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Foundations of Archaeological Inquiry
Ants for Breakfast: Archaeological Adventures among the Kalinga
A view from the remote Philippine highlands where the author’s time in the kalinga homeland was packed with the elements of a thriller mystery, danger, sex, violence, death—and research too!
Ants for Breakfast is about the adventure of modern archaeology. Seeking insight into prehistoric pottery manufacture and use, archaeologist James Skibo traveled to the remote Phillippine highlands to live with the Kalinga people, once headhunters, and one of the few groups in the world who still use ceramics for cooking.
Even as he looked for clues to the past in the practices of the present, the author’s time in the Kalinga homeland was packed with mystery, danger, sex, violence, and death. It was also an opportunity to taste a world both subtly and vastly different, while adding a new perspective to his own. In the course of his narrative, Skibo seizes every opportunity to link his experiences to the development of modern archaeology, and to such topics as human evolution, the peopling of the world, animal domestication, cultural logic, food taboos, basketball, Indiana Jones, and even Imelda Marcos.
Ants for Breakfast is about the adventure of modern archaeology. Seeking insight into prehistoric pottery manufacture and use, archaeologist James Skibo traveled to the remote Phillippine highlands to live with the Kalinga people, once headhunters, and one of the few groups in the world who still use ceramics for cooking.
Even as he looked for clues to the past in the practices of the present, the author’s time in the Kalinga homeland was packed with mystery, danger, sex, violence, and death. It was also an opportunity to taste a world both subtly and vastly different, while adding a new perspective to his own. In the course of his narrative, Skibo seizes every opportunity to link his experiences to the development of modern archaeology, and to such topics as human evolution, the peopling of the world, animal domestication, cultural logic, food taboos, basketball, Indiana Jones, and even Imelda Marcos.
192 pages, Paperback
First published October 5, 1999
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 22, 2024
We were required to read this book for an Anthropology subject. Somehow, the professor forgot to question us on every chapter… but I still finished the book.
I find the book interesting. Unlike most ethnography, I like the way Skibo narrated his experiences — there are explanations, historical references, and comparisons to his (Western) culture.
I find the book interesting. Unlike most ethnography, I like the way Skibo narrated his experiences — there are explanations, historical references, and comparisons to his (Western) culture.
September 26, 2023
This book transported me to another world with its beautifully crafted sentences and descriptions.
December 5, 2008
Had a class with the author...great account of his time spent with the Kalinga people and the tensions of American archaeologists in the Philippines at that time.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews