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THE CAUSES
OF WAR:

AN ARCHAE-
OLOGIST’S
PERSPECTIVE

EUROPEAN
TECHNIQUE
IN 18TH-
CENTURY
CHINESE
GLASS

NATURE
WORKS: :
A MONTH OF |
CELEBRATION |

WHERE T
MEETS TH

NOLONTHSYA

4 1S H1idT
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INQSHIITWS

The Bulletin of the Field Museum of Natural History

fe

Exhibit openings:
Shoshone and Arapa-
ho powwow dancers;
contemporary Tibet
and Ladakh.

3

Florence Selko, a
Museum volunteer
for more than a
decade, knows how
to get your attention.

8

A complete sched-
ule of music, dance,
storytelling, and
other free programs
for Museum visitors

9

Them dry bones are

dinosaurs are on the
move, to a new
exhibit aborning.

gonna rise again: The

the Field

March/April 1992

WESTERN TECHNOLOGY
IN QING DYNASTY GLASS

Glass-cutting was one of only a few tech-
nologies in which 18th-century Europe was
more advanced than China. Another, unfor-
tunately for the Chinese, was weaponry.
Two glass vases recently donated to the
Museum tell the story.

Story, Page 11

THE CAUSES OF WAR

By Jonathan Haas
Curator of New World Archaeology and
Vice President, Collections & Research

come to the topic of the anthropology of

war from the perspective of an archae-

ologist. You are forgiven for wondering

what an archaeologist could possibly

have to say about war — the Trojan
War perhaps, but warfare in general? Archaeol-
ogy deals with ancient people, long dead, bro-
ken stones and dusty bones.

There are two faces to archaeology, how-
ever, and two different kinds of goals guiding
the direction of archaeological research. The
first looks at the his-
tories of peoples
from the near and
distant past. Using
artifacts and other
material remains of
past human behav-
ior, archaeologists
attempt to fill in the
historical detail of
different people,
places, and times.
This is the traditional
realm of archaeology,
and what we most
often associate with
the discipline.

But an alterna-
tive goal for archae-
ology is to go
beyond the ancient past and use the archaeolog-
ical record to help explain patterns of human
behavior in the present as well as in the past. It
is in this realm of explanation that archaeology
can contribute most to our understanding of
intercultural and interethnic violence in the
modern world.

es ee
Ethnic and cultural
differences are a necessary
and sometimes artificial
prerequisite of warfare.
The causes of warfare are
not ethnic differences,
however, but economic
and demographic
conditions at a given
moment in time.

to gain a new perspective over very long peri-
ods of time on the relationship between warfare
and the rise of ethnic differences. Archaeology
also allows us to see that warfare between dif-
ferent ethnic groups in relatively simple soci-
eties is an irregular phenomenon, subject to
environmental influences.

I would offer two different insights into
warfare drawn from archaeological research.
First, ethnic and cultural differences are a nec-
essary and sometimes artificial prerequisite of
warfare. What I mean by “artificial” here is that
if ethnic differences don’t exist before a war,
they are sometimes made up to justify a war.
Second, the causes of warfare are not to be
found in ethnic dif-
ferences, but in the
economic and demo-
graphic conditions at
a given time.

Less than Human

During the recent
Persian Gulf crisis, a
segment of “All
Things Considered”
on National Public
Radio had a discus-
sion of Saddam Hus-
sein’s policy of using
foreign nationals as
“shields” to protect
critical facilities.
President Bush
denounced this tactic
by asserting that even Hitler did not do such a
dastardly thing in World War II. Curious as to
how common such a practice
might have been in the past,
the NPR commentator con-
tacted Shelby Foote, the

In the Persian Gulf war, George Bush set the
stage for the assault on Iraq by establishing the
inhumanity of the Iraqi enemy. So too we see
the pattern of cultural differentiation emerge as
a precursor to the beginnings of warfare in the
prehistoric past.

Looking at the historical trajectory of the
Anasazi Indians, the archaeological record
shows that the origins of warfare go hand in
hand with the evolution of cultural or ethnic
differences. Actually the separation of different
and distinct ethnic groups starts first, and it is
only after it is fully developed that one of the
conditions for conflict appears to have been
met. The full evolution of ethnic differences
takes several hundred years. In the first century
A.D., the entire Anasazi region is culturally
similar. Everybody basically looks alike, with
the same kinds of settlements, similar types of
pottery, arrowheads, burials, houses, etc.

By A.D. 1000 this pattern is in the midst of
a transformation, with the emergence of clear
regional and subregional differences. Pottery is
decorated with different designs, and houses
are different from one area to another, for
example. Over the course of the next two cen-
turies this pattern continued to develop and
quite distinct culture groups appear in the
archaeological record. Groups such as the Mesa
Verde and Kayenta Anasazi are distinguished
by pottery designs, tool types, housing styles,
burial practices, religious structures, and rock
art. It is centuries after this pattern of culturally
distinct groups becomes well established that a
pattern of warfare first appears.

(Continued on page 10)

folksy historical consultant
on the Civil War miniseries.
Foote commented that
indeed the Union had used
very similar tactics when they
took prominent Southern
civilians and placed them on

The two ceramic vessels shown here illus-
trate the divergence in style and form that
emerged after A.D. 1000 in the Anasazi
region. The pot below is a Kayenta black-
on-white “seed” jar used for storage, while
the vessel at left is a classic Mesa Verde
black-on-white mug, used for eating.

My own research is on the origins and evo-
lution of warfare among the native people of
the southwestern United States in the centuries
prior to the arrival of the first Europeans in
1540. This research has produced a specific
historical record of the beginnings of warfare in

the 13th century A.D. among the Anasazi living
in what is now the Four Corners region of Ari-
zona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah.
“Anasazi” is a term taken from the Navajo lan-
guage meaning “ancient ones.” It is generally
used to refer to the prehistoric peoples who
built the classic pueblo and cliff dwellings that
we so commonly associate with the Southwest.
My colleagues and I have attempted to
trace the native patterns of war and peace for
the next several hundred years through the peri-
od of first contact with early Spanish explorers
and the following century of Spanish colonial-
ism. Beyond this historical detail, however, the
research offers some insights into the type of
warfare we are likely to find in tribal societies
in the present as well as the past. Specifically,
through the archaeological record, we are able

supply trains in an effort to
prevent Rebels from attacking the trains. (This
effort was futile, it turned out.) The Union
forces only took this measure, however, after
the Rebels had killed prisoners of war simply
because it was too much trouble to keep them.
Foote’s interpretation of these phenomena is
interesting in the present context. He argued
that in the heat of war, even between culturally
very similar people, once one side committed a
perceived inhumane act, the door was open for
the other side to respond in an equally inhu-
mane way. Acts of war become justifiable if the
opponent is seen as being inhumane and thus
somehow less than human.

In the Civil War, where there were no real
ethnic differences between the North and the
South, difference was created to justify killing.

Paul McGrath

VITAL FUNCTIONS

By Willard L. Boyd
President, Field Museum

he Field Museum is a little city in

itself, open every day of the year

except three. Like any town with

lots of traffic, it requires basic ser-

vices that are provided by a corps
of dedicated staff members working largely out
of sight. But members of the Museum ought to
be aware of how vital these functions are.

Our housekeeping staff, consisting of 33
people, works two shifts to keep the space
clean and attractive for visitors of all sorts,
whether members of the general public or
scholars from around the world. We contract
with Service Master, a commercial cleaning
firm, to maintain up-to-date training programs
to achieve the highest standards of cleanliness.
We take great pride in the fact that in any pub-
lic space one is likely to visit, ours is among the
very cleanest.

Along with housekeeping there is the regu-
lar paint-up, fix-up that needs to go on in any-
body’s place of business or home. We have a
group of 14 engineers as well as seven painters
and carpenters who on a daily basis have to
repair leaks, maintain the boilers and air condi-
tioning equipment — and change light bulbs.
Indeed, there are some 15,000 to 20,000 light
bulbs in the Field Museum.

