American Anthropologist NEW SERIES Vou 22 ‘Ocroven-Deceane, 1920 Nog THE METHODS OF ETHNOLOGY TURING the fast ten years the methods of Singur into the ‘storcal development of civilization have undergone re- smarkable changes, During the second half of the last ‘century evolutionary thought eld almost complete sway and investigators like Spencer, Morgan, Tylor, Lubbock, t9 mention only fee, were under the spall of the idea ofa gence, uniform evolution of culture in which all parts of mankind participated. “The newer development gots back in part tothe influence of Ratact whose geographical training impressed. him with the imporcance ‘of diffusion and migration. ‘The problem of difason was taken ‘up in detsil particularly im Americ, but was applied in a muck wider sense by Foy and Grachner, and finaly seized upon i a stil ‘wider application by Eliot Smith and Rivers, eo thata€ the present Hime at last among certain groupe af ineestizntors in England find also in Germany, eehncogial research x based the concept ‘of migration and disemination rather than upoa that of evoltio, ‘A critical sty of these evo directions of inquiry shows that cach is founded on the application of one fundamental hypothesis “The evolutionary point of view presupposes that the couree of Iistorcal changes im the cultural Ife of mankind follows definite laws which are applicable everywhere, and which bring i about ‘that cultaral development isin its mainlines, the same among al races and all peoples, This iden ie clearly expressed by Tylor inthe introductory pages of his clase work“ Primitive Culture,” ‘As soon a6 we amit that the hypothesis ofa uniform evolution3H AuenicaN anrunoronocist ——pos.sn.0% tna to be proved before ican be accepted, the whole structure loses its foundation, Tis true that there are fdcatons of parallel of development in different parte of the world, and that similar customs are found inthe mote diverse and widely separated parte fof the globe. The oceurtence of these sniariies which are dis tribute so ieogulary that they cannot readily be explained oa the basis of difsion, is one of the foundations of the evolutionary hypothesis, as it was the foundation of Bastian's peychologirng treatment of cultural phenomens. On the other hand, it may be recognized thatthe hypothesis implies the thought that our modern ‘Western European civilization represents the highest cultural de- ‘velopment towards which all other more primitive eltural types tend, and that, therefore, retrospectively, we construct an ortho- feet development towards out own modem chiization. Te ie ‘lear that if we admit that there may be diferent ultimate and co- ‘existing pen of chlization, the hypothesis of one single general line of development cansot be maintained ‘Opposed to these assumptions isthe modern tendency to deny the existence ofa general evolutionary scheme which would rep- resent the history of the cultural development the world ove. ‘The hypothesis that there ate inner causes which bring about similarities of development in remote parts of the globe x rejected fd in ite place i ie assumed that identity of development in evo ‘ferent parts of the globe most always be due to migeation and tiffasion. On this basis Mistrial contact ts demanded fr enor ‘ously large areas, The theory demands a high degree of stability ‘of eutural traits such a i apparently observed in many primitive twibes, and it is furthermore based on the supposed coreation between a number of diverse and snutually independent cultural ‘raite which reappear inthe same combinations in distant parts of| the world In this senze, modern investigation takes up anew Gerland's theory of the persistence of number of cultura eats which were developed is one center and caried by man in his ‘migrations from continent to continent Te seems to me that if the hypothetical foundations of these to extreme forms of ethoolgical research are broadly stated asos rin weruoos oF eravotocr a8 have tried todo here, it i at once clear that the correctness of ‘the assumptions has not been demonstrated, but that arbitrarily the ‘one oF the other has been relected forthe pirpose of obtaining a consistent picture of cultural development. These methods are ‘essentially form of elassifeation of the stati phenomena of eulte according t© two distinct principles, and interpretations of these classications as of historical significance, without, however, any attempt to prove that this interpretation is justifiable. To give fn example: Tt is oberved that in most pais of the work! there ‘are resemblances between decorative forma that are repreentative and others that are more or less geometrical. ecordiag to the ‘evolutionary pont of view, their development is explained in the following manner: the decorative forme ace arrange in sch onder that the most representative forms are placed at the begining ‘The other forms are so placed tha chey show a gradual tanstion from representative forms to purely conventional geometric forms, nd this order is then interpreted as meoning that geometric Aesigns erginated from representative designs which gradually degenerated. This method has been pursed, for instance, by Putnam, Stolpe, Balfour, and Haddon, and by Verworn and, in his earlier writings, by von den Seinen, While ¥ do not mean to deny that this development may have occurred, i¢ would be rash to generalize and to claim that in every eae the casifeation which hhas boen made according to a definite principle represents an Historical development. The order might aswell be reversed and ‘we might begin with a simple geometric element which, by the audition of new traits, might be developed into a representative design, and we might claim chat this one represents an historical quence. Hoth of thee poaibltes were considered by Holmes as tiny as a885. Nether the