ANTH420 Final Review
_______________ are typically "fictional stories" that are informally passed down from one generation to the next.
Folklore
According to ___________________________, sorcery in the Amazon could cause death as the power of fear can have a negative effect on the nervous system, drop in blood pressure and secondary effects such as the inability to eat and drink
Claude Levi Strauss
_________________________ was an anthropologist working in the Amazon region. His interest included compiling myths across the Americas and comparing the variations of a single myth.
Claude Levi Strauss
__________________________ is when anthropologists try to understand people's customs and ideas without judging them.
Cultural Relativism
_________________ is society's way of justifying violence and injustice and normalizing it.
Cultural Violence
Chinese new years ceremonies and Valentines Day are both examples of _________________ rituals.
Calendrical
______________________ was a Scottish anthropologist and wrote "The Golden Bough" - in which he argued that the world's oldest religions were rooted in magic and witchcraft. Anthropologists today, continue to use some of the classifications of magical principles from this work.
James Frazer
It is now possible to make a diamond with the ashes of your loved one much like the Mourning Jewelry of the Victorian Era.
Mourning jewelry
______________________ are sacred stories that explain a religious worldview with topics that may include the origin of the universe, or the existence of the supernatural.
Myths
Human sacrifice at the public scale is most often conducted for ________________.
deities
_________________ is a rite of passage for women in the equatorial regions of Africa that causes great pain and suffering, leading to an increased skepticism of the concept of cultural relativity among anthropologists.
female genital mutilation
The "Venus of Willendorf" is one of the oldest known examples of _______________ goddess figures.
fertility
The _______________ is a word that was used by Europeans to describe the objects that Africans used in magic, considered an irrational propensity to personify objects.
fetish
Human sacrifice conducted at a small scale or private event typically occurred as _______________.
funerary events for powerful or prestigious individuals
In Victorian Period America and England, the _________________ movement became popular, in which individuals could make contact with the dead through seances, ouija boards, and crystal balls.
spiritualism
________________ is the result of societal conditions that lead to harm and violence against individuals such as lowered life expectancy among poor segments or society or increased policing and punishment against segments of society.
structural violence
The phases in rites of passage are:
-Separation -Liminality -Reincorporation
_______________ are individualized supernatural beings that generally do not have human origins.
Gods
The following can induce "altered states of consciousness"
- Repetitive drumming/dancing - Hallucinogens - Intense Pain - Fasting
Members of Holiness churches in Appalachia, interpret the bible literally and their practices include:
- Speaking in tongues - Snake handling - Drinking poisons
Features of symbolism include:
-can change over time -must be repeated to be understood -can have multiple meanings -must be taught and learned
Certain individuals can become a Shaman or ritual specialist by various means, including:
-Born with distinct physical traits -Near death experience -Initiated through a series of intense trials
Symbolic thinking enables humans to:
-Contemplate the origin of the universe -Communicate abstract ideas such as the existence of supernatural entities -Think about a past and envision a future event
Physical evidence for human sacrifice often cited by archaeologists, includes
-Slicing and butchering marks on bone -The context in which the skeletal remains are found
Anthropological approaches to the study of ritual and religion is unique as it studies human societies as integrated wholes, this approach is called
Anthropocentric
Over the history of Halloween, the traditional Celtic festival of Samhain was replaced with _______________ by Christians attempting to end pagan rituals. This day was a time to honor and pray for the dead.
All Souls Day
Richard Evans Schultes was ____________________.
An ethnobotanist interested in Amerindian use of plants
_______________________ is ascribing human like characteristics to non human entities.
Anthropomorphism
In his study of religion, the well-known sociologist ____________, saw religion as serving an essential purpose in maintaining the survival of a group. This is now seen as a functionalist understanding of religion.
Emile Durkheim
______________________ is to consider one's own culture as superior or the "correct" way to behave as compared to other cultural systems.
Ethnocentrism
The _____________________ approach to religion considers animism to be the most primitive kind of religion.
