers and raise their young ones alone.
Infanticide
Infanticide is common among them. This generally happens when there is a
change in the leadership as it immediately leads to the weaning females coming
in estrus; thereby the new leader can have sexual relationship with the adult
females to raise his own offspring.
Tool Use
Chimpanzees have opposable thumbs (although much shorter than the human
thumb) and opposable big toes capable of a precision grip, which enables them
to use tools especially in extracting ant and termites out of a mound and or a
ground as also to crack open nuts with a stone using a hard platform. Chimpanzees
have been observed to use sticks to obtain ants and termites to eat and to scare
away intruders. They also use chewed up leaves as a sponge to sop-up water to
drink.
Life Span
Chimpanzees live about 50 to 60 years in captivity while their life span in the
wild ranges from 35-40 years. Like most animals, they survive for longer period
in captivity.
Locomotion
Chimpanzees’ arms are longer than their legs which enable them to reach out to
fruits growing on thin branches that would not support their weight. This also
helps them climb trees and brachiate (swing from branch to branch by their
arms). Chimpanzees can also walk upright (on the two legs in the bipedal
position), when carrying something in their hands or when looking over tall
grass.
Chimpanzees are known as “knuckle walkers” because they place their soles
and the back of the finger joints on the ground. They are terrestrial creatures.
While most primates walk on the flats of their hands, chimpanzees walk on their
knuckles with their hands turned over. This type of walking is typical of not only
chimpanzees but also of gorillas. Chimpanzees usually walk using all fours (on
the soles of feet and the knuckles of their hands).

Chimpanzees have complex communication methods involving facial
expressions, gestures and calls. Their crying calls warn other chimpanzees of the
likely danger in the area. Such danger calls can be heard through the forest for
about 2 miles (3 km). When they spot food in abundance, chimpanzees bark
loudly to call others in their group to a feast.
36
The intra-group communication is mostly achieved through posture, gesture or Primate Behaviour
facial expression, and submissive signals of crouching, presenting the rump and
holding the hand out accompanied by pant-grunts or squeaks.
2.11 GORILLA
These are the largest of the primates in the world weighing up to 400 pounds.
Their build is much heavier than that of chimpanzees. Further, they have big
canine teeth and much larger stature. They are diurnal, terrestrial apes. Some of
them prefer arboreal climbing. Gorillas possess widely set and deeply sunken
eyes and flaring nostrils. They inhabit lowland and montane forests with a
discontinuous distribution in equatorial Africa.
Ecology
Gorillas are mostly folivorous. They eat fruit, leaves, bark, ants, and bamboo
shoots. They never eat all the leaves from a single plant. Instead, they leave
plenty of leaves so that the plant can replace the leaves quickly.
Activity Pattern
The activity pattern of the gorillas depends upon the food availability, social
conditions and their reproductive status. Gorillas are shy, social animals and are
most active in the morning.
Gorillas are active during the daytime. They wake up just after sunrise (troop
rises between 6 A.M. and 8 A.M.) and search for food such as leaves, buds,
stalks, berries, bark and ferns, which they consume and rest and relax. During
midday, adults usually nap while the young play games. Gorillas do not appear
to drink water but derive the same from their juicy diet. They feed again in the
afternoon, finally retiring for the night in nests made of twigs and leaves. Unlike
the chimpanzees, they construct nests of leaves on the ground for sleeping at
night.
Home Range
Gorilla groups wander about within a home range of 10 to 40 sq km (4 to 15 1/
2 sq mile), which is not defended or marked at the boundaries. Some conflicts
may arise with neighboring groups, but encounters are generally avoided by
communications such as drumming on the ground from a distance.
Social Behaviour
Gorillas live in structured family groups with a polygynous mating pattern. The
gorilla’s social system is usually composed of a single adult male with multiple
females. They live in small groups (bands or harems) consisting of close family
members and other relatives (6–7 individuals) that may number up to 30
individuals. The adult females maintain hierarchy within the group which they
pass on to their offspring.
A typical harem is a closely-knit group including a dominant male, one or two
subdominant males, and several mature and young females. Some groups may
contain only the dominant male, two or three females and the young. males are
normally driven out of a harem once they reach an age of 11-13 years. Males
may form all male groups or travel lonely until the opportunity to start their own
harem arises. 37
Primate Study Dominance
The gorilla is essentially a peace-loving creature that would rather retreat than
fight except in circumstances when its life is threatened and retreat is impossible.
However, once provoked, an adult male will attempt to intimidate his aggressor
by standing on his legs and slapping its chest with cupped hands, simultaneously
roaring and screaming. Adult males perform elaborate displays, including chest
beating, running sideways and tearing up vegetation to frighten an intruding
male or similar other threat. Males also use these displays as a show of dominance
within the group. Adult females can become aggressive while defending their
infants, or while helping each other to drive out rowdy, young adult males. The
dominant male leads the family group and decides where the members should
feed and sleep. Females are strongly bonded to the male.
Grooming
Grooming one another (cleaning the hair of another gorilla) is a major occupation
among gorillas in a band. Female gorillas not only groom their offspring but also
one another and the dominant male. Unlike most other primates, each gorilla
takes care of its own toilet routine. Mutual grooming is quite rare among the
gorillas.
Reproduction
Females reach sexual maturity during 6-9 years of age. Males become sexually
mature in the wild between 8 and 9 ½ years of their age and in captivity as early
as 6 ½ years. Males are not considered fully mature until they become about 15
years old. The oestrus cycle lasts 26-30 days. Gorillas do not have a distinct
breeding season. Gestation lasts from 250 to 285 days. In the wild, female gorillas
usually deliver their first offspring at their age of 10½ years old and subsequently
at four-year intervals.
Locomotion
Gorillas walk in an obliquely quadrupedal mode of locomotion by actually using
their knuckles to support part of their weight. However, they do stand erect on
occasions. Gorillas perform knuckle-walking by using both their legs and long
arms. They can climb trees but do not do so very often because of their heavy
weight.
Gorillas generally communicate with each other using many complicated sounds
and gestures. Some of their gestures range from chest-beating, high-pitched barks,
lunging, throwing objects to staring, lip-tucking, sticking out the tongue, sideways
running, slapping, rising to a two-legged stance, etc.(www.animalcorner.co.uk).
2.12 MAN AND OTHER PRIMATES

