Profiles in Ethnology [Paperback]

Elman Rogers Service (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 511 pages
• Publisher: Harpercollins College Div; 3 edition (January 1978)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060459123
• ISBN-13: 978-0060459123
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,008,222 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent intro to anthopology, August 8, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Profiles in Ethnology (Paperback)

I used this book for an intro anthropology course, and it proved to be very interesting on its own,apart from the class itself. Mr. Service's writing is clear and easily read by those unfamiliar with anthropological terms and such. It is a little old (70s) but is still a really good standard text. Especially intriguing were the chapters on the !Kung bushmen, the Irish Countrymen, and the Trobriand Islanders. Service does a good job of delineating the line of contact between these civilizations and those of the west, which helps us to understand how such contact has negatively affected these dying cultures. An excellent read for the amateur anthropologist or the casual reader.

5.0 out of 5 stars good overview of peoples living close to the land, February 21, 2012

By 

cxlxmx - See all my reviews

This review is from: Profiles in Ethnology (Paperback)

This book provides a nice overview and introduction to various peoples around the world who live still close the land in various manifestations of hunter-gatherer or early agriculture. The contents include:

Band Peoples
Arunta of Australia
Yagan of South America
Andaman Islanders
Copper Eskimos
!Kung Bushmen

Tribe peoples
Reindeer Tungus of Siberia
Cheyenne of North American Plains
Nuer of Upper Nile River
Navaho of North America
Jivaro of Sourth America

Chiefdoms
Nootka of British Columbia
Trobriand Islanders of Melanesia
Tahitians of Polynesia
Rwala Bedouin of Arabia

Primitive states
Zulu of South Africa
Inca of Peru
Ashanti of Africa
Kingdom of Siam (that is, present-day Thailand)

Folk societies
Chan Kom: Yucatan
Village in India
Village in China
Village in Ireland

The book was written in 1978 and includes some of what are probably anachronisms today such as calling the people primitive and asserting that trade for tobacco and sugar is a net good. Nevertheless, it is well-written, provides interesting information, and gives some insight into the state of both these peoples and anthropology from several decades ago.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars anthroplogy, November 30, 2009

By 

B. Jones (Fort Worth, TX) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Profiles in Ethnology (Paperback)

This book may be out of print, but it is a great book on anthropological studies