ANTHROPOLOGY EXAM #3

Matrilocal/Uxorilocal

- (15% of recent societies) -- many in South America, North America, Africa. -- Daughters stay with their parents, and co-reside with female kin (sisters, aunts, female parallel cousins). -Men may move into a matrilocal house in the same village in which their kin reside. -Men rarely move very far -- see their male kin regularly. -some societies = married men actually reside in a men's house during the day or night and spend little time at their wife & children's house. -Example: society in "Dead Birds"

Patrilocal / Virilocal

- (about 70% of recent societies). -Sons stay with their fathers and co-reside with male kin (brothers, uncles, male parallel cousins) and their spouses. -Women move residence at marriage and may sometimes live far away and never see their consaguineal kin again. -- Asia, India, the Middle East, Australia and much of traditional European society (before the industrial revolution). -Patrilocal / Virilocal residence -Chimpanzee social organization = male kin remain together; adolescent females leave the group. -- this residence pattern may have been typical of all pre-modern hominins.

If marriage is _____ post-marital residence rules refer to the settlement where the couple resides.

EXOGAMOUS (marrying someone of another residential unit)

Early religious ideas

Early Middle Eastern religious writings contain different versions of some of the same mythical events (e.g., Noah's flood). It seems likely the Bible contains versions of myths that already existed before the Hebrew writers ca. 700-400 BC Other early religions have little or no similarity to middle eastern religions (eg. Buddhism, Hinduism, Aztec religion, etc.) suggesting completely independent origins.

Clan

Groups of lineages who are descended from some unspecified common ancestor far back in time. Often clans are land holding groups defined in terms of a common ancestor. Scottish clans were ambilineal descent groups that held a piece of territory called a glen. Often there is a title or charter to land, rights to certain resources such as fishing rights along a river. The clan may be identified through association with mythical animal or plant ancestor called a TOTEM. The totem is like a title or charter to land use rights.

monotheism

The belief in a single all-powerful deity

polytheism

The belief in multiple deities, who control aspects of nature

animism

The belief in spiritual beings e.g. deities, ghosts, souls or doubts.

The tendency to do social copying:

a) can produce local variation (like genetic drift but much more rapid) b) can lead to maladaptive behavior (modern low fertility?? Playing golf?)

Theory suggests that if an organism expends time and energy on a behavior, it must have some _____

function -- otherwise it would be out-competed by variants that did not "waste" that energy.

Wealth stratification in the US has increased during a time period when social status has _____ (one in which anybody can move up in social class).

gone from a racially based caste system to an open class system

Unilineal descent groups

membership defined by descent either along the paternal or maternal line.

Social stratification: Lower castes

men don't cook or wash either. They, like wealthy social groups, attain membership by birth.

animitism

the belief in a supernatural power that organizes and animates the material universe.

Religion & Social Complexity Hunter-Gatherers

- Egalitarian - SHAMAN = part-time religious specialist

Moiety

- Society is divided up into two descent groups ( 'moieties') -- Many Australian tribes are divided into exogamous moieties.

Religion & Social Complexity More complex societies (especially States)

- Stratified / Class society - PRIEST = religious specialist (sometimes only performs religious ceremonies)

Bilocal

- common in hunter-gatherers & some state level societies. -- about 7% of recent societies. -- Married adults of either sex live with their parents depending on circumstances. -When both families are from the same settlement the new couple may live near both sets of parents or even alternate living with both families.

If both the husband's and wife's parents live in the same settlement, the marriage is called _____ and the residence rule refers to the house where they reside.

ENDOGAMOUS

Kinship determines

- who you live with - division of rights to resources. Pre-State Societies: Kinship =main way of organizing larger groups for collective action and cooperation.

Avunculocal ("Uncle" location)

-- 4% of societies -- Americas, Micronesia and Africa -- New couples move in with the husband's mother's brother after marriage. --emphasizes the importance of the maternal kin line but taking into allowing on older male to be the household leader. -- Societies where matrilineal descent determines property ownership, but men are political leaders.

Explanations for common residence patterns

-- Both sexes should prefer to live with their own kin -- Whichever has most to gain or lose will probably be most insistent, leading to a preferred residence pattern. -Males in most societies provide most of the family resources, whereas females care for children and the household. -There are often strong advantages to kin alliances and cooperation for resource acquisition and WARFARE -- males have a stronger reason to stay near kin. Sometimes females produce a good deal of food or income in a way that requires cooperation (eg. Processing large batches of carbohydrate resources in an "assembly line"). Also -- child care may be more efficient when women cooperate to help raise each other's offspring. In these societies women may benefit strongly from staying near close kin. Thus, we cannot predict residence pattern without detailed knowledge about how the resource production system works.

Modern societies

-- machines replace human strength, + low fertility, and purchased, safe childcare --- sexual division of labor almost disappears (still some differences in US households). Much of what is left may be due to economy of scale (women often cook, shop, or wash) and training specialization (men do mechanical work, house repair, yardwork etc.)

Neolocal

-- rare (about 5%) -- mainly restricted to post-industrial economies. -New couples live somewhat distant from both spouses' parents and are economically independent as soon as they marry.

Stratification in human societies. D) Wealth differentials almost always lead to power and status differentials (after time), but power and status may show long historical lag even when wealth disappears.

1) 'Neuveau riche'. convert to high status in second generation 2) Lottery winners, rock stars etc may still be considered 'low class' 3) People from appropriate family background retain status after wealth is gone. Yuqui of Bolivia still had slaves even after they regressed to a hunter-gatherer society (few hundred years from the stratified societies in which slavery had developed). India -- members of lower castes can get very well paying jobs but still cannot marry individuals of a higher caste. Original lowest caste (Dalit) came from the conquered populations of the Indus river valley 3500 years ago. They are often victims of crime and persecution, cannot attend school, hold many jobs or enter many buildings.

