Adventures in the Stone Age: A New Guinea Diary
The first publication of a charming fieldwork memoir by a giant of legal anthropology.
 
When Leopold Pospíšil first arrived in New Guinea in 1954 to investigate the legal systems of the local tribes, he was warned about the Kapauku, who reputedly had no laws. Skeptical of the idea that any society could exist without laws, Pospíšil immediately decided to live among and study the Kapauku. Learning the language and living as a participant-observer among them, Pospíšil discovered that the supposedly primitive society possessed laws, rules, and social structures that were as sophisticated as they were logical. Drawing on his research and experiences among the Kapauku—he would stay with them five times between 1954 and 1979—Pospíšil broke new ground in the field of legal anthropology, holding a professorship at Yale, serving as the anthropology curator of the Peabody Museum of Natural History, and publishing three books of scholarship on Kapauku law.

This memoir of Pospíšil’s experience is filled with charming anecdotes and thrilling stories of trials, travels, and war told with humor and humility and accompanied by a wealth of the author’s personal photos from the time.
1139949499
Adventures in the Stone Age: A New Guinea Diary
The first publication of a charming fieldwork memoir by a giant of legal anthropology.
 
When Leopold Pospíšil first arrived in New Guinea in 1954 to investigate the legal systems of the local tribes, he was warned about the Kapauku, who reputedly had no laws. Skeptical of the idea that any society could exist without laws, Pospíšil immediately decided to live among and study the Kapauku. Learning the language and living as a participant-observer among them, Pospíšil discovered that the supposedly primitive society possessed laws, rules, and social structures that were as sophisticated as they were logical. Drawing on his research and experiences among the Kapauku—he would stay with them five times between 1954 and 1979—Pospíšil broke new ground in the field of legal anthropology, holding a professorship at Yale, serving as the anthropology curator of the Peabody Museum of Natural History, and publishing three books of scholarship on Kapauku law.

This memoir of Pospíšil’s experience is filled with charming anecdotes and thrilling stories of trials, travels, and war told with humor and humility and accompanied by a wealth of the author’s personal photos from the time.
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Adventures in the Stone Age: A New Guinea Diary

Adventures in the Stone Age: A New Guinea Diary

Adventures in the Stone Age: A New Guinea Diary

Adventures in the Stone Age: A New Guinea Diary

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Overview

The first publication of a charming fieldwork memoir by a giant of legal anthropology.
 
When Leopold Pospíšil first arrived in New Guinea in 1954 to investigate the legal systems of the local tribes, he was warned about the Kapauku, who reputedly had no laws. Skeptical of the idea that any society could exist without laws, Pospíšil immediately decided to live among and study the Kapauku. Learning the language and living as a participant-observer among them, Pospíšil discovered that the supposedly primitive society possessed laws, rules, and social structures that were as sophisticated as they were logical. Drawing on his research and experiences among the Kapauku—he would stay with them five times between 1954 and 1979—Pospíšil broke new ground in the field of legal anthropology, holding a professorship at Yale, serving as the anthropology curator of the Peabody Museum of Natural History, and publishing three books of scholarship on Kapauku law.

This memoir of Pospíšil’s experience is filled with charming anecdotes and thrilling stories of trials, travels, and war told with humor and humility and accompanied by a wealth of the author’s personal photos from the time.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9788024652535
Publisher: Karolinum Press
Publication date: 08/04/2022
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Pages: 350
File size: 9 MB

About the Author

Leopold Pospíšil is a pioneer in the field of legal anthropology. Born in Czechoslovakia, he studied law at Charles University before emigrating to the United States in 1948. He was a professor of anthropology at Yale University from 1956–1983, and the anthropology curator of the Peabody Museum. Jaroslav Jiřík is director of archaeology at the Museum of Prácheň in Písek, Czech Republic, and teaches archaeology courses at Charles University, Prague. Martin Soukup is a cultural anthropologist specializing in Melanesia. He is an associate professor at Charles University.

 

Table of Contents

I. Introduction: How I Became an Anthropologist


II. Language


III. Data Gathering


IV. The Participant Observer


V. Becoming One of Them


VI. Collecting


VII. Non-horticultural Food Quest


VIII. Kapauku Culture and the Concept of “Primitive Society”


IX. Kapauku Personality


X. Kapauku Mathematics


XI. Quantity Obsession


XII. Economy Ceremonies


XIII. Life Cycle Ceremonies


XIV. Law


XV. Two Kapauku Legal Cases


XVI. Theft of Pigs and Embezzlement


XVII. Rape and Adultery


XVIII. War


XIX. Magic and Religion


XX. Health, Sickness and Medicine


XXI. Changes Introduced by the Encroaching Western World


XXII. My Research and the Dutch Administration


XXIII. Departure from the Kamu


XXIV. Afterword: Leopold Pospíšil, Anthropology, and the Kapauku (Jirík & Soukup)

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