The Field Museum consists of nearly one
million square feet, of which 400,000 square
feet is open to the public and 400,000 has limit-
ed access because it houses research and collec-
tions. Heating and cooling this space is both a

major engineering feat and a major demand on
our financial resources. Through a_conserva-
tion program over the past 15 years, our opera-
tions manager, Norman Radtke, has achieved
wonders by reducing consumption to hold costs
at the 1980 level. For example, when the
Northwest Coast Indian Hall and Inuit exhibit
was opened in 1981, no special cooling or heat-
ing equipment was provided; rather, oscillating
ceiling fans draw the air in from other parts of
the Museum and thereby cool and heat that
exhibit. Special lighting to conserve energy was
also installed.

The heart of the Museum is of course its
collections, and those collections must be
secure. Our security staff of 42 works around
the clock to keep the building protected. On the
one hand we are obviously providing security
from theft — but comparable demand has to be
placed on security from fire and water damage.

Then of course there is the question of pay-
ing the bills, which are many. This is the
responsibility of the finance, accounting,
cashier, and payroll departments. It is their
responsibility not only to make timely payment
but also to apply the funds in the proper legal
and business manner to meet the standards of
the Internal Revenue Service and the various
agencies that monitor our use of funds. The
purchasing department has the responsibility

for finding a myriad of goods ranging from
lumber, paint, and glass to stainless steel labo-
ratory equipment, at the same time meeting
various kinds of government regulations and
institutional objectives such as including
minority and women’s business enterprises.

And if you ever come to a program put on
by the Education Department, it is amplified by
our audio-visual department, three people who
work seven days a week to provide the best in
public-programs support for our visitors. Our
own print shop, which is now 60 years old, pro-
vides most of the stationery, forms, and other
printed paper that the Museum, like every large
organization, requires.

The Museum staff receives mail from all
over the world; it is all handled by three mail-
room employes who also mail out thousands of
communications each month. Both incoming
and outgoing mail often includes scientific
specimens of the rarest form.

We are proud of the fact that all of the ser-
vices which are essential to making this Muse-
um great are carried on without undue notice
by the public, which shows how efficiently and
effectively these varied staff members serve
you, the visitor.

From time to time, Jn the Field will intro-
duce you to some of the men and women who
make up the Museum services staff.

CRANE, INGER NAMED
TO MacARTHUR CHAIRS

wo Field Museum scientists have been

named to chairs established under a

major grant from the John D. and

Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
They will be honored at the annual meeting of
the Founders’ Council April 8.

Jonathan Haas, Vice President for Collec-
tions and Research, announced the appoint-
ments of Peter R. Crane as
MacArthur Curator of pale-
obotany and of Robert F.
Inger as MacArthur Curator
of amphibians and reptiles.
Crane is chairman of the
Geology Department, and
Inger is past chairman of the
Zoology Department.

Peter Crane’s recent
research has focused on the
origins of the flowering
plants in the mid-Cretaceous
period some 100 million
years ago. Robert Inger has
been working on the evolu-
tion of amphibians and rep-
tiles in Borneo and the
effects of logging on those

: faunal communities.

The Founders’ Council is composed of
individuals who contribute $1,500 or more
annually or who make other major gifts sup-
porting the Museum as an international center
for scientific research and education.

March/April 1992

Paul McGrath

Peter R. Crane in his
laboratory, above,
and, at left, Robert
Inger describing
some of his speci-
mens to young visi-
tors during Members
Night 1991.

NEW CURATOR
IN FISHES

ark Westneat has been appointed
assistant curator in the division of
fishes, Department of Zoology. His
principal research interests are the evolutionary
relationships among the 600 species of wrass-
es, and the “functional morphology” of feeding
and swimming in fishes.
The latter study is an effort to document
— using high-speed film and video — the
mechanisms of force transfer from muscle
through connective tissue to skeleton in three
families of living fishes. Interpretation of data
involves comparative anatomy, theory from
mechanical engineering, and new image- and
motion-analysis techniques. Westneat also
seeks to clarify the patterns of evolution in
these functional systems.
Westneat received his Ph.D. from Duke
University in 1990.

In the Field

March/April 1992
Vol. @®, No.2
3

Editor:
Ron Dorfman

Art Director:
Shi Yung

Editorial Assistant:
Steve Crescenzo

In the Field (ISSN #1051-4546) is published bimonthly by Field Museum of Natural History, Roosevelt
Road at Lake Shore Drive, Chicago IL 60605-2496. Copyright © 1992 Field Museum of Natural History.
Subscriptions $6.00 annually, $3.00 for schools. Museum membership includes In the Field subscription.
Opinions expressed by authors are their own and do not necessarily reflect policy of Field Museum. Unso-
licited manuscipts are welcome. Museum phone (312) 922-9410. Notification of address change should
include address label and should be sent to Membership Department. POSTMASTER: Send address
changes to In the Field, Field Museum of Natural History. Second class postage paid at Chicago, Illinois.

UPSTAIRS, DOWNSTAIRS

TOMB ROBBING 101

By Steve Crescenzo

lorence Selko is explaining the

mummification process that ancient

Egyptians used to preserve their

dead to a group of sixth graders from

Rockford who all look like they
would rather be somewhere else. However, as
Selko gets to the part when the brain is pulled
out of the skull with a hook — “I know it’s
right before lunch . . . sorry,” she apologizes —
the children start to perk up. She keeps the
momentum rolling, asking the class, “Who
thinks they would be a good robber?” A dozen
kids raise their hands, and then listen intently
as Selko describes how tomb robbers tunneled
their way into a pyramid to steal the valuable
jewels contained within. Now that she has
their attention, she’s ready to start her tour of
the “Inside Ancient Egypt” exhibit. So are the
kids.

Selko, who will be 71 in April, has been
leading tours as an Education Department vol-
unteer for almost eleven years. She works with
people of all ages, including college classes and
adult tour groups, and over the years has
learned to adapt her style of teaching to suit
whatever group she is trying to reach. “You
have to do different things to different people
to get them to open up,” she explains.

PROGRAM ON FORGERY
IN ETHNOGRAPHIC ART

he Collections Committee, the Muse-

um’s newest special-interest support

group, meets March 25 for “Facts
about Fakes,” a presentation on forgery in
ethnographic art by Bennet Bronson, chairman
of the Department of Anthropology, with
Phillip Lewis, curator of primitive art and
Melanesian anthropology.

A reception in the Founders’ Room
begins at 5:30 p.m. and the program starts at 6
p.m. For information, call Heidi Bloom at
(312) 322-8874.

The Collections Committee, chaired by
Mr. and Mrs. James J. Glasser, was organized
to increase awareness about the Museum’s
unparalleled ethnographic collections and to
provide a forum for the exchange of ideas and
information on ethnographic collections and
collecting.

The group plans to host a variety of edu-
cational activities and programs including pre-
sentations by Field Museum scholars, behind-
the-scenes tours of Field Museum collections,
conservation lectures and workshops, and vis-
its to private collections of Chicago-area col-
lectors.

Although she is
involved in several dif-
ferent programs, rang-
ing from a “Sugar and
Spice” program in the
botany exhibit to a pre-
sentation on the masks
of the Northwest Coast
Indians, Selko says the
Ancient Egypt tour is
her favorite — and her
forte. “I’ve taken all of
Frank Yurco’s classes,
and I always go back to
him whenever I have
any questions.” Yurco
is the Museum’s Egyp-
tology consultant.

It’s that in-depth
knowledge of her subject matter that makes
Selko’s tours special events. Visitors under her
care share in the wealth of her knowledge,
learning rather than merely looking as she deci-
phers hieroglyphics and points out the canopic
jars that are used to hold the organs of corpses
about to be mummified.