one nor the other theory can be etab- Tished without actual historia! proof. ‘The opposite attitude, namely, origin through difuion, i cahibited in Heinrich Schurtss attemptta connect the decorative art of Northwest America with that of Melanesia. The simple face ‘that in these areas elements ocur that may be interpreted as eye induced him to assume that both have @ common origin, withoutsu AMERICAN AwruRoroWcIst jo s.an soa allowing fo the possibility that the pattern in the ewo areas—each ‘of which shows highly distinctive characterstics—may have de> ‘eloped from independent sources, In this attempt Schuetz fol- Towed Ratzel who hal already trie to extablish eonncetions between [Melanesia and Northwert America on the basis of other cultural features. ‘While ethnographical research based on these to fundamental hypotheses acm to characterize the general tendency of European ‘thought, a different method i at present pursued by the majority of American anthropologists, The difference between the to tliwetons of study may pethape best be summarized by the state- ‘ent that American scholars ae primacily intrested inthe dynamic phenomena of cultural change, ad try to elucidate cultural history by the application of the results of their studies; and that they relegate the solution of theultimate question of the relative ime portance of pacliism of cultural development in ditant areas, fs against worldwide difsion, and stability of cultural traits over Tong periods to fare Hine when the actual conditions of cultural change are better known. The American ethnological methods fare analogous to those of European, particlarly of Scandinavian, frchasology, and ofthe researches into the prehistoric period of the faster Mediterranean area Te may seem to the distant observer that American students ore angaged in a mua of detailed investigations without rich bearing upon the solution ofthe ultimate problems ofa philosophic Ristory of human civilization. T think chis interpretation of the American attitude would be unjust because the ultimate questions fare as near to our hearts a8 they are to those of other scholars, ‘nly we do not hope to be able to solve an intricate historical problem by a formula Fist ofall the whole problem of cultural history appears tous as a historical problem. In order to understand history it is ‘ecesry to know not only how things are, but how they have come tobe. In the domain of ethnology, where for most parts of the word, no historia! fact are available except those that may be revealed by archaeological study, all evidence of change can berose sue werwops oF eruxovoce 38 inferrd only by indiect methods. ‘Thee character i epmesntet inthe researehesof students of comparative phology. The method is based on the comparison of state phenomena combined with the stu of their distribution. What can be dome by this metho! i well ilustated by Dr. Lowi's investigations of the military sacietes of the Plains Indians, or bythe madern investigation of American mythology. It ie, of cour, trie that we cin never hope to obtain incontrovertible data eelatng to the ernologial sexquence of events, but certain general Leead otlines can be asc tained with high degree of probability, even of certainty. As soon as these methods are appli, primitive society loses the appearance of absolute stability which is convey! to the stent ‘who seca certain people only at certain given tine, Alt cultural forms rather appear in a constant state of dix and subject to fundamental medications Teis intligible why i oar stds the problem of dissemination should cake a prominent position. Te fs much easier to pre di semination than to follow up developments dae to inner free, and the data for such a study are obtained with much grater Aiiculty. They may, however, be erved in every phenomenon fof acculturation in whieh foreign cements are reine arcrding to the patterns prevalent in thee ew environment, a they ay be fund in the peculiar focal developments of widely spre ideas and activites. The reason why’ the sty of inner development has not been taken up energetically, ot due ta the fact that rom a theoretical point of view it + unimportant te rathr de to Inherent methodolgialdificulis. 1 may perhaps be reog that in recent years attention ie being dave to this prolen, asfs manifested by the investigations on the proces of acculturation and of the interdependence of entra activities mhich are attract ing the attention of many invest ‘The further pursuit ofthese inguiies compass the importance fof a feature which ie conanon tall histori piomena, While in natural sciences we ate accustomed to consider given momber of causes anv to study their eects, in historical happenings we are compelled to consider every phenomena not only a8 effect but ies36 AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST fuse an ae koa catse, This etre even in the particular application of the laws of physical nature, a for instance, i the study of astronomy in which the position of certain heavenly bodies at a given moment ray be considered as the effect of gravitation, while, at the same time, their particular aeraagement in space determines future ‘changes. ‘This relation appears much more clearly in the history ‘of human civilization, “To give an example: a surplus of food tupply is Hable €0 bring about an increase of population and an increase of leisure, which gives opportunity for occupations that fare not absolutely nocnsty forthe necds of every day life, In tua the inewease of population an of leisure, which may be applied tonew inventions, give ris toa greater food supply and toa further increas in the amount of enue, 0 that a cumulative effect results, ‘ilar considerations may be made in regard tothe important problem ofthe elation of the individual to society, a problem that hha c be