Evolutionary
Anthropological approaches to the study of ritual and religion is unique as it studies human societies as integrated wholes, this approach is called:
Holism
Male Vodou priests are known as _____________ , and female Vodou priestesses are known as ______________.
Houngan, Mambo
Individuals may use their bodies to convey symbolic meaning, such as the practice of spreading red pigment along the hairline to symbolize _____________ in India.
Marriage
A ________________________ is an occurrence believed to foreshadow a future event.
Omen
With ______________ , one does not have control of their body, it is only a vehicle. With _____________, the individual has control of their body and is able to leave their body to visit other worlds.
Possession, trance
________________________ is a recent movement that recognizes there are multiple ways in understanding the world, the Western viewpoint of science, objectivity and "reason" is but one.
Post-Modernism
____________________ analyzed myths as clues to the psyche, arguing that myths such as the Greek myth of Oedipus, in which he killed his father and married his mother is a universal psychological conflict in all boys.
Sigmund Freud
Protective rituals
Rituals designed to protect the safety of people engaged in dangerous activities
Similar to Vodou in Haiti, _________________ in Cuba and _________ in Brazil also recognize a pantheon of spirits.
Santeria, Candomble
The term "Shaman" (although broadly used to refer to a general class of religious specialists) is actually a term adopted from ___________________.
Siberia
The _________________ posits that human sacrifice is most common among complex societies as a way to reinforce hierarchy.
Social control hypothesis
Ethnobotany is ____________________.
Specialization in Anthropology concerned with the identification and classification of indigenous use of plants
____________ may live in the human world, but ______________ typically live in a far off location separate from the living realm of humans.
Spirits, Gods
The Azande are a cultural group that lives in ___________________________.
Sudan and the congo area
The _______________ is a religious symbol that exists cross culturally, but in its older forms was associated with positive meanings such as "prosperity" and "good luck" and is used in Hinduism, Buddhism, and by the Navajo.
Swastika
Embalming was not common in American death rituals until ___________________.
The civil war
What is Sati?
The self sacrifice of a widow in India
In Turkey, Sufis may experience a feeling of ecstacy through continuous spinning, sometimes for hours. This dance is called _____________________.
The whirling dervish
The __________________________ is a death ritual that involves leaving the body of the deceased exposed to be eaten by vultures.
Tibetan sky burial
Meaning can change across historical contexts.
True
The roots of Haitian Voodoo/Vodou can be traced to __________________.
West Africa
___________________ was one of the first anthropologists to study Voodoo and present an anthropological ethnography on the subject.
Zora Neale Hurston
Religions are often _______________, meaning that the beliefs are considered to be absolute truth and does not allow any other viewpoints. This is one of the primary causes of Religious based conflict and violence.
absolutist
An ______________________ is essentially any mental state that is out of the ordinary or different from normal day-to-day experiences.
altered state of consciousness
For some individuals, their soul may become a part of a group of supernatural beings, or ________________, that are important to the living and often consulted and venerated.
ancestors
Among monotheistic religions rooted in Christianity, Judaism, or Islam, _____________ act as mediators between humans and god.
angels
Gods are typically __________________, in that they resemble the human form and may have human-like personalities.
anthropomorphic
A ______________________ is a type of indigenous ritual specialist, also known as "two-spirits" because they are third gendered and can access the spiritual realms of men and women.
berdache
The _________________ are sacrificed individuals found throughout Europe, that due to the environment in which they were killed, were incredibly preserved.
bog bodies
According to Stein and Stein, how is Nationalism like Religion?
both serve as sources of identity and for defining self and other both provide a basis for a worldview both have symbols, stories, and individuals likened to saints both expect loyalty and rebellion considered a crime
A _____________ is typically a label referring to religious movements that exist outside of the norm as accepted by society.
cult
When cultural traits are transferred from one culture to another, or __________ , than religions may change through ___________ in which the religions of the two interacting cultures merge to create a new, third type of religion.
diffusion, syncretism
When studying the religious practices of other cultures, anthropologists may find it difficult to attain an ___________ perspective, or "insiders" perspective. But the anthropologist may utilize an ____________ approach, or "outsiders" perspective in order to determine the underlying structure or logic to the religious practice under study.