Macaques are the favorite animals for laboratory tests. Tests on the rhesus macaque
resulted in the discovery of the Rh (rhesus) factor in 1940. This is a hereditary
blood antigen. When Rh and non-Rh blood samples are mixed during blood
transfusions, fatal reactions can occur. The crab-eating macaque was the clinical
test animal for the development of the polio vaccine.
Orangutans have senses very similar to ours, including hearing, sight, smell,
taste and touch.
38
Chimpanzees on occasions exhibit such behaviours as group hunting, food sharing Primate Behaviour
and tool making which were once considered as the exclusive trait of humans.
These behavioural traits suggest close anatomical and behavioural kinship
between Homo sapiens and chimpanzees. They have senses very similar to ours,
including hearing, sight, smell, taste and touch. Chimpanzees are very intelligent
and can learn even extremely complex tasks. Chimpanzees are the most violent
primates besides humans!
It is hardly impossible to emphasise the importance of friendly physical contact
in maintaining good relationships among chimpanzees. Social grooming is one
remarkable trait which is probably the most important social behaviour (in humans
as well), serving to maintain or to improve friendships within the community as
also to calm nervous or tense individuals.
2.13 SUMMARY
Non human primates are referred to as Man’s closest relatives. Therefore, in
order to understand Man’s changing behaviour and emotions, etc., under different
conditions, it is important to study the behaviour and social structure/organisation
of non-human primates, man’s closest relatives, and then extrapolate that to MAN.
In this Unit, we briefly discuss the behaviour of our closest relatives, i.e. the
non-human primates.
Major activities that occupy these primates most of the day are eating, traveling
and resting, grooming, playing, fighting and mating activities.
For all primate species, the primary social link is the mother-infant bond. In
group living primates, relationships between females and successive generations
of their female off springs usually form the core of the group.
We find in this unit that the frequently observed primate activity is social
grooming. It helps to strengthen links. The mother-infant relationship is the most
fundamental social unit within the primate social relations and begins at birth
itself.
Primates are mostly group-living animals and tend to form “dominance
hierarchies”. These hierarchies are also referred to as status rank. Dominance
serves to organise social interactions. Since the primates are born within the
group and grown therein, they learn the processes and norms of behaviour by
sheer observation. Aggression is either intra- or inter-specific.
In this Unit, it is observed that the primates have a very interesting system of
communication amongst themselves. For example, ‘display’ primarily
communicates information that is useful to an individual of the group, to the
social group to which he belongs and to other species. This mode of
communication conveys to other members of the group, one’s emotion such as
greeting, fear, threat, happiness, danger, pain, hunger, courtship, , etc., through a
wide variety of body movements, facial expressions, vocalisations, and olfactory
signals.
Macaques are the favorite animals for laboratory tests. Tests on the rhesus macaque
resulted in the discovery of the Rh (rhesus) factor in 1940.
Baboons have complex social systems. They live in a multimale - multi-female
social group. Baboons normally sleep in large troops, no matter what their foraging
patterns are, in some high place where they are protected from predators. Mutual
grooming functions as a strong social bond. 39
Primate Study The word “langur” means “long tail” in Hindi language. They are most active in
the early morning and late afternoon. Feeding occurs at dawn and again during
the evening. Langur groups may forage over several kilometers in the course of
a day. A troop of langurs returns to the same resting place every night.
The lesser apes (siamang and gibbon) are monogamous and live in small stable
family groups consisting of an adult male and an adult female (for life) and their
immature offsprings. Unlike great apes, these lesser apes do not make sleeping
nests. They simply sleep (in sitting posture) between the forking branches of the
trees (www.miamimetrozoo.com).
Orangutans, the largest and rarest of the great apes, have senses very similar to
humans, including hearing, sight, smell, taste and touch; are usually frugivores.
Chimpanzees are diurnal, semi terrestrial and generally frugivorous. During the
dry season seeds, nuts, flowers, leaves, resin, eggs etc. form the important food
resources. Chimpanzees on occasions exhibit such behaviours as group hunting,
food sharing and tool making which were once considered as the exclusive trait
of humans. Gorillas are the largest of the primates in the world weighing up to
400 pounds. They are diurnal, terrestrial apes. Some of them prefer arboreal
climbing. Gorillas possess widely set and deeply sunken eyes and flaring nostrils.
These behavioural traits speak of the close anatomical and behavioural kinship
between man and chimpanzees. These non-human primates have senses very
similar to ours, including hearing, sight, smell, taste and touch. Chimpanzees
are very intelligent and can learn even extremely complex tasks but are the most
violent primates besides humans!
2.14 GLOSSARY
Alpha male/female : highest ranking individual within a dominance
hierarchy.
Arboreal : tree dwelling.
Affiliative behaviour : behaviours which promote group cohesion (friendly/
positive gestures), e.g. grooming, touching, and
hugging
Brachiation : locomotion by arm swinging.
Crepuscular : active during twilight hours.
Diurnal : active during day time.
Dominance : ability to intimidate others.
Estrus : period in which an adult female is sexually receptive.
Frugivorous : fruit eating.
Gestation : conception and development of young one in uterus.
Grooming : cleaning of body surface by licking, nibbling, picking
with fingers or kind of manipulation.
Home range : area of land used.
Infanticide : killing of infants.
Mating : having sex.
Matrilocal : residence with mating female.
40
New World : American mainland. Primate Behaviour
Nocturnal : active during night.

