Includes bibliographical references and index.

The essence of anthropology -- Characteristics of culture -- Ethnographic research : its history, methods, and theories -- Becoming human : the origin and diversity of our species -- Language and communication -- Social identity, personality, and gender -- Patterns of subsistence -- Economic systems -- Sex, marriage, and family -- Kinship and descent -- Grouping by gender, age, common interest, and social status -- Politics, power, war, and peace -- Spirituality, religion, and shamanism -- The arts -- Processes of cultural change -- Global challenges, local responses, and the role of anthropology.