3 kinds of kin relationships

1) CONSANGUINAL("blood" relations based on common descent) 2) AFFINAL relations (relations by marriage) Affinal relations are weak until children are produced, and can become quickly strained. 3) FICTIVE - imaginary (fraternity brothers, blood brothers, etc)

Shamanism: Two common ways of entering a trance

1) Dancing, drumming, chanting, physical exertion, or physical deprivation (hunger / thirst) - - May take a considerable amount of time - - Some people are able to enter trances this way, but others cannot. EXAMPLE: Plains Indians practice = "Vision Quest" - for shamans and ordinary people alike. Steps: 1) Go on a journey, often alone, without eating or drinking. 2) Hunger, thirst, and/or exhaustion may eventually trigger a trance-like state during which important insights will be revealed. Shamanistic trances using dancing, drumming, chanting, or physical exertion / suffering were common in societies in Africa and northern Eurasia and North America. 2) Drugs -- Hallucinogenic mushrooms (Eurasia, N. America) -- Ephedra (Eurasia) -- Marijuana (Eurasia, N. America) -- Tobacco (N. America)

Stratification in human societies. C) First-comers in many human societies impose lower rank on latecomers

1) Examples, clans on polynesian islands, southwestern pueblo villages. a) this leads to markers of prior arrival (Descendants of Mayflower, Daughters of the American Revolution, Daughters of the Confederacy, Native New Mexican bumper stickers). 2) Differences in rank sometimes imply greater resource rights (lower ranked groups pay tribute --- based on distant historically established conventions). This is particularly true of inherited chiefly status a) Ifaluk chiefs get some fish from every fishing event b) Southwestern pueblo clans had differential rights to better or worse agricultural land. During poor years the low status clans worked for the higher status clans.

Some ideas about the function of religion:

1) Explains the unexplainable 2) Relieves anxiety about the future 3) Promotes cooperation 4) Relieves anxiety from uncertainty about what to do 5) Justifies behavior 6) Passes on behavioral advice (that might be questioned) 7) Social control

Different 'classes' and sexes of individuals may behave differently because of:

1) differences in opportunities 2) differences in constraints that determine costs and benefits of behaviors 3) differences in overall goals

Stratification in human societies. A) Anthropologists divide human societies into:

1) egalitarian (everyone born with equal access to resources, power, status) Most hunter-gather and small tribal agriculturalists are egalitarian. 2) ranked (some individuals have symbolically higher rank but often not much more power or economic status). Many pre-state chiefdoms are ranked societies. 3) class (subsets born with higher economic opportunity, power, and social status) Very rigid class systems that allow for no upward mobility in life are caste systems (such as in India, Japan, 19th century US, Rwanda, etc.).

Stratification in human societies. B) Dominance hierarchy is more pronounced in all social primates than in most human egalitarian societies. Why?

1) people appear to need other people more than primates need each other. a) cooperative production b) food sharing c) violent confrontation 2) Overt signaling of high status often elicits counter-coalitions a) individuals play down status differences (good hunters act humble)

The amplification of in-group markers- ethnicity

1. Individuals often prefer to interact with those who have predictable and same behavioral tendencies a) ex. -prefer daughter to marry patrilocal man if you are in patrilocal society b) prefer to do business with somebody who has the same understanding of business rules- prefer to do reciprocal altruism with those who have same understanding of the rules of reciprocation (if I invite you to dinner you later invite me to dinner). 2. The preferences for interaction with individuals who share some common world view and rules leads to signaling of in-group membership. - divergence in some traits between neighbors is likely to be amplified as a better signal. 3. When ethnic marking has a payoff, markers may be more exaggerated on the boundaries between groups. a) those who have weakest ethnic background may use strongest visible markers eg. Overdoing cowboy dress by urban 'cowboys'. Feathers, braids and beads among Indians who grow up in non-traditional way. Overdoing Hispanic accent among those who can't speak Spanish.

According to Kottak, what specialized functions do states have that are less clearly developed or absent in less complex forms of political systems? Hint: the list is early in the section on state systems.

1. Population control: fixing of boundaries, border control, establishment of citizenship categories, and censusing. 2. Judiciary: Laws, legal procedure, and judges 3. Enforcement: permanent military and police forces 4. Fiscal support: taxation

social stratification & sexual division of labor

= similar because some members of a society do different things than other members -- some have different rights, responsibilities and privileges

Why should males and females cooperate?

A) Males and females who are pair-bonded tend to have similar goals. 1) under many conditions males best increase their fitness by increasing the fitness of their female partner. Thus we expect married men and women to be generally cooperative. B) When the outcome is shared (children) specialization is expected because: 1) Life is complex -- many different goods and services have utility 2) One sex may have a comparative advantage, thus they should provide the utility that they can provide at the highest efficiency rate (females lactate are generally constrained by an infant, males specialize in strength requiring tasks) 3) Economy of scale characterizes many tasks (caring for children, washing dishes, grocery shopping, gathering roots) 4) When tasks require extensive embodied capital (learning and skill) specialization is always more efficient C) In hunter-gatherer societies men hunt and women gather. This could be due to: 1) Strong utility of carbohydrate and protein-lipid macronutrients a) Childcare constraints make hunting a poor choice for women 2) Alternative hypothesis, a) Men hunt because it leads to occasional large packages that can be converted into mating opportunities "the showoff hypothesis" b) women gather because it gives higher average food returns D) In hunter-gatherer societies, and many others, women cook, collect firewood, wash clothes, maintain residence structure. They also often sell items in markets, make time intensive crafts and tools, etc? Why do you think this is? a) childcare constraints b) lack of mating opportunities associated with these tasks?

