Suggestion for cultural anthropology midterm paper? Help!!?

Question

It needs to be 5-7 pages long, and can really be about any human aspect. I think I'm stuck because it is so broad. My rough outline is due in two weeks and I don't have a topic yet.

Answer 1

Here's something that will probably be unique, if nothing else.

How about a speculative analysis of what might have happened, instead, if the Roman Empire had never risen to the heights of world domination that it did.

What cultures might have arisen in its place?

Because Rome looted all the cultural light from the rest of the world, when it finally fell, its fall precipitated the dark ages.  Would that still have happened - would there even have been a period deserving of the term "dark ages" if Rome had never become a conquering power?

Examine the various cultures Rome sacked, looted and drained the life out of.  What could each one of them have accomplished if they had been alllowed to develop and thrive?  Gaul?  Palmyra? Carthage? Britainnia?  Palestine?  Iberia?  Libya?  Who else?

If you do write on this subject, I would be interested to read the result.  (My e-mail is accessible through my profile.)

Answer 2

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Answer 3

How about comparing different societies' concepts of beauty, or comparing marriage in different cultures.

Answer 4

Does it have to be a paper about any primitive (meaning not having changed over time) culture?  I once did a paper on the Qash'qai tribe in Iran (a current nomadic pastorial group).  There's a decent amount of information out there to look up and the people were pretty interesting too.