Old World : Europe, Africa and Asia.
Patrilocal : living with male.
Perineal : area in between anus and the pubic arch.
Quadrupedal : walking on four limbs.
Rank : position or status in hierarchy.
Reproductive success : number of surviving offspring of an individual.
Sexual dimorphism : difference in the body size and form of the males and
females.
Terrestrial : living on ground.
Territory : area which is exclusive and defended.
Weaning : gradually stop breast feeding.
References
www.animalcorner.co.uk accessed on 21-03-2011
www.cellar.org accessed on 30-05-2011
www.forum.philosophynow.org accessed on 11-02-2011
www.janegoodallug.org accessed on 16-02-2011
www.miamimetrozoo.com accessed on 02-05-2011.
Suggested Reading
Bramblett, C.A. 1976. Patterns of Primate Behaviour. California, Mayfield
Publishing Company.
Kummer, H. 1971. Primate Societies. Chicago, Aldine Publishing Company.
Nelson, H. and R. Jurmain 1988. Introduction to Physical Anthropology. New
York, West Publishing Company.
Seth, P.K. and S. Seth 1993. Structure, function and diversity of Indian rhesus
monkey. In New Perspective in Anthropology Ed. P.K. Seth and S. Seth. New
Delhi, M.D. Publications Pvt Ltd. pp 47 – 82.
Sample Questions
1) How does home range influence behaviour of primates?
2) What is the role of a female in estrus within the social structure of the group?
3) How do sleeping sites, food, and water resources affect the social structure
of primates?
4) Compare and contrast the social behaviour of rhesus monkey and apes.
5) Write short notes on
a) Territoriality
b) Dominance and aggression
c) Prosimians and insectivores.
41
Primate Study
UNIT 3 PHYLOGENY OF LIVING PRIMATES
AND PRIMATE ANATOMY
Contents
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Biogenetic Basis of Phylogeny of Living Primates
3.2.1 Immunological Techniques
3.2.2 Molecular Approach
3.2.3 DNA Hybridisation
3.2.4 Mobile DNA Elements Approach
3.3 Comparative Anatomy of Man and Apes
3.3.1 Skull
3.3.2 Spine
3.3.3 Pectoral Girdle
3.3.4 Pelvic Girdle
3.3.5 Lower Limbs
3.4 Hominization
3.4.1 Skeletal Changes Due to Erect Posture and its Implications
3.5 Summary
3.6 Glossary
References
Suggested Reading
Sample Questions
Learning Objectives
&
Comparative anatomy and fossil records for constructing phylogenies are very
important for paleontologists. The development of sophisticated techniques in
the field of modern genetics has facilitated in the endeavor. After you have read
this unit you will follow the
Ø biogenetic basis of phylogeny of living primates; and
Ø comparative anatomy of Man and Apes.
3.1 INTRODUCTION
Before the development of sophisticated techniques in the field of modern
genetics, paleontologists had to depend on comparative anatomy and fossil records
for constructing phylogenies. Sometimes the interpretation of the fossils varied
so much that instead of one phylogeny there could be two or more.
But now majority of the paleontologists and biological anthropologists

agree that genetic data of the living primates offer useful information for
constructing their phylogeny.
Anatomy refers to observation and description of the structures of animals. Hence,

the comparison between man and apes will be based on all the structures of their
42 body.
Phylogeny of Living
3.2 BIOGENETIC BASIS OF PHYLOGENY OF Primates and Primate
Anatomy
LIVING PRIMATES
New researches in molecular genetics have influenced many disciplines. Its
application in Physical Anthropology has led to a better understanding of human
evolution. And as such the pre-molecular evidence (based on physical
characteristics) has been replaced by post-molecular evidence. The following
discussion is related to the latter.
3.2.1 Immunological Techniques

During the early 1960s it was Morris Goodman who developed immunological
tests to establish the close genetic relationships among humans, chimpanzees,
and gorillas. The technique involved production of antisera by injecting an animal
with protein (albumin) from another species. The antisera produced in this way
contained antibodies of the foreign protein which was injected. The cross reaction
is done between the antiserum and the immunological protein, i.e., homologous
antigen. Similarly cross reaction is also done between the antiserum and the
protein of other species, i.e., heterologous antigens. It was observed that greater
the similarities in the immunological properties of the two species, the greater
the reactions are. That is how Goodman showed that immunogically there is
greater similarity between African apes and man than between Asian apes and
humans.
3.2.2 Molecular Approach

During 1966 and 1967 Sarich and Wilson carried out more elaborate
immunological experiments. The results they got supported Goodman’s findings
and also enabled them to construct a molecular clock. They injected human
albumin into rabbits which produced antihuman albumin. When this antihuman
albumin was brought in contact with human albumin the reaction was very strong
and same was the case with chimpanzee albumin, while with monkey albumin
the reaction was weaker. This shows that the degree of cross reaction depends
upon the number of amino acid differences between the homologous albumin
(the albumin injected) and the heterologous test albumin. Sarich and Wilson
thus established that closer the genetic relatedness of two species, the antigens
of one will cross react with the antibody of the other antiserum.
Sarich and Wilson (1971) concluded that man, gorilla and chimpanzee last shared
a common ancestor five million years ago. In their further research of 1995, they
suggested that chimpanzee and man might have shared a period of common
ancestry after the split of gorilla line.
Yunish and Prakash (1983) in their comparative analysis of high- resolution
chromosome suggested that the taxonomic scheme of man and apes should be
revised. The taxonomists’ classification of two families-Hominidae for man and
Pongidae for apes be changed to two subfamilies-Hominae for man and large
apes and Ponginae for Orangutan. This kind of classification instead of solving
the problem generated controversy. The protein-enzyme nucleic acid analysis
based biomolecular evidence, showing similarities between man and African
apes of Chimpanzee and Gorilla, has been found to be of primitive retentions of
earlier inheritance from the common hominid stock as shown by works of Mai
(1983), Kluge (1983), Schwartz (1984) and a host of others on the chromosome
number and karyotyping variability. 43
Primate Study But to suggest the revision of the taxonomic scheme of man and apes on the
basis of comparative analysis of chromosome alone is a far fetched idea. It is
well established fact that the family Hominidae contains single genus Homo and
single species Homo sapiens. There are many characters supporting the influences
of the family in the Primate order. Needless to say that “Man the tool maker” is
the only culture-creating, culture-retaining, culture-transmitting creature with a
complex brain and articulate speech in the animal kingdom.
3.2.3 DNA Hybridisation

Besides the above approaches there is DNA comparison based on hybridization
technique. In this technique single stranded DNA of one species is allowed to
seek out its complement in the single stranded DNA of another species. DNA
strands can be separated and combined in the laboratory. When the DNA
sequences of two species are similar, the bonds that develop will be stronger but
when the sequences are different the bands will be weak. If the bonded pair is
strong the temperature is also high. Examination of the hybrid strand shows that
a double strand composed of one human and the chimpanzee strand is 97.5% fit
and 2.5% amino acid sequences are different. It indicates that they have descended
from a common ancestor and the minor difference in their DNA might have
been due to changes since the time of their separation.
3.2.4 Mobile DNA Elements Approach

Mobile DNA elements are distinct DNA sequences that have remarkable ability
to transport or duplicate the other regions of the genome.
It has been observed that nearly 50% of the primates genome is made up of
mobile repetitive DNA sequences such as Alu and LINE elements. The causes
and evolutionary consequences of these mobile elements have been studied during
the last decade.
Due to their distinctive mutational mechanism, these elements are exceedingly

useful in constructing phylogeny particularly human-chimpanzee-gorilla
trichotomy as well as that of New World Primates.
Without going into the details of the two different types of mobile DNA elements
(DNA Transposons and DNA Retrotransposons), let us examine the role of
Alu elements which are primate specific. Alu elements have been extensively
used in primate phylogenetic studies.
Human-Chimpanzee-Gorilla Trichotomy
According to Paterson et al. (2006), the relationship among humans, chimpanzees,
and gorillas have been a difficult and long standing problem. Several studies
have tried to resolve this problem. Though the mtDNA studies by Horai et al.
(1965) support chimpanzee as nearest living relative of humans, Satta et al. (2000)
who analysed the sequences from 45 nuclear loci found that 60% of the loci
support human-chimpanzee relationship. Salem et al. (2000) analysed 117 Alu
Ye subfamily and 16 loci from Alu Y subfamily. They found a single most
parsimonious tree with high levels of support. The resulting tree clearly clusters
human and chimpanzee as a sister clad with gorilla as outgroups.
44
Phylogeny of Living
3.3 COMPARATIVE ANATOMY OF MAN AND Primates and Primate
Anatomy
APES
Comparative anatomy is one among many branches of Comparative Biological
Sciences such as comparative physiology, comparative embryology, comparative
biochemistry, and so forth. Comparative method is widely used by scientists in
their fields of specialization.
3.3.1 Skull
It consists of two parts – Cranium and Face.
Cranium is a more or less dome shaped case which contains the brain.
Face consists of the upper and lower jaws, the cheek and the nasal bones. Between
the face and cranium are the orbits.
The great size of the cranium and reduction of the face are the characteristics of
man. In apes the face is very large and heavy whereas cranium is proportionately
very small. In man the face is not only small but it does not project beyond the
cranium. Hence the skull is orthognathous (orthos- straight, gnathous – jaw).
On the other hand, the large face and jaws project in front of the cranium and
form a snout. It means that cranium is placed behind the face instead of over it
and as such the skull becomes prognathous.
Supra orbital torus Sagittal Crest

Cranium
Face
Orthognathous
Prognathous
Ape
Man
Fig.3.1: Lateral view of human and ape skulls
In man, the cranial capacity is larger because of the larger dimensions in length,
breadth and height than that of the apes. The average cranial capacity in man
varies from 1000 cc to 1400 cc. The average cranial capacity of adult gorilla
varies from 540 cc to 600 cc; in chimpanzee it is between 420 cc to 500 cc and in
orangutan it ranges from 450 cc to 550 cc. The smallest cranial capacity of 100
cc is found in the gibbon.
45
Primate Study The roof and the sides of cranium constitute the vault. The vault of the human
skull is smooth and convex in the frontal, occipital and parietal regions which
overlie the corresponding regions of the brain associated with intelligence, vision
and sense of touch and control of muscles. The vault of the ape skull lacks these
convexities also known as eminences or bumps.
The bones in the vault of human and ape skulls are firmly joined together. The
frontal bone of the forehead makes contact with the occipital bone of the back.
There are two parietals between these two, one on each side of the midline on
the top of the skull. There are two more bones namely the temporal and the
sphenoid which complete the side of the vault. The junction along the edges of
these bones is marked by line known as sutures. There are many sutures such as
coronal suture between frontal and parietals, lambdoid between occipital and
parietals, squamous between temporal and parietal where the former overlaps
the latter, sagittal between the two parietals in the midline at the top of the skull,
and spheno-temporal between temporal and sphenoid. These sutures are clearly
seen in man but tend to cynostose (fuse) in old age and become completely
obliterated. In apes the sutures are not easy to see.
Sagittal suture
Coronal suture
Sphenoid frontal PARIETAL

