Kinship studies recently have been going through a new wave of attraction in archaeogenetics and archaeology. Interdisciplinary cooperation remains an important challenge in these endeavours. Any research that requires interdisciplinary efforts will lead to reductive and potentially misleading conclusions if that cooperation is restricted to a range that is too narrow. The consequences usually are inadequate research results and insufficient ranges of interpretation. Moreover, such methodologically limited inquiries also may entail ethical concerns. Some of this is also valid for kinship analyses, in the study of the deep past as well as for contemporary communities. The present article examines the recently presented case of ('Pannonian') Avar excavations to demonstrate how archaeogenetic and archaeological interpretations may tend to ignore socio-cultural complexities. By arguing for the inclusion of socio-cultural anthropology in professional interdisciplinary kinship analyses of the deep past, concepts such as polygyny, levirate, ghost marriage and the notion of 'female exogamy' are examined for the case under scrutiny. The article illustrates how certain kinship practices-often misinterpreted in solely genetic terms or entirely ignored-can be understood as ethnographically grounded while also having a cross-cultural meaning suitable for comparison that is indispensable for the study of kinship in any historical period.

Abstract Within a multi-species anthropological and ethnographic approach, this presentation features a few ethnographic observations on the snake as a guardian of spring water, as being sensitive to upcoming rains, and as a symbol in male puberty rituals. The relevant insights were documented during a joint Saudi-Austrian ethnographic fieldwork project in the early 1980s in the hilly Tihama of Southwest Arabia (southern Hijaz and Asir) and in 1986 in the lower slopes of northwestern Yemen’s remote and isolated Tihama mountains. These selected ethnographic examples concern the values and qualities attributed by local villagers to certain snakes, perceived as being potentially dangerous but also as possible signs of hope for them. A number of additional, unusual features are attributed to the snakes by local people. Some of these are based on experience and some on imagination: hence, they also integrate local value judgements. These local values deviate to some extent from pre-Ottoman Islamic Arabic literary traditions by enhancing a somewhat more positive classification. Villagers’ overall attitudes to the snakes they are referring to may be characterized by a profound ambivalence between fear of risks and respectful hope. In sum, these overall emotional and value-informed attitudes oblige them to pursue a careful and committed attitude that seems to have absorbed certain legacies from possible parallels in the past of Ancient Southwest Arabia.

The present analysis examines the main early theoretical and conceptual influences that remained significant in Richard Thurnwald's work. While also considering subsequent ramifications, this research question is primarily applied to the early work and academic life of one of the 20th century's most influential and best-known social anthropologists from the German-speaking world. The relevant phases scrutinized here concern Thurnwald's sojourns between 1890 and late in 1900 in Vienna, Bosnia and Graz - then all under Austro-Hungarian Habsburg rule. The main question about those crucial theoretical and methodological influences that Thurnwald brought with him to Berlin in late 1900 thus leads to a clear first answer: At that time, Thurnwald was already a fully trained social scientist whose formative years had been shaped by some of the best-known theoreticians of his day. Among them, it is argued that the theoretical influence of his main Vienna teacher, social scientist and economist Carl Menger, was far more pervasive than that of others. The impact by Thurnwald's intellectual counterpart in Graz, sociologist Ludwig Gumplowicz, was second and complementary to that. On these theoretical levels, Thurnwald brought a "proto-functionalism avant la lettre", featuring a comparative emphasis with early interests in superpositioning processes and in the relevance of social Darwinism. On the methodological levels, Thurnwald had accomplished one of the first fieldwork projects by any formally trained social scientist, based on his good skills in locally relevant languages and by his preference (against other available options) for small scaled dialogical participant observation. In political terms Thurnwald at first remained the liberal conservative he had been before his Berlin arrival, with an interest in maintaining a dominant German-speaking colonial rule such as he had experienced and served in Bosnia.

