Anthropology Final Study Guide
epicanthic eye fold
A fold of skin at the inner corner of the eye; common in Asian populations
treaty
A formally binding agreement between two or more groups that are independent and politically self-governing (such as tribes, chiefdoms, and states)
priest or priestess
A full-time religious specialist authorized to perform sacred rituals and mediate between fellow humans and supernatural powers, divine spirits, or deities.
Language Family
A group of languages descended from a single ancestral language
Mitosis
A kind of cell division that produces new cells having exactly the same number of chromosome pairs, and hence copies of genes, as the parent cell
Meiosis
A kind of cell division that produces the sex cells, each of which has half the number of chromosomes found in other cells of the organism
Polygyny
A marriage form in which a man is married to two or more women at the same time; a form of polygamy
serial monogamy
A marriage form in which a man or a woman marries or lives with a series of partners in succession
polyandry
A marriage form in which a woman is married to two or more men at one time; a form of polygamy
group marriage
A marriage form in which several men and women have sexual access to one another; also called co-marriage
money
A means of exchange used to make payments for other goods and services as well as to measure their value
culture-bound syndromes
A mental disorder specific to a particular ethnic group, also know as ethnic psychosis
Redistribution
A mode of exchange in which goods flow into a central place, where they are sorted, counted, and reallocated
negative reciprocity
A mode of exchange in which the aim is to get something for as little as possible. Neither fair nor balanced, it may involve hard bargaining, manipulation, outright cheating, or theft
balanced reciprocity
A mode of exchange in which the giving and the receiving are specific as to the value of the goods and the time of their delivery
food foraging
A mode of subsistence involving some combination of hunting, fishing, and gathering of wild plant foods
informal economy
A network of people producing and circulating marketable commodities, labor, and services that for various reasons escape government control
founder effects
A particular form of genetic drift deriving from a small founding population not possessing all the alleles present in the original populations
dowry
A payment at the time of a woman's marriage that comes from her inheritance, made to either her or husband
nation
A people who share a collective identity based on a common culture, language, territorial base, and history
Lower Paleolithic
A period of time beginning with the earliest Oldowan tools, spanning from about 200,000 to 2.6 million years ago; also know as Old stone age
Upper Paleolithic
A period of time from about 40,000 until about 10,000 years ago that marks the beginning of behavioral modernity. The tool industries of this time are characterized by long, slim blades that produced an explosion of creative symbolic forms
Linnaeus classification
Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species 1. body structure 2. body function 3. sequence of bodily growth
Morphemes
The smallest units of sound that carry a meaning in Language. They are distinct from phonemes, which can alter meaning but have no meaning by themselves
Phonemes
The smallest units of sound that make a difference in meaning in a language
ethnology
The study and analysis of different cultures from a comparative or historical point of view, utilizing ethnographic accounts and developing anthropological theories that help explain why certain important differences or similarities occur among groups
Phonology
The study of language sounds
Kinesics
The study of nonverbal signals in body language including facial expressions and bodily postures and motions
Morphology
The study of the patterns or rules of word formation in a language, including the guidelines for verb tense, pluralization, and compound words
Sociolinguistics
The study of the relationship between language and society through examining how social categories such as age, gender, ethnicity, religion, occupation, and class - influence the use and significance of distinctive styles of speech
Phonetics
The systematic identification and description of distinctive speech sounds in a language
Mousterian tool tradition
The tool industry of the Neandertals and their contemporaries of Europe, Southwest Asia, and North Africa from 40,000 to 125,000 years ago.
Dialects
The varying forms of language that reflects particular regions, occupations, or social classes and that are similar enough to be mutually intelligible
Ethnocide
The violent eradication of an ethnic group's collective cultural identity as a distinctive people; occurs when a dominant society deliberately sets out to destroy another society's cultural heritage.
Polygamy
a marriage form in which one individual has multiple spouses at the same time; ; from the Greek words poly (many) and gamos (marriage)
generalized reciprocity
a mode of exchange in which the value of the gift is not calculated, nor is the time of repayment specified
punctuated equilibrium
a model of macroevolutionary change that suggests evolution occurs via long periods of stability or stasis punctuated by periods of rapid change
shaman
a person who enters an altered state of consciousness, at will, to contact and utilize an ordinarily hidden reality in order to acquire knowledge, power, and to help others
Chiefdom
a politically organized society in which several neighboring communities inhabiting a territory are united under a single ruler
Secularization
a process of cultural change in which a population tends toward a nonreligious worldview, ignoring or rejecting institutionalized spiritual beliefs and rituals
Middens
a refuse or garbage disposal area in an archaeological site
band
a relatively small and loosely organized kin-ordered group that inhabits a specific territory and that may split periodically into smaller extended family groups that are politically independent
Adaptation
a series of beneficial adjustments to a particular environment
Culture
a society's shared and socially transmitted ideas, values and perception that are used to make sense of experience and generate behavior and are reflected in behavior
Symbols
a sound, gesture, mark, or other sign that is arbitrarily linked to something else and represents it in a meaningful way
Bipedalism
a special form of locomotion on two found in humans and their ancestors
anagensis
a sustained directional shift in a population's average characteristics
grid system
a system for recording data from an archaeological excavation into three dimensions
nocturnal
active at night and at rest during the day
dinural
active during the day and at rest at night
eliciting devices
activities and objects used to draw out individuals and encourage them to recall and share information
rituals
acts or procedures established by custom or prescribed by authority as proper to a certain formal occasion
How do anthropologist conduct research? pt.2
after the fieldwork of archaeologist and physical anthropologist, researchers conduct laboratory analyses of excavated remains or biological samples collected in the field
gene pool
all the genetic variants possessed by members of a population
Alleles
alternate forms of a single gene
empirical
an approach based on observations of the world rather than on intuition or faith
Biocultural
an approach that focuses on the interaction of biology and culture
doctrine
an assertion of opinion or belief formally handed down by an authority as true and indisputable
sickle-cell anemia
an inherited form of anemia produced by a mutation in the hemoglobin protein that causes the red blood cells to assume a sickle shape
Domiance hierarchies
an observed ranking system in primate societies, ordering individuals from high (alpha) to low standing corresponding to predictable behavioral interactions, including domination
vertebrates
animals with a backbone, including fish, amphibians, reptiles, bird, and mammals
What can anthropology contribute to the understanding of globalization? pt.2
anthropology equips global citizens to challenge ethnocentrism and to understand human diversity
What can anthropology contribute to the understanding of globalization? pt. 3
anthropology has essential insights to offer the modern world, particularly in this era globalization when understanding our neighbors in the global village has become a matter of survival for all
innovation
any new idea, method, or device that gains widespread acceptance in society
artifact
any object fashioned or altered by humans
authority
claiming and exercising power as justified by law or custom of tradition
ethnographic fieldwork
on-location participatory research to gather in-depth information on a society's customary ideas, values and practices
sister chromatids
one half of the X shape of a chromosome visible after replication. Each half is a copy of the original chromosome
Ardipithecus
one of the earliest genera of bipeds that lived in eastern Africa. Divided into two species, the older of which dates to between 5.2 and 5.8 million years ago, and the younger
intersexuals
people born with reproductive organs, genitalia, and//or sex chromosomes that are not exclusively male or female
holistic perspective
fundamental principle of anthropology, that the various parts of human culture and biology must be viewed in the broadest possible context in order to understand their interconnections and interdependence
opposable
having the ability to bring the thumb or big toe in contact with the tips of the other digits on the same hand or foot to grasp objects
prehensile
having the ability to grasp
desecration
ideologically inspired violation of a sacred site intended to inflict harm, if only symbolically, on people judge to have impure, false, or even evil beliefs and ritual practices
Theory
in anthropology, an explanation of cultural or natural phenomena, supported by reliable data
How is anthropology different from other disciplines? pt. 2
in anthropology, the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences come together into a genuinely humanistic science. Anthropology's link with the humanities can be seen in its concern with people's beliefs, values, languages, arts, and literature-oral as well as written-but above all in its attempt to convey the experience of living in different cultures
Population
in biology, a group of similar individuals that can do interbreed
Homologies
in biology, structures possessed by two different organisms that arise in similar fashion and pass through similar stages during embryonic development, although they may have different functions
informal interview
in ethnography, a research technique involving an unstructured, open-ended conversation in everyday life
participant observation
in ethnography, the technique of learning a people's culture through social participation and personal observation within the community being studied, as well as interviews and discussion with individuals members of the group over an extended period of time
Recessive
in genetics, a term to describe an allele for a trait whose expression is masked by the presence of a dominant allele
dominant
in genetics, a term to describe the ability of an allele for a trait to mask the presence of another allele
translation
in genetics, the process of conversion of RNA instructions into proteins
Community
in primatology, a unit of primate social organization composed of fifty or more individuals who collectively inhabit a large geographical area
grooming
in primatology, the ritual cleaning of another animal's coat to remove parasites and other matter
chromosomes
in the cell nucleus, the structures visible during cellular division containing long strands of DNA combined with a protein
genus (genera)
in the system of plant and animal classification, a group of like species
continental drift
in the theory of plate tectonics, the movement of continents embedded in underlying plates on the earth's surface in relation to one another over the history of life on earth
agriculture
intensive crop cultivations, employing plows, fertilizers, and/or irrigation
ethnic group
people who collectively and publicly identify themselves as a distinct group based on cultural features such as common origin, language, customs, and traditional beliefs
structural violence
physical and/or psychological harm caused by impersonal, exploitative, and unjust social, political, and economic systems
revitalization movements
social movements for radical cultural reform in response to widespread social disruption and collective feelings of great stress and despair
Forensic Anthropology
the analysis of human biological and cultural remains for legal purposes
Bioarchaeology
the archaeological study of human remains, emphasizing the preservation of cultural and social processes in the skeleton
Historical Archaeology
the archaeological study of places for which written records exist
karyotype
the array of chromosomes found inside a single cell
Polytheism
the belief in multiple gods and/or goddesses
Monotheism
the belief in only one supremely powerful divinity as creator and master of the universe
animism
the belief that nature is enlivened or energized by distinct personalized spirit beings separable from bodies
Ethnocentrism
the belief that the ways of one's culture are the only proper ones
Pastoralism
the breeding and managing of migratory herds of domesticated grazing animals, such as goats, sheep, cattle, llamas, and camels
mutation
the chance alteration of genetic material that produces new variation
genetic drift
the chance fluctuations of allele frequencies in the gene pool of a population
evolution
the changes in allele frequencies in populations; also known as microevolution
Mammals
the class of vertebrate animals distinguished by bodies covered with hair or fur, self-regulating temperature, and in females, milk producing mammary glands
genome
the complete structure sequence of DNA for a species
primary innovation
the creation, invention, or a chance discovery of a completely new idea, method, or device
Syncretion
the creative blending of indigenous and foreign beliefs and practices into new cultural forms
Horticulture
the cultivation of crops in food garden, carried out with simple hand tools such as digging sticks and hoes
vegeculture
the cultivation of domesticated root crops, such as yams and taro
gender
the cultural elaborations and meanings assigned to the biological differentiation between the sexes
progress
the culture-bound idea that humans are moving forward to a higher, more advanced stage in their development toward perfection
secondary innovation
the deliberate application or modification of an existing idea, method, or device
material culture
the durable aspects of culture such as tools, structures, and art
natural selection
the evolutionary process through which factors in the environment exert pressure, favoring some individuals over others to produce the next generation
Reciprocity
the exchange of goods and services, of approximately equal value, between two parties
Oldowan tool tradition
the first stone tool industry beginning between 2.5 and 2.6 years ago
DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid)
the genetic material consisting of a complex molecule whose base structure directs the synthesis of proteins
Australopithecus
the genus including several species of early bipeds from southern and eastern Africa living between about 1.1 and 4.3 million years ago, one of whom was directly ancestral to humans
clines
the gradual changes in the frequency of an allele or trait over space
Primates
the group of mammals that includes lemurs, lorises, tarsiers, monkeys, apes, and humans
multiregional hypothesis
the hypothesis that modern humans originated through a process of simultaneous local transition from Homo erectus to Homo sapiens throughout the inhabited world
action theory
the theory that self-serving actions by forceful leaders play a role in civilization's emergence
Applied Anthropology
the use of anthropological knowledge and methods to solve practical problems, often for a specific client
culture-bound
theories about the world and reality based on the assumptions and values of one's own culture
codon
three-base sequence of a gene that specifies a particular amino acid for inclusion in a protein
Technology
tools and other material equipment, together with the knowledge of how to make and use them
agriculture
Intensive crop cultivation, employing plows, fertilizers, and/or irrigation
Homo erectus
"Upright man." A species within the genus Homo first appearing just after 2 million years ago in Africa and ultimately spreading throughout the Old World.