Five possibilities for post-marital residence

A) Patrilocal / Virilocal B) Matrilocal/Uxorilocal C) Bilocal- common in hunter-gatherers & some state level societies. D) Avunculocal ("Uncle" location) E) Neolocal

Correlates of Residence Patterns

A) Patrilocality - the rule when land rights, or domestic animals are inherited through the patriline. Settlement exogamy is nearly always associated with patrilocality. B) Matrilocality --common when young men have warrior age grades and a men's house, or when men do long distance travel and are away for long time periods. Rarely found with settlement exogamy. Practice only external warfare (against another linguistic/ethnic group often far away). C) Bilocal - common when one set of parents are likely to be dead, & when property rights are not strongly inherited through paternal or maternal lines. When economic opportunities vary from family to family bilocal residence allows individuals to move to the best opportunity. Endogamy or low levels of violence allow for bilocal residence. D) Neolocal - ONLY common when kin are not important economically. -- Goods and services can be bought, including emergency help (insurance) -- Violence is controlled by the state (thus negating need for kin alliances), -- residence pattern of wage earning state level societies.

An example of religious belief in an egalitarian society

Ache religious beliefs that do not include Gods or moral rules enforced by supernatural punishments: Ache foragers believe in 'Berendy'- a fire-glowing-being that thunders, and takes the form of a falling meteor,--- the supernatural being most discussed in myths. Kim Hill saw a meteor one day in the forest which burned bright overhead and then broke the sound barrier with a loud boom. The Ache exclaimed "Berendy". The sun and the moon are twin Ache (actually moon is the placenta of sun) who climbed up arrows that had been stuck in the sky in order to get into their current place. Darkness came about when Barendy's son broke open a giant clay pot containing the night. The moon is eaten each month by jaguars but later the Sun saves him to be reborn. Krei which takes the form of both wind and shadows is a healing spirit that helps people. Anjave, the ghost of angry dead Ache, can carry out evil acts like push one out of a tree or into a fire. There are dozens of minor animal spirits, including deer who first gave people fire which it kept between its toes, jaguars who are still around because Sun and Moon failed to kill them all in a battle. Most other animals used to be Ache but were turned into animals when they fell out of a palm tree during a great flood in which everybody but two Ache were drowned. The Ache believed that ghosts of all dead people were dangerous, and thus infants were often killed and thrown into the grave in order that "anjave" not come looking for other living people. The corpses of old men and women were sometimes burned after death so that their particularly nasty ghosts would not bother anyone. Although the Ache believe in some simple forms of hunting magic (charms and spells) they do not believe in witchcraft or ever invoke supernatural beings to come to their aid or hinder their enemies.

Crow kinship system

Almost perfect mirror image to Omaha Matrilineal descent In this system, the mother's brother is a man in the same matriline as the mother. His children will acquire their matriline from whatever woman he marries. In this system, when someone has descended on fathers matriline, your father's sister when she has children, her son would be called your father. So, as a male of your father's matriline, that is your father reguardless (even if he's 6 years old)

Totem

An animal, a plant or a geographic feature associated with a specific social group, to which that totem is sacred or symbolically important.

Stratification in non-human societies B) Basic inequalities in body strength or social alliances are the determinants of dominance.

Barbara Smuts showed that in over 3,000 interactions in baboons less than 1% of the time did the dominant animal lose a contest.

Berendy

Berendy also exists as a malevolent spirit in personified form sometimes looks like a big hairy beast and can be killed by hunters but might jump into a river to escape There are many stories about Barendy and his son, whose form is never specified. Barendy's son was eaten by jaguars --- he used to call each animal when he was hunting and they would come to him so he could kill them to eat. He was told not to call jaguars, but went ahead and did so anyway and they killed him. Brandy took revenge on a certain type of bird for not protecting his son during hunting (the bird was burnt to a crisp, but later came back to life).

Stratification in human societies. E) Wealth can be leveraged to gain greater wealth.

Capitalist societies -- workers always produce a higher value than they are paid. Profit can be used to capitalize production, those who have more wealth at time T will have an even greater advantage at time T+1. The process of runaway wealth stratification = stopped by competition between capitalists., invention, and generational heterogeneity

What does Kottak mean by the phrase, "culture is learned"?

Children absorb any cultural tradition with ease because of our human capacity to learn, unlike most animals who learn from experience. Through cultural learning, people can create, remember, and deal with ideas. They understand then apply specific systems of symbolic meaning. Sometimes it can be taught directly like when a mother tells her child to say thank you. Regardless of genes, or physical appearance, people can learn any cultural tradition.

6 kinship systems found around the world.

Crow Omaha Iroquois Sudanese Eskimo Hawaiian

Robert Boyd

Culture is information acquired by individuals through social learning that leads to regular behavioral patterns. A property of culture is that it is cumulative. It is possible to build more and more complex culture on top of a simpler foundation.

Stratification in non-human societies A) Most social species -- dominance hierarchy.

Develop because of competitive interaction & advantages from ritualistically settling contests without actual violence. Advantages to both winners & losers: Winners - don't have to engage in battles to win Losers - don't have to be harmed in order to determine that they will not win to signal their likely relative competitive outcomes.

2 hypotheses for hunter-gatherer sexual division of labor

Different constraints (childcare) vs. Different goals (mating)

Other Hunter-Gatherer religions are similarly different from major world religions.

Example: traditional San (Bushman) beliefs -- Powerful, dangerous spirits are present -- No moral code backed up by supernatural punishment for transgressions -- Shamans can enter the dangerous spiritual world via trances to seek cures for the sick, get rain (for wild game and plants), etc.