Jörg Weilhartner, Barbara Horejs Editorial Artikel / Articles Assunta Mercogliano A Newly Discovered Middle Helladic Settlement in the Trapeza Area near Aigion (Achaea, Greece). The Materials from the Survey Filip Franković Ashes to Kraters, Dust to Jugs. Use of Ceramic Vessels as Urns in the Middle and Late Bronze Age East Aegean–West Anatolian Region Nicole Mittermair Take it to the Grave. Traces of Production, Post-Casting Treatment and Use of Metal Objects from Urnfield Cemeteries in Lower Austria Petr Dresler, Gabriela Dreslerová, Nela Doláková, Petr Kočár, Romana Kočárová Beaver as Proof of the Change of Natural Environment and Economy of the First Half of the 10th Century AD Günther Kaufmann, Andreas Putzer Neue Erkenntnisse zur Geschichte der Kirche St. Valentin in Schlaneid (Südtirol) Wolfgang Neubauer, Christoph Traxler, Alexander Bornik, Andreas Lenzhofer Stratigraphy from Topography I. Theoretical and Practical Considerations for the Application of the Harris Matrix for the GIS-based Spatio-temporal Archaeological Interpretation of Topographical Data Michael Doneus, Wolfgang Neubauer, Roland Filzwieser, Christopher Sevara Stratigraphy from Topography II. The Practical Application of the Harris Matrix for the GIS-based Spatio-temporal Archaeological Interpretation of Topographical Data Berichte / Reports Barbara Horejs, Aleksandar Bulatović, Jelena Bulatović, Clare Burke, Michael Brandl, Laura Dietrich, Dragana Filipović, Bogdana Milić, Ognjen Mladenović, Nora Schinnerl, Tim M. Schroedter, Lyndelle Webster New Multi-disciplinary Data from the Neolithic in Serbia. The 2019 and 2021 Excavations at Svinjarička Čuka Roderick B. Salisbury, Ian D. Bull, Susanna Cereda, Erich Draganits, Katharina Dulias, Kerstin Kowarik, Matthias Meyer, Elena I. Zavala, Katharina Rebay-Salisbury Making the Most of Soils in Archaeology. A Review Rezensionen / Reviews Andre Gingrich David Graeber, David Wengrow, The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity (Farrar, Strauss and Giroux, New York 2021) Nikola Vukosavljević Robert Whallon (Hrsg.), Crvena Stijena in Cultural and Ecological Context: Multidisciplinary Archaeological Research in Montenegro. Montenegrin Academy of Sciences and Arts, Special Editions (Monographies and Studies) 138, Section of Humanities 18 (National Museum of Montenegro, Podgorica 2017) Reinhard Jung Lázaros Kolónas, Βούντενη Ι: Ένα σημαντικό Î¼Ï ÎºÎ·Î½Î±ÏŠÎºÏŒ κέντρο της Αχαΐας (Οργανισμός Διαχείρισης και Î‘Î½Î¬Ï€Ï„Ï Î¾Î·Ï‚ Πολιτιστικών Πόρων, Athen 2021) Peter C. Ramsl, Gabriela Russ-Popa Károly Tankó, Kelta falu Győr határában: a ménfőcsanaki késő vaskori település / A Celtic Village in North-West Hungary. Archaeolingua. Studien zur Eisenzeit im Ostalpenraum 2 (Archaeolingua, Budapest 2020)

The interface between kinship and gender offers new challenges and opportunities for collaborative endeavours among historians and anthropologists. In one way or another, these two terms (or certai...

The present analysis explores for the first time main changes in gender and kinship relations of Upper Yemen between the seventh and the thirteenth century CE. An initial section outlines main continuities throughout this period. The article's three main sections then investigate, first, transformations of kinship terminologies after the seventh and eighth century. Second, changes in reckoning genealogies, as well as descent and inheritance rules are scrutinized for the early tenth century. Third, structural changes in marriages patterns are outlined for periods before and after the thirteenth century. These investigations are carried out for the region's rural tribal majorities. Moreover, they also include a substantial consideration of the region's main social and demographic minorities. They were elite groups of Persian and more importantly, of West Arabian Muslim origins. In addition, important Jewish, Christian and slave groups of socially subaltern status are taken into account. These analyses conclude with the insight that elite groups eventually succeeded in establishing their fragile regimes, assisted by genealogical discourses and scriptural conventions. Meanwhile, the socially subordinate minority groups came under increasing pressures of concubinate, conversion, and demographic constraints. For the agricultural tribal majorities of the region, these developments amounted to a continuous interplay between an enduring diversity of kinship and gender relations, and a gradual growth of hegemonic influences.