suture FRONTAL
Spheno-parietal suture
Squamous suture
Orbit
SPHENOID
TEMPORAL
Lambdoid suture
Sogebi0tenoirak sytyre
Nasal
bone
ZYGOMATIC
OCCIPITAL
MAXILLA
Occipito-mastooid
Ramus
MANDIBLE
Chin Body
Fig. 3.2 : Lateral view of human Skull
46
Phylogeny of Living
Primates and Primate
Anatomy
FRONTAL
PARIETAL Orbit
TEMPORAL
ZYGOMATIC BONE
Nasal bone
MAXILLA
MANDIBLE
Fig. 3.3: Frontal view of human skull
The differences between man and ape skulls are prominently marked in the
development of ridges and the areas for the attachment of neck and masticatory
muscles. In man the side of the vault has extensive flattened area known as
temporal fossa for the attachment of temporal masticatory muscles. These muscles
extend from the side of the cranium to the lower jaw. They help the jaw in moving
up and down and sideways during mastication. The temporal fossa in apes is
much larger than in man. Because of the large size of jaw and teeth, the temporal
fossa in apes has to provide greater surface for the attachment of the masticatory
muscle. The line of its attachment known as temporal line rises right up to the
top of the skull where it meets the midline and forms a vertical crest called the
sagittal crest. This crest joins a transverse crest called occipital crest in the
posterior region of the skull.
The frontal bone in man has two eminences, one on each side and the forehead is
vertical, whereas in apes there are no eminences and the forehead is flat and
retreating. There are two conical cavities which accommodate the eyeballs. These
orbital cavities are connected with the temporal region in man by two narrow
spaces, one between the zygomatic (malar) and sphenoid bones and the other
between the zygomatic and maxillary. The orbital cavities are large and almost
completely shut off from the temporal fossa by the extension inwards of the
zygomatic bone.
The frontal bone forms the upper border of the orbits and in between them it
makes sutural contact with the nasal bones. The upper border is curved and
thickened known as supraorbital ridge. In man, the two supraorbital ridges may
not be prominent. They are separated from the midline by a depressed area. The
supraorbital margins are very strongly developed in apes but in gorilla they are
massive and form a continuous supraorbital torus. In orangutan this torus is
conspicuous but not massive.
The occipital region in the back of the skull forms the vault and also enters into
the part formation of the base. The vault portion in man is smooth and bulging
and the basal portion is less bulging. The occipital bone in the apes is less convex
and less uniform in outline and the rough muscular portion is flattened and looks
backwards and downwards. The external occipital curve line is raised into a
prominent occipital crest which is joined by the sagittal crest. As compared to
47
Primate Study man, the ape’s skull is large and projecting and is ill balanced on the vertebral
column. The muscular area has to be extensive in the occipital bone. At the base
of the skull, there is a large opening through which the spinal cord passes into
the vertebral column. Because of the bulge of occipital bone, there is a
considerable extension of the base of the skull behind the foramen magnum in
man and as such its position is relatively forward. Since there is reduction in the
occipital bulge in apes, the base becomes small and so the foramen is placed far
back and faces downwards.
Fig. 3.4: Basal view of Human and ape skulls
The face consists of upper jaw formed by two symmetrical bones joined together
in the lower part to form the palate. It has several processes. Its frontonasal
process connects the maxilla to the frontal bone and also supports the nasal
bones. In apes, it is stronger and shorter than in man and acts as a buttress. The
lower curved margin of the maxilla is the alveolar process which bears the teeth.
It is stronger and larger in apes than in man because of the larger teeth.
The zygomatic or the malar bone supports upper and outer part of the cheek on
each side and joins (connects) the maxilla to the cranium on the outer side of the
orbit. It acts as a buttress or support and conveys pressure forces up to the base
of the skull. It is very stout in apes as it has to support the strains (pressure)
produced during mastication by the heavy jaws. The palatal processes of the
maxillae form the hard palate which separates the mouth from the nose and
forms the roof of the mouth and the floor of the nasal cavity. The only difference
between man and apes is that the premaxillary part of the palate is fused with
maxilla in the former whereas it is separate in the latter. The upper surface of the
maxilla extends as the orbital process under the eye. The alveolar process shows
a number of vertical ridges raised by the roots of the teeth and one of these near
the margin of the nasal aperture is prominent. This is the canine ridge. The ridges
are more prominent in apes than in man because of the larger roots of the teeth.
The zygomatic bone connects the upper jaw to the base, and medially and below
it is continuous with zygomatic process of the maxilla. The inner process of the
zygomatic bone meets the angular projection of the frontal bone while the outer
process extends to meet a similar process of the temporal bone across the temporal
48
fossa. This is how the zygomatic arch is formed. In apes we find the same Phylogeny of Living
processes as in man but they are shorter and stronger. The zygomatic arch is also Anatomy
shorter.
The paired nasal bones are raised above the level of the face and meet in the
midline. They are in contact with the maxilla on each side and meet the frontal in
the upper end. The lower ends widen out to form the nasal aperture. In apes the
nasal bones are not raised above the level of the face as they are flat and thus
there is no nasal bridge, a prominent feature of nasal bones in man.
The lower jaw or the mandible has two symmetrical halves which become fused
early in infancy. The junction of the two halves in the midline is known as
symphysis menti or mental symphysis (joint of the chin). The bodies of the
mandible (i.e., the two halves) diverge backwards from the symphysis. The
mandibular body accommodates the teeth of the lower jaw. The ramus of the
mandible is a broad flat plate of bone which turns up from the posterior of the
body. The upper part of the ramus is separated into two processes by a depression
known as sigmoid notch. The anterior coronoid process gives attachment to the
temporal muscles where as the posterior process or condyle fits into a fossa on
the undersurface of the squamous portion of the temporal bone to form the
temporo-mandibular joint. The backward divergence of the bodies of the mandible
and the chin are characteristic features of man. The general description of the
mandible of apes is same as that of man but there are differences between them.
In apes, the body of the mandible is heavier and the two halves are parallel.
There is no mental eminence. The two halves of the body at the symphysis are
buttressed behind by a bony bar called simian shelf. The ramus is also wider
than in man and the sigmoid notch is shallower.
Fig.3.5: Dental Arch in Man and Apes
There are three parts of a tooth. The crown is above the gum, the root fits into the
socket of the alveolar hard enamel material. The neck is the slightly constricted
region between the crown and the root.
According to the shape, special functions (cutting, grinding) and location in the
jaws, the teeth are classified as incisors, canines, premolars, and molars. The
total number of teeth both in man and apes is 32 represented by the dental formula
of 2123/2123. There are two incisors, one canine, two premolars and three molars
found in each half of the upper and lower jaws (8 x 4 =32). The teeth in apes are
much larger than in man.
49
Primate Study Incisors are sharp cutting or nibbling teeth in front. They are larger and clumsier
than in man. Canines are the tearing teeth. They are large and long with blunted
crown in man. In apes they are large and out of proportion of the adjacent teeth.
On account of great length, they are accommodated into the spaces of the upper
and lower jaws at the time of oscillation or closure of the jaws. The space is
known as diastema characteristic of simian dentition. Diastema between the
upper canines and the lateral incisors is present. The canines project forward and
are interlocked.
Premolars are also known as bicuspsids because they have two conical crowns.
They are also grinding teeth. In man, the upper premolars have two roots and the
lower ones possess only one root, whereas in apes the upper ones have three
roots and the lower ones have two roots. Molars are grinding teeth. In man they
have four dome shaped cusps on the upper and five on the lower molars. The last
molar is the smallest in the series. The molars of the apes have large well developed
cusps. The third molar is the largest in the series.
3.3.2 Spine
The spine is made up by a number of superimposed blocks of bone called
vertebrae. They form a vertical column supporting the head and the ribs. That is
why it has been named as vertebral column. The vertebral column protects the
spinal cord which is a downward prolongation of the central nervous system. It
represents a series of curvatures. These are cervical, thoracic, lumbar, sacral and
caudal or coccygeal. In man, the thoracic and lumbar curves are called primary
curves because they are the parts of the embryo. The cervical curve develops
only after birth when the head is lifted and the lumbar curve appears when the
trunk is raised as the child begins to walk. The curvatures in the cervical and
lumbar region are convex forwards, whereas in the thoracic and pelvic region
they are concave forwards. The cervical vertebrae are seven in number. They are
small and their spines are short and bifid. The first vertebra called atlas supports
the head and is modified to twist horizontally around the second or axis. The
rotation of the head takes place on the atlas and axis. The apes also have seven
cervical vertebrae which are proportionately larger than those of man. Their spines
are long and stout. The graceful hollow of the neck in man is filled up in the
apes.
The thoracic vertebrae are normally twelve but may be thirteen in number. The
thoracic vertebrae resemble those of man. The lumbar vertebrae also known as
lion vertebrae and are five in number in man but may be reduced to four or
increased to six. They are broad from side to side and rough. The lumbar vertebrae
in apes are very flat and broad.
The sacral vertebrae in the pelvic region are fused together to form a wedge
shaped bone. It lies in the posterior part of the pelvis where it is firmly attached.
The curvature or concavity of the sacrum is well developed. In apes this curvature
is less marked and the sacrum is narrower as compared to that of man.
The coccygeal vertebrae of the tail region are reduced to small plates of bone
hardly recognizable as vertebrae both in man and apes.
50
Phylogeny of Living
Anatomy
Fig. 3.6: Vertebral Column Curvatures
3.3.3 Pectoral Girdle