Religion: 2 Relieves anxiety about future (and past) events

Humans are powerless over many things that happen to them in their lives. They can conceive of a power beyond themselves which could make things happen for ill or good, & perhaps give people help with or control over events. --- connection with such a power might help them achieve their goals. When something really bad happens it relieves stress to have an explanation of the event that implies that you have control over it not happening again (he was struck by lightning because he didn't obey taboo X, thus if I obey it I wont be struck). A.F.C. Wallace : " religion is a set of rituals, rationalized by myth, which mobilizes supernatural powers for the purposes of achieving or preventing transformations of state in people and nature." Religious belief has an effect: participation in religious activity or rituals such as prayer, meditation, chanting, dancing and singing, has a measurable physiological effect on people, apparently relieving stress (lowered cortisol level). Religions that include moral viewpoints about right and wrong backed up by supernatural punishments and rewards.

Economy of scale characterizes many tasks (caring for children, washing dishes, grocery shopping, gathering roots) When tasks require extensive embodied capital (learning and skill) specialization is always more efficient.

Humans show some of these tendencies, but much sexual division of labor in modern societies seems related to these points, something rarely found in non-humans

SEX differences in Political Power

In many societies men hold more formal political power than women. This may not seem surprising since males have more to gain (in genetic contribution) from high political status than do women. Many great chiefs and despots sire hundreds of children, just as high ranked primate males father many more offspring from lower ranked males. Thus males should be designed to care more about political power and put more effort into acquiring it

Social Stratification

In modern India, some people live in palaces and never cook their own food or wash their own clothes. They belong to a wealthy social group, whose membership is determined by birth (caste). Others live in abject poverty and do not attend school. They are destined to be servants, menial laborers and beggars.

Coalitions and ethnicity

In-group vs. out group competition and signaling-- seems to have a long human history Balancing the pluses and minuses of that type of groupism, and the powerful symbolic messages that go along with ethnic markers (ie. you are not a member of my group) is a major challange for modern societies that wish to "celebrate diversity"

Are sex differences due to a male coalition to suppress females?

Just as classes engage in different activities so too do the sexes. But many sex differences appear to be due to cooperation in marriage rather than status differentials. In some places males may form coalitions to suppress women but males do not all share common interests. a) Men have mothers, sisters, and daughters that they would like to see succeed economically even if they wish to limit their wives' activities. Species wide coalitions by sex unlikely because many conflicts with same sex members. b) females are often involved in limiting/encouraging the activities of other females (mothers train daughters to cook, wash, etc.; educational training in Afghanistan is limited by mothers as well as fathers, women encourage daughters to wear veil, behave certain ways etc.)

Religion: 1 Explaining the unexplainable

Many difficult questions = answered by religious beliefs. If lack of understanding is stressful, any answer may relieve that stress. -- Origin myths -- What happens after death -- Natural phenomena (lightening, disasters)

A few more words on Shamanism . . .

Many simple societies (hunter-gatherers, horticulturalists, herders) have shamans. The word "shaman" comes from a northern Siberian group's name for their part-time religious specialists. A shaman usually works by entering a trance in which they try to obtain the spiritual assistance to make a cure or other desired transformation in state (i.e., bringing rain).

Exogamy

Marriage outside of group

Endogamy

Marriage within group

Are humans the only thing that experience culture?

No. Animals examples: Birds in England open milk bottles Japanese macaque 1) Wash sweet potatoes in sea water 2) Throw grains of rice in river to separate from sand 3) Sit in hot springs when cold

One sex may have a comparative advantage, thus they should provide the utility that they can provide at the highest efficiency rate (females lactate are generally constrained by an infant, males specialize in strength requiring tasks)

Non-human animals --- sex differences in activities due to ability (stronger, faster) or constraints (lactation and infant care).

Eskimo kinship system

Nuclear family apart from all aunts, uncles, cousins. All cousins are marriageable. In this system, you call your mothers sister by the same term you call your fathers sister, etc. All children of parents siblings are called same name -- cousin. i.e. aunt, uncle, cousin, etc.

Decrease in importance of kinship?

Only in recent state-level, post-industrial societies

Culture as enforcement of norms.

Recent mathematical modeling has shown that many behaviors can be stabilized in societies when they are due to norms in which deviant individuals are punished by group members. Despite the fact that we don't know exactly how social groups come up with enforceable norms, once they do, they constitute part of the payoff structure for the behaviors they seek to influence.

Origins of Religion

Religion has probably been a part of human lives for between 400,000 and 100,000 years -- earlier date is less certain -- some archaic humans (Neanderthals) May have also practiced religion

Religion: 3 Promoting cooperation

Religions = moralistic guides for behavior. -Often promotes behavior which runs contrary to self interest but will lead to high benefits for the entire social group if all members of society comply (thou shalt not steal, etc). Skip Rappaport -- human capacity for religious experience evolved because it "short-circuits" selfishness or self-interest and motivates people to engage in group oriented activities, sometimes even risking their lives in the process. ----This would have been advantageous for all collective action.

Religion: 7 Manipulation

Some religious beliefs are designed to promote the interests of those who advocate the religious beliefs (eg. God wants men to have multiple wives; God wants ME to have multiple wives; God wants you to donate money to him..send to my address)--religious beliefs are often designed to make people comply with rules that serve the interests of the powerful and wealthy.

Religion: 5 Justifying behavior

Some religious beliefs seem designed to provide a justification for behavior patterns which might otherwise seem questionable (eg. wearing a veil, killing infidels). Religious beliefs are often considered outside the realm of logical scrutiny (based on faith). Different ethnic groups may claim "sacredness" for many types of behavior, so that these will not be questioned or ridiculed. In this way many ethnic behavioral differences ultimately become grounded in religious belief.