Homo habilis
"handy human" the first fossil members of the genus Homo appearing 2.5 million years ago, with larger brains and smaller faces than australopithecines
consanguineal family
A family of blood relatives, consisting of related women, their brothers, and the women's offspring's
who are the primates and how are they studied?
-Primates are order of mammals that includes lemurs, lorises, tarsiers, monkeys, apes and humans -Primates have relatively unspecialized biology and intelligence that permits very flexible behavior patterns -Primatologists rely on observation and noninvasive techniques to minimize contact that could endanger primate populations -Conservations efforts are combined with research to ensure the future study of wild populations
What are the different types of descent groups in kin-ordered societies?
-A descent group is any kin group whose member s share a direct line of descent from a real (historical) or fictional common ancestor. -Unilineal descent establishes kin group membership exclusively through the male line (patrilineal) or female line (matrilineal). Matrilineal descent does not automatically confer gender authority. -There is a close relationship between a culture's infrastructure and its descent system. Generally, patrilineal descent predominates where male labor is seen as primary, as among pastoralists and agriculturalists. Matrilineal descent predominates mainly among horticulturalists where female subsistence work is vital -The two major forms of a unilineal descent group (patrilineal or matrilineal) are the lineage (a kin group descended from a common ancestor whose relationship to member s can be exactly stated in genealogical terms) and the clan (an extended kin group, often consisting of several lineages, whose members claim common descent from a remote ancestor, usually legendary or mythological).
What is domestication, and how can we recognize it?
-A domesticated plant or animal is one that has become genetically modified as an intended or unintended consequence of human manipulation -Analysis of plant remains at a site usually indicates whether its occupants were food producers based on size and shape of various parts -Domestication produces skeletal changes in some animals. Age and sex imbalances in herd animals may also indicated manipulation by human domesticators -Domesticated crops are more productive but also more vulnerable. Food production also requires more labor compare to hunting and gathering
what are religious rituals and rites, and what purposes do they serve?
-A religious ritual is a culturally symbolic act or procedure designed to guide community members through personal and collective transit ions. Rites of purification are rituals performed to establish or restore purity when someone has violated a taboo or is otherwise unclean. -Rites of passage are rituals marking an important stage in an individual's life cycle, such as birth, marriage, and death. They feature three phases: separation, transition, and incorporation.
What is the Neolithic revolution, and how did it come about?
-A shift to food production through the domestication of plants and animals constitutes most of the change of this period -Settlement in permanent villages accompanied food production, through some Neolithic peoples who depended on domesticated animals did not become sedentary. The use of polished stone tools by all peoples of this period gives the Neolithic its name -Hard stone was ground and polished for tools. Sickles, forks, hoes and plows replaced simple digging sticks. Axes and adzes made of polished stone were stone were far stronger and less likely to chip compared to earlier tools -Village life allowed for a reorganization of the workload, letting some individuals pursue specialized tasks
What is a stratified society, and what are the possibilities and limitations of upward and downward social mobility?
-A stratified society is divided into two or more categories of people who do not share equally in basic resources that support income, status, and power. Societies may be stratified by gender, age, social class, or caste -A social class includes individuals having equal or nearly equal prestige according to a society's system of evaluation -A caste is a closed social class with membership determined by birth and fixed for life. A classic example is the traditional Hindu caste system of India. It encompasses a complex ranking of 2,000 castes associated with specific occupations and customs, and organized into four basic orders or varnas. -The hierarchy in a stratified society may also be based on ethnic origin or notions of race. In South Africa, for example, people of European descent maintained power through apartheid - a repressive regime of racial segregation and discrimination against indigenous black Africans from 1948 to 1992. A racist regime also existed in the United States -Most stratified societies offer at least some social mobility - upward or downward change in one's social class position. Even in caste societies, which impose severe institutionalized limits on social mobility, there is some flexibility through group action , as seen in the Dalit movement in India.
What characteristics distinguished the four cultural changes leading to the development of urban centers?
-Agricultural innovation involved the development of new farming methods such as irrigation that increased crop yields. Agricultural Innovations brought about other changes such as increased population sized. -Diversification of labor intensified as a result of population growth in cities. Some people could provide sufficient food for everyone so that others could devote themselves to specialization as artisans and craftspeople. Specialization led to the development of new technologies and the beginnings of extensive trade systems. -The emergence of a central government provided an authority to deal with the complex problems associated with cities and permitted elites to mobilize workers to erect monumental structures. With the invention of writing, government began keeping records and boasting of their own power and glory -Symbols of status and privilege appeared with the emergence of social classes, as individuals were ranked according to wealth they accumulated or controlled. Graves, burial customs, grave goods, dwelling size, and records in documents and art provide evidence of social stratification
Beyond kinship, what kinds of group do humans form and why?
-Because ties of kinship and household are not always sufficient to handle all the challenges of human survival, people also form groups based on gender, age, common interest, and social status. -Grouping by gender separates men and women to varying degrees in different societies. -Age grouping may augment or replace kinship grouping. An age grade is a category of people organized by age. Some societies have age sets also, which are comprised of individuals who move together through a series of life stages. -Common-interest associations are based on sharing particular activities, objectives, values, or beliefs. Linked to social change and urbanization, their roots may be found in the first horticultural villages -The Internet has lessened face-to-face interaction while opening up new forms of virtual communication through social media.
How have languages evolved through time, and why have so many disappeared?
-All languages change, borrowing terms from other languages or inventing new words for new technologies or social realities. A major cause language change is the domination of one society's over another, which over the last 500 years led to the disappearance of about half the world's 12,000 languages. A reaction to this loss and to the current far-reaching spread and domination of the English language is linguistic nationalism-purging foreign terms form a language's vocabulary and pressing for the revitalization of the lost or threatened languages -Many languages have become extinct as a direct result of warfare, epidemics, and forced assimilation brought on by colonial powers and other aggressive outsiders. Other than the dominant languages in the world today, very few people speak the remaining languages, and many of them are losing speakers rapidly due to globalization -A social dialect is the language of a group of people within a larger one, of all of whom may speak more or less the same langauge
What is an economic system, relative to subsistence?
-An economic system is an organized arrangement for producing, distributing, and consuming goods. Each society allocates natural resources (especially land, water, and fuel), technology, and labor according to its own priorities -in nonindustrial societies, kinship groups, such as a band, generally control natural resources. This provides flexibility because the size of a band and its territories can be adjusted according to resource availability. Technology (the tools people use and their knowledge about them) -Labor is a major productive resource, and work allocation is commonly governed by rules according to gender and age
Why are anthropological insights on cultural change key to a deeper understanding of today's complex world?
-Anthropology's investigation of the entire range of human cultures past and present includes observing and analyzing how cultures are impacted by modernization. -Modernization-the all-encompassing and global process of socioeconomic, political, and ideological change, whereby developing societies acquire cultural characteristics common to Western industrial societies-has five subprocesses: technological development, agricultural development, urbanization, industrialization, and telecommunication. Today we see a worldwide process of accelerated modernization known as globalization. -With the launching of the first telecommunication satellites in the mid-1950s, followed by the Internet in the 1960s, personal computers in the 1970s, and the World Wide Web in the 1990s, the digital revolution has accelerated the globalization process.
What is the Mesolithic?
-Between the Paleolithic and Neolithic, a time of warming after the last glacial period included rising seal levels, changes in vegetation, and the disappearance of herd animals from many areas -A shift from the hunting of big game to hunting of smaller game and gathering a broad spectrum of plants and aquatic resources characterized the Mesolithic -Increased reliance on seafood and plants allowed some people to become more sedentary -Tool kits included microliths - small, hard, sharp blades of flint or similar stone that could be mass-produced and hafted as well as hafting of larger blades to produce implements like sickles -Archaic cultures of the Americas are comparable to the Old World Mesolithic
What is the anatomy of bipedalism, and how do we recognize the human line in the fossil record?
-Bipedal locomotion and larger brains constitute the most striking differences between humans and our closest primate relatives -Bipedalism preceded brain expansion by several million years and appeared sometimes between 5 and 8 mya. -Skeletal changes from the skull down to the toes accompany bipedalism
What is evolution, and when was this central biological theory formulated?
-Charles Darwin formulated his theory of evolution in 1859, based on differential reproductive success among members of a population that become adapted to their environment through natural selection -Four evolutionary forces- mutation, genetic drift, gene flow, and natural selection- affect the genetic structures of populations. Evolution at the level population genetics (also know as microevolution) is change in allele frequencies -Macroevolution focuses on the formation of new species (speciation) and on the evolutionary relationships among groups
What is cultural adaptation?
-Cultural adaptation- a complex of ideas, activities, and technologies that enables people to survive and even thrive in their environment- has enabled humans to survive and expand into a wide variety of environments -Cultures have always changed over time, although rarely as rapidly or massively as many are doing today. Sometimes what is adaptive in one set of circumstances or over the short run is maladaptive over time
How have human cultures shaped human biology?