The bones of the pectoral girdle are the clavicle (collar-bone) and the scapula
(shoulder-blade). The clavicle is a long sigma-shaped bone. It is joined to the top
of the sternum by a movable joint and its other end meets the scapula. One can
feel it with the hand. In apes, the clavicle occupies the same position and
connections as in man. In gibbons, the clavicle is long and slender due to their
arm swinging mode of locomotion.
The scapula is flat and triangular in shape. It lies on the back of the shoulder
region. It is attached to the outer end of the clavicle and accommodates the head
of humerus in its glenoid cavity. The ape scapula has the same attachments and
shape as in man. It is narrower than in man.
3.3.4 Pelvic Girdle

The pelvic girdle is formed by two ossainnominata (hip bones). They have five
bones which are fused. The outer side of each hip bone has a cup-shaped cavity
called acetabulum which receives the head of the femur (thigh bone). The two
hip bones form a basin-shaped cavity closed by sacrum in the posterior region.
In man, this basin is wider specially in females as compared to males. The iliac
element of the hip bone is expanded. In apes, the pelvis as a whole is longer
because of the elongation of the ilium. The basin is also narrower than in man.
Fig.3.7: Pelvic Girdle of Man and Ape

Source: WKO-187-PF:Female Chimpanzee Pelvis and Femur (Museum Quality bone clones TM
Replica) 51
Primate Study 3.3.5 Lower Limbs
The lower limb of the body has the longest bone called femur (thigh bone). It has
a spherical head connected to the shaft through the neck. The femoral head fits
into the acetebulum of the os innominatum and the lower end with its two condyles
(knuckles) which are expanded into a broad base and enter into the knee joint.
This arrangement forms an efficient support for the body. In apes, the head of the
femur is not so extensive. The neck is shorter and at a less obtuse angle with the
shaft. The shaft is short and stout, and its lower end is less expanded.
In man, the tibia transmits the weight from the femur to the foot. The upper end
of the tibia is horizontally expanded to support the triangular shaft, whereas the
lower end is slightly expanded which rests on the talus, one of the tarsal bones of
the foot. The tibia does not enter into the knee-joint but articulates with outer
surface of talus. It acts like a spring-bone as it takes up the strain of the outward
bends of the foot at the ankle-joint.
The bones of the tarsus have adapted for bearing weight of the body. The
metatarsals form a somewhat conical arch. Thus the long heel bone, calcaneous,
slops backward from below to reach the ground at the posterior end. In apes, the
plane of the tibio-talus joint is oblique in such a way as to twist the foot a little
inwards. The arching of the inner side of the sole is not so marked.
In man, the metatarsal of the big toe is firmly bound together with the other four
in marked contrast with that of the thumb. In apes, the metatarsal is relatively
and separately movable. Thus the big toe can be opposed to the other toes and
functions as a grasping organ like the human hand.
Big toe
(opposable)
Fig. 3.8: Foot of Man and Ape
We have considered the comparative anatomy of man and apes and have seen
the differences between them. However it must be noted that there are many
shared features which are ancestral traits, that is, traits inherited from the shared
common ancestor. These are human trunk similar to that of an ape, length of
arm, breadth of trunk, and shortness of the lumbar region (back bone), length of
clavicle, and many details of bone joints and muscles.
3.4 HOMINIZATION
The earliest evidence of hominids that was found, included teeth and cranial
pieces which were not enough to distinguish modern man from our closest
relatives the apes. Then, how can we identify hominids from other types of
animals, especially when these occur only as fragments of fossil remains?
The Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania is the most important site that yielded the fossil
52
evidence in abundance about the skeleton and behaviour of hominids. The layers
through which the Gorge cuts are divided into four numbered from the bottom Phylogeny of Living
as Bed I, Bed II, Bed III and Bed IV, the uppermost. Anatomy
In 1960 Leaky’s son found pieces of jaws, partial cranial vault and hand bones
from Bed 1 dated to 1.8 million years ago. The bony remains were encircled by
loosely piled stones. Leaky thought that it was a dwelling of a hominid which
belonged to genus Homo. He named it Homo habilis (handy man) believing it
to be a tool maker. The piled stones, according to Leakey were windbreak
constructed by Homo habilis. The cranial capacity after reconstruction was found
to be 680 cc which to Leakey was further proof for separating Homo habilis
from the Australopithecus africanus.
The debate among the palaeanthropologists over which of the traits-tool making,
large brain, and bipedalism-was critical in defining mankind. Yattersall has very
rightly pointed out that the spin off of this mindset was the idea of hominization,
that is, becoming human in some way was definable and separate process which
could be studied. It must be noted that all these traits did not develop
simultaneously as can be seen in hominid evolution over the last seven million
years. The process of hominization may be examined in the biocultural nature of
hominid evolution.
3.4.1 Skeletal Changes Due to the Erect Posture and its