Religion: 4 Relieves anxiety from uncertainty about what to do

Sometimes a simple code of life that seems "good for us" or has been designed by "superior forces" can be much easier to follow, than to live life and make decisions day by day about what we should do. Having doubts introduces stress in life, believing that all decisions are straightforward eases that stress

Religion: 6 Passing on behavioral advice that might be questioned

Sometimes, the cost benefit analyses of behavior is either not possible or potentially misleading. In order to encourage future kin to do things in the best way it may be easier to invoke a religious argument (eg. S.Am. taboo punishing those who eat Tapirs, when it would be a waste of time to try to hunt them)

What types of traits should show the highest cultural variation due to the tendency to copy?

Those traits that have low adaptive consequences (pottery, painting styles, different forms of adornment, equivalent ways of doing common behaviors, artistic styles)

Sex differences and gender differences

Traits due directly to constraints of sex Differences due to cultural influences the true cause of these differences is not well established

Sudanese kinship system

Unique system because all of kin get their own name. So, mothers sister has different name than your fathers sister. Your mothers brother is called by a different name than your fathers brother. The children of parents siblings all have different names resulting in clarity of relatability, but also a vast number of kinship terms which must be remembered by society.

Religion & Social Complexity Any Type of Society

Witch - a person who practices magic, often to harm other people. Witches often have low social status or are even despised (unlike Shamans). People in some societies commonly attribute sickness or misfortune to witchcraft

cultural universal

a common practice or belief found in every culture a.k.a. religion (or belief in the supernatural)

Bilateral decent

a kinship system in which both sides of a person's family are regarded as equally important

Patrilineal decent

a kinship system in which only the father's relatives are significant

Matrilineal decent

a kinship system in which only the mother's relatives are significant

Bilocal residence

a pattern of residence in which a married couple lives with or near either the husband's parents or the wife's parents

Patrilocal residence

a residence pattern in which a married couple lives in the husband's father's place of residence

Imitative magic

a ritual performance that achieves efficacy by imitating the desired magical result

Ideology

a system of ideas and ideals, especially one that forms the basis of economic or political theory and policy.

chimpanzees

a) 39 different behavioral patterns including tool use, grooming and courtship patterns are customary or habitual in some communities but are absent in others. b) the combined repertoire of these behavioral patterns in each chimp community is highly distinctive. These are "cultural groups".

Relative status of women-- How much real political power do women have via their powerful husbands?

a) Discussions in Ache bands where males advocate their wife's position b) Hillary Clinton, Imelda Marcos, Evita Peron, etc. How much power do they attain? Wives of high status men usually higher status than men of lower status than their husband (but not higher status than men of approximately equal status to their husband). One of the strongest associations with higher women's status is co-residence of female kin groups. Female kin form alliances to back each other and resist male domination. But the societies with highest female status are also those with highest female embodied capital. Females who have useful skills and abilities use their bargaining power to obtain political power.

Females generally don't participate in warfare. Why?

a) costs are higher -- lower strength, childcare constraints b) benefits smaller -- successful males spread their genes Indeed there has never been a society on earth where women organized wars and went out to fight while men stayed home. The opposite is very common!

What are the forces countering runaway maladaptive behavior through imitation?

a) don't copy when easy to assess consequences of behavior b) occasionally assess whether copied behavior "works" c) scenario playing allows you to assess consequences without ever paying the costs of trial and error learning. (example: should you copy somebody who runs red lights?)

Why copy?

a) most individuals are already doing the adaptive thing b) costly to do trial and error learning 1) might get killed or injured trying 2) takes a lot of time to learn best way c) difficult to assess best behavior option 1) should tapirs be hunted? 2) should you behave as if you will be punished if you sin?

Who to copy

a) most successful individuals b) older individuals c) close kin d) individuals phenotypically like you

Why are females prohibited from political positions in some places? Why are males threatened by females if they are unlikely to compete in the political arena? (eg. recent suit in New Mexico Pueblo because woman wanted to be elected to head of tribal council. Elders unanimously rejected her plea to be allowed to run for the office).

a) perhaps men feel that the cooperative goals of marriage can be best attained with women at home -- but why don't women agree? Suggests that women's entry into politics threatens some males -- ie. males may want to be allowed activities that give them better mating opportunities (and don't want competition).

Beliefs Variation in types of supernatural forces 2) Ancestral spirits are important in _____ where land, animals, or other property is handed down from generation to generation.

agricultural and herding societies People call on ancestral spirits to justify their claims to a piece of property and to insure that they inherit it in the face of counter claims made by others.

Marvin Harris

argued that cultural traits are functional and adaptive. 1) Proposed that ban on pork in Middle Eastern countries was due to the fact that pigs need water in hot weather and would foul the water supply (pigs defecate and urinate all over themselves and wallow in water supplies whenever possible). Should only work in hot dry climates. 2) Harris suggests that a public goods problem is solved through social institutions. All would like pig for themselves but if everyone has one we may all get sick and die. Thus, all pigs should be banned for the public good.

Stratification in non-human societies D) Dominance is used to gain an advantage in resource access, mating, safety, etc. Ultimately high-status individuals _____

convert their dominance into higher genetic contribution Dominance = advantage in access to resources, mating. High-status individuals convert their dominance into higher genetic contribution. Thus all individuals should be designed by natural selection to desire high status and make efforts to achieve it.

_____ culture change is rare among animals other than chimpanzees

cumulative Social learning in animals mainly leads to the spread of behaviors that could be learned individually. There is evidence that culture of animals includes socially learned information but less evidence of a cultural component due to enforced norms of behavior.