Selko first volunteered during the “Gold of
El Dorado” and “Great Bronze Age of China”
exhibits in 1980s and plans to continue volun-
teering “as long as I am able to get around.”

“T’m retired,” she explains when asked
why she likes to be so involved with the volun-
teer program, “and life really doesn’t mean all
that much if you have nothing to do. Volunteer-
ing gives me a real feeling of satisfaction that I
am helping people, and besides that, I love
Egypt, so it’s fun and interesting for me as
well.”

WALKING TOUR
OF SWITZERLAND

hether you’re a casu-

al walker or an expe-

rienced hiker, there’s
something special for you in an
unusual Field Museum Walk-
ing Tour of Switzerland June
4-17. Escorted by two resi-
dents of Engelberg, Jacqueline
and Arne Tofte, the daily walks
will range from five to ten
miles with adequate rest stops.
Four locations will be visited
including Engelberg, Zermatt,
Zuoz, and Appenzell.

Outdoor activities take
place at an altitude of more
than 4,000 feet, with cable cars
or mountain railroads used to
reach higher elevations.

The Toftes have been host-
ing similar walking tours for
the past twelve years, and their
extensive knowledge of the
lesser-known trails, customs,
and specialties of the region
promise to make this tour one of the most
exciting ever presented to Museum members.
Along the way, charming area hotels and
excellent local cuisine will add much to the
enjoyment of this unusual tour.

Cost of the tour is $3,475, including air-
fare from Chicago, all accommodations, and
most meals.

Members who are thinking about a Fall

trip might consider the Museum’s three-week
tour of Botswana and Zimbabwe, September
17 — October 4. Highlights include the Larvon
Bird Garden in Harare, with some 430 species
on the wing; Mana Pools National Park on the
Zambezi River; Victoria Falls; the Okavango
Delta; and Chobe National Park. For more
information on this and other Museum tours,
call (312) 322-8862.

Florence Selko leads
a group of sixth-
graders through the
tomb of Unis-Ankh.

AUSTRIA

Switzerland
and Liechtenstein

National Capital

City

Intemational! Boundary
Canton Boundary
Canton Name

6 March/April 1992

UPSTAIRS, DOWNSTAIRS

FOREIGN AID FOR FIELD MUSEUM

Two recent visitors to the Museum provided valuable assis-
tance in the development of new exhibits. Below, Cliff Whit-
ing, conservator and chairperson of Te Waka Toi, the Maori
and South Pacific Arts Council of Russell, New Zealand,
describes to Michael Spock (left), Vice President for Public
Programs, work that will need to be done before
Ruatepupuke II, the Museum’s Maori meeting house, can be
reopened. At right, a reception for Dr. Njoya Njiasse
Aboubakar (in white robes), a historian and archaeologist
from Cameroon, who spent five weeks in Chicago consulting

with the development team for the new Africa exhibit.

Paul McGrath

SECOND SEASON FOR SCIENCE EXPLORERS PROGRAM

ield Museum will again participate in

the Chicago Science Explorers Pro-

gram, designed to introduce students,
particularly minorities, to science as a career
possibility.

The program is built around The New
Explorers, a television series produced by vet-
eran journalist Bill Kurtis, who is a member of
the Museum’s board of trustees. The show,
now in its second season, airs weekly on PBS.
It features scientists who are breaking new
ground in their respective fields.

Chicago cultural and scientific institutions
combine tapes of the shows with specially pre-
pared classroom materials and resources avail-
able at each institution to insure that students
get the maximum exposure to the scientific
field being studied, including contact with

SPECIAL OFFER TO MEMBERS

One week only: Celebrate spring and Earth Month with the Field Museum
family and our friends in Evanston at the Northlight Theatre.

Members of the Field Museum can enjoy great savings on FIELD NIGHTS
at Northlight.

Tue. — Thur., 4/21-23 8pm — $15 (reg. $21)
Fri., 4/24 8pm — $19 (reg. $26)

Sat., 4/25 5pm & 8:45pm — $19 (reg. $26)
Sun., 4/26 3pm & 7:30pm — $15 (reg. $21)

Charge your tickets by calling Northlight at (708) 869-7278 and identify-
ing yourself as a Field Museum member. Reserve special center seating at
these low prices by calling before March 31. This offer is subject to avail-
ability. You must present your membership card when picking up tickets.

Northlight is located at 817 Chicago Avenue in Evanston, near the Main
Street el and Metra stations. Valet and ample street parking available.

March/April 1992 4a

working scientists. Teachers planning to use
the program take inservice training at the par-
ticipating institutions.

The Field Museum is working with three
episodes of The New Explorers: “The Beauty
of the Beast,” a look at the research Steven and
Marilynn French are doing with grizzly bears;
“Fragments of Time,” which features Field
Museum research associate Paul Sereno and his
work in Argentina on the evolution of
dinosaurs; and “Rivers of Fire,” a look at the
volcanoes of Hawaii through the eyes of volca-
nologist Frank Trusdell.

Other institutions participating in the pro-
gram include the Adler Planetarium, Argonne
National Laboratory, Chicago Academy of Sci-
ences, Chicago Police Department, Brookfield
Zoo, Commonwealth Edison Co., Fermilab,

APRIL 21 — 26
FIELDgNIGHTS at

International Museum of Surgical Science, Lin-
coln Park Zoo, Mexican Fine Arts Museum,
Museum of Science and Industry, and Shedd
Aquarium.

Joyce Matuszewich, director of the Harris
Educational Loan Center at Field Museum, will
join three other Chicago educators in presenting
the Explorers Program at an American Associa-
tion of Museums meeting in Washington, D.C.

The Chicago Science Explorers Program is
funded by the United States Department of
Energy and directed by Alan Schriescheim,
director of Argonne National Laboratory. With
support from Amoco Corp. and Waste Man-
agement, Inc., underwriters of the PBS series,
communities throughout the country can use
the videos to develop programs patterned on
the Chicago model.

The world premiere of Rick Cleveland’s

The Rhino’s Policeman, recipient of a 1991 grant

from the Fund for New American Place,
a joint project of the

John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and
American Express in cooperation with the President’s

Committee on the Arts and Humanities

“Do you see the small bird on his back? . . . It is an oxpecker. He eats flies and ticks. We
call him askiri wa kifaru. The rhino's policeman. . .. The rhino has very poor eyesight

and the oxpecker helps him to see when there is danger.”

—Actil

James Balodimas / GN86121.12

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

SLIP-SLIDIN’ AWAY

NEW EXHIBIT ON PLATE TECTONICS

oving Earth,” a new permanent
exhibit that explores the theory of
plate tectonics, is now open on the

Museum’s second floor. Through
the use of hands-on, interactive learning tools,
visitors can discover how the “plates” that carry
the continents and oceans are constantly mov-
ing, and how that movement affects the world
we live in.

The theory of plate tectonics, which creat-
ed one of the most profound revo-
lutions in scientific history,
states that heat from the
Earth’s interior propels
the surface “plates”
into constant motion.
These movements
have played a key
role in all phases
of the Earth’s his-
tory, including
development of the
atmosphere, the
evolution and diversi-
y §= fication of life, moun-

tain building and ocean

basin formation, and past

and present earthquake and vol-
cano activity.

Plate tectonics also affects global climate.
Plate movements over the past 50 million years
changed sea levels and oceanic and atmospher-

WHERE THE WORLD

ic circulation, ultimately resulting in the forma-
tion of polar ice caps and recurrent “ice ages.”
These changes take on special meaning with
current concerns about global warming and the
Greenhouse Effect.

Visitors to “Moving Earth” will get an up-
close view of how plate tectonics works as they
walk into a cutaway six-foot globe and experi-
ence first-hand the Earth’s layers and the con-
vection of heat from the core to the surface.
They will also be able to touch the layers of the
earth in a three-foot cross-section of a globe,
and see how plates actually move on the earth’s
surface by sliding around the plates on a small
interactive globe. The exhibit also includes an
animated video that traces the history of plate
movements for the past 600 million years.

Later components of “Moving Earth” will
be devoted to “Earth Processes” and “Global
Climate.” The exhibit is located at the north
end of the second floor, where it will eventually
be joined by a major new exhibit titled “Life
Over Time” that will
explore the evolution of
life on earth.

>, NatureWorks .
MEETS THE SKY ty SATURDAYS IN MARCH a
ore than 40 color photographs OF we
exploring the beautiful scenery and Ries wo?
diverse people of contemporary OF EARTH AWARE

Tibet and Ladakh will be on display
in the South Gallery from March 28 to May 17.
“Where the World Meets the Sky: Pho-
tographs of Ladakh and Tibet” by Ellen
Kaplowitz includes intimate portraits of
the region’s inhabitants, among them
Tibetan Buddhist monks and Moslems,
and landscape shots of the magnificent
mountainous regions of Ladakh in north-
ern India and Lhasa in Tibet.

Kaplowitz has been roaming the
world for the past 15 years, capturing
diverse cultures and exotic lands on film
before they are lost to modernization.

POWWOW

The 30-by-40-inch |
photographs, which range f
in style from realistic to |
abstract, capture the |
increasing energy and a
emotion of the dancers. Clear,
stop-action images and conceptu-

“Powwow,” an exhibit of stun-
ning color photographs of Ara-
paho and Shoshone powwow
dancers, will be on display in the
Webber Gallery from April 18 to
August 23, 1992.

New York photographer Eli-

Other projects have included a film,
Kaleidoscope Papua New Guinea and

jah Cobb spent five summers cap-
turing the dancers on film at their

current photography in Borneo and Indonesia. home on the Wind River Reserva-

tion in Wyoming.

al, whirling masses of light con-
vey the escalating intensity and
passion of the powwow as the
night grows later.

From the people who brought you “E.T.” ...

Coming to the

FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
May 30 — September 7, 1992

Members will receive a discount on tickets and priority admission

to this spectacular exhibit on the little beasts that are

Watch for details in future issues of

the Field

MARCH/APRIL EVENTS

SHA cs

Performance

Lite Henry Huff presents original composi-
tions on the baliphone, barimbau, hunter’s
horn, and a variety of flutes. Performance
at 1 p.m.

3/ Z Wednesday

Facts about fakes

The Collections Committee hears about
forgery in ethnographic art from anthropol-
ogy curators Bennet Bronson and Phillip
Lewis. Reception at 5:30, program at 6 p.m.
in the Founders'Room. Call (312) 322-
8874.

Exhibit closing

Last chance to see “In the Land of Green
Lightning: Wildlife of the Mayan Realm.”
Photographs by Thor Janson of contempo-
rary life in the lands of the ancient Maya. In
the South Gallery.

wig pe

Arts of Sumba

The Primitive Art Society presents Douglas
Dawson in a slide-lecture on his recent
Indonesian trip, focusing on Sumba. Call
(312) 738-4002.

Bf Mi

Camera Club

A slide-lecture titled "Local Wilderness," by
Glen Jahnke, focuses on nature photogra-
phy in the Chicago area. 7:45 p.m.; enter at
the West Door. All are welcome.

March/April 1992 6

Cig cert

Windy City Grotto

The Chicago chapter of the National Spele-
ological Society meets at 7:30 p.m. Slide
shows of recent caving trips by members
will be shown. The Grotto meets the sec-
ond Wednesday of each month. Call (708)
524-1215.

3/14 sna

Green and Growing

“An Urban Gardening Fair”: Workshops and
demonstrations for city gardeners. $5 regis-
tration includes all sessions and a copy of
Gardening Resource Guide. Call (312) 201-
1074. A gardening expo in Stanley Field Hall
featuring 35 exhibitors is free with regular
Museum admission and continues through
Sunday.

3/14 sini

Family Overnight

Bring the kids (grades 1-6) and sleep over
at the Field Museum. Natural science work-
shops, flashlight tours, entertainment, an
evening snack, and Continental breakfast
Sunday morning. $30 per adult, $25 per
child. Call (312) 322-8854.

Riek free

Systematics of S

The Chicago Herpetological So¢
sents “Higher Systems of Snakes
tation by Van Wallach, collectic
at the Museum of Comparative Z
Harvard University, at 7:30 p.m.

3/28 sera

Exhibit opening

“Where the World Meets the Sky,” pho-
tographs of contemporary Tibet and Ladakh
by Ellen Kaplowitz. Through May 17 in the
South Gallery.

James Balodimas /GN85964.14

3/28-3/31

A Separate Vision

Brenda Spencer, one of the Native Ameri-
can artists featured in the exhibit “A Sepa-
rate Vision,” demonstrates contemporary
weaving. Four programs daily, at 10 a.m.
and 1, 2 and 4 p.m.

A/VS soni

Arts of Catal Hiiyiik

The Primitive Art Society presents a slide-
lecture on the art and artifacts of Catal
Htiyuk, a 7000 B.C. village in Turkey, by
Ann Murray, former assistant director of the
British Institute of Archaeology in Ankara.
7:30 p.m.; use West Entrance. Call (312)
738-4002.

4/13 sn

Camera Club

The winter photography competition will
be judged at this month's meeting, with a
panel of three judges doing the scoring.
7:45 p.m. in Lecture Hall 2; entry is from
the West Door. All are welcome.

4/18 sre

Exhibit opening

“Powwow,” photographs of Shoshone and
Arapaho powwow dancers by Elijah Cobb.
Through May 23 in the Webber Gallery.

UPSTAIRS, DOWNSTAIRS

‘NATUREWORKS’ IN MARCH

atureWorks,” a month-long celebra-
N tion of the earth, offers visitors of all

ages a variety of entertaining earth-
awareness programs. Each Saturday in March,
NatureWorks will feature performances, family
activities, and the chance to meet members of
the Museum’s scientific staff who travel the
world researching diverse ecosystems. Similar
programs for school groups will be offered on
Wednesdays. Each day, several Field Museum
curators and scientific support staff will be on
hand and informal hall activities will explore
natural history topics. A detailed schedule
appears on the “Visitor Programs” page (over-
leaf). Highlights include:

March 7

¢ Marilyn Price entertains visitors with her
“Puppets in the Wild” performance. She will
tell tales from around the world using puppets
made up of wild combinations of recycled
materials. Afterwards, Price will show families
how to make their own recycled puppets.

e William Stanley, collection manager for
the Zoology Department’s division of mam-
mals, demonstrates how animal specimens are
prepared for scientific study.

March 14

¢ Travel back in time to the 1700s to meet
Carl Linnaeus, who developed the system of
classifying and naming plants and animals that
scientists still use today. An actor portraying
Linnaeus visits guests in the new “Into the
Wild” exhibit.

¢ Field Museum staff on deck include
William Burger, curator of botany, talking
about plant collecting in Central America, and
Zoriga Dabich, a scientific illustrator, demon-
strating techniques for drawing plants.

March 21
* “A Journey with John James Audubon,”

COURSES ON EGYPT FEATURED

um’s Department of Educa-

GREEN AND GROWING

“Green and Growing . . . An Urban Garden-
ing Fair,” a day-long exposition Saturday,
March 14, is co-sponsored by the Chicago

Botanic Garden, Chicago Park District, City
of Chicago, Field Museum, Open Lands Pro-
ject, and the Universi-
ty of Illinois Coopera-
tive Extension. This
program __ features
speakers on communi-
ty gardening, sessions
on a variety of urban _
gardening topics, and |
an assortment of

exhibitors and display garden plots. Regis-
tration for the program is $5, but the exhibits

and displays are free with Museum admis-
sion and continue through Sunday. Call
(312) 201-1074 for information.

a one-person humorous play about America’s
foremost nature artist.

e Fiber artist Betsy Mitten demonstrates
how natural dyes have been used in different
cultures and how to tackle some easy dye pro-
jects in your own home.

e Jeannette Briggs, technical assistant in
the Museum’s biochemistry labs, explains how
DNA analysis is used in research.

