An Introduction to the Anthropology of Melanesia: Culture and Tradition

by Paul Sillitoe

Overview

Melanesia has always been a popular fieldwork site for anthropologists, including Bronislaw Malinowski and Margaret Mead. Many of the most important theoretical contributions to anthropology were first formulated with reference to Melanesian studies. This book is intended for undergraduate students with some grounding in the issues and ideas that inform the discipline. It will be useful at an introductory or intermediate level for undergraduate studies in general anthropology, or for courses on Pacific cultures.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521581868
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	10/08/1998
Pages:	280
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.75(d)

Table of Contents

1. Introduction to Melanesia; 2. Food gathering, fishing, and hunting in the Fly estuary; 3. Swidden cultivation in the Bismarck Range; 4. Socialisation in the Admiralty Islands; 5. Exchange cycles in the Massim Archipelago; 6. Sociopolitical exchange in the Southern Highlands; 7. Big men on Bougainville Island; 8. Technology in the highlands fringe; 9. Gender relations in the Western Highlands; 10. Dispute settlement around the Paniai lakes; 11. Sorcery on Dobu Island; 12. Warfare and cannibalism in the Balim region; 13. Initiation rites on the Sepik river; 14. Ancestors and illness in the shadow of the Owen Stanley Range; 15. Myth in the Star mountains.

Editorial Reviews

"Sillitoe's sparkling book offers an unprecedented introduction to the anthropology of Melanesia....It will effectively bring Melanesia into its deserved position as one of the main loci of anthropological thought and analysis." Choice

From the Publisher