Patrilineal descent

descent through male line (eg. China, American surnames)

Blatantly flaunting _____ may not lead to overall _____ in modern societies

differences (lack of shared common values, nor intention to intermarry, make friends, etc) cooperation

Stratification in non-human societies C) Sometimes social alliances are inherited, thus _____

dominance can be inherited (baboon matrilines).

unmotivated imitation

e.g. Young kids pick up toothbrushes and pretend to brush non-existing teeth. Pretend to shift gears while driving imaginary vehicles

Stratification in non-human societies E) Alliances provide benefits to individuals who cooperate = defeat other alliances. When there are several alliance groups, _____.

higher ranked groups often gang up to keep lower ranked groups from moving up the dominance hierarchy. Since higher ranked groups are generally more powerful, coalitions of higher ranked groups rarely loose to coalitions of lower ranked groups (successful revolution is uncommon).

Beliefs Variation in types of supernatural forces 1) In complex societies, good or bad things that happen are usually the result of other people's actions. Human influence on your fortunes is very strong, rather than natural influence. These societies tend to have _____

human-like (anthropomorphic) gods and goddesses. Even gods and goddesses of natural phenomena have human qualities.

Beliefs Variation in types of supernatural forces 3) In simple societies -- hunting and gathering or simple agriculture, things that happen are often the result of _____

natural forces: droughts, fires, insect plagues, storms, floods. Supernatural beings may be much more generalized, less anthropomorphic--they may exist as "natural" spirits. ANIMISM: nature is animated by all kinds of spirits: plants and animal species, rocks, trees, mountains, springs, and other geographical features may be inhabited by specific spirits.

People often _____ (they are not chosen as economic partners, allies, mates, etc.) if they do _____ of behavior. Many of these _____ of the majority of society members (eg. everybody must share food), or may only have been functional in the past (eg. women should always walk to the right of a man).

pay a large cost not conform to certain rules rules serve the common interests

Affinal kin

people related through marriage

Consanguinal kin

related by blood

Religion seems tied to the capacity for _____ This capacity is closely related to the use of arbitrary _____ in language.

self-awareness;symbols

Animatism

spirits are impersonal, not tied to specific kinds of plants animals or objects. Instead people and things can be animated by a kind of generalized spirit that is like luck, charm, spirit, charisma, grace. Polynesians -- mana, a positive power that is temporarily found in some objects or people. Some Islamic societies -- baraka, or luck/ grace/charisma. An opposite of the positive power in some objects is a negative power that makes them taboo. Hinduism / Buddhism: impersonal force = KARMA, a concept that events happen to you because of positive or negative forces that one accumulates through actions. Animism and animatism may co-exist with more complex religious beliefs. People in modern society believe in luck (a kind of animatism) to a certain extent.

Empirical trends show that the US is becoming more _____

stratified by wealth through time.

Exogamous marriage

the sex that moves loses all close contact with kin. ex. traditional rural China and India -- bride goes to live with groom's parents. (Mother-in-law can make bride's life hell).

Religion is _____, spreads _____, and is often quickly _____.

universal;rapidly;adopted Religion most likely serves an important function. Worldwide, people spend huge amounts of time and energy in participation in religious activities

If capital required for economic success is widely available (knowledge and creativity) a large class of individuals are potentially _____

upwardly mobile (middle class) Example: Bill Gates (worth $35 Billion in 2002) Thus wealth differences are often tied to differences in opportunity. Wealth is converted into power, status, which can sometimes last a long time

Human social groups ______

usually organized around kinship. -- Especially in band, tribe, or chiefdom societies

According to Kottak, what is "ego" in a kinship analysis?

"Ego" = you the point of reference used to determine who gets called by what term lineal relatives- Ego's direct ancestors and descendants. A lineal relative is an ancestor or a descendant, anyone on the direct line of descent that leads to and from ego.

Haviland's definition of culture

"a set of rules that when acted upon by the members of a society, produces human behavior that falls within the range of variation that the members find successful." important distinction between: 1) Behavior (observed activities, material products or traces of behavior) and 2) Culture ( an "abstract" set of values beliefs & techniques that people use to interpret experience and generate behavior related to survival and reproduction.

Matrilocal residence

- (15% of recent societies) -- many in South America, North America, Africa. -- Daughters stay with their parents, and co-reside with female kin (sisters, aunts, female parallel cousins). Men may move into a matrilocal house in the same village in which their kin reside. Men rarely move very far -- see their male kin regularly. some societies = married men actually reside in a men's house during the day or night and spend little time at their wife & children's house.

What is "Cultural Relativism"?

-- Anthropologists should seek to understand other cultural practices based on the other cultures terms and internal rules -- In other words, try to understand each culture in its own terms, rather than judge it based on our own culture. -- Easier said than done; & if done maybe morally probelmatic (based on our culture) -- e.g., slavery, female circumcision, arranged marriage, suttee.

Phratry

-- groups of clans, -- real common ancestor for a phratry may not be identified. (sometimes a totem or mythic ancestor instead) -- Phratries may be exogamous. Example: Hopi phratries.

Hawaiian kinship system

-- only kinship system in which all first cousins are unmarriageable since they all take the same kin term as siblings. The Sudanese and Eskimo systems suggest that all first cousins are marriageable since they all take terms different from sibling. But modern European states with the Eskimo system universally prohibit cousin marriages? This is new in history. Sudanese & Eskimo systems imply that no relatives outside the nuclear family take the same role as family members. Hawaiian system implies that all close relatives in both own and parental generations are just like nuclear family members.

What roles do descent groups play? Name some of its functions.

1) Regulating marriage (gives priority rights to certain men and eliminates others- within descent group marriage prohibited); 2) defending unique land/resource rights; 3) define legitimacy of specified activities (~trade unions); 4) violent conflict alliance (expected to support descent group members); 5) economic cooperation; 6) political alliance; 7) sharing religious duties (ancestor worship, symbolic totemic worship common). 8) claim unique legitimacy of political power (ruling lineage).

According to anthropologists, what are the major functions of religion?