While regional comparison’s methodological relevance is diminishing, its significance for historical anthropology may increase if properly assessed and reconfigured. This chapter argues this point by discussing three examples from historical South Arabia. These cases highlight the significance of adequately reflecting and identifying existing notions of the “regional” in any given research context as the basic frame of reference in this version of comparison. As a crucial device from science studies and critical theory, the distinction between contexts of discovery, of justification, and of application may be useful for a reliable yet open and flexible conceptualization that includes self-reflexive as well as indigenous notions of the regional. It is also suggested that regional comparison can be improved by triangulating it with other methodological devices, ranging from network analysis to medium-range insights from general anthropology. In turn, this may advance the operational usefulness of regional comparison in historical anthropology by strengthening its potential for highlighting both regional commonalities and diversities among the phenomena under scrutiny.

This article sets out to highlight present-day anthropological contributions to the field of forced migration and to the current debates on this topic in Europe through the experience of developing an international and interdisciplinary network for the study of refugees based in Vienna, Austria. To this end, this article engages with the grounding facts of the present Central European sociohistorical context and global political trends, grapples with shifting and questionable research funding landscapes such as the focus on "integration," illustrates some of the main current research challenges, and highlights pressing topics. It concludes proposing a research horizon to counter present strong limitations on forced migration research and steer this research toward a more meaningful direction.

American AnthropologistVolume 121, Issue 2 p. 510-510 WORLD ANTHROPOLOGIES Advances in Overcoming Obsolete Dualisms Andre Gingrich, Andre Gingrich Institute for Social Anthropology, Austrian Academy of Sciences, ViennaSearch for more papers by this author Andre Gingrich, Andre Gingrich Institute for Social Anthropology, Austrian Academy of Sciences, ViennaSearch for more papers by this author First published: 17 April 2019 https://doi.org/10.1111/aman.13256Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat Volume121, Issue2June 2019Pages 510-510 RelatedInformation

Journal of the Royal Anthropological InstituteVolume 24, Issue 4 p. 846-847 Book and film review Antweiler, Christoph. Our common denominator: human universals revisited. xii, 350 pp., tables, illus., bibliogr. Oxford, New York: Berghahn Books, 2016. £85.00 (cloth) Andre Gingrich, Andre Gingrich ISA, Austrian Academy of SciencesSearch for more papers by this author Andre Gingrich, Andre Gingrich ISA, Austrian Academy of SciencesSearch for more papers by this author First published: 14 November 2018 https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9655.12937Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat Volume24, Issue4December 2018Pages 846-847 RelatedInformation

Der vorliegende Band ist das Ergebnis eines von der Nationalstiftung für Forschung, Technologie und Entwicklung geförderten interdisziplinären Forschungsprojektes mit dem Titel „Krise und Transformation“. An diesem Projekt beteiligten sich die Kommission für Ägypten und Levante, die Mykenische Kommission und die Historische Kommission, sowie die Institute für Mittelalterforschung, für Byzanzforschung, für Iranistik, für Sozialanthropologie und das Institut Österreichisches Biographisches Lexikon. Aufgabe war es, zwei in allen Geistes- und Sozialwissenschaften relevanten Begriffe – „Krise“ und „Transformation“ – unter drei speziellen Aspekten zu untersuchen: Epochen übergreifend sollten mehr als viertausend Jahre der Menschheitsgeschichte erfasst werden, Kontinente übergreifend sollte versucht werden, die beiden Phänomene in Nordafrika, Asien und Europa unter globaler Perspektive zu erschließen, und drittens sollte ihre gesellschaftspolitische Relevanz aus den langzeitlichen Wirkungen konfessioneller und imperialer Einflüsse demonstriert werden.

