Section 3 Exam Study Guide

4 pts - !Kung foragers famously resisted the initial attempts of Westerners who tried to convert them to farming. When anthropologist Richard B. Lee asked them why they hadn't learned to farm, what legendary response was given by the !Kung? (10 words minimum) Explain the meaning of that response (10 words minimum)

"Why plant crops when there are so many mongongo nuts in the world?" Why bother farming, which is more difficult, when nature has already given them food?

3 pts - The outdated "Eureka!" theory (Mike's personal name for this theory) assumed that certain societies adopted complex food strategies before societies because its people were smarter and therefore were quicker to invent, discover, and implement those more complex food strategies. Anthropological evidence now suggests three main reasons that compel a society to shift from one food strategy to a more complex food strategy. What are these three reasons (briefly list them; a few words each)?

1) Decreased resources 2) Decreased land 3) Increased population

Anthropologists studying this mountain region note a steady human transition over 1000's of years from valley-based hunter-gatherer lifestyles to hillside terrace farming to hilltop pastoralist lifestyles, with each new food strategy emerging only during moments and locations when and where the existing food strategy was no longer viable.

Andes Mountains

2 pts - For thousands of years following the transition away from foraging, Andes farmers lived only in the valleys practicing horticulture. But over time, some began to practice a form of intensive agriculture called "terrace farming" on the sides of the mountains and plateaus. Explain the reason for this transition to terrace farming, making sure to include reasons for why horticulture wasn't practiced on the hillsides when Andes farmers first turned to horticulture. (10 words minimum)

Desperation forced their hand because they ran out of space to grow their crops. They couldn't dig into the hillsides, that would have collapsed them and the soil would have washed away.

Foraging (make sure to describe what women do and what men do; make sure to describe whether AND WHY they are mobile or sedentary)

Generally, women gather and men hunt. Because they eventually deplete the resources of an area until it runs out, they live a mobile lifestyle. Food is for eating, not trading.

Labels like "black" or "mulatto" still mean a lot on this island nation. A scandal took place when a model who had been passing as a "mulatto" was discovered to have had "black" biological parents; that fact that she was adopted and raised by a "mulatto" family demonstrates the degree to which "nurture" aspects influence race and ethnic labels that were originally thought to be purely a result of genetics and biology.

Haiti

4 pts - Hawaii's "blood quantum" laws legally classifies individuals as Hawaiian based upon Western rules of kinship; individuals fitting this classification are eligible for benefits such as access to Hawaiian Homelands, certain scholarships, etc. Why/how does this law create conflicts for individuals with Hawaiian ancestry when it comes to marriage choices (10 words or more)? Describe one way this law creates conflicts for individuals with Hawaiian ancestry when it comes to "hanai" adoption customs (10 words or more).

Hawaiians lose their freedom to marry whoever they want if they want to keep their rights and lands. Despite Hawaiian views on who is and isn't Hawaiian, Western views consider the blood of hanai adoptees as non-Hawaiian, which limits future generations. Their lack of Native Hawaiian blood is noted by the law, and can be used against them and their descendants when it comes to Hawaiian rights to land and such.

4 pts - Demonstrate ethnic status shifting by describing two changes that pop superstar Jennifer Lopez might make to change her image in her videos from an African emphasis to a Hispanic emphasis. For each description, make sure to describe what she does in one video to emphasize her African side, and how this is changed in the next video to emphasize her Hispanic side (10 words min each description)

In one video, everything from the setting, to the people's behaviors, to her clothes gives off a stereotypical "black" culture. It mimics the clichéd culture of "the hood" and a dominant black women. The other video used spanish lyrics and a hispanic melody. Her entire demeanor changed from a confident woman who steps on men into one that is running from them and afraid- a more vulnerable latina.

4 pts - Immigrant populations arriving in the United States from non-industrialized countries go through a typical pattern of health change that takes place over a number of years and generations. What typical changes in physical health tend to be experienced by later generations whose parents or grandparents immigrated to the United States (2 pts; 10 words min)? What is responsible for these changes and why are they typically not experienced in the initial years following immigration (2 pts; 10 words min)?

Initially, they tend to follow their original diet as close as they can, which is more varied and healthier. As later generations move away that diet and eat more Americanized, their general health starts to decrease and they become more vulnerable to certain diseases like high blood pressure.