Implications
The Miocene and Pliocene apes were arboreal but they could also move on the
ground. Our ancestors came down from the trees probably more than 4 million
years ago. Due to paucity of fossil record, we do not know the successive stages
through which hominids passed before they walked upright. The anatomical
changes associated with erect posture and bipedal gait are found throughout the
body- toes, legs, vertebral column, pelvis, skull, and various muscles. The changes
are seen in the shape, position and function.
Fig 3.9: Bipedal Locomotion in Man 53

Primate Study Foot
The big toe or hallux is enlarged and projects beyond the other toes, but it is in
line with other toes. The bones of the foot are arranged in such a way that a
marked longitudinal arch is formed along the inner side of the foot. There is a
less marked longitudinal arch along the outer side, and a third arch, the transverse
arch across the heads of five metatarsals. The arches perform several functions
in standing and walking. They ensure that the weight of the body is evenly
distributed over the sole. They absorb shock and work as spring in the stride.
The usefulness of these arches in bipedalism is also associated with certain
disadvantages. The arches may become flattened due to several reasons. The flat
feet not only reduce functional efficiency but also affect the skeleton adversely.
The strains felt in maintaining the arch under the increasing weight may stretch
tendons and ligaments until the arches collapse. The flat footed hominids cannot
stand for longer period and cannot also run fast.
Knee Joint
The large human knee joint is particularly well adapted for weight bearing and
locomotion. The lower limbs are elongated. The femur is angled inward so that
the legs are directly under the body.
Pelvis
Adaptation of upright posture led to many alterations in the pelvis. The ilium
bones become shorter and broader for balancing the weight of the body and for
transmitting it from the vertebral column to the limbs. The pelvis is shaped like
a basin to accommodate the internal organs.
Vertebral Column
The Vertebral column of man is adapted to his upright posture. It has two distinct
curves, a backward thoracic one (convex) and a forward lumbar one. These two
curvatures keep the trunk and weight centered above the pelvis.
Upper Limb
Man’s upper limb shows some anatomical specializations including the freedom
and mobility of the shoulder joint. Also the human hand can be brought into
almost any position.
Skull
The cranium becomes globular and voluminous. The foramen magnum at the
base of the skull is placed further forward and as such the head is balanced on
the vertebral column.
Implications
There are numerous models that suggest the evolution of upright posture.
According to one view the evolution of erect posture may be associated with the
disappearance of thick forests and their replacement with small woods separated
by tracts of open tall grasses which indicate that such countryside might have
existed in Kenya during the Miocene epoch, once the upright posture was attained
by the hominids, bipedalism became the mode of locomotion as an adaptive
response to life in the tall grasses of savanna. They could thus spot ground
predators and potential prey.
54
Another model accounts for better dispersion of body when the head is raised Phylogeny of Living
and less surface is exposed to the sun during the hottest time of the day. This Anatomy
might have played an important role in the thermoregulation of the brain in early
hominids for the development of brain.
The importance of allowing the hands to be free while the legs are moving has
been stressed by paleoanthropologists. Selection may have favoured critical
activity if it were necessary to carry food from one location to other. Hence,
bipedal locomotion offered an adaptive advantage.
Tool use and tool making favoured bipedalism. It was an appropriate adaptation
for hominids to scavenge food. There is however no direct evidence in support
of any of these models on hominization.
3.5 SUMMARY
We read in biogenetic basis of phylogeny of living primates that various
sophisticated techniques have been developed by scientists for establishing the
phylogenetic relationship between humans and apes. The results of immunological
tests and the molecular clock constructed by Sarich and Wilson suggest the
divergence of man and apes from a common ancestor around 5 million years ago
(mya). The chimpanzees are closer to man than the gorilla. The human-
chimpanzees-gorillas trichotomy is accepted by the majority of the scientists.
The unit also provides a comprehensive background on comparative anatomy of

man and large apes, supported by suitable diagrams, followed by the process of
hominization. The changes that took place due to erect posture and their
implications are discussed. Models have been advanced to explain the
development of erect posture and bipedalism, but none of them is fool-proof in
the matter.
3.6 GLOSSARY
Adaptation : successful interaction between populations and
environment.
Antibody : a protein produced in response to foreign antigen.
Antigen : a substance (also a protein) that causes the
production of antibody.
Brachiation : a mode of movement through the trees by swinging
alternate arms to reach from branch to branch.
Among the apes Gibbon is the extreme brachiater.
Cranial capacity : the measurement of interior volume of the brain case
expressed in cubic centimeter (c.c.)
Dental Formula : shorthand notation for the number of teeth on each
side of the upper and lower jaws.
DNA : a long stranded molecule in the gene. It directs the
(Deoxyribonucleic acid) making of an organism according to the instructions
in its genetic code.
55
Primate Study Gait : manner of walking, such as bipedal or quadrupedal
gait.
Genome : the total DNA sequences of an organism.
Foramen Magnum : the large opening on the base of the skull where the
spinal cord enters.
Pelvic outlet or basin : the brim of the pelvic cavity. It is wider in human
female.
Posture : the disposition or arrangement of the body parts.
Phylogeny : the evolutionary history or genealogy of the species
or groups of species
Savanna or Savannah : open grasslands in which the food resources are
spread.
Zygomatic arch : the cheek bone formed by the zygomatic and
temporal bone on the side of the skull.
References
Aibley, C.G. and Ahlquist, J.E. 1984. The Phylogeny of Hominoid Primates as
Indicated by DNA-DNA Hybridisation. J.Mol. Evol. 20: 2-15.
Horais, S. Hyansaka, K. Kondo, R. Tasugane, K. and Takahata,N. 1965. Recent
African Origin of Modern Humans Revealed by Complete Sequences of Hominoid
Mitochondrial DHAs. Proc.Natl. Acad. Sci. 92:532-636.
Kluge, A.G. 1983. Cladistics and the classification of the great apes. In: R L
Ciochon and R S Corrtcinni (Eds), New Interpretations of Ape and Human
Ancestory. New York:Plenum press. pp 151-177
Mai, L. L. 1983. A model of chromosome evolution and its bearing cladogenesis
in the hominoidea. In : R L Ciochon and R S Corrtcinni (Eds), New Interpretations
of Ape and Human Ancestory, New York:Plenum press. pp 87-114.
Patterson, N.D., Richter, J., Genorre, S., Lander, E.S. and Reich, D. 2006. Genetic
Evidence for Complex Speciationof Humans and Champanzees. Nature. 441:
1103-1108.
Salem, A.H., Ray, D.A., Xing, T., Callinan, P.A., Mayers, T.S., Hedger, D.J.,
Garberg,R.K., Witherspoon, D.J., Jordeh,B. and Batzer,M.A. 2000c. Alu
Elementsasnd Hominid Phylogenetics. Proc. Natl.Acad. Sci. 100: 12787-12791
Sarich,V.M. and Wilson, A.C. !971. Hominid origin revisted. In Climbing Man’s
Family Tree. Eds.Mc Cowm,T.M. Kennedy,A.R.K. New Jersy, Prentice-hall Inc.
(This article contains details about molecular clock.)
Satta,Y., Klein, J. and Takahata, N. 2000. DNA Archives and Our Nearest Relative:
The Trichotomy Problem Revisited. Mol.Phylogenetic.Evol. 14: 259-275.
Schwartz, J H. 1984. Phylogeny of Humans and Orangutans. American Journal
of Physical Anthropology 63: 217-220.
Yunish, J. and Prakash, G. 1985. The Origin of Man: A Chromosomal Pictorial
Legacy. Science. 215: 1825-1529.
56
Suggested Reading Phylogeny of Living
Napier, J.R. and Napier, P.H. 1967. A Handbook of Living Primates. New York. Anatomy
Academic Press
Piorier, F.E. 2007. Understanding Human Evolution. New Jersey, Prentice-Hall