This chapter discusses the example of socio-cultural anthropologist Walter Hirschberg during his activities for the LFVO,a Vienna-based unit of the SS-»Ahnenerbe« specialized in Middle Eastern and African affairs. After outlining the LFVO's position within the »Ahnenerbe«, Hirschberg's role as an assistant is scrutinized as a case example supporting Mitchell Ash's thesis on the mutual instrumentalization between politics and academia.

Die Menschheitsgeschichte ist eng mit Kamelen verbunden, denn ohne diese bemerkenswerten Tiere hätten Menschen die ariden Zonen Asiens und Nordafrikas nicht besiedelt und könnten sich heute nicht den Anforderungen zunehmender Desertifikation stellen. Die Erforschung der einzigartigen Interaktion zwischen Mensch und Kamel ist daher an der ÖAW seit ihrer Gründung vor rund 160 Jahren etabliert. Das vorliegende Konferenz- und Publikationsprojekt verpflichtet sich dieser Forschungstradition und stellt die historischen und gegenwartsbezogenen Interaktionen zwischen Mensch und Nutztier ins Zentrum des Erkenntnisinteresses. Die Publikation zum Kamel ist international und interdisziplinär angelegt und soll einen Wissensaustausch zwischen Natur- und Humanwissenschaften fördern. Die Diskussionen der Altweltkamele (Dromedar, Baktrisches Kamel und Wildkamel) umfassen die Themen Herkunft und Domestizierung, Zucht, Haltung und Handel, sowie deren Bedeutung in sozio-kultureller und ökonomischer Hinsicht, in Musik, Volks- und Veterinärmedizin, und die Erhaltung der letzten Wildkamel-Populationen. Mit einem Nachwort von Richard W. Bulliet (New York).

The establishment of the Malinowski Forum for Ethnography and Anthropology in South Tyrol provides a good opportunity in the journal of Italy’s relevant academic association for a reconsideration of the current significance of ethnography, as initiated by Malinowski, for various scholarly fields in anthropology and beyond. One of these fields is historical anthropology and history in the broad sense of the term. This article seeks to explore how the Malinowskian legacy in ethnographic fieldwork may be usefully and productively activated and elaborated for historical fields and for historical anthropology. For this purpose, the first section will outline how Malinowski’s notion of an empirical field was open to all kinds of comparative interdisciplinary inquiries. Eventually, these also came to include history, despite Malinowski’s original well-known caveat in his time (Firth 2002). The second section will then elaborate the case example of maritime pilots as well as other cultural brokers with cosmopolitan expertise in the Indian Ocean, in order to demonstrate how ethnographic insights may support, enrich and complement historical data or, if these are absent, how they may become historically relevant indicators in their own right. A summary section points out that this leads to pioneering new tasks for anthropology.

Socio-cultural anthropology has a fairly long record of contributing expertise to the analysis and interpretation of rock art, although that record was somewhat neglected in recent times. The present paper offers an updated usage of that legacy from a particular methodological angle, by putting it into practice through comparative means for South West and West Arabian evidence from the hilly and mountain parts of the region's transition zones to the east. That evidence was primarily established during an ethnographic documentation and field work project of the late 1970s and early 1980s. The visual results from this as well as from other projects presently are systematically classified and analyzed in Vienna, in the framework of the Institute for Social Anthropology. s "Visual Archive for South West Arabian Ethnographic Materials" at the Austrian Academy of Sciences. This article builds on a first survey of about one dozen examples of rock art cases, but selects only a couple among them considered to be fairly representative of the overall collection. The empirical sample then is addressed by means of comparative insights from socio-cultural anthropology. The sample primarily represents visualizations of hunting scenes. The analytical and methodological tools best suited for discussing it are derived from anthropology. s expertise about the contexts and relevance of human hunting activities under early scriptural conditions. As long as few other methods of dating can yet be applied to most of the materials in this particular sample, and parallel to possibly more reliable ways of dating in the future, precise conceptualizations about the contexts and features of hunting under early scriptural conditions will remain indispensable.