-Cultural practices shape human environments, which in turn can act on gene pools -Peoples with a dairying tradition possess the ability to digest milk sugar (lactose) into adulthood -Foods and activity patterns are a complete adaptive package -Western-style lifeways, which are characterized by diets high in sugar and low levels of activity, make the incidence of obesity and diabetes particularly high in populations with dietary traditions of slow-release foods and high activity -Cultural and biological adaptations at times work at cross-purposes as seen with the example of G6PD deficiency and fava beans as adaptations to malaria -Hormone-disrupting chemicals, used in plastics and other industries, interfere with the reproductive and metabolic process and are associated with higher rates of chronic diseases
What is culture, and what characteristics are common to all cultures?
-Culture is a society's shared and socially transmitted ideas, values, and perceptions that are used to make sense of experience and generate behavior and are reflected in that behavior -Although every culture involves a group's shared values, ideas, and behavior, this does not mean that everything within a culture is uniform. For instance, in all cultures, people's role vary according to age and gender. (Anthropologist use the term gender to refer to the biological differences between sexes.) And in some cultures, there are other subcultural variations. -A subculture (for example, the Amish) shares certain overarching assumptions of the larger culture, while observing its own set of distinct rules. Pluralistic societies are those in which two or more ethnic groups or nationalities are politically organized into one territorial state but maintain their cultural differences
How do cells and organisms reproduce?
-DNA molecules can replicate or produce exact copies of themselves so that new daughter cells will be exact genetic copies of the parent cell -DNA molecules are located on chromosomes, structures found in the nucleus of each cell. Chromosomes consist of two sister chromatids -Each species has a characteristics number of chromosomes, found in pairs in sexually reproducing organisms. Humans have twenty-three pairs of chromosomes -Mitosis is the kind of cell division that results in two identical daughter cells -Meiosis results in four daughter cells each containing half the number of chromosomes of the parent cell. Fertilization, the union of an egg and a sperm cell, reestablishes the normal number
How are goods distributed?
-Distribution processes include reciprocity, redistribution, and market exchange. Reciprocity, the exchange of goods and services of roughly equal value, comes in three forms: generalized (in which the value is not calculated, nor the time of repayment specified); balanced (in which one has an obligation to reciprocate promptly); and negative (in which the aim is to get something for as little as possible) -trade- exchanging items of equal value -had elements of reciprocity, but involves a greater calculation of the relative value of the goods. Barter- trade in which no money is involved and the parties negotiate a direct exchange of one good for another-maybe in the form of negative reciprocity -Redistribution requires a strong, centralized political organization. A government assesses a tax or tribute on each citizen to support its activities, leaders, and religious elite and then redistributes the rest, usually in the form of public services -conspicuous consumption, or display for social prestige, is a motivating force in societies that produce a surplus of goods. Prestige comes from publicly giving away one's valuables, as in the potlatch ceremony, which is also an example of a leveling mechanism
What are the different types of descent groups in kin-ordered societies? pt. 2
-Double descent (matrilineal for some purposes, patrilineal for others) is rare. Ambilineal descent provides the flexibility of affiliating with either the mother's or father's descent group. Bilateral descent derives from both the mother's and father's families equally -Because lineages are commonly exogamous, sexual competition within the group is largely avoided, and marriage reinforces alliances between lineages -Unlike lineages, clan residence is usually dispersed. Clan identification is often reinforced by totems. A phratry is a unilineal descent group of two or more clans that supposedly share a common ancestry. When a society is divided into two halves, each half consisting of one or more clans, these two major descent groups are called moieties -Because the bilateral descent system may result in a huge kinship group that is socially impractical , the group is usually reduced to a small circle of paternal and maternal relatives called the kindred .
Why did cities and states develop?
-Ecological theories emphasize the interrelation of the actions of ancient peoples with their environment. -According to these theories, civilization developed as centralized governments began to control irrigation systems, trade network, and scare resources -These theories omit the importance of beliefs and values of cultures of the past as well as the action of forceful, dynamic leaders, whose efforts to promote their own interests may play a role in social change
How do different traits get inherited across generation?
-Individuals inherit traits independently from each parent -Dominant alleles are able to mask the presence of recessive alleles. Codominant alleles are both expressed when present -Phenotype refers to the physical characteristics of an organism. Genotype refers to its genetic composition. Two organisms may have different genotypes but the same phenotype
How do different cultures permit or restrict sexual relations?
-Every society has rules and customs concerning sexual relation, marriage, household and family structures, and childrearing practices. These play important roles in establishing and maintaining the social alliances and continuity that help ensure a society's overall well-being -Most cultures are sexually permissive and do not sharply regulate personal sexual practices. Others are restrictive, prohibiting all sexual activity outside of marriage. Of these, a few punish adultery by imprisonment, social exclusion, or even death, as traditionally prescribed by some religious laws -Incest taboos forbid marriage and sexual relations between certain close relatives. Such taboos are related to the practices of *endogamy (marrying within a group) and *exogamy (marrying outside a group)
What are the major subsistence strategies and the characteristics of societies that practice them? pt. 1
-Food foraging, the oldest and most universal mode of subsistence, requires people to relocate according to changing food sources. Its characteristics include small group size, flexible male/female labor division, food sharing, egalitarianism, communal property, and rarity of warfare -The shift from food foraging to food production began 10,000 years ago. Known as the Neolithic revolution, it involved the domestication of plants and animals -Horticulture, the cultivation of crops in gardens using simple hand tools, includes slash-and-burn cultivation. Agriculture involves growing crops on farms with irrigation, fertilizers, and animal-powered plows. Food production led to fixed settlements, new technologies, and altered division of labor -Mixed farming involves crop growing and animal breeding it may occur in mountainous environments where farmers practice transhumance, moving livestock between high-altitude summer pastures and lowland winter pasture
Does the biological concept of race apply to human variation?
-Human are a single, highly variable species inhabiting the entire globe. Through biological processes are responsible for human variation, the biological concept of race or subspecles cannot be applied to human diversity. No discrete racial types exist. -Scientists of the past placed humans into discrete races and then ordered them hierarchically. This work was dismantled and discredited beginning in the early 20th century -Individual traits appear in continuous gradations (clines) from one population to another without sharp breaks. Traits are inherited independently, and populations are genetically open -the vast majority of human variation exist within single populations rather than across different populations
How did the Neolithic revolution impact social structure?
-Human population sizes have increased steadily since the Neolithic. Scholars debate whether pressure from increasing population size led to innovations or whether innovations allowed population size to grow -Periodic crop failures forced Neolithic peoples to move into new regions, spreading farming from one region to another, as into Europe from Southwest Asia -Trade specialization came about due to the increased yields of food production. This included the extensive manufacture and use of pottery, the building of permanent houses, and the weaving of textiles -social organization was relatively egalitarian as seen in the uniformity of housing and absence of socially differentiated burials -Neolithic peoples sometimes organized themselves to create monumental structures related to their belief systems
What is culture, and what characteristics are common to all cultures? pt. 2
-In addition to being shared, all cultures are learned, with individuals members learning the accepted norms of social behavior through the process of enculturation. Also, every culture is based on symbols - transmitted through the communication of ideas, emotions, and desires - especially language. And culture is integrated, so that all aspects function as integrated whole (albeit not without tension, friction, and even conflict). Finally, all cultures are dynamically designed to adjust to recurrent strains and tensions. -As illustrated in the barrel model, all aspects of a culture fall into one of three broad, interrelated categories: infrastructure (the subsistence practices or economic system), social structure (the rule-governed relationships), and superstructure (the ideology or worldview) -Cultural change takes place in response to such events as population growth, technological innovation, environmental crisis, intrusion of outsiders, or modification of values and behavior within the culture. Although cultures must change to adapt to new circumstances, sometimes the unforeseen consequences of change are disastrously for a society
How does the race concept function within societies?
-In many countries such as the United States, Haiti, Brazil and South Africa, the sociopolitical category of race significantly impacts social identity and opportunity -Racial conflicts result from social stereotypes and not scientific facts -Racists of the past and present frequently invoke a false notion of biology difference to support unjust social practices -Behavioral characteristics attributed to race can be explained in terms of experience as well as a hierarchical social order affecting the opportunities and challenges faced by different groups of people, rather than biology
What are different types of political organization? pt. 2
-In many tribal societies, the organizing political unit is the clan, comprised of people who consider themselves descended from a common ancestor . Another type of tribal leaders hip is the Big Man, who builds up his wealth and political power until he must be reckoned with as a leader. -As societies grow and become more complex socially, politically, and economically, leadership becomes more centralized. -A chiefdom is a politically organized society in which several neighboring communities inhabiting a territory are united under a chief who heads a ranked hierarchy of people. -The most centralized political organization is the state - an institution established to manage and defend a complex, socially stratified society occupying a defined territory. - States are inherently unstable and transitory and differ from nations, which are communities of people who share a collective identity based on a common culture, language, territorial base, and history.
What are pluralistic societies and multiculturalism?
-In pluralistic societies, two or more ethnic groups or nationalities are politically organized into one territorial state. Ethnic tension can lead to formal separation -Some countries have adopted multiculturalism, which is an official public policy of mutual respect and tolerance for cultural differences. -An example of long-established multiculturalism may be seen in states such as Switzerland, where people speaking German, French, Italian, and Romansh coexist under the same government.
How do a society's children-rearing practices and concepts of sex and gender influence a person's behavior, personality, and identity?
-Independence training, typical of societies characterized by small, independent families, puts a premium on self-reliance, independent behavior, and personal achievement. Although a society may emphasize one sort of behavior over the other, it may not emphasize it to the same degree in both sexes -Intersexuals - individuals born with reproductive organs, genitalia, and/or sex chromosomes that are not exclusively male or female - do not fit neatly into either a male or female biological standard or into a binary gender standard. Numerous cultures have created social space for intersexuals, as well as transgenders - physically male or female people who cross over or occupy an alternative social position in the binary male - female gender construction
what is kinship, and what role does it play in social organization?
-Kinship is a social network of relatives with in which individua ls possess certain mutual rights and obligations -In nonindustrial societies, kin groups deal with challenges that families and households cannot handle alone- defense, resource allocation, cooperative labor. In larger and more complex societies, formal political systems take over many of these matters.
What does kinship terminology reveal about human relation?
-Kinship terminology varies across cultures and often reveals the structure of kinship groups, the importance of certain relationships, and prevailing attitudes about specific kin -The Hawaiian system is the simplest system of kinship terminology, with all relatives of the same generation and gender referred to by the same term -The Eskimo system emphasizes the nuclear family and merges all other relatives in a given generation into a few large, generally undifferentiated categories -In the Iroquois system, a single term is used for a father and his brother and another for a mother and her sister. Parallel cousins are equated with brothers and sisters but distinguished from cross-cousins. -New reproductive technologies challenge traditional not ions of kinship and gender, resulting in new social categories.
What is language, and does the term apply only to humans?