1. social cohesion. -brings society together. ... 2. social control. -prevent undesirable behavior in society by associating it with negative spiritual consequences. ... 3. explaining the unexplained. -emotionally satisfying answers to big questions of human existence. ... 4. psychological support. ... 5. positive social change.

Define culture according to Tylor

1871: "that complex whole which includes knowledge, beliefs, art, law, morals, customs, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society" This definition emphasized the fact that culture is learned and is inherent in the values, beliefs and techniques used by humans. However, culture may not really exist as an "integrated whole". (Some behaviors can change quickly & not affect others)

Matriclan

A clan tracing descent through the female line

Patriclan

A clan tracing descent through the male line.

Ambilineal decent

A flexible descent rule, neither patrilineal nor matrilineal

What is the difference between a Shaman and a priest?

A priest is full time person that can interpret what the supernatural is saying. A Shaman works part time and was chosen by the supernatural and can manipulate it. Both interact with the supernatural but shamans can work and change it and priest can only interpret.

Mana (Polynesian concept)

A sacred, impersonal force, so named in Melanesia and Polynesia

According to Kottak, what is acculturation?

A second mechanism of cultural change may occur in which cultural features are exchanged when groups have firsthand contact, resulting in change of culture in either group, or both groups. Examples of this may include the exchange of and blend of foods, recipes, music, dances, clothing, tools, technology, and language.

Lineage

A unilineal decent group based on demonstrated decent

How does Kottak define "Liminality"? (hint: see the section on rights of passage)

All rites of passage have three phases: separation, liminality, and incorporation. The liminal phase is the limbo or "time-out", during which people have left one status but haven't yet entered or joined the next. The in-between phase of a rite of passage.

Omaha kinship system

Almost perfect mirror image to Crow Patrilineal descent Sisters of your father will have children who will inherit their patriline from a different male. Children from your mother's brother would be called your mother if female, and same as your uncle if male (essentially)

four elements of culture: Symbols

Anything that signifies something else. Symbolic action: realms such as language, art, religion, politics, economics. Language enables humans to communicate abstract ideas through symbols. People shake hands, wave, nod, smile, give thumbs up, give the middle finger

Where did the Dead Birds film take place?

Baliem Valley in present-day Iran Jaya province on the western half of the island of New Guinea that is part of present-day Indonesia

What criticisms of Service's categories of political systems does Kottak make?

Because anthropology originated long after states did, anthropologists never have been able to observe "in the flesh" a band, tribe, of chiefdom outside the influence of some state. There still may be local politiacal leaders (e.g. village heads) and regional figures (e.g. chiefs) of the sort discussed here, but all now exist and function within the context of state organization.

Religion

Belief and ritual concerned with supernatural beings, powers, and forces.

What is the difference between religion and belief?

Belief is a state of the mind when we consider something true even though we are not 100% sure or able to prove it Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values.

four elements of culture: mental maps of reality

Cultural classifications of what kinds of people and things exist, and the assignment of meaning to those classifications Our mental maps are shaped through enculturation, but they are not fixed. Today, globalization continues to put pressure on mental maps of reality as people on the planet are drawn into closer contact with the world's diversity.

four elements of culture: Norms

Culture also consists of a set of rules that are enforced by other members of society and determine the costs and benefits of alternative behaviors. These rules are imposed because individuals have a stake in each others behavior! Idea of rules about how people should behave in particular situations or toward certain other people

What does Kottak mean with the statement that "culture is integrated"?

Cultures are not haphazard collections of customs and beliefs. They are integrated, patterned system. If one part of the system changes, other parts change as well. It is integrated not simply by their dominant economic activities and related social patterns, but also by sets of values, ideas, symbols, and judgements.

Why is a membership to a particular descent important and how does it affect the community and its people?

Descent groups can form increasingly more inclusive groups of individuals simply by reckoning descent from an increasingly distant direct ancestor (for example, everyone descended from your father, then grandfather, then great grandfather, and so on.). Descent groups often compete for dominance Lineages are the smallest unit of descent groups: a corporate descent group whose members trace their genealogical links to a known common ancestor. Members of Yanomamo lineages are much more likely to back each other up in fights than to help members of another lineage.

According to Kottak, how does diffusion work as a mechanism of cultural change?

Directly: when two cultures trade, intermarry, or wage war on one another. Forced: when one culture subjugates another and imposes its customs on the dominated group Indirect: when items move from group A to group C via group B without any firsthand contact between A and C.

What examples does Kottak cite of maladaptive cultural practices?

Emissions from our machines have environmental effects that can harm humans and other life. Many modern cultural patterns may be maladaptive in the long run such as policies that encourage overpopulation, poor food-distribution systems, overconsumption, and environmental degradation.

Ritual

Formal, repetitive, stereotyped behavior; based on a liturgical order.

Descent groups

Formed in societies that evolve rules about how to divide up potential resources and rights. -- "clubs" with membership via birth.

four elements of culture: Values

Fundamental belief about what is important, true, or beautiful, and what makes a good life.

According to Kottak's book, what is the relationship between uncertainty and magic?

Humans use tools to accomplish a lot, but technology still doesn't let us "have it all". To keep hope alive in situations of uncertainty, and for outcomes we can't control, all societies draw on magic and religion as sources of non-material comfort, explanation, and control.

What division (or categorization) of political systems did Elman Service propose?

In 1962- listed four types, or levels, of political organization: band, tribe, chiefdom, and state.

What roles do symbols play in religion?

In Nangalala, totemic symbols and clan motifs are painted on the body for initiation ceremonies. Totems are sacred emblems and symbolize common identity. The cross is a notorious symbol for Christianity and holds a lot of meaning and respect for many Christians.

According to Kottak, what is cultural relativism?

In order to understand another culture fully, we must try to understand how they see things and what motivates them to do certain things. It is inappropriate to use outside standards to judge a behavior in a given society.

What are the important features of kinship system in general?