considered whenever we study the dynamic conditions of change. The activities of the individual are determine to a great extent by his svial environment, but in turn his own activites inluence the society in which he fives, and may being about modi feations in ite form. Obvioualy, this peoblem is one of the most important ones to be taken up ina study of cultural changes. eis lo beginning o attract the ateaton of students who are no Tonge “atsfed with the systematic enumeration of standardized beliefs sind custonsof a tribe, but who bogin tbe interested inthe question tf che way in which dhe individual reacts to his whole social environ- ment, and tothe dflereners of opiaion and of mde of action that ecu in primitive society and which ave the eauses of far-reaching changes Tnshort then, the method which we ey to develop is based on a study of the dynamic changes in soiety that may be observed at the present time. We refrain fom the attempt to solve the funda- mental problem of the general development of evilizaton until we have been able to unravel the procewes that are going on under our ees ‘Certain general conclusions may Be drawn from this study even now. First of ally the history of human eiviization does notst 7H ETHODS oF ErANoLocr si appear tous as determined entirely by psychological necessity that Teads to a niform evolution the work over. We rather sce thaé ‘each culeural group has its own unique history, dependent partly "upon the peculiar inner developnent ofthe social group, and partly upon the foreign influences to which it hasbeen subjected. ‘There have been process of gradual diferentaton as well ae processes of leveling down differences between neighboring cultural centers, Duc it would be quite impossible ro understand, on the basis of a ingle evolutionary scheme, what happened to any particalar people An example of the contrast between the two points of ew is easly indicated by a comparison of the teatment of Za evi lization by Frank Hamilton Cushing on the one hand, on ehe other bby modern students, particularly by Elbe Cews Parsons, A. L. Kroeber and Leslie Sper. Cushing believed hae itwas possible t ‘explain Zui culture entirely onthe basis of the reaction of the Za rind to its geographical envionment, and thatthe whole of Za ‘culture could be explained as the development whichfllowsd nec sarily fom the position in which the people were placed. Cushing’ keen insight nto the Indian mind and his thorough knowledge of the most intimate ile ofthe pople gave great plausbty to his inter tretations. On che ather hand, Dr. Parsons’ studies prove cone ‘lusively_the deep in lence which Spanish ideas have had upon “uni culture, and, together with Profesor Kroeber’ investigations, ‘ives one of the best examples of acculturation that have come {oour notice. The prychological explanation ientiraly misleading, ‘otwithstanding its plausibility, and che historical study shows usast cnttely diferent picture, in which the unique combination of ancient eats (hich in themtalves are undoubtedly complex) and fof Exropean inflence, have brought about the present conliton Studie of the dynamics of primitive life alo show that an swsumption of long continued stability auch as is demanded by lot Smith is without any foundation infact. Wherever penx tive conitions have teen sti in detail, they ean be proved £0 bye im astate of fs, snd Ht would seem that here i a ele pale lela between the Nstory of language and the history of general Period ofsabilty ate fllowed by periods38 AMERICAN ANTuROROLOCIST poms soa8 of rapid change. It is exceedingly improbable that any customs of primitive people should be preserved unchanged for thousands of years. Furthermore, the phenomena of acculturation prove that a tansfr of customs from one region into another without concomitant changes due to acculturation, are very are. Tei therefore, very unlikely that ancient Mediterranean customs could bbe found at the present time practically unchanged in diferent past of the globe, as Eliot Smith's theory demands While on the whole the unique historical charaeter of cultural srowth in each area stands out a asaent clement in the history of cultral development, we may recognize atthe sane tine that certain typieal parlleliens do occur. We are, however, not #0 uch inclined to look for these sinilartes i detailed easton bt rather in certain dynamic conditions which are due to soil oe ‘ychological cause that are inble toad to sini results. ‘The sample of the relation between food supply and population to which U referred before may serve as an example, Another type of ‘eample is presented in thowe cases in which a certain problem con- fronting man may be solved by a imited numberof methods only. When we find, for instance, marriage as universal isttution, ft ay be recognized that marrage i possible only between number fof men and a numberof women: & number of mea and one woman: 2 number of women anid one man; or oae man and one woman [Asa matter of fat, all these forms are found the world over and ies, therelore, not surprising that analogous forms shld ave been sloped quite independently in diferent parts of the world, and, ‘eoasidering both the general economic conditions of mankind and the character of sexta instinct in the higher animals, also does not scem surprising that group marrage and polyandeous marriages should be comparatively spesking rare. Similar considerations may alo be mace a eegard to the pilsophial views held by man Kind. To shor, if we lok fr laws, ce laws relate othe eee of ‘hyslological paychological, and eocial conditions, not to sequences of cultural achievement. Ta some cance a regule sequence ofthese may accompany’ the evelopment of the psychological or socal status. This is Mussox x augrH0Ds oF EPANOLOG 39 trated by the sequence of industrial inventions