emic, etic
Among Native Americans of the Southwest, witches were typically butchered and dismembered to _________________.
ensure the soul could not return to the body and inflict further harm
When considering the ways things acquire special meanings, the _________________ is when objects are associated with their owners, these kinds of things, such as heirlooms are often included in ritual and ceremony.
extended persons
According to the Azande, if you are a Christian, you cannot also believe in witches.
false
Anthropologists are objective and non-biased observers of culture.
false
In the film, "In Search of Voodoo", the famed actor Djimon Hounsou travels throughout America to find all the contemporary Voodoo shrines as a means to highlight just how widely practiced Voodoo is in America.
false
It is often the most powerful people that are sacrificed in religious ceremonial events.
false
Myths are only found in Greek culture
false
Physical evidence of human sacrifice in the past is difficult to determine so anthropologists must turn to historical accounts to study the practice.
false
__________________ in religious beliefs and practice typically argues against change or modernization of traditional meanings or original interpretation of religious texts. The strict adherence to tradition and resistance to change often leads to violence and conflict.
fundamentalism
The "Ghost Dance" was a revitalization movement in which ____________________ would dance a traditional dance over multiple days in order to call upon the dead to aid them in bringing about the return of a traditional way of life - the life they had prior to European Colonization.
native americans
Gods that form a collective, are typically called a _____________________.
pantheon
The _______________ is a word that was used by Europeans to describe the objects that Africans used in magic, considered an irrational propensity to personify objects.
red
Individuals in Java, Indonesia can become possessed or fall under trance during Jathilan through _____________________.
repetitive music and dancing
____________________ attempt to revive what is considered a past golden age, it is an attempt to return to traditional practices and beliefs when cultures face stress or threat of cultural extinction
revitalization movements
Rites of passage
rituals that accompany change of status in society
Technological rituals
rituals that attempt to influence or control nature
Ideological rituals
rituals that serve to maintain the normal functioning of a community
A ______________ rituals are carried out as a response to a need and ___________________ rituals are required to be performed, often following strict rules of performance.
situational, prescriptive
Contemporary anthropologists typically prefer the term _______________________ rather than "primitive" which is inherently negative in it's assumption of human development.
small-scale society
In the film "In Search of Voodoo" - the Voodoo priest explains that _________________ is used as a form of justice or to keep balance but it can be dangerous.
sorcery
One factor that may have driven the practice of "widow burning" in India is ____________.
the desire to inherit the material wealth of the deceased
In America, ___________ death rituals, are conducted at home, including preparing the body and hosting a memorial, in contrast, _____________ death rituals are characterized by professionalization and medicalization.
traditional, modern
Among the Azande, a person can practice witchcraft against someone and not know it.
true
An example of image magic could be the use of "voodoo" dolls
true
In hunting societies, Shamans may have the power to become the animal to be hunted in order to determine migration routes.
true
India's Hindu religion has inequality and oppression built into it's structure through the caste system.
true
Myths are stories that reflect the underlying worldview of the society.
true
Religious based violence can be found in all of the world's major religions and in some smaller religious groups as well
true
Religious specialists often carry out their work with the use of objects/material mediums and costumes.
true
Rites of passage are found among all societies
true
The anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston, argued that as a Black woman, she was in a preferable position to study Black cultures. However, her "insider's" approach was met with criticism by some scholars, as it was thought that the goal should be complete objectivity.
true
The belief in demonic possession is still common among conservative Christians.
true
The concept of atheism as it was initially used, meant refusing to accept the existing pantheon of god, not how we use it today.
true
The difference between ghosts and souls is that ghosts are typically considered a negative force that can bring illness or harm, but souls that linger after death do not.
true
Things can be inalienable or "extended persons".
true
While spirits may reside in any type of entity, plants, animals, sacred places etc., the soul is typically just attributed to humans.
true
In European lore, the __________________ is someone that had recently died but have returned to bring death to others.
vampires