ABSTRACT
Universals become more interesting the more detached they are from our mammalian machinery. Specific behavior patterns were or are universal in a diachronic or synchronic sense, because we have only scanty knowledge of behavioral aspects of prehistoric Homo sapiens and because ethnographic records are far from complete. On the other hand, the concept of universals as such is indeed a powerful tool for gaining insight into the intricate interaction between biology and culture, nature and nurture. The cross-cultural film documentation of unstaged social interactions, mainly carried out by Eibl-Eibesfeldt in a number of traditional cultures since the early 1970s, has clearly proven the existence of universal facial, proxemic, and, to a lesser extent, gestural behaviors as well as general principles structuring our perception and behavior. This chapter focuses on cross-cultural field studies, examining behavior, concepts, and thoughts of indigenous peoples. It employs two kinds of anthropological approaches: emic (following indigenous conceptions) and etic (following Western conceptions).