in the Ol World| and ia America, which Fconsider as independent. A pero of food fathering and of the use of stne was followed By the invention of agriculture, of pottery and Sally of the use of metals. Obvious this order ie based on the increase! amount of time given by man ind to che use of natural pret, of tots and utensil, and tothe variations that develope with t, Although in this ease parallelism secms to exist on the two continents, it wold be futile to try to follow out the order in detail. Ax a matter of fact, it does not apply to other inventions, ‘The domestication of animals, which, inthe Old World must hive been an early achievement, was very Iatein the New World, where domesticated animal, except the dos, hardly existed at all atthe time of discovery. A alight beginning Ina een made ia Peru withthe domestication of the lama, sad bis were kept in various parts of the eatinent A similar consideration may be made ia eegand tothe develoo= ment ofrationalizm. It seems to be one ofthe fundamental char- acteristics of the development of mankind that activities which have developed unconsciously are gradually made the subject of reasoning, We may observe this proces everywhere, Tt appar, ‘perhaps, most clearly in the history of sence which has gradually extended the seope of is inquiry over an ever-widening fie and ‘which tas raised into consciousness human activites that are automatically performed ia the life of the individual and of society. Thave not heretofore rcleerad to another aspect of moder ethnology which is connected with the growth of peycho-analyss Sigmund Freud hae attempted to show that primitive thought i in many respects analogous to those forms of individual pyehic ctvity which he has exposed by his peyeho-analy tial methods In many respects hie attemprs are smlar to the interptetation of| mythology by symbols ike Stucken, Rivers has taken hol of Fevd's suggestion ae well as ofthe interpretations of Graebner and Elliot Smith, and we find, therefore, in his new writings a peculiar isconnected application of a peychologiring attitude and the pplication ofthe theory’ of ancient transminsion, While T elie some of the ideas underlying Freud's peychoeo AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST —— 6.28.80 analytic studies may be feuitlly applied to ethnological problems, it docs not sem to me that the onesided exploitation of this method will advance our understanding of the development of human society. Its certainly true that theintuence of impressions recived during the fist few years of life have been entirely unee- ‘timated and thatthe social behavior of man depends toa geeat textent upon the earliest habits which are established before the time when connected. memory begins, and that many so-called racial or hereditary traits are to be considered rather as result of early expomure to certain form of socal conditions. Most of| these habits do aot rise into consciousness and are, therefore, ‘broken with dificult only. Much ofthe difeence in the behavior of adult male and female may go back to this ease. IF, however, wwe try to apply the whole theory of the influence of suppressed desires to the activities of man living under diferent soeial forms 1 think we extend beyond thei legitimate limits the inferences that may be draw from the observation of normal and abnormal individual pychology, Many other factors are of greater impor tance, ‘To give an example: The phenomena of language show ‘larly that conditions quite diferent fom those to which peyeho- snalysts det thir attention determine the mental behavior of man. “The general concepts underlying language areentrely unknown to most people, They do notrise nto consciousness untl che seentie stody oframmarheyins. Nevertheless the categorie of language Compl us to ace the world areanged in certain definite conceptual ‘s70upe which, on account of our lack of knowledge of linguistic proce ‘cases, are taken a8 objective entegories and which, cherefore,impose ‘themucivesupontheformofour thoughts, Itisnot knoven what the ‘origin of theseeategories may be, butt seems quite certain that they hhave nothing todo withthe phenomena which are the subject of peycho-analytie study. "The applicability of the paycho-analytie theory of symbolim is also open to the greatest doubt. We should remember that symbolic interpretation has occupied prominent position in the piilosophy’of al times, It is present not only in primitive He, [at the history of philosophy and of thology abounds in exampleson 2a wErHons oF ErHNowncy vr of high development of symbol, the type of which depends ‘upon the general mental atiude ofthe philosopher who develop it ‘The theologanswho interpret the Bible on the basis of religious symbolism were no les certain of the correctness of thei views, than the pryeho-analyte ar of their interpretation of thought and onduct based on sexual symbolism. The results of a symbolic interpretation depend primarily upon the subjective attitude of the investigator who arranges phenomena according to bis leading concept. In order to prove the applicability of the symbolism of pevcho-analyis i would he necessary to sbow that a symbolic interpretation from other eatiely diferent points of view would rot be eqally plausible, and that explanations that leave out symbolic significance or reduce i€ to a minimum, would not be adequate. While, cherefore, we may welcome the application of every advance in the method of psychological investigation, we eanaot accept as an advance in ethnological method the eeude transfer of| 4 novel, one-sided method of psychological investigation of the individual to toil phenomena the origin of which can be shown ‘to he historically determined and to he aubjct o inlances that fare not at all comparable t those that contol the psychology of| ‘the individ