March 28

° Phyllis Nelson illustrates the stages of
papermaking and explains how to recycle mate-
rials to make your own paper.

* Janet Voight, assistant curator of zoolo-
gy, discusses the fascinating octopuses and
squids of the eastern Pacific Ocean.

¢ Mark Westneat, assistant curator of zool-
ogy, talks about biomechanics of fishes.

Green and Growing...
an urban gardening fair

is offering a variety of education-
rograms for adults and families
spring. A series of courses on the
cient Egypt is one of the highlights
and family program schedule.

egistration information.The
suide, the department’s pro-
e available April 1.

iterature
April 13
ix Nights)

s developed an extensive

cluding many forms still

e development of the short

poetry, and religious myth

d analyzing examples from
iods.

Egypt: The Middle Kingdom
Wednesdays, March 11 — April 15
7p.m.—9 p.m. (Six Nights)

$65 ($55 members)

The Middle Kingdom is the second period
of high cultural development in ancient Egypt.
Study the political scene, Egypt’s expansion
into Nubia, the funerary beliefs of the Osiris
cult, and the high artistic achievements of the
period.

Egyptian Hieroglyphs: Intermediate Level
Thursdays, March 19 — April 23

7p.m.—9 p.m. (Six Nights)

$65 ($55 members)

Continuing Egyptian hieroglyphic gram-
mar from Beginning Hieroglyphs, this class
will focus on the Egyptian verbal system. Texts
will be assigned to illustrate and reinforce class
discussion. Participants will develop their skills
in reading full Egyptian texts.

EARTH, SEA & SKY SUMMER CAMP

ids can explore the universe this sum-

ke mer without ever leaving Chicago!
For the first time ever, the Field
Museum, Shedd Aquarium, and Adler Planetar-
ium have joined forces to offer a fun-filled,
educational day camp for young people from
kindergarten through twelfth grade. As part of
the “Summer Worlds Tour,” children can dis-

cover the solar system, meet aquatic and marine
animals from around the world and explore the
wonders of the natural sciences. Participants
will spend one day at Adler Planetarium and
two days each at the Field Museum and Shedd
Aquarium, and different programs have been
set up for three age groups. The first session
begins July 13; call (312) 322-8854.

CERES SESS TEED OSEO EEO SESE SETHE ST HSE SEETHER H THE TKR R REO ee

¥Y¥ ¥RCY. ¥¥L VY ¥ VEY

PreerrrrrrrerPOCPEOEOCrCerC CO PCerrrrrer rere rr ee Cer eee eee eee eee

seeceeenase

eeeeeseteesstose

Become a Member
of the Field Museum of Natural His-

tory and receive these benefits:

Free admission

Free coat checking and strollers
Invitation to Members’ Night

Priority invitations to special exhibits
Free subscription to [n the Field
13-month wall calendar featuring exhibit
photographs

Reduced subscription prices on selected
magazines

Opportunity to receive the Museum’s
annual report

10% discount at all Museum stores
Use of our 250,000-volume

natural history library

Discount on classes, field trips, and seminars
for adults and children

Members-only tour program
Opportunity to attend the annual
children’s Holiday Tea

Discount at Chicago’s largest furniture
wholesaler

Children’s “dinosaur” birthday card

MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION
New Members only. This is not a renewal form.

ou Please enroll me as a Member of the
Field Museum of Natural History

Name
Address

City -

State —_ Zip
Home phone

Business phone

GIFT APPLICATION FOR
Name
Address
City
State__ Zip
Home phone

Business phone

GIFT FROM
Name
Address
City
State Zip
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Business phone

MEMBERSHIP CATEGORIES

(C) Individual — one year $35 / two years $65

C) Family — one year $45 / two years $85
(Includes two adults, children and grand-

; children 18 and under.)

(__) Student/Senior — one year $25
(Individual only. Copy of I.D. required.)

( ) Field Contributor — $100 - $249

‘ee: Field Adventurer — $250 - $499

(_) Field Naturalist — $500 - $999

@) Field Explorer — $1,000 - $1,499

All benefits of a family membership
— and more

C) Founders’ Council — $1,500
Call (312) 322-8878 for more information.

Vi = March/April 1992

VISITOR PROGRAMS

Gaia Theater per-
forms “Use It
Again” on March 11
and 25.

NatureWorks : Every Wednesday and
Saturday in March, a series of earth
awareness programs is offered. Meet
Field Museum scientific staff and take
part in a variety of public programs to
learn more about global conservation
and the wonders of nature.

Sunday, March 1

lpm Lite Henry Huff performs original
compositions on the baliphone, barim-
bau, hunter’s horn and a variety of
flutes.

Wednesday, March 4

10:30am “Save the Cranes” perfor-
mance by Bob Kann. A unique collec-
tion of stories about crane preservation
& what you can do to help cranes sur-
vive & multiply.

10:30am - Ipm Meet Field Museum
Scientists & Staff; Mammal Specimen
Preparation with Bill Kephart; and Field
Museum's Library with Michele Cal-
houn.

Saturday, March 7

11am & 2pm “Wild Puppets” perfor-
mance & workshop by Marilyn Price.
Stories from around the world will be
told using puppets made of recycled
materials. Families are encouraged to
bring a plastic soda bottle, plastic milk
jug or some type of food box to make
their own wild puppets.

11am - 3pm Meet Field Museum Sci-
entists & Staff; Mammal Specimen
Preparation with William Stanley, Col-
lection Manager, Division of Mammals;
Field Museum’s Library with Michael
Trombley.

Sunday, March 8
lpm Mwata Bowden presents his enter-
taining “Winds & Thangs”.

2pm Around the Field Tour -
Dinosaurs, totem poles and more will
be visited during this highlight tour of
museum exhibits.

Wednesday, March 11

10:30am “Use It Again” A fast-paced
play about recy-
cling and the envi-
ronment by Gaia
Theater.

10:30am - 1pm
Meet Field Museum
Scientists & Staff;
Economic Botany
with Nancy Alaks,
Collection Manag-
er, and Sharon
Kramer, Volunteer,
Botany Depart-
ment.

Thursday,

March 12

10am - 1pm
Weaving Designs in
Cloth; a demon-
stration by the
North Shore
Weaver's Guild.

Saturday, March 14
9am - 4pm Green
and Growing...An Urban Gardening
Fair The garden expo in Stanley Field
Hall features exhibits and demonstra-
tion gardens.

10am - 1pm Weaving Designs in Cloth:
a demonstration by the North Shore
Weaver's Guild.

11am -2pm “A Visit with Carl Lin-
neaus” inthe Into the Wild: Animals,
Trails & Tales exhibit. Step back in time
to the 1700’s and meet Carl Linnaeus,
famous for developing a system of clas-
sifying and naming plants and animals
which we still use today.

Tiam - 3pm: Meet Field Museum Scien-
lists & Staff: Plant Collecting in Central
America with William Burger, Curator
of Botany; Botanical Illustration with
Zorica Dabich, Scientific Illustrator;
Economic Botany with Sharon Kramer,
Volunteer, Department of Botany; and
Field Museum's Library with Joel

Caithamer.

Sunday, March 15

1-4pm Weaving Designs in Cloth: a
demonstration by the North Shore
Weaver's Guild.

lpm Musa Mosley demonstrates the art
of African drumming and drum making.

Wednesday, March 18

10:30am “A.W.A.R.E.” A performance
by Trinity Square Ensemble discusses
how three different threatened and
endangered species live in their natural
habitats: how they move, what they eat,
how they survive.

10:30am - 1pm Meet Field Museum
Scientists & Staff; Birds of Middle
American Cloud Forests with Town
Peterson, Researcher, Division of Mam-
mals; and DNA Testing with Jeannette
Briggs, Technical Assistant, biochem-
istry lab.

Thursday, March 19

1Qam- 1pm Weaving Designs in Cloth:
a demonstration by the North Shore
Weaver's Guild.

Saturday, March 21

10am -lpm Weaving Designs in Cloth;
a demonstration by the North Shore
Weaver's Guild.

llam & 2pm “A Journey with John
James Audubon" Come “face-to-face”
with America’s foremost natural artist in
this one-person-play by Face to Face
Productions.

11am - 3pm Nature's Colors with Fiber
Artist Betsy Mitten. Discover how natu-
ral dyes have been used in many cul-
tures and learn how to make some easy
dye projects at home during this family
activity.

liam -3pm Meet Field Museum Scien-
tists & Staff: Insect and Arachnid Explo-
rations with Margaret Thayer and Petra
Siewald, Research Associates, Depart-
ment of Zoology; DNA Testing with
Jeannette Briggs, Technical Assistant,
biochemistry lab; and Field Museum’s
Library with Sarah Bridger.

Sunday, March 22

lam -4pm Weaving Designs in Cloth:
a demonstration by the North Shore
Weaver's Guild.

Ipm The Chinese Music Society of
North America demonstrates instru-
ments of the Chinese orchestra.

lpm Around the Field in German

3pm Around the Field in French -
Dinosaurs, totem poles and more will be
visited during these highlight tours for
German- and French-speaking visitors.

Wednesday, March 25
10:30am “Use It Again” A fast-paced
play about recycling and the environ-
ment by Gaia Theater.

10:30am - 1pm Meet Field Museum
Scientists & Staff: Fish Skeleton Prepa-
ration with Mary Ann Rogers, Collection
Manager, Division of Fishes; and
Goliath Frog Preparation with Sophie
Brunner, Volunteer, Division of Reptiles
& Amphibians.

Saturday, March 28 through

Tuesday, March 31

10am - 1pm & 2-4pm

Weaving demonstration by Brenda
Spencer, contemporary Navajo weaver fea-
tured in “A Separate Vision” exhibit.
Demonstration is sponsored by Oscar Isbe-
rian Rugs, Evanston, III.

Thursday, March 26

10am-1pm Weaving Designs in Cloth:
a demonstration by the North Shore
Weaver's Guild.

Saturday, March 28

liam -2pm “A Visit with Carl Lin-
neaus” )n the Into the Wild: Animals,
Trails & Tales exhibit. Step back in time
to the 1700’s and meet Carl Linneaus,
famous for developing a system of clas-
sifying and naming plants and animals
which we still use today.

llam- 3pm Meet Field Museum Scien-
tists & Staff; What Is Biomechanics?
with Mark Westneat, Assistant Curator,
Division of Fishes; Octopuses & Squids
with Janet Voight, Assistant Curator,
Division of Invertebrates; Field Muse-
um’s Library with Janeen Devine; and
Mammal Specimen Preparation with
Bill Kephart.

1:30pm Tibet Today & Bhutan, Land of
the Thunder Dragon A slide presenta-
tion which takes you to Lhasa and
other places now open to tourists in
Tibet. A visit to the small Himalayan
country of Bhutan will also be presented.

|pm Jain Raices Del Andes fora perfor-
mance of folk music from Bolivia and
South America.

Saturday, April 4
1pm Jazz vocals with Rita Warford.

Sunday , April 5
1pm Venico De Toledo demonstrates
Afro-Brazilian percussions & rhythms.

Thursday, April 9

10am - 1pm Weaving Designs in Cloth:
a demonstration by the North Shore
Weaver's Guild.

Saturday, April 11

10am - lpm Weaving Designs in Cloth;
a demonstration by the North Shore
Weaver's Guild.

Ipm Vandy Harris highlights African
American music through voice, sax,
flute and trumpet.

Sunday, April 12

1 -4pm Weaving Designs in Cloth :a
demonstration by the North Shore
Weaver's Guild.

1pm Around the Field in German

3pm Around the Field in French
Dinosaurs, totem poles and more will
be visited during these highlight tours
for German- and French-speaking visi-
tors.

3pm The classical sound of the zheng,
the Chinese zither, as presented by Fan
Wei-Tsu.

Thursday, April 16

10am - 1pm Weaving Designs in Cloth:
a demonstration by the North Shore
Weaver's Guild.

Saturday, April 18

10am = 1pm Weaving Designs in Cloth:
a demonstration by the North Shore
Weaver's Guild.

Jpm Carlos Cumpian shares his poems
and stories of Chicano/Mexican culture.

Sunday, April 19
1-4 pm Weaving Designs in Cloth: a

demonstration by the North Shore
Weaver's Guild.

1 pm Chinese Music Society of North
America performs instruments of the
Chinese orchestra.

Thursday, April 23

10am - lpm Weaving Designs in Cloth:
a demonstration by the North Shore
Weaver's Guild.

Saturday, April 25

lpm A performance of Indonesian
Dance courtesy of the Indonesian Con-
sulate of Chicago.

Sunday, April 26
1pm The Thai Classical Dance Compa-
ny performs.

Celebrate National Volunteer Week
(April 26 - May 2) — Become A Field
Museum Volunteer For more informa-
tion about how you can get involved,
contact the Museum Volunteer Coordi-
nator, 312/922-9410, extension 360.

Webber Resource Center

Native Cultures of the Americas

Books, videotapes, activity boxes, tribal
newspapers, and resources for educa-
tors about native peoples of the Americ-
as are available.

Marilyn Price and friend in “Wild
Puppets,” March 7.

Daily 10am - 4:30pm

Harris Education Center

Chicago Area educators may borrow
activity boxes and small dioramas from
the Harris Educational Loan Center.
Open House Hours:

Tuesdays & Thursdays 2:30 - 5pm
Saturdays 9am - 5pm

Place For Wonder

A special room of touchable objects
where you can discover daily life in
Mexico, in addition to an array of fos-
sils, shells, rocks, plants and live
insects.

Weekdays: 12:30pm - 4:30pm
Weekends: 10am - 4:30pm

Pawnee Earth Lodge

Walk into a traditional home of the
Pawnee Indians of the Great Plains and
learn about their daily life during the
mid-19th century. Free program tickets
available from the South Information
desk in Stanley Field Hall.

Weekdays: 1pm program

Saturdays: 10am - 4:30pm; free ticketed
programs at 11, 12, 2 & 3.

Sundays: 10am - 4:30pm

Backyard Monster:s

Volunteers are being sought to staff
activity carts featuring live bugs and
related activities on weekdays and
weekends May 30 - September 7. For
more information, contact the Museum
Volunteer Coordinator, 312/922-9410,
extension 360.

John Weinstein / GN85836.5A

_ Space.

- Include:

spring of 1993.

Joseph Searcy
demonstrates for a
visitor how the
rhino’s head will
move when it
appears in the Africa
exhibit,.

James Balodimas /GN85897.12

GN86153 8

| or the first time in a very long time, the dinosaurs — at least
the six whose skeletons are in the Field Museum — are on the
move again! To get ready for several new permanent exhibits -
. that will be opening over the next three years, the Museum is

_ busy rearranging hot only the dinosaurs but much of its other exhibit

Details keep changing (so watch your step), but majot changes

Closing the south half of the current dinosaur exhibit (from the
apatosaur to the coal forest) this past December. The dinosaurs will be
incorporated in a new exhibit on evolution, tentatively titled “Life Over
Time,” that is scheduled to open in the fall of 1994. Meanwhile, there
will be a series of temporary dinosaur exhibits on the second floor.
There are also plans to renovate and move the Maori meeting house
from the ground floor fo the space vacated by the apatosaur in the

In November 1992, “Exploring American Wilderness” will open
in the Rice Wing (first floor west) where “Mammals of America’ used
to be. This part of the animal kingdom exhibits will also include a
zoology resource center in Rice Hall where “Mammals of Africa” used
to be — right next to the current “Into the Wild” exhibits.