-Language is a system of communication using sounds, gestures, or marks put together according to a set of rules. Through language, people are able to share experiences, concerns, and beliefs -researchers aiming to understand the biological basis, social use, and evolutionary development of language have investigated the communication systems of an array of animal species. Some have studied language acquisition aptitude among some great apes by teaching them to communicate using ASL or lexigrams (symbols) on keyboard devices. Finding show that although great apes cannot literally speak, they can develop language skills to the level of a 2- to 3- year-old human child
What features characterize the five natural groups of primates?
-Lemurs and lorises have larger ears, big eyes, pointed snouts, and several scent glands for communication. They retain more ancestral primate characteristics -tarsiers, nocturnal arboreal insect eaters, resemble early ancestral primates though they are genetically similar to monkeys and apes. -New World monkeys are tree dwellers that walk on all fours. Some possess long prehensile tails that are used as an extra limb -Old World monkeys are alternately terrestrial and arboreal and have nonprehensile tails. They walk on all fours with palms down -Apes-the hominoids- are wide bodied tailless primates, adapted to hang by their arms, including gibbons, siamangs, orangutans, gorillas, chimps, bonobos, and humans, All apes but humans have forelimbs that are longer than their legs
How do the four evolutionary forces contribute to the diversity of life on earth?
-MUTATION provides the ultimate source of genetic variation -GENETIC DRIFT refers to the effects of random events on the gene pools of populations -GENE FLOW, the introduction of new variants of genes from nearby populations, distributes new variation to all populations and prevents speciation -NATURAL SELECTION reduces the frequency of alleles for harmful or maladaptive traits within a population and increases the frequency of alleles for adaptive traits
What is marriage?
-Marriage is a culturally sanctioned union between two or more people that establishes certain rights and obligations between them, them and their children, and them and their-in-laws -Marriage falls into several broad categories. Monogamy, having one spouse, is most common. Serial Monogamy, in which a person marries a series of partners, is common among Europeans and North Americans -Polygamy (one individual having multiple spouses) comes in two forms: polygyny and polyandry. Although few marriages in a given society may be polygynous, it is preferred form of marriage in the majority of the world's cultures -Because few communities have a surplus of men, polyandry (a women having several husbands) in uncommon. Also rare is group marriage, in which several men and several women have sexual access to one another -In Western industrial and postindustrial countries, marriages are generally based on ideals of romantic love. In nonwestern societies, economic considerations are of major concern in arranging marriages, and marriage servers to bind two families as allies
is Fragmentation common in pluralistic societies?
-Pluralistic societies, in virtually all parts of the world , show a tendency to fragment, usually along major linguistic, religious, or ethno-nationalist divisions -Especially when state territories are extensive and lack adequate transportation and communication networks, as well as major unifying cultural forces such as a common religion or national language, separatist intentions may be realized -Throughout history, challenges such as famine, poverty , and violent threats by dangerous neighbors have forced people to move-often scattering members of an ethnic group into a diaspora -Migration-voluntary or involuntary-is temporary or permanent change from a usual place of residence. It may be internal (within the boundaries of one's country) or external (from one country to another). -Migrants moving to areas traditionally inhabited by other ethnic groups may face xenophobia-fear or hatred of strangers. -Most migrants begin their new lives in expanding urban areas. Today, 1 billion people live in slums
What were the biological consequences of the Neolithic revolution?
-New diets, living arrangements, and farming practices led to increased incidence of disease and higher mortality rates, increased fertility, however, more than offset mortality -Many infectious diseases originated in the Neolithic because of close contact between humans and animal domesticates -Increased competition for resources began in the Neolithic. Hunter-gatherers have become increasingly marginalized over time due to this competition
How do globalization and technology impact marriage and family?
-New reproduction technologies, surrogacy, and international adoptions are adding new dimensions to familial relationships -another phenomenon changing the makeup of the households and families worldwide is the ever-growing population of temporary and migrant workers
How has the globalization of structural power led to an increase in structural violence
-One result of globalization is the expansion and intensification of structural violence- physical and/or psychological harm (including repression, cultural and environmental destruction, poverty, hunger and obesity, illness, and premature death) caused by impersonal, exploitative, and unjust social, political, and economic systems -Reactions against the structural violence of globalization include the rise of traditionalism and revitalization movements-efforts to return to life as it was (or how people think it was). These may take the form of resurgent ethno-nationalism or religious fundamentalist movements.
what are magic, divination, and witch craft?
-People in many cultures believe in magic: the idea that supernatural powers can be compelled to act in certain ways for good or evil purposes through specified formulas. -Divination is a magical procedure or spiritual ritual designed to find out what is not knowable by ordinary means, particularly through signs foretelling fate or destiny. -Witchcraft-magical rituals intended to cause misfortune or inflict harm and often referred to as sorcery -is believed to be practiced by people who embody evil spirit power or collaborate with malevolent supernatural beings.
racism
A doctrine of superiority by which one group justifies the degrading of others based on their distinctive physical characteristics
What is power, and why is it a vital issue in every society?
-Power is the ability of individuals or groups to impose their will upon others and make them do things even against their own wants and wishes. -Power drives politics - the process of determining who gets what, when, and how. A society's political organization establishes how power is accumulated, arranged, executed, and structurally embedded in that society.
What is marriage?
-Preferred marriage partners in many societies are particular cross-cousins (mother's brother's daughter if a man; father's sister's son if a women) or, less commonly, parallel cousins on the paternal side (father's brother's son or daughter). Cross cousin marriage is a means of maintaining and reinforcing solidarity between related group -A growing number of societies support same-sex marriages. In some African cultures, traditional woman-woman marriages provide a socially approved way to deal with problems for which heterosexual marriages offer no satisfactory solution - In many cultures, marriages are formalized by economic exchange : Bride wealth is the payment of money or other valuables from the groom's to the bride's kin. Bride service occurs when the groom is expected to work for a period of time for the bride's family. A dowry is the payment of a woman's inheritance at the time of marriage to her or to her husband -Divorce is possible in all societies. Reasons and frequency vary, but the most common reasons across cultures are infidelity, sterility, cruelty, and desertion -The extended family consists of several closely related nuclear families living and often working together in a single hosuehold
what are the different types of religious specialists?
-Priests and priestesses are full-time religious specialists authorized to perform sacred rituals and mediate with supernatural powers on behalf of others. -Shamans are individuals skilled at entering an altered state of consciousness to contact and utilize an ordinarily hidden reality to acquire knowledge and supernatural power to help other people.
What is the nature of primate social organization, and how has human culture influenced theories of primate behavior?
-Primate social organization ranges from solitary individuals, to pair-bonded adults and their offspring, to polygynous or polyandrous groups, to multi-mate/multi-female groups -Chimps and bonobos live in communities of up to fifty members split among subgroups that change constantly as individuals join and leave -Upon maturity, young primates change the relationship they have with the group into which they were born, sometimes leaving it altogether
What features distinguish primates from other mammals?
-Primates have long period of childhood dependency and are large-brained, which enables both learned and adaptive behavior -Primates developed binocular stereoscopic color vision as they became both diurnal and arboreal -Primate digits have sensitive pads, usually accompanied by flattened nails, opposable thumbs, and big toes (expect for humans)
What is the nature of primate social organization, and how has human culture influenced theories of primate behavior? pt. 2
-Primatologists from male-biased cultures supposed that male-dominated hierarchies were the natural order of other primate social structures. However, female dominance prevails among some species, such as bonobos -Western social norms skewed perceptions of the importance of social hierarchy and competition in-primatology. Cooperation and reconilitation are vitally important aspects of primate behavior
what are religion and spirituality, and what role do they play in cultural system?
-Religion is an organized system of ideas about the spiritual sphere or the supernatural, and it is a key part of every culture's worldview. Like religion, spirituality is concerned with sacred matters, but it is often individual rather than collective and does not require a distinctive format or traditional organization. -Among food-foraging peoples, religion is intertwined with everyday life. As societies become more complex, it may be restricted to particular occasions. -Spiritual and religious beliefs and practices fulfill numerous psychological and emotional needs, such as reducing anxiety by providing an orderly view of the universe and answering existential questions. -Myths are narratives that explain the fundamentals of human existence-where we and everything in our world came from, why we are here, and where we are going. -A traditional religion reinforces group norms and provides moral sanctions for individual conduct. Its narratives and rituals confirm the existing social order, but it may also provide vehicles for challenging that order. People often turn to religion or spirituality in the hope of reaching a specific goal such as restoring health.
what types of supernatural beings and forces are included in the worldview of human?
-Religion is characterized by a belief in supernatural beings and forces that can be appealed to for aid through prayer, sacrifice, and other rituals. Supernatural beings include major deities (gods and goddesses), ancestral spirits, and other sorts of spirit beings. -Gods and goddesses are remote supernatural beings believed to be concerned with specific aspects of life and the universe. Whether people recognize gods, goddesses, or both has to do with how men and women relate to each other in everyday life. -Monotheism holds that there is one supreme divinity; polytheism acknowledges more than one deity. -Belief in ancestral spirits is based on the dualistic idea that human beings consist of a body and a soul or vital spirit that continues to participate in human affairs after death. -Animism, the belief that nature is enlivened by distinct personalized spirit beings separable from bodies, is common among peoples who see themselves as part of nature rather than superior to it. -Animatism, some times found alongside animism, is a belief that nature is enlivened by an impersonal spiritual force or supernatural energy, which may manifest itself in any special place, thing, or living creature.
How do people resist domination and repression?
-Some indigenous peoples have modified foreign practices to conform to indigenous values, a phenomenon known as syncretism. -Frustration and anger born of suppress ion and oppression may lead to rebellion - organized armed resistance to an established government or authority in power. Extreme dissatisfaction may lead to revolution- a radical change in a society or culture , which in the political arena refers to the forced overthrow of an old government. -Suppression and oppress ion may spawn nonviolent civil disobedience and revitalization movements.
What are revitalization movements, and how are they connected to social upheaval?
-Revitalization movements arise when people seek radical cultural reform in response to widespread social disruption and collective feelings of anxiety and despair. -Revitalization examples include Mormonism in the United States, ecospiritualism in many Western nations (such as the rise of Druidry in England), and the revival of traditional American Indian ceremonies. Syncretism is the creative blending of indigenous and foreign beliefs and practices into new cultural forms.
What are sacred sites and pilgrimages?
-Sacred sites may be places where ordinary people experienced something extraordinary, or places associate d with a holy person, or exceptional natural places, especially mountain tops. -A pilgrimage is devotion in motion-a religiously inspired journey to a site believed to be metaphysically significant and typically demands personal sacrifices from travelers -Many Christian pilgrimages center on cults of the Virgin Mary. These include Black Madonnas- dark colored clay or wooden statues or painted images representing the virgin mother -Desecration is the ideologically inspired violation of a sacred site intended to inflict harm, if only symbolically, on people judged to have impure, false, or evil beliefs and ritual practices.
How might anthropological know-how help counter structural violence?
