In the Wake of the Wheel

1. How would you classify the technological level of Papago society according to the system devised by Lenski and Nolan?

2. Describe the economic organization of a Papago village.

3. Describe the social organization of a Papago village.

4. What changes and adjustments did the introduction of farm wagons have on the Papagos?

5. Were wagons treated as private property, communal property, or both? Explain.

6. Did the Indian agent control the use of the innovation?

7. “If the wagon had come first into the hands of a person without the status of headman, other results certainly would have been possible, including disrupting shifts in leadership patterns.” How could leadership patterns have been shifted in such a case?

8. How did the introduction of the wagon link the Papagos more closely with the American market economy?

Steel Axes for Stone Age Australians

1. How would you classify the technological level of Yir Yiront society according to the system devised by Lenski and Nolan?

2. In what ways was the stone axe important in the economy of Yir Yiront society?

3. Who owned the stone axes?

4. Who used them, and for what?

5. How did non-owners of stone axes get to use a stone axe?

6. How did the borrowing of axes reflect Yir Yiront social relationships?

7. Did the fact that steel axes were stronger and sharper than stone axes change Yir Yiront society?

8. How were steel axes distributed to Yir Yiront members?

9. How did the introduction of steel axes change Yir Yiront society?

Snowmobiles: Technological Revolution in the Arctic

1. How would you classify the technological level of Finnish Lapland society according to the system devised by Lenski and Nolan?

2. Which individuals were most likely to purchase snowmobiles in Finnish Lapland?

3. Why were snowmobiles purchased?

4. What were some of the consequences of the introduction of snowmobiles in Lapland?

5. What were snowmobiles used for in northern Canada?

6. What were some of the consequences of the introduction of snowmobiles in Canada?

7. How has the introduction of snowmobiles affected social differentiation?

8. What are some of the ecological problems associated with snowmobiles?

Water Boiling in a Peruvian Village

1. Why did the public health service want to introduce the innovation of boiling water into Los Molinas?

2. Why did the diffusion of water boiling fail?

Bottle-feeding babies in the Third World

1. Why was bottle-feeding introduced to poor mothers in third world countries?

2. What were the consequences of the diffusion of this innovation?

3. Would these consequences occur in highly industrialized countries?