A new tultidisciplinary exhibit on Africa, scheduled to open in
November 1993, will go into the remaining first floor west space.

On the second floor, “Life Over Time” will be installed in the
northeast halls, using two currently empty halls as well as the north
half of “Plants of the World.” To make room, “Plants of the World”
has been combined with the “Useful Plants” exhibit to form a single
large botany exhibit in the southeast halls of the second floor.

__. Another permanent exhibit, “Moving Earth,” which explores the
theory of plate tectonics, opened recently on the second floor where
“Ancient China” used to be.

It all may sound confusing now, and it is, but when the dust clears,
ield Museum will be closing out its first one hundred years of opera-

James Balodimas /GN86064.19

James Balodimas /GN86183,8

James Balodimas /GN85829.34

John Weinstein /GEQ85637

Bill Driscoll (below
left) and Scott Smith
are shown beginning
the deinstallation of
the coal forest diora-
ma, which will reap-
pear in “Life Over
Time.”

GN86141,17

Don Jeffrey (right),
Gilles Danis (below),
and Amy Toscani
(below right) were the
center of media atten-
tion when they began
dismantling the skele-
ton of Apatosaurus for
reinstallation in “Life
Over Time.”

James Balodimas /GN86184,13

James Balodimas /GN85983.18

Beginning with a taxidermist’s body form of a giraffe’s rib
cage and using resins and papier maché, preparator Katheryn
Lehar (center) created this 14-foot model for the megaherbi-
vores section of the Africa exhibit. Working on the paint job
with Lehar is Amphay Oudomsouk. Mural painter Rebecca
Allen (left) helps complete the illusion.

GN86153.6

James Balodimas /GNB6183 15

Upper right: The
steep rock “stair-
case” that provided
the only access
route into a large
village complex of
more than 200
rooms. This site,
called the Organ
Rock Ruin, is locat-
ed atop the steep
mesa shown at
lower right on this

page.

Center left: The
Southwest today is
in a cycle similar to
that of the 13th cen-
tury, with most
annual precipitation
coming in the form
of heavy summer
thundershowers.
While beautiful,
these storms do not
allow the water to
seep deep into the
earth and serve only
to increase erosion

of the soil.

Bottom right: Hard
to conceive, but
there was a signifi-
cant prehistoric set-
tlement atop this
steep mesa. The
Organ Rock Ruin,
dating from A.D.
1250 to 1300, is one
of the highly defen-
sive sites built dur-
ing this period of
regional conflict.

Page 11, bottom
left: Informally
called Terrace
House, this cliff
dwelling perched
high up in one of
the caves of Tsegi
Canyon is a stark
reminder of the
extraordinary
lengths to which the
Kayenta people
went to defend their
families and
resources.

WAR...

(Continued from page 1)
Fifty years of war

In the middle of the 13th century, the peo-
ple of the region suffered prolonged environ-
mental stress — cyclical droughts, erosion of
arable land, and growing malnutrition. It is only
under these circumstances that we see indica-
tions of warfare breaking out among the differ-
ent culture groups of the Anasazi. We find
burned houses, wrecked villages, headless
skeletons, and skeletonless heads. The people
took extraordinary measures to move their
homes into protected and highly defensible
locations, and defensive communication net-
works link together all of the villages in a wide
region. Although we do not have good evi-
dence of the intensity or frequency of warfare
at this time, the archaeological data do provide
a record of serious, endemic warfare all across the
northern Southwest for a period of about 50 years,
after which the entire region was abandoned.

Note that conflict arose only after the
development of discrete, culturally different
groups. Prior to this cultural differentiation,
there are no signs of warfare in the Anasazi
heartland for centuries, The various subgroups
of the Anasazi, these early ethnic groups, were
at peace with one another. They coexisted side
by side for more than 200 years with absolutely
no signs of conflict between them. It is long
after the cultural foundations have been laid for
distinguishing “us” from “them” that raiding,
killing, and burning appear as a complex

response to environmental stress.

While cultural or ethnic differences are
found as a precondition of warfare, they should
not be interpreted as a sufficient condition or
cause. For this we must look elsewhere.

Ethnic violence

Again returning to the modern world, we
read and hear every day of the breakup of east-
ern Europe and the reemergence of violence
between different ethnic groups. The inference
is often made in the press that the violent ten-
sion has always been there but it has been sup-
pressed by the power of the communist state.
With the fall of communism, the inherent eth-
nic hatreds bubble to the surface and the vio-
lence of Yugoslavia, or Armenia, or Azerbaijan
results, But is the cause of this violence simply
ethnic difference? Are the Croats and Serbs
killing each other because of differences in
their religion and linguistic backgrounds? Or
are such ethnic differences a convenient divid-
ing line in countries facing economic collapse
and chaos? The silent and remote archaeologi-
cal record from the American Southwest sug-
gests that economics and not ethnicity is the
driving engine behind the warfare we see aris-
ing in eastern Europe and recurring elsewhere
around the world.

With the Kayenta Anasazi, the original pat-
tern of warfare arose only after 150 years of

progressively deteriorating environment. We
have a detailed environmental record for this
region carefully reconstructed from tree rings,
geological analysis of soils, and pollen sam-
ples. This record of the centuries prior to the
onset of conflict shows that beginning about
A.D. 1100, the environment began to change
from one highly favorable to farming, to one
not so favorable. Prior to 1100, there was lots
of annual precipitation, most coming in winter
snows, no signs of droughts, generally a high
water table, and rich, built-up soils. The human
remains from this period reflect a population
that was relatively healthy, with good nutrition
and few diseases related to diet. Population
densities were relatively low, with abundant
land for the number of people in the region.

After 1100, while the population continued
to grow, the precipitation pattern changed, with
less overall moisture and a shift to more sum-
mer-dominant rainfall. The significance of
summer-dominant rainfall in the Southwest is
that the water comes in the form of thunder-
showers that drop a great deal of rain in a very
short period of time. The water then does not
soak into the ground, but washes away, carry-
ing soil with it. Erosion, therefore, increases at
the same time. So there is not only less annual
precipitation, but it is coming in a form that is
not as useful to farmers, and it is eroding away
their arable land. This pattern then intensified
over the next 200 years, and the ancient
Anasazi farmers found themselves faced with
an increasingly hostile environment at a time of
maximum population density in the region.
Archaeologically, we see signs of growing mal-
nutrition, declining average age at death, and a
significant increase in the deaths of small chil-
dren and infants.

Us vs. them

It is in response to such severe environ-
mental and demographic stress that warfare
first arises among the Anasazi. There were too
many people, their crops were failing, their
land was being washed away, and their children
were dying of malnutrition. Their adaptive
strategies, so successful in the past, were no
longer adequate to cope with a changed envi-
ronment. Peaceful relations with neighboring
groups, once a source of security in times of
occasional stress, no longer could be relied
upon. “Us” and “them” together in a world of
relative bounty, became “us” versus “them” in
a world of stress and shortage.

I should also point out here that residents
of this region had faced similar environmental
problems in earlier centuries but had not resort-
ed to conflict with their neighbors. The cultural
circumstances, however, had changed. Popula-
tion was greater, and the emerging ethnic dif-
ferences served as a natural line of cleavage
within the region as a whole. Thus, warfare, the
killing of one’s fellow human beings, became
an option in the range of responses of the
Anasazi only after the cultural homogeneity
had broken down and diverse ethnic or tribal
groups had appeared.