Intensive Agriculture (make sure to describe the various techniques of "intensification")

Like horticulture but with a non-human energy input; they are sedentary and use things like irrigation systems, crop rotations, and fertilizers. Food is produced for both trade and subsistence.

This was the first known location in the world where humans began to farm for a living. It is also the first place in the world to experience environmental deterioration, thru soil erosion and salinification, as a result of farming practices.

Mesopotamia

4pts - As Andean populations expanded into higher and higher regions of the Andes mountains, we see terrace farming give way to "transhumant" pastoralism as the dominant food strategy. To explain this transition, tell me why terrace farming becomes more difficult as you near the tops of the mountains (10 words minimum) and why pastoralism in these areas becomes a more effective food strategy (10 words minimum).

Once you reach a certain elevation, it's too cold and try to plant crops. The animals living up there can survive better in the harsh conditions than plants would, and the humans can eat them instead.

Jared Diamond argued that the people of this island nation never developed complex technologies or advanced civilizations because the environment did not contain the types of animals or crops that can be easily and efficiently domesticated for purposes of producing food surplus.

Papua New Guinea

3 pts - Race labels are more culturally-constructed than biologically-based. Describe two ways in which being raised "upper class" might allow a Haitian with African ancestry to exhibit behavioral traits and/or maintain a physical appearance that might lead them to be identified as "mulatto" instead of "black". (7 words minimum each description)

She would have modeled her behavior after her environment, which was "upper class." Money could have payed for cosmetic surgery to change her facial features.

Male warriors of the Azande tribe in this country traditionally practiced homosexual cultural traditions in which young boy apprentices accompanied the warriors during military maneuvers away from home; these young boys engaged in sexual relations with the warriors, served as sleeping partners, and performed feminine duties such as cooking food and cleaning

Sudan

4 pts - Terrace farming is considered a form of intensive agriculture. Describe how terrace farming techniques alter (a) water availability and (b) nutrient availability and thereby intensify food productivity on the Andes hillsides in ways horticulture doesn't (10 words minimum for each description of "a" and "b"; 2 pts each).

The shape traps the water and uses it as an irrigation system. Likewise, the nutrient rich dirt (silt?) gets deposited onto the crops instead of down the valley.

Pastoralism (make sure to describe what makes certain geographical areas better for pastoralism than for foraging or farming)

Their soil quality is typically terrible for farming, but the sparse vegetation is enough to raise the animals for the humans to eat. They're semi-mobile, in that they can carry their shelters with them. They both eat and trade their food.

Horticulture (make sure to describe what "swidden farming" is and how the "slash and burn" technique works in combination with swidden farming)

These societies live sedentary lifestyles because they need land to grow food upon. However, the soil eventually becomes depleted from continuous farming. They make a swidden field from cut down forest and vegetation, doing a slow, controlled burning to return the nutrients back into the land. Crops are primarily grown for the family to eat, not for trade.

2 pts - The earliest humans in the Andes region of South America were foragers. Describe the circumstances that eventually forced their transition to horticulture. (10 words minimum)

They basically trapped themselves where they settled because it was difficult to transverse out of; they also outhunted the megafauna of the area.

Industrialized Agriculture (make sure to describe the various factors that make industrial agriculture different than traditional agriculture)

This uses machinery and fossil fuels to create and apply fertilizer and pesticides, as well as do the physical labor like planting and tilling. Usually, it's used for producing monocrops for trading.

1 pt - Immigrant populations arriving in the United States from non-industrialized countries go through a typical pattern of health change that takes place over a number of years and generations. In the first few years of arriving, immigrant populations from non-industrialized countries often experience a sharp increase in their overall health. What is the single most important factor that causes the increase in overall health, mentioned above, when new immigrants first come to the United States from non-industrialized countries? (short 1-3 word answer)

Western Medical Technology

(a) Does the amount of land needed to feed 100 people tend to INCREASE or DECREASE (circle one) as your food strategy becomes more complex?

decrease

Does the general healthiness of resulting diet tend to INCREASE or DECREASE (circle one) as your food strategy becomes more complex?

decrease

(b) Does the amount of human-controlled energy inputs per person tend to INCREASE or DECREASE (circle one) as your food strategy becomes more complex?

increase

(c) Does the need for technological specialization tend to INCREASE or DECREASE (circle one) as your food strategy becomes more complex?

increase