This study provides a concrete example of how foraging societies enculturate and transform the natural environment and, through the use of material objects, create sacred spaces and sites. Using ethnographic and ethnohistorical information about the Khanty of Siberia, Jordan shows the shortcomings of both interpretive and materialist anthropological theorizing about hunters and gatherers. He focuses on the rich and complex relationship between the symbolism of the Khanty, their material culture, and the bringing of meaning to physical places. His examination looks at the topic in both historical and contemporary contexts, and in scales from the core-periphery model of Russian colonialism to the portrait of a single yurt community. Jordan's work will be of importance to those studying cultural anthropology, archaeology, and comparative religion.

By Peter Jordan

Part 1 Foreword: Landscape Anthropology
Part 2 Foreword: Landscape Archaeology and Ethnographic Analogy
Part 3 Preface
Part 4 Chapter One: Anthropology, Hunter-Gatherers, Social Theory
Part 5 Chapter Two: Material Culture and Landscape
Part 6 Chapter Three: Locating the Siberian Khanty in Time, Space and Culture Contact
Part 7 Chapter Four: Entering into Ethnography: Malyi Iugan Khanty Society and Economy
Part 8 Chapter Five: The Role of Animals in Routine and Ritual Practice
Part 9 Chapter Six: Sacred Places in the Landscape
Part 10 Chapter Seven: Enculturation of Place: Settlements of the Sacred, the Living and the Dead
Part 11 Chapter Eight: Enculturation of Space: Landscape, Tenure and Territoriality
Part 12 Chapter Nine: Conclusions: A Landscape Anthropology of the Siberian Khanty
Part 13 References
Part 14 Index