ABSTRACT
Cultural commentary is a familiar role for anthropologists. Our contribution to scientific discourse is often the interpretation of information about exotic settings in terms of a question or an issue facing us at home. In these comments about culture and the life course, I take that familiar role of cultural commentator in two ways, one more traditional and one more up-to-date. In the more traditional mode, I comment on the ethnographic material presented in other chapters, linking it to broader questions facing gerontology. Anthropologists have also begun to take on a more modern role within gerontology, moving beyond acting as curators of exotic anecdotes to fuller participation in setting an agenda for research on age that takes a broad cross-cultural perspective (Keith, 1985). I try to play this more up-to-date role as well by commenting on ways the ethnographic material discussed in this volume suggests questions and issues that should guide the development of a more inclusively human gerontology.