-Shortsighted emphasis on consumerism and individual self-interest so characteristic of the world 's affluent countries needs to be abandoned in favor of a more balanced social and environmental ethic. -Anthropologists are well versed in the dangers of culture - bound thinking, and they bring a holistic biocultural and comparative historical perspective to the challenge of understanding and balancing the needs and desires of local communities in the age of globalization. -Inspired by human rights ideals, there have always been "applied" anthropologists who reach beyond studying different cultures to assist besieged groups struggling to survive in today's rapidly changing world.
How are new species formed?
-Speciation can occur in a branching fashion(cladogenesis) or without branching (anagenesis) as a population accumulates sufficient new mutations over time to be considered a separate species -Microevolutionary forces can lead to macroevolutionary change, but the tempo of evolutionary change varies -Mutations in regulatory genes can bring about rapid change. According to the punctuated equilibrium model, macroevolution is characterized by long spans of relative stability interspersed with periods of rapid change
what is structural power?
-Structural power refers to the global forces that direct economic and political institutions and shape public ideas and values. It comes in two forms: hard power, which is coercive and is backed up by economic and military force, and soft power, which co-opts through ideological persuasion -The most powerful country in the world today remains the United States, home to more global corporations than any other and the largest military spender in world history, to date. -Cutting across international boundaries , global corporations are a powerful force for worldwide integration . Their power and wealth often exceeds that of national governments. -Competing states and corporations utilize the ideological persuasion of soft power to sell the general idea of globalization as something positive and to frame or brand anything that opposes capitalism in negative terms -Globalization often wreaks havoc in many traditional cultures. Radical disruption engenders worldwide resistance against superpower domination-and with that an emerging world system that is inherently unstable, vulnerable, and unpredictable.
Why does human skin color vary across the globe?
-Subject to tremendous variation, skin color is a function of several factors: transparency or thickness of the skin, distribution of blood vessels, and amount of carotene and melanin in the skin -exposure to sunlight increases the amount of melanin, darkening the skin -the cline of global variation in skin color derives from a balance between selective pressures: synthesis of vitamin D through the skin and protection from solar ultraviolet radiation -Today cultural factors lessen the impact of selective pressures on skin color. Its social significance remains in some cultures -All humans have African ancestry no matter how white they might appear today
What is the Neolithic revolution, and how did it come about?
-The change to food production took place independently and more or less simultaneously in various regions of the world; southwest and southeast Asia, highland Mexico and Peru, South America's Amazon forest, eastern North America, China, and Africa. Common food complexes were based on starchy grains and/or roots that were consumed with protein-containing legumes plus flavor enhancers -Southwest Asia contains the earliest known Neolithic sites consisting of small villages of mud huts with individual storage pits and clay ovens along with evidence of food production and trade -At ancient Jericho, remains of tools, houses, and clothing indicates Neolithic people occupied the oasis as early at 10,350 years ago. At its height, Neolithic Jericho had a population of 400 to 900 people. Comparable villages developed independently in Mexico and Peru by about 4,500 years ago
What is the basic outline of mammalian primate evolution and related geological events?
-The first mammals appeared over 200 mya and were small nocturnal creatures. Since that time, the positions of the earth's landmasses have changed dramatically -The mass extinction of the dinosaurs about 65 mya allowed for an adaptive radiation of mammals that ultimately included the origins of the primates -Old world and New world primate species separated by about 40 million years, and hominoids, the broad-shouldered tailless primates that include all living and extinct apes and humans, began to appear about 23 mya, throughout Asia, Africa, and Europe -Genetics studies have confirmed that the African apes - chimpanzees, bonobos, and gorillas - are closest living relatives
what does our world look like today?
-The growing inter connectedness of our species, facilitated by modern mass transportation and telecommunications media has resulted in many external similarities across cultures. -Comparative historical and cross-cultural research shows the persistence of distinctive worldviews and the tendency of large multiethnic states to come apart.
How are living things classified, and how did this system come about?
-The science of taxonomy classifies living organisms into a series of progressively more inclusive categories on the basis of visual similarities and developmental patterns
What areas of language study or linguistics do anthropologist pursue?
-The three branches of language study in anthropology are descriptive linguistic, historical linguistics, and language in relation to social and cultural settings -Descriptive linguistic mark out and explain the features of a language at a particular time in its history. Their work includes phonology (the study of language sound patterns) and the investigation of grammar - all rules concerning morphemes ( the smallest units of meaningful combinations of sounds) and syntax (The principle according to which phrases and sentences are built) -Historical linguists investigate relationships between earlier and later forms of the same language- including identifying the forces behind the changes that have taken place in languages in the course of linguistic divergence. Their work provides a mean of roughly dating certain migration, invasions, and cross-cultural interactions -Sociolinguists and ethnologists study languages in relation to social and cultural settings. Sociolinguists study the relationship between language and society, examining how social categories (such as age, gender, ethnicity, religion occupation, and class) influence the use and significance of distinctive style of speech. Ethnologists study the dynamic relationship between language and culture and how they mutually influence and inform each other
household
A domestic unit of one or more people living in the same residence. Other than family members, a household may include nonrelatives, such as servants
What is the Upper Paleolithic, and how does this link to the modern human origins debate?
-The upper Paleolithic was a creative explosion consisting of richly varied tool industries and expressive art -As we get closer to the present, and fossil specimens possess brains the size of contemporary humans, paleoanthropologist debate whether a particular skull shape can be linked to cultural abilities and a behavioral repertoire
When did the first cities and states develop, and how did this occur?
-The world's first cities grew out of Neolithic villages between 4,500 and 6,000 years ago- first Mesopotamia, then in Egypt and the Indus Valley. In China, the process was underway by 5,000 years ago. Somewhat later, and completely independently, similar changes took place in Mesoamerica and the central Andes -Four basic cultural changes mark the transition from Neolithic village life to life in civilized urban centers: agricultural innovation, diversification of labor, emergence of centralized government, and social stratification
How do political system maintain social order and handle misconduct, crime, and conflict within the society?
-There are two kinds of cultural control: Internalized or self control is comprised of deeply ingrained sentiments what is proper and what is not. Externalized control includes sanctions or social direct lives designed to encourage or coerce conformity to cultural standards of acceptable behavior. -Law has formal rules of conduct that, when violated, lead to negative sanctions. In centralized political systems, this authority rests with the government and court system, whereas uncentralized societies give this authority directly to the injured party. -All societies use negotiation to settle individual disputes. In negotiation, the parties to the dispute reach an agreement themselves, with or without the help of a third party. Typically, in nonstate societies, efforts to resolve disputes focus on restoring social harmony. Punitive just ice (such as imprisonment) stands in contrast to restorative just ice.
What are the flaws with studies that attempt to link race and intelligence?
-These studies imply a biological basis and do not take into account that biological race does not exist -The inherited components of intelligence cannot be separated from those that are culturally acquired -There is still no consensus on what intelligence really is, but it is generally agreed that intelligence is made up of several different talents and abilities, each of which would be separately inherited -The cultural and environment and environment specificity of IQ testing makes it invalid for broad comparisons
What are the various theories to account for modern human origins?
-This debate distills to the question of whether one, some, or all populations of the archaic groups played a role in the evolution of modern Homo sapiens -The recent African origins hypothesis proposes that modern humans evolved in Africa about 200,000 years ago, replacing other populations as they spread throughout the globe because of their superior cultural capabilities -the multiregional hypothesis proposes that human originated in Africa some 2 mya and that ancient populations throughout the globe are all ancestors of modern humans, unified as a single species maintained through gene flow -new evidence regarding the Neandertal and Denisovan genomes indicate gene flow (admixture) among ancient populations and contribute substantially to out understanding of modern human origins
What kinds of marital residence patterns exist across cultures?
-Three common residence patterns are patrilocal (married couples living in the locality of the husband's father's place of residence), matrilocal (living in the locality of the wife's mother's place of residence), and neolocal (living somewhere apart from the husband's or wife's parents) -In North America and parts of Europe, increasing numbers of people live in nonfamily households, either alone or with nonrelatives. This includes unmarried cohabiting couples. Many others live in nontraditional families, including single-parent households and blended families
How do political organization establish authority?
-Unlike coercion, which imposes obedience by force or intimidation , authority is based on the socially accepted rules or codified laws binding people together as a society. Without such laws, political government lacks legitimacy. -Historically, far fewer women than men have held important positions of political leadership, but there have been significant exceptions. Today, high-profile female leadership is increasingly common.
Why war and how did it evolve?
-Violent conflict, ranging from individua l fights to local feuds to formally declared international wars fought by professional armed forces, may be waged over scarce resources, territorial expansion, or ideological reasons -War, a rather recent phenome non, became prominent as populations grew in the wake of the Neo lithic revolution. In the past 5,000 years, humans have fought some 14,000 wars resulting in many hundreds of millions of casualties, yet war is not a universal phenome non. Some societies engage in defensive wars only and try to avoid armed confrontations, and some societies do not practice warfare as we know it -New inventions in military technology have dramatically increased the complexity of warfare and the number of civilian casualties -Acculturation, the massive cultural change that occurs in a society when it experiences intensive firsthand contact with a more powerful society, always involves an element of force. -Ethnocide, the violent eradication of an ethnic group's collective identity as a distinctive people, occurs when a dominant society sets out to destroy another society's cultural heritage. -Genocide is the physical extermination of one people by another.
What is the course of evolution in the genus Homo?
-With Homo habilis, stone tools begin to appear in the archaeological record -slightly larger brain size and the reduction of the face characterized early homo -culture as the mechanism for adaptation imposed selective pressures favoring a larger brain, which in turn made possible improved cultural adaptation -Homo erectus, appearing about 2 mya, had a brain close in size to that of modern humans. Spreading into Eurasia, H. erectus had sophisticated behaviors including controlled use of fire for warmth, cooking, and protection as well as specialized stone tool industries
What can anthropology contribute to the understanding of globalization? pt.1
-a long tradition of studying the connection among diverse peoples over time gives anthropology a theoretical framework to study globalization in a world increasingly linked through recent technological advancements
What is anthropology?
-anthropology is the objective and systematic study of humankind in all times and places -anthropology contains four major fields: cultural anthropology, linguistic anthropology, archaeology, and biological or physical anthropology -in each of anthropology's fields, some individuals practice applied anthropology, which uses anthropological knowledge to solve practical problems
What are the different types of political organization?
-bands, tribes, chiefdoms, and states -The band is a relatively small (a few hundred people at most) and loosely organized kin-ordered group that inhabit s a specific territory and that may split into smaller extended family groups that are politically and economically independent. -Typically, bands are found among food foragers and other nomadic societies where people organize into politically autonomous family groups. Political organization in bands is democratic, and inform al control is exerted by public opinion in the form of gossip and ridicule. -In anthropology, a tribe is a kin-ordered group politically integrated by a unifying factor and whose members share a common ancestry, identity, culture, language, and territory . With an economy usually based on crop cultivation or herding, the tribe's population is larger than that of the band. Political organization is transitory, and leaders have no coercive means of maintaining authority.
What are cultural adaptation and cultural evolution?
-cultural adaptation is the complex of ideas, activities, and technologies that enables people to survive in a certain environment and in turn impact the environment -An ecosystem is a functioning whole composed of the natural environment and the organisms living in it -cultural evolution (the changing of cultures over time) should not be confused with the idea of progress
When did homo sapiens appear, and how do we define ourselves in the fossil record?
-between 200,000 and 400,000 years ago, evolving humans achieved the brain capacity of contemporary homo sapiens -several local variations of the genus homo, including the Neanderthals, appeared after brain size reached modern capacity, all with comparable technological capabilities
What do anthropologist do in each of its four fields?
-cultural anthropologist study humans in terms of their cultures, the often-unconscious standards by which social groups operate -linguistic anthropologist study human languages and may deal with the description of language, with the history of languages, or with how languages are used in particular social settings -Archaeologist study human cultures through the recovery and analysis of material remains and environmental data Biological anthropologist focus on human as physical organisms; they particularly emphasize tracing the evolutionary development of the human animal and studying logical variation within the species today
Does culture play a role in a person's mental health?
-culturally induced conflicts not only can produced psychological disturbance but can also determine the form of the disturbance. Similarly, mental disorders that have a biological cause ,like schizophrenia, will be expressed by symptoms specific to the culture-bound syndromes, or ethnic psychoses, are mental disorders specific to a particular ethnic group -Multiethnic convergence, intensified by globalization, drives home the need for a medical pluralism providing multiple healing modalities suited for the cultural dynamics of the 21st century
What are the origins of spoken and written language, and how do modern telecommunication systems impact literacy around the world?
-cultures around the world have sacred stories or myths about the origin of human languages -Language experts agree that spoken languages are at least as old as the species Homo sapiens -The first writing systems- Egyptian hieroglyphics and cuneiform- developed about 5,000 year-old ago. Symbols carved into 8,600 year old tortoise shells found in western China may represent the world's earliest evidence of elementary writing -The global telecom industry reaches into the most remote corners of the world, not only transforming how people communicate, but also with whom and about what
What determines cultural norms, and is there such a thing as group personality or national character?
-early on, anthropologist worked on the problem of whether it is possible to delineate a group of personality without falling into stereotyping. Each culture chooses, from the vast array of possibilities, those traits that it sees as normative or ideal. Individuals who conform to these traits are rewarded; the rest are not -National character studies looked for basic personality traits shared by the majority of people of modern countries. researchers have attempted to determine the child-rearing practices and education that shape such a group personality -Many anthropologist believe national character theories are based on unscientific and overly generalized data; others focus on the core values promoted in particular societies, although recognizing that success in instilling these values in individuals may vary considerably -what is defined as normal behavior in any culture is determined by cultural itself; what may be acceptable or even admirable in one may not be so regarded in another. Abnormality involves developing personality traits not accepted by a culture.
what is enculturation, and does it shape a person's personality and identity?
-enculturation the process by which individuals become members of their society, begins soon after birth. Its first agents are the members of an individual's household, and then it involves other members of society -for enculturation to proceed, a person must possess self-awareness, the ability to identify oneself as an individual, to reflect on oneself, and to evaluate oneself -A child's birthright and social identify are established through personal naming, a universal practice with numerous cross-cultural variations. A name is an important device for self-definition - without one, an individual has no identity, no self. Many cultures mark the naming of a child with a special ceremony -For self-awareness to emerge and function, four basic orientations are necessary to structure the behavioral environment in which the self acts: object orientation (learning about a world of objects other than the self), spatial orientation, temporal orientation, and normative orientation (an understanding of the values, ideals, and standards that constitute the behavioral environment)
What is ethnocentrism, and what is measure of a society's success?
-ethnocentrism is the belief that one's own culture is superior to all others. To avoid making ethnocentric judgements, anthropologists adopt the approach of cultural relativism, which requires suspending judgment to understand each culture in its own terms -The least biased measure of a culture's success may be based on answering this question: How well does a particular culture satisfy the physical and psychological needs of those whose behavior it guides? The following indicators provide answers: the nutritional status and general physical and mental health of the population, the incidence of violence, the stability of domestic life, and the group's relationship to its resource base
How do a society's child-rearing practices and concepts of sex and gender influence a person's behavior, personality, and identity?
-gender behaviors and relations are malleable and vary cross-culturally. Each culture presents different opportunities and expectations concerning ideal or acceptable male-female behavior. In some cultures, male-female relations are based on inequality and are marked by different standards of expected behavior -Anthropological research demonstrates that gender dominance is a cultural construct and consequently that alternative male-female social arrangements can be created -Through cross-cultural studies psychological anthropologists have established the interrelation of personality, child-rearing practices, and other aspects of culture -Dependence training, usually associated with traditional farming societies, stresses compliance in the performance of assigned tasks and dependence on the domestic group, rather than reliance on oneself -interdependence training, practiced among the Beng of West Africa, teaches children that individual security comes through the intertwining of lives
What is the molecular basis of evolution?
-genes, the units of heredity, are segments of molecules of DNA. The entire sequence of DNA is known as the genome -DNA resembles two strands of rope twisted around each other with ladderlike rungs connecting the two stands -The sequence of bases along the DNA molecule directs the production of proteins. Proteins constitute specific identifiable traits such as blood types -different versions or alternate forms of a gene for a given trait are called alleles. The total number of different alleles of genes in a population is its gene pool
What pressures do primate populations currently face?
-habitat destruction caused by economic development, human population growth, and war has led to the endangered status of many primate species, especially the great apes -The use of primates in medical research is now changing as laws in several, countries have begum to ban the use of apes in biomedical research -Relocation, reintroduction, and captive colony stragies have met with success, and some populations are rebounding due to such conservation efforts
Is language more than words?
-human language is embedded in a gesture- call system inherited from our primate ancestors that serves to key speech, providing the appropriate frame for interpreting linguistic form -The gesture component consist of facial expressions and body postures and motions that convey intended as well as subconscious messages. The study of such nonverbal signals in body language is knw as kinesics. Proxemics is the study of how people perceive and use space -The call component of the gesture - call system is represented by paralanguage, consisting of various voice qualities such as pitch and tempo and vocalizations such as giggling or sighing -About 70% of the world's languages are tonal, in which the musical pitch of spoken words is an essential part of their pronunciation and meaning -Long before the telecommunication systems of the 19th and 20th centuries, people found ways to expand their acoustic range- including through talking drums and whistled speech
what is market exchange, and where is the marketplace?
-in nonindustrial societies, the marketplace is usually a specific site where people exchange goods. It also functions as a social gathering place and a news medium -although market exchanges may take place through bartering and other forms of reciprocity, money makes market exchange more efficient
How do anthropologist face the ethical challenges that emerge through conducing anthropological research?
-must stay aware of the potential uses and abuses of anthropological knowledge and the ways that it is obtained -the anthropological code of ethics, first formalized in 1971 and continually revised, outlines the moral and ethical responsibilities of anthropologist to the people they study, to those who fund the research, and to the profession as a whole
What are the major subsistence strategies and the characteristics of societies that practice them? pt. 2
-pastoralism relies on breeding and managing large herds of domesticated herbivores. Pastoralists are usually nomadic, moving as needed to provide animals with pasture and water -intensive agriculture led to urbanization and peasantry. Farm settlements grew into towns and cities, and social complexity grew to include labor specialization, elite classes, public management, taxation, and policing -industrial food production features large-scale businesses involved in mass food production, processing, and marketing, and relying on laborsaving machines. It is rooted in the industrial revolution, which began 200 years ago with the invention of the steam engine. Machines replaced human labor, animal power, and hand tools -Today's industrial food production and global marketing complex involve a network of interlinked distribution centers facilitated by an electronic-digital revolution that began in late 20th century
What problems beset early cities?
-poor sanitation in early cities, coupled with large numbers of people living in close proximity, created environments in which infectious diseases were rampant -early urban centers also faced social problems strikingly similar to those persisting in the world today. Dense populations, class systems, and a strong centralized governments created internal stress -warfare was common; cities were fortified, and armies served to protect and expand the state -European city dwellers had already adapted to urban diseases that decimated both urban and rural Indian populations when the Europeans invaded the Americas
How does evolutionary theory differ from creation stories?
-scientific theories are based on testable hypotheses -scientific theories provide mechanisms to account for the diversity of life on earth
How do we differentiate the earliest bipeds from one another?
-the forest-dwelling ardipithecines seem to be the earliest definite biped -Australopithecines came next and included two basic types: the robust vegetarian australopithecines, a line that went extinct, and the gracile australopithecines who ultimately evolved into the genus Homo -The increase in brain size did not appear in human evolutionary history until much later with the appearance of the Homo habilis about 2.5 mya
What are some examples of human adaptation through natural selection?
-the sickle-cell trait, caused by the inheritance of an abnormal form of hemoglobin, is an adaptation to life in regions in which malaria is common -People native to cold climates tent to have greater body bulk relative to their extremities while individuals from hot climates tent to be relatively tall and slender
conjugal family
A family established through marriage
How does global capitalism impact local economies?
-when powerful countries impose market production schemes on other societies, the impact can be negative - as in the global production of soy in Paraguay where big land owners in cooperation with large agribusinesses have edged out small farmers and landless peasants -in state-organized societies with market economies, the informal economy - economic activities set up to avoid official scrutiny and regulation may be more important than the formal sector
Natufian Culture
A Mesolithic culture from the lands that are now Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, and western Syria, between about 10,200 and 12, 500 years ago
Cultural Resource Management
A branch of archaeology concerned with survey and/or excavation of archaeological and historical remains that might be threatened by construction or development; also involved with policy surrounding protection of cultural resources.
Ethnolinguistics
A branch of linguistics that studies the relationship between language and culture and how they mutually influence and inform each other
cultural adaptation
A complex of ideas, activities, and technologies that enable people to survive and even thrive in their environment
leveling mechanism
A cultural obligation compelling prosperous members of a community to give away goods, host public feasts, provide free service, or otherwise demonstrate generosity so that no one permanently accumulates significantly more wealth than anyone else
marriage
A culturally sanctioned union between two or more people that establishes certain rights and obligations between the people, between them and their children, and between them and their in-laws. Such marriage rights and obligations most often include, but are not limited to, sex, labor, property, childrearing, exchange, and status.
melanin
A dark pigment produced in the outer layer of the skin that protects against damaging ultraviolet solar radiation
bride service
A designated period of time (sometimes several years) when the groom works for the bride's family
Neanderthals
A distinct group within the genus Homo inhabiting Europe and Southeast Asia from approximately 30,000 to 125,000 years ago
subculture
A distinctive set of ideas, values, and behavior patterns by which a group writing within a larger society operates, while still sharing common standards with that larger society
state
A politically institution established to manage and defend a complex, socially stratified society occupying a defined territory. It is organized and directed by a government that has the capacity to make rules, impose order, tax its subject, and use military force to defend or expand its territories
silent trade
A process for the exchange of goods between mutually distrusting ethnic group so as to avoid direct personal contact
Denisovans
A recently discovered archaic human group inhabiting parts of Asia identified by fossils (dated to 30-50 kya) and its genome sequence, which shows interbreeding among ancestral groups.
pilgrimage
A religiously inspired journey to a site believed to be metaphysically significant and typically demanding personal sacrifices from travelers
neolocal residence
A residence pattern in which a married couple establishes its household in a location apart from either the husband's or the wife's relatives
patrilocal residence
A residence pattern in which a married couple lives in the husband's father's place of residence
matrilocal residence
A residence pattern in which a married couple lives in the wife's mother's place of residence
alphabet
A series of symbols representing the sounds of a language arranged in a traditional order
writing system
A set of visible or tactile signs used to represent units of language in a systematic way
conspicuous consumption
A showy display of wealth for social prestige
pluralistic society
A society in which two or more ethnic groups or nationalities are politically organized into one territorial state but maintain their cultural differences
Culture
A society's shared and socially transmitted ideas, values, and perceptions that are used to make sense of experience and generate behavior and are reflected in that behavior
superstructure
A society's shared sense of identify and world views. The collective body of ideas, beliefs, and values by which a group of people make sense of the world- its shapes, challenges, and opportunities - and understanding their place in it. This includes religion and national ideology
naming ceremony
A special event or ritual to mark the naming of a child
formal interview
A structured question/answer session carefully notated as it occurs and based on prepared questions.
Lactose
A sugar that is the primary constituent of fresh milk
language
A system of communication using symbolic sounds, gestures, or marks that are put together according to certain rules, resulting in meanings that are intelligible to all who shares that language
Ecosystem
A system, or a functioning whole, composed of both the natural environment and all the organisms living within it
absolute dating
A technique used to determine the actual age of a fossil
displacement
A term referring to things and events removed in time and space
rite of passage
A three-phased ritual that marks an important ceremonial moment when members of a society move from one distinctive social stage in life to another
Human Relations Area Files (HRAF)
A vast collection of cross-indexed ethnographic, biocultural, and archaeological data catalogued by cultural characteristics and geographic location; archived in about 300 libraries (on microfiche or online)
pantheon
All the gods and goddesses of a people
Lactase
An enzyme in the small intestine that enables humans to assimilate lactose (milk sugar)
Domestication
An evolutionary process whereby humans modify, intentionally or unintentionally, the genetic makeup of a population of wild plants or animals, sometimes to the extent that members of the population are unable to survive and/or reproduce without human assistance
whistled speech
An exchange of whistled words using a phonetic emulation of the sounds produced in spoken voice
slash-and-burn cultivation
An extensive form of horticulture in which the natural vegetation is cut, the slash is subsequently burned, and crops are then planted among the ashes; also know as SWIDDEN FARMING
sanction
An external cultural control or social directive designed to encourage or coerce conformity to cultural standards of acceptable social behavior
tool
An object used to facilitate some task or activity. Although tool making involves intentional modification of the material of which it is made, tool use may involve objects either modified for some particular purpose or completely unmodified
insurgency
An organized armed resistance or violent uprising to an established government or authority in power; also known as rebellion*
economic system
An organized arrangement for producing, distributing, and consuming goods
society
An organized group or groups of interdependent people who generally share a common territory, language, and culture and who act together for collective survival and well-being
religion
An organized system of ideas about the spiritual sphere or the supernatural, along with associated ceremonial practices by which people try to interpret and/or influence aspects of the universe otherwise beyond their control
How do the behavioral patterns and linguistic capabilities of the great apes compare?
Apes combine vocalizations, gestures, and facial expressions to communicate a variety of message directly -individuals in captivity have been taught to communicate using visual symbols and have learned American sign language. Innovation and adoption of new skills by entire groups are widespread -Chimps and bonobos are known for for making tools, to use certain plants for medicinal purposes, and to hunt small animals, sometimes even using prepared spears
What are the connections between culture, society, and individuals?
As a union of individuals, a society must strike a balance between the self-interest of individuals with the needs and demands of the collective well-being of the group. To accomplish this, a society rewards adherence to tis culturally prescribed standards in the form of social approval -when individual needs and desires are eclipsed by those of society, the result may be stress and mental illness expressed in "antisocial" behavior such as alienation, substance abuse, or violence
How are living things classified, and how did this system come about? pt. 2
Carolus Linnaeus devised the Systema Naturae, the first system to classify living things on the basis of similarities in body structure body function, and sequence of bodily growth -Modern taxonomy adds genetic characteristics to the basic Linnaean system
dependence training
Child-rearing practices that foster compliance in the performance of assigned tasks and dependence on the domestic group, rather than reliance on oneself
independence training
Child-rearing practices that foster independence, self-reliance, and personal achievement
Spirituality
Concern with the sacred, as distinguished from material matters. In contrast to religion, spirituality is often individual rather than collective and does not require a distinctive format or traditional organization.
Gendered Speech
Distinct male and female speech patterns that vary across social and cultural settings
xenophobia
Fear or hatred of strangers or anything foreign
How do anthropologist conduct research? pt.1
Fieldwork, characteristics of all the anthropological subdisciplines, includes complete immersion in research settings ranging from archaeological and paleoanthropological survey and excavation, to living with a group of primates in their natural habitat, to biological data gathered while living with a group. Ethnographic participants observation with a particular culture or subculture is the classic field method of cultural anthropology
civilization
In anthropology, societies in which large numbers of people live in cities, are socially stratified, and are governed by a ruling elite working through centrally organized political systems called states
thrifty genotype
Human genotype that permits efficient storage of fat to draw on in times of food shortage and conservation of glucose and nitrogen
coercion
Imposition of obedience or submission by force or intimidation
accommodation
In anthropology, refers to an adaptation process by which a people resists assimilation by modifying its traditional culture in response to pressures by a dominant society in order to preserve its distinctive ethnic identity.
tribe
In anthropology, the term for a range of kin-ordered groups that are politically integrated by some unifying factor and whose members share a common ancestry, identity, culture, language, and territory.
hydraulic theory
In archaeology, the theory that explains civilization's emergence as the result of the construction of elaborate irrigation system, the functioning of which required full-time managers whose control blossomed into the first governing body and elite social class; also known as irrigation theory
Analogies
In biology, structures possessed by different organisms that are superficially similar due to similar function but that do not share a common development pathway or structure
race
In biology, the taxonomic category of subspecies that is not applicable to human because the division of humans into discrete types does not represent the true nature of human biological variation. In some societies race is an important cultural category
law
In cultural anthropology, formal rules of conduct that, when violated, lead to negative sanctions
Reconiliation
In primatology, a friendly reunion between former opponents not long after a conflict
monogamous
In primatology, mating for life with a single individual of the opposite sex.
estrus
In some primate females, the time of sexual receptivity during which ovulation is visibly displayed
Signals
Instinctive sounds or gestures that have a natural or self-evident meaning
tonal language
Languages in which the sound pitch of a spoken word is an essential of its pronunciation and meaning
key consultants
Members of the society being studied who provide information that helps the researchers understand the meaning of what they observe. Early anthropologists referred to such individuals as informants.
relative dating
Method of determining the age of a fossil by comparing its placement with that of fossils in other layers of rock
migration
Mobility in geographic space, involving a temporary or permanent change in the usual place of residence. Internal migration is movement within countries; external migration is movement to a foreign country
stabilizing selection
Natural selection acting to promote stability rather than change in a population's gene pool
Potlatch
On the northwestern coast of North America, an indigenous ceremonial event in which a village chief publicly gives away stockpiled food and other goods that signify wealth.
Gracile Australopithecines
One member of the genus Australopithecus possessing a more lightly built chewing apparatus; likely had a diet that included more meat than that of the robust australopithecines
transgender
People who cross over or occupy an intermediate position in the binary male-female gender construction
soft power
Power that co-opts rather than coerces, pressing others through attraction and persuasion to change their ideas, beliefs, values, and behaviors
hard power
Power that coerces others and that is backed up by economic and/or military force
structural power
Power that organizes and orchestrates the systemic interaction within and among societies, directing economic and political forces on the one hand and ideological forces that shape public ideas, values, and beliefs on the other
Revolution
Radical change in a society or culture. In the political arena, it involves the forced overthrow of an old government and establishment of a completely new one
myths
Sacred narratives that explain the fundamentals of human existence - where we and everything in our world came from, why we are here, and where we are going
what is secularization?
Secularization is a process of cultural change in which a population tends toward a nonreligious worldview, ignoring or rejecting institutionalized spiritual beliefs and rituals
RNA (ribonucleic acid)
Similar to DNA but with uracil substituted for the base thymine. Transcribes and carries instructions from DNA from the nucleus to the ribosomes, where it directs protein synthesis. Some simple life forms contain RNA only
How does primate biology reflect behavior and environmental factors?
Single births among tree-dwelling primates facilitate transport of young -the long period until maturity provides opportunity for learning social behaviors, communication, and practical skills -Bonobo genitals maintain a constant state of swelling, which conceals ovulation and reflects their frequent and regular sexual activity, an important component of bonobo social organization -A free upper lip allows apes a greater range of facial expression
How are living things classified, and how did this system come about? pt. 3
Species, the smallest working units in biological classificatory systems, are reproductively isolated populations or groups of populations capable of interbreeding to produce fertile offspring
self-awareness
The ability to identify oneself as an individual, to reflect on oneself, and to evaluate
Paleoanthropology
The anthropological study of biological changes through time (evolution) to understand the origins and predecessors of the present human species.
molecular anthropology
The anthropological study of genes and genetic relationships, which contributes significantly to our understanding of human evolution, adaptation, and diversity.
Linguistic nationalism
The attempt by ethnic groups and even countries to proclaim independence by purging their language of foreign
Animatism
The belief that nature is enlivened or energized by an impersonal spiritual force or supernatural energy, which may make itself manifest in any special place, thing, or living creature.
Pastoralism
The breeding and managing of migratory herds of domesticated grazing animals, such as goats, sheep, cattle, llamas, and camels
market exchange
The buying and selling of goods and services, with prices set by rules of supply and demand
parallel cousins
The child of a father's brother or a mother's sister
cross-cousin
The child of a mother's brother or a father's sister
worldview
The collection body of ideas that members of a culture generally share concerning the ultimate shape and substance of their reality
How do anthropologists conduct research? pt.3
The comparative method is key to all branches of anthropology. Anthropologist make broad comparisons among peoples and cultures - past and present. They also compare related species and fossil groups. Ethnology, the comparative branch of cultural anthropologist, uses a range of ethnographic accounts to construct theories about cultures from comparative or historical point of view. Ethnologist often focus on a particular aspect of culture, such as religious or economic practices.
prestige economy
The creation of surplus for the express purpose of displaying wealth and giving it away to rise one's status
proxemics
The cross-cultural study of people's perception and use of social space
Horticulture
The cultivation of crops in food gardens, carried out with simple hand tools such as digging sticks and hoes
Linguistic divergence
The development of different languages from a single ancestral language
Personality
The distinctive way a person thinks, feels. and behaves
Neolithic Revolution
The domestication of plants and animals by peoples with stone-based technologies, beginning about 10,000 years ago and leading to radical transformations in cultural systems; sometimes referred to as the Neolithic transition
infrastructure
The economic foundation of a society, including its subsistence practices and the tools and other material equipment used to make a living
social stratification
The emergence of social classes, a series of ranked social categories according to characteristics such as wealth, occupation, or kin group
Grammar
The entire formal structure of a language, including morphology and syntax
recent African origins hypothesis
The hypothesis that modern humans are all derived from one single population of archaic Homo sapiens who migrated out of Africa after 100,000 years ago, replacing all other archaic forms due to their superior cultural capabilities; also known as the Eve hypothesis or the out of Africa hypothesis.
linguistic relativity
The idea that language to some extent shapes the way in which people perceive and think about the world
cultural relativism
The idea that one must suspend judgment of other people's practice to understand them in their own cultural terms
Acculturation
The massive cultural change that occurs in a society when it experiences intensive firsthand contact with a more powerful society
Mesolithic
The middle stone age of Europe, Asia, and Africa beginning about 12,000 years ago
Linguistics
The modern scientific study of all aspects of language
Bridewealth
The money or valuable goods paid by the groom or his family to the bride's family upon marriage; also called bride-price
Neolithic
The new stone age; a prehistoric period beginning about 10,000 years ago in which peoples possessed stone-based technologies and depended on domesticated crops and/or animals for subsistence
Syntax
The patterns or rules by which words are arranged into phrases and sentences
Genocide
The physical extermination of one people by another, either as a deliberate act or as the accidental outcome of activities carried out by one people with little regard for their impact on others
Genocide
The physical extermination of one people by another; either as a deliberate act or as the accidental outcome of activities carried out by one people with little regard for their impact on other
Code switching
The practice of changing from one mode of speech to another as the situation demands, whether from one language to another or from one dialect of a language to another
fossil
The preserved remains or traces of an organism that lived in the past
Enculturation
The process by which a society's culture is passed on from one generation to the next and individuals become members of their society
multiculturalism
The public policy for managing cultural diversity in a multi-ethnic society, officially stressing mutual respect and tolerance for cultural differences within a country's borders
social structure
The rule-governed relationships-with all their rights and obligations-that hold members of a society together. This includes households, families, associations, and power relations, including politics.
political organization
The way power, as the capacity to do something, is accumulated, arranged, executed, and structurally embedded in society; the means through which a society creates and maintains social order and reduces social disorder
Ethnicity
This term, rooted in the Greek word ethnikos and related to ethnos is the expression for the set of cultural ideas held by an ethnic group
core values
Those values especially promoted by a particular culture
extended family
Two or more closely related nuclear families clustered together in a large domestic group
Paralanguage
Voice effects that accompany language and convey meaning. These include vocalization such as giggling, groaning, or sighing, as well as voice qualities such as pitch and temp
Bronze Age
`In the Old World, the period marked by the production of tools and ornaments of bronze; began about 5,000 years ago in China, the Mediterranean, and South Asia and about 500 years earlier in Southwest Asia
social class
a category of individuals in a stratified society who enjoy equal or nearly equal prestige according to the hierarchical system of evaluation
Caste
a closed social class in a stratified society in which membership is determined by birth and fixed for life
Ethnography
a detailed description of a particular culture primarily based on fieldwork
informed consent
a formal recorded agreement between the subject and the researcher to participate in the research; legally required for researchers in many countries
divination
a magical procedure or spiritual ritual designed to discern what is not knowable by ordinary means, such as foretelling the future by interpreting omens
monogamy
a marriage form in which both partners have just one spouse
stereoscopic vision
complete three-dimensional vision, or depth perception, from binocular vision and nerve connections that run from each eye to both sides of the brain, allowing nerve cells to integrate the images derived from each eye
cultural adaptation
consists of a complex of ideas, activities, and technologies that enable them to survive and even thrive; in turn , that adaptation impacts their natural environment.
cultural evolution
cultural change over time - not to be confused with progress
taboo
culturally prescribed avoidances involving ritual prohibitions, which, if not observed, lead to supernatural punishment
tradition
customary body of ideas and practices passed on from generation to generation, which in a modernizing society may form an obstacle to new ways of doing things
polymorphic
describing species with alternative forms (alleles) of particular genes
Polytypic
describing the expression of genetic variants in different frequencies in different populations of a species
macroevolution
evolution above the species level or leading to the formation of new species
gestures
facial expressions and body postures and motions that convey intended as well as subconscious messages
grave goods
items such as figurines, and personal possessions, symbolically place in the grave for the deceased person's use in the afterlife
industrial food production
large-scale businesses involved in mass food production, processing, and marketing, which primarily rely on laborsaving machines
arboreal
living in the trees
Witchcraft
magical rituals intended to cause misfortune or inflict harm
Incest
marriage or sexual intercourse between people who are too closely related, usually parent and child and sibling relations at a minimum
Exogamy
marriage outside the group
Endogamy
marriage within a particular group or category of individuals
cultural controls
means of ensuring that individuals or groups conduct themselves in ways that support and maintain the established cultural order. They may be internal (ingrained sentiments about what is proper and what is not) or external (such as sanctions)
Brachiation
moving from branch to branch using the arms, with the body hanging suspended below
features
nonportable archaeological elements such as architecture
enzymes
proteins that initiate and direct chemical reactions
Heterozygous
refers to a chromosome pair that bears different alleles for a single gene
Homozygous
refers to a chromosome pair that bears identical alleles for a single gene
Civil Disobedience
refusal to obey civil laws in an effort to induce change in governmental policy or legislation, characterized by the use of passive resistance or other nonviolent means
Robust australopithecines
several species within the genus Australopithecus who lived from 1.1 to 2.5 million years ago in eastern and southern Africa; known for the rugged nature of their chewing apparatus ( large back teeth, large chewing muscles, and bony ridge on their skull tops for insertion of these large muscles)
Microliths
small blades of flint or similar stone which were hafted together in wooden handles to make tools; widespread in the Mesolithic
Peasants
small scale producers of crops or livestock living on land self-owned or rented in exchange for labor, crops, or money and exploited by more powerful groups in a complex society
industrial societies
societies in which human labor, hand tools, and animal power are largely replaced by machines, with an economy primarily based on mass production in large factories
egalitarian societies
societies in which people have about the same rank, and share equally in the basic resources that support income, status, and power
Cladogenesis
speciation through a branching mechanism whereby an ancestral population gives rise to two or more descendant populations
magic
specific formulas and actions used to compel supernatural powers to act in certain ways for good or evil purposes
soil marks
stains that show up on the surface of recently plowed fields that reveal an archaeological site
ribosomes
structures in the cell where translation occurs
Rites of Purification
symbolic acts carried out by an individual or group to establish or restore purity when someone has violated a taboo or is otherwise metaphorically unclean
Hypothesis
tentative explanation of the relationships among certain phenomena
Power
the ability of individuals or groups to impose their will upon others and make them do things even against their own wants or wishes
Genotype
the alleles possessed for a particular trait
gene flow
the introduction of alleles from the gene pool of one population into that of another
law of independent assortment
the mendelian principle that genes controlling different traits are inherited independently of one another
Law of Segregation
the mendelian principle that variants of genes for a particular trait retain their separate identities through the generations
ovulation
the moment when an egg released from an ovary into the womb is receptive for fertilization
Ecofacts
the natural remains of plants and animals found in the archaeological record
Phenotype
the observable characteristic of an organism that may or may not reflect a particular genotype due to the variable expression of dominant and recessive alleles
genes
the portions of DNA molecules that direct the synthesis of specific proteins
Politics
the process determining who gets what, when, and how
Transcription
the process of conversion of instructions from DNA into RNA
Modernization
the process of economic change, whereby developing societies acquire some of the social and political characteristics of Western industrial societies; five subprocesses are involved: technological development, agricultural development, urbanization, industrialization, and telecommunication
speciation
the process of forming new species
Hemoglobin
the protein that carries oxygen in red blood cells
Mesoamerica
the region extending from central Mexico to the northern regions of Central America
reproductive success
the relative production of fertile off-spring by a genotype. In practical terms, the number of offspring produced by individual members of a population is tallied and compared to that of others
Taxonomy
the science of classification
genetic code
the sequence of three bases (a codon) that specifies the sequence of amino acids in protein synthesis
species
the smallest working units biological classificatory systems; reproductively isolated populations or groups of populations capable of interbreeding to produce fertile offspring
Medical Anthropology
the specialization in anthropology that brings theoretical applied approaches from cultural and biological anthropology to the study of human sickness and health
Diffusion
the spread of certain ideas, customs, or practices from one culture to another
datum point
the starting point or reference for a grid system
Archeology
the study if human cultures through the recovery and analysis of material remains and environmental data
Cultural Anthropology
the study of customary patterns in human behavior, thought, and feelings. It focuses on humans as culture-producing and culture-reproducing creatures. Also know as social or sociocultural anthropology
Anthropology
the study of human kind in all times and places
Linguistic Anthropology
the study of human languages
Primatology
the study of living and fossil primates
Haplorhines
the subdivision within the primate order based on shared genetic characteristics; includes tarsiers, New World monkeys, Old world monkeys, and apes (including humans)
Strepsirhines
the subdivision within the primates order based on shared genetics characteristics; includes lemurs and lorises
Promsimians
the suborder of primates that includes lemurs, lorises, and tarsiers
anthropoids
the suborder of primates that includes new world monkeys, Old world monkeys, and apes (including humans)
Biological Anthropology
the systematic study of humans as biological organisms (physical anthropology)
Fieldwork
the term anthropologist use for on-location research
polygenetic inheritance
two or more genes contributing to the phenotype expression of a single characteristic
family
two or more people related by blood, marriage, or adoption. The family may take many forms, ranging from a single parent with one or more children, to a married couple or polygamous spouses with or without offspring, to several generations of parents and their children
How is anthropology different from other disciplines?
unique among the sciences and humanities, anthropology has long emphasized the study of non-western societies and a holistic approach, which aims to formulate theoretically valid explanations and interpretations of human diversity based on detailed studies of all aspects of human biology, behavior, and beliefs in all known societies, past and present
binocular vision
vision with increased depth perception from two eyes set next to each other, allowing their visual fields to overlap
Globalization
worldwide interconnectedness, evidence in global movements of natural resources, trade goods, toxins, human labor, finance capital, information, and infectious diseases