Inc.
Roberts, J., Kilgore, L. and Trevathan,W. 2006. Introduction to Physical

Anthropology. Tenth edition. Toronto,Canada, Thomson Wadswort.
Roger, E.1984. Human Evoution: An Illutrated Introduction. New Jersey,

H.Freeman Company.
Srivastava, R.P. 2009. Morphology of the Ptimates and Human Evolution. New
Delhi, PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd.
Sample Questions
1) How has genetic research clarified biological relationship between humans
and large apes?
2) Write notes on:
a) Man-chimpanzees -gorilla trichotomy
b) Comment on the existing taxonomic status of man and apes.
3) Compare the morphological features of human skull with those of large
apes.
4) Describe the changes associated with evolution of erect posture in human
body.
5) Discuss the models that have been proposed by different authors to explain
the emergence of erect posture and bipedalism.
57

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UNIT 1 KINSHIP

1.3 A Brief History of Kinship Studies in Anthropology

1.2 IDEA OF KINSHIP

1.2.1 What is Kinship? Concept and Definitions

1.2.2 Definitions of Some Basic Terms Used in Kinship

1.3 A BRIEF HISTORY OF KINSHIP STUDIES IN

1.3.1 Morgan’s Kinship System

Fig. 1.2: Iroquios kinship system

Adapted from: Nanda, Serena and Richard L. Warms. 2010: 184

Fig.: 1.3: Eskimo kinship system

Adapted from: Nanda, Serena and Richard L. Warms. 2010: 184

Adapted from: Nanda, Serena and Richard L. Warms. 2010: 185

Adapted from: Nanda, Serena and Richard L. Warms. 2010: 185

Variations on the classificatory terminology was also observed by Morgan among

Adapted from: Nanda, Serena and Richard L. Warms. 2010: 184

Adapted from: Nanda, Serena and Richard L. Warms. 2010: 185

Reflection and Action

1.3.2 Contemporary Kinship Studies in the Late 20th Century

4.2 CONCEPTS, MEANINGS AND DEFINITIONS

(Nuclear family) (Composite family)

(Polygamous family) (Extended family)

(Polygamous family) (Polyandrous family)

(Patrilocal (Matrilocal (Avunculocal (Bilocal (Fraternal

Is Marriage and Family Universal?

4.3 FUNCTIONS OF A FAMILY

4.4 CHANGING DIMENSION OF FAMILY

Indian Law: Domestic Violence Act 2005

‘Different court judgments have discussed on different disputes pertaining to live-in

5.2.1 Caste and Marriage

5.3 NORTH AND SOUTH INDIAN KINSHIP

5.4.1 The House-hold Dimension of the Family

In conclusion we can say that it is difficult to have a uniform description of kinship,

3.3 Functions of Marriage

3.2 CONCEPTS, MEANING AND DEFINITIONS

3.2.1 Prescribed and Preferential Marriages

3.2.2 Types of Marriages

3.4 DEVIATIONS IN MARRIAGE

2.3 Alliance Theory

2.2.2 Main Exponents and Critical Evaluation

2.2.3 Counter Theories

Delineate the features of the Descent theory.

2.3 ALLIANCE THEORY

2.3.2 Main Exponent

2.3.3 Analytical Assessment

Block Preparation Team

1.3 Religious Symbolism

1.5 Anthropological Approach to Religion

Emile Durkheim (1858-1917) defines religion as “a unified system of beliefs and

1.2 CONCEPTS OF RELIGION

1.2.7 Sacred and Profane

1.3 RELIGIOUS SYMBOLISM

1.4 RELIGIOUS KNOWLEDGE AND PRACTICES

1.4.1 Ancestor Worship

1.4.2 Magic and Magician

1.4.3 Witchcraft and Sorcery

1.4.4 Evil Eye

1.5 ANTHROPOLOGICAL APPROACH TO

1.5.1 Evolutionary Perspective

1.5.2 Psychological Approach

1.5.3 Functionalist Approach

1.5.4 Structuralist Approach

1.5.5 Marxist Approach

1.5.6 Symbolic Approach

2.3 Functional Study of Rituals

2.2 SYMBOLS AND SOCIAL LIFE

2.2.2 Key Symbols

2.3 FUNCTIONAL STUDY OF RITUALS

Critically assess piacular rituals. Do you agree with Durkheim’s view?

A.R. Radcliffe-Brown followed Durkheim to give a structural-functional analysis

2.5 RITUALS AS PROTEST AND CHANGE

2.6 RITUALS AS COMMUNICATION

2.7 THE NATURE OF RITUALS

3.4 Informal Specialists

3.5 Formal Specialists

3.6 Modes of Religious Specialisations

3.2 CATEGORIES OF SPECIALISTS