In that Kin who have similar functions in one's life are often referred to with a single label. Also in determining who you can MARRY

According to Kottak, what separate process combine to form the phenomenon of globalization (hint: listed very early in the section on globalization)

International commerce and finance, travel and tourism, transitional migration, and the media- including the internet and other high-tech information flows.

What is a "cargo cult"? Where are they found?

It is the postcolonial, acculturative religious movements in Melanesia. They attempt to explain European domination and wealth and to achieve similar success magically by mimicking European behavior and manipulating symbols of desired lifestyle. These cults of Melanesia and Papua New Guinea are hybrid creations that weave Christian doctrine with indigenous beliefs. cargo- European goods of the sort natives have seen unloaded from the cargo holds of ships and airplanes.

What is enculturation?

It is the process by which a child learns his or hear culture.

What is the difference between a "big man" and an inherited position as the king of a nation?

Many societies of the South Pacific, particularly on the Melanesian Islands and in Papa New Guinea, had a kind of political leader that we call the big man. The big man (almost always male) was an elaborate version of the village head, but with one significant difference. Unlike the village head, whose leadership was limited to one village, the big man had supporters in several villages. The big man thus was a regulator of regional political organizations. "big man" achieve status through hard work, amassing wealth in the form of pigs and other native riches. Characteristics that distinguished the big man from his fellows, enabling him to attract loyal supporters (a large network of friends), included wealth, generosity, eloquence, physical fitness, bravery, and supernatural powers. Those who become big men did so because of their personalities rather than by inheriting their wealth or position.

From Kottak's first section, "Understanding ourselves" Were you surprised that Kottak states that American culture "tends to promote the idea that kinship is, and should be, biological"?

No I wasn't because I feel that American beliefs for biological kinship is greatly pushed in this country and there is a much higher rate of married couples having babies in America rather than adopting. Americans also widely express proudness of ones own racial or historical heritage which doesn't support non-biological kinship.

Iroquois kinship system

No linear importance System is more symmetrical than Omaha or Crow systems. Same sex siblings of either parent are called same name. i.e. aunt is "mother" mom is "mother" uncle is "father" dad is "father", but opposite sex siblings are called different things. All of children of same sex sibilings of parents are called brothers and sisters. i.e. your female cousin is called "sister"

Where is neolocality most commonly found?

North America?

Ascribed qualities

Qualities that are determined for people at birth

From Kottak's first section, "Understanding ourselves" What are the implications of defining kinship in a way like Rabe's group (the Betsileo of Madagascar) in Kottak's example?

Rabe was given as a toddler to his childless aunt. He knew his birthmother lived far away, but did not know which of two sisters in his birth mothers family was his actual mother. His mother and her sister, along with the boys father died when he was young. He was really close to his fathers sister, for whom he used the term for mother. But he had to call her that because the Betsileo have only one kin term for mother, mothers sister, and fathers sister. (They also use a single term for father and all uncles.) The difference between "real" (biological based) and socially constructed kinship didn't matter to Rabe. I

Taboo

Sacred and forbidden; prohibition backed by supernatural sanctions

What is culture?

The brain has been shaped by natural selection to solve frequently occurring problems Many behavioral patterns are based on decisions by many individuals Behavior should be adaptive and responsive to local constraints. Different ecologies should lead to different behavioral complexes. Similar ecologies will often lead to similar behaviors.

According to Kottak, what is a "family of orientation"?

The family in which one is born and grows up

shaman

The general term encompassing curers ("witch doctors"), mediums, spiritualists, astrologers, palm readers, and other independent diviners.

Neolocal residence

The living situation in which a couple establishes a new residence

magic

The use of supernatural techniques (e.g. offerings, spells, formulas, incantations) to accomplish specific ends.

According to Kottak, what are "syncretisms"?

They are cultural, especially religious, mixes that emerge from acculturation. Cargo cults are syncretism that blend Aboriginal and Christian beliefs.

Supernatural

beyond what is natural or observable; not explainable by the laws of nature

From Kottak's first section, "Understanding ourselves" Do all cultures define "mother" and "father" in the same way?

contemporary American families may seem quite diverse because terms like "marriage and family" and "mom and dad" no longer apply to a majority of American households. Other cultures offer family alternatives that Americans might have a hard time understanding such as cultures that have a more common adoptive pattern where the difference between "real" and socially constructed kinship doesn't matter. American culture tends to promote the idea that kinship is, and should be, biological.

What is "ethnocentrism"?

evaluation of other cultures according to preconceptions originating in the standards and customs of one's own culture.

Anthropomorphic deity

exhibit human qualities such as beauty, wisdom, and power, and sometimes human weaknesses such as greed, hatred, jealousy, and uncontrollable anger.

Know these four characteristics of culture: it is learned, shared, symbolic, and integrated.

learned Some things people do seem based on individual learning and response to rewards or punishments. Other behaviors stem from social learning and are traits that are common to certain groups of people but not others. shared Culture is an attribute not of individuals per se but of individuals as members of groups. We learn by observing, listening, talking, and interacting with many other people. symbolic Symbolic thought is unique and crucial to humans and to cultural learning. Our cultures immerse us in a world of symbols that are both linguistic and nonverbal. Particular items and brands of clothing, such as jeans, shirts, or shoes can acquire symbolic meaning integrated cultures are integrated in that they are patterned systems. If one part of the system changes, then other parts will change as well.

Sympathetic magic

rituals in which doing something to an image of an object produces the desired effect in the real object

Rites of passage (sometimes embedded in religion)

separation, liminality, and incorporation

Avunculocal residence

system under which a married couple lives with the husband's mother's brother

What does Kottak mean in stating that humans use culture instrumentally?

to fulfill their basic biological needs for food, drink, shelter, comfort, and reproduction