Returning to the archaeological record of
the Anasazi, a complex set of environmental
and demographic conditions led to warfare ini-
tially in the 13th century. Then at the end of
that century, three things happened. First, the
heartland of the Anasazi was abandoned, with
some of the people
moving south and oth-
ers east into the Rio
Grande Valley of New
Mexico. Second, the
conditions of environ-
mental stress began to
ease. The cycle of
droughts ended and the
pattern of soil erosion
shifted to one of gradu-
al soil aggradation.
Finally, the pattern of
endemic warfare that
emerged in the Anasazi

heartland changed as the emigrants moved out
into other areas. It did not stop completely, but
it decreased significantly and cycled up and
down at a subregional level.

In the Rio Grande Valley of New Mexico,
where it appears some substantial portion of the
emigrants settled, there are indications of high-
ly defensive site locations for the first half of
the 14th century. But the Rio Grande Valley
represented a rich new resource zone at least in
the initial years of heavy immigration from the
west, with ample land and water. There are few
signs of malnutrition. While there was certainly
great ethnic diversity in the Rio Grande Valley,
the primary causes of warfare were removed
from the adaptive equation. Without the envi-
ronmental pressures stimulating raiding and
fighting, peace was a more adaptive option for
the people in the valley. The level of conflict
thus greatly abated in the 14th century as the
people moved down off the hilltops; signs of
violence occur only sporadically.

The long historical perspective of archaeol-
ogy gives another kind of insight into crosscul-
tural patterns of warfare. We see from the data
in the Southwest that tribal people cycle both in
and out of endemic patterns of conflict. War-
fare is not inevitable, even among ethnically
diverse groups. Groups that are at war in one
era or generation may well be at peace in the
next. Without the long-term view of the archae-
ological record, this pattern is difficult to see
ethnographically. Groups known as being
peaceful, such as the Xingu of Brazil, the
Semai of Malaysia, or the Pueblos of northern
New Mexico may be at one point in the cycle,
while others known for raiding and fighting,
such as the Yanamamo of Brazil, the Nuer of
East Africa, and the Iban of Malaysia are at
another point. Archaeology shows that warfare
in tribal groups must be viewed in historical
context. As the pressures leading to warfare
abate so too does the warfare.

Increased prevalence of war

While archaeology helps highlight the
cyclical nature of warfare among tribal peoples,
it also helps show that the warfare loop of the
cycle has been increasingly dominant as one
moves closer in time to the present. Ten thou-
sand years ago, there is almost no evidence for
warfare anywhere on earth. Then, as the

WESTERN TECHNOLOGY IN CHINA

QING DYNASTY CARVED GLASS VASES

By Chuimei Ho
Department of Anthropology

efore the 19th century, one of the few

aspects of Western science to have

been genuinely admired in the East

— along with ship-building, cannon-
casting, and astronomy — was the technology
of glass making.

Both blown and molded types of glass
were made in China at least several centuries
before the Christian era, often by private crafts-
men not under royal patronage. The craft, how-
ever, remained underdeveloped and even may
have disappeared from time to time. Early glass
workers seem to have made only small decora-
tive items — beads, hairpins, pendants, rings,
and sometimes perfume-type bottles. They also
had few color choices: smudgy clear, blue,
greenish blue, and opaque white.

A breakthrough came about 1700 when
Emperor Kangxi (1664-1722) set up a
glasshouse with Bernard Kilian Stumpf, a Ger-
man missionary, helping to build the furnace.
Only then could large glass objects be made:
vases, plates, bowls, and teacups as well as
snuff bottles. Quality still seems to have been a
problem, however. In 1756 Emperor Qianlong
(1736-1796) was so annoyed with the inferiori-
ty of certain officially commissioned glass
bowls made in Canton that he forbade payment
to the craftsmen.

Two vases recently donated to the Field
Museum show that progress was nonetheless
being made in this period, particularly in the
area of carved glass decoration. Part of the
inspiration may have come from Qianlong’s
technical consultant, the French Jesuit Gabriel-
Leonard de Broussard, a trained glass specialist
who served in the Imperial Glasshouse between
1742 and 1756.

Glass in the Qianlong period improved so
markedly that objects from the Imperial
Glasshouse often formed part of official gifts to
governments of other countries, including
France. The impact of glass went beyond the
palace and was felt even in private industry. By
the time of the late 18th century, one reads
from trading inventories that Chinese glass can-
dlesticks were good enough for exporting to
Japan, another Asian country where glass mak-
ing traditions were old but not strong. By the

WAR...

world’s population grew to fill in available
niches, states evolved and spread, and warfare
appeared in the evolutionary trajectories of an
increasing number of societies around the
world. Furthermore, at least in the world areas
with which I am familiar, the frequency of war-
fare escalates over time. Five-hundred- or thou-
sand-year cycles shorten to fifty- or one-hun-

mid-I9th century, Chinese glass beads had even
found markets in North America — at least
some of the beads used by Indians in Alaska,
British Columbia, and even California are
thought to have come from China.

The Museum’s new glass vases have the
translucent yellow color associated with wares
made for imperial use, and are of outstanding
quality. They are a matched pair in a simple but
classical shape — a plain long neck and a
round body with rich carved decoration. They
are heavy, with walls as thick as 1.1 cm. The
vases were first blown to shape, then part of the
surface was cut away leaving the designs in
relief.

The vases, completed in 1747, appear to be
too classically Chinese in sentiment for Father
de Broussard to have been directly involved —
the designs come from conventional Chinese
decorative art, and the technique of low relief
carving in hard materials comes from tradition-
al jade and stone work. But de Broussard is
known to have been trying to produce glass
objects that were exceptionally difficult in exe-
cution. It is conceivable he oversaw the manu-
facturing process while the actual labor was
done by experienced glass workers from
Guangdong or Shandong provinces.

There are few
precisely dated exam-
ples of Chinese glass
from Qianlong’s 60-
year reign, and these
vases are the earliest
known. They were
donated to the Muse-
um by the daughters
of the late Mr. and
Mrs. Abba Lipman,
who were long-time
Chicago residents.
Two of the daughters,
Mrs. Dodie Baum-
garten and Mrs. Bar-
bara Kent, are mem-
bers of the Collections
Committee, the Muse-
um’s recently orga-
nized support group
interested in ethno-
graphic and historical
artifacts.

dred-year cycles.

This pattern does not necessarily indicate

that people in the modern age are somehow
more inherently violent and culturally prone to
warfare. Rather, the causes of warfare have
become more prevalent. There is no relief for
population pressure, and the sources of eco-
nomic and environmental stress are unrelent-
ing.
Archaeology can be
used to study the
origins and develop-
ment of patterns of
conflict in prehis-
toric times, and it
offers some hope
that such conflict
need not be accepted
as an inevitable con-
comitant of ethnic
diversity and cultur-
al evolution.

Cat. No, 259809 (detail)

Cat. No, 259809

Cat. No, 259808 (detail)

As these photos demonstrate, the best 18th-cen-
tury Chinese glass carving is variable in depth,
creating rounded design elements, Most of the
work was refined by hand; later examples tend
to be mechanical, cut with wheels so that the
rigid relief is shown in a single level.

The body of each vase has four panels,
two circular and two fan-shaped. Surrounding
the panels are intertwined bands and stylized
lotus scrolls of the type called “foreign lotus” in
China. These traditional design motifs and the
conventional vessel shape indicate that the
vases were probably meant for solemn occa-
sions where a conservative feeling and exquisite
workmanship would be appropriate.

The engraved poems within the panels
alse deserve attention. Qianlong was perhaps
the most productive writer among all rulers in
world history — he published nearly 10,000
poems. For these vases, where all the poems are
about time and solitary feelings, we know that
Qianlong selected at least one 9th-century
verse for engraving along with several of his

own,

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