9. The Play’s the Thing in the Scientific Theater

Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Contents vii
3. List of Figures xi
4. List of Tables xvii
5. Acknowledgments xix
6. Prologue 1
7. Part I: Exploring Prior Knowledge and Belief
8. Introduction 7
9. 1. “Founder’s Effect” and the Study of Hunter-Gatherers 9
10. 2. Human Actors and Their Role in the Evolutionary Play 32
11. 3. The Play of Ideas in the Scientific Theater 44
12. Part II. Methods for Using Prior Knowledge
13. Introduction 53
14. 4. Setting the Stage for the Evolutionary Play 55
15. 5. Designing Frames of Reference and Exploring Projections 114
16. 6. Building a Baseline for Analyzing Niche Variability among Ethnographically Documented Peoples 160
17. Part III: Recognizing Patterns and Generalizing about What the World Is Like
18. 7. Twenty-One Generalizations in Search of a Theory 209
19. 8. A Flat Earth or a “Thick Rotundity”? 243
20. 9. The Play’s the Thing in the Scientific Theater 316
21. Part IV: Putting Ideas, Second-Order Derivative Patterning, and Generalizations Together
22. Introduction 361
23. 10. A Disembodied Observer Looks at Hunter-Gatherer Responses to Packing 363
24. 11. The Evolution of System States 400
25. 12. The Last Act Crowns the Play 434
26. Epilogue 465
27. Notes 473
28. References 493
29. Author Index 535
30. Index of Ethnographic Cases and Archaeological Sites 539
31. Subject Index 541