Anthropology Midterm Exam 2

nuclear family

-a married couple and their children-exists in most societies but, is not universal -common where families are economically self-sufficient -where subsistence demands a high degree of mobility

marriage

"The customs, rules, and obligations that establish a socially endorsed relationship between adults and children, and between the kin groups of the married partners -most societies recognize some form of marriage, but values regarding it vary greatly. Thus marriage is best defined by its functions: --regulation of sexual intercourse --assignment of child nurturing to culturally recognized parents and their relatives --allocation of mutual rights and duties (roles) to the wife and husband --creation of new family relationships

double descent system

-"tracing descent through both matrilineal and patrilineal links, each of which is used for different purposes" -system that includes both patrilines and matrilines simultaneously -Example: Yako of Nigeria --patriline: ---organizes coresidence and cooperative organization of agricultural labor ---inheritance of land rights and fruit trees ---arbitration of disputes --matriline: ---inheritance of portable wealth (livestock, cash) ---debts and loans ---rites of passage such as marriage and funerals

capital vs. capitalism

-Capital: productive private property -capitalism: an economic system in which people work for wages, productive goods are privately owned, and capital is invested for profit -note: a society can have capital without practicing capitalism

ambilineal (ambilateral) descent

-a cognatic descent system in which an individual must choose one cognatic group to belong to --must pick either the group of their mother or father (or sometimes from among those of their grandparents) --ensures that individuals do not have overlapping memberships and loyalties

segmentary lineage system

-a form of sociopolitical organization in which multiple descent groups (usually patrilineages) form at different levels and function in different contexts --creates a nested hierarchy of kin groups of increasing size --each higher level is defined by common ancestry to a more distant ancestor

social dimensions of agriculture

-allows generation of a surplus: --supports craft specialization --emergence of markets, trade -supports larger populations --emergence of civilization, cities of tens of thousands -emergence of economic inequality --permanent property rights and inheritance -- disenfranchisement of some from means of production -emergence of political inequality --politically complex societies (5,000 to 3,000 BP) ---managerial bureaucracies ---warfare, need for defense --expropriation and taxation by elites

market exchange

-an economic system in which goods or services are bought and sold at a money price determined primarily by the forces of supply and demand -four conditions: --money --prices --supply and demand --private productive property

animal products

-animal flesh is typically not the primary food source --animal products like milk and blood are --animals ordinarily eaten at special events or in times of hardship -other animal products are important --skins, wool, dung -animals come in two basic types --grazers --browsers -animals and land use --convert inedible (to humans) plant biomass into edible food --common in cold and/or arid areas inhospitable to agriculture

cattle complex & social dimensions

-animals as wealth --used in social exchange, marriage payments-the cattle complex -social inequality --competition between fathers and sons over family wealth --development of age-set systems -economic equality --but less persistent over generations --greater opportunity for social mobility -sexual division of labor --men involving in herding and guarding --women manage corralled animals, some cultivation present

matrilineal descent

-associated with horticulture --most productive labor supplied by women --groups of cooperating women are important -associated with greater economic autonomy of women --men's labor and resources not necessary to raise children --support from co-resident sisters, mother -associated with greater reproductive autonomy of women --higher rater of infidelity, divorce, out of wedlock births --father may not be known with certainty, but mother is

patrilineal descent

-associated with intensive agriculture, pastoralism --resources are owned and collectively managed by men -associated with polygyny --where wealth can be used to attract and support more wives, men tend to use it for this purpose -associated with male inheritance of resources --parents steer resources to sons to increase their changes of marriage (or remarriage)

territoriality (lack of)

-boundaries with other groups typically not defended -use rights to resources based on kinship

marital exchange

-bride service: husband must work for a specified period of time for his wife's family in exchange for his marital rights -bride price: goods are transferred from the groom's kin to the bride's kin to seal a marriage -dowry: presentation of goods by the bride's kin to the bride to bring into her new household

transition to agriculture

-characterized by extending the years under cultivation and shortening the intervening fallowing time period. -horticultural extreme: land used about 2 to 3 years and fallowed about 10 -Intermediate: 2 years in use; 2 years in fallow -Agricultural Extreme: multiple crops planted each year on the same plot -driven by population growth and geographic circumscription

foragers as models of the past

-contemporary foragers are not "living fossils" -most remaining foragers inhibit peripheral habitats undesired or unsuited to pastoralism and agriculture -many foragers can subsist only in contact with other non-forager groups

unilineal descent

-defines discrete group with unambiguous membership --defines clear rights over land, property --creates cooperative groups with clear loyalties --important in competition with other groups -important where: --material wealth (land, animals) are held in common --cooperation among members of one sex is important (herding, warfare, horticulture)

forager diet

-diet depends on the environment. Ex) desert foragers: hundreds of different plants with a few staple foods arctic: nearly complete reliance on meat -diet breadth protects against risk; if one food fails there are other fall-back foods

social relationships

-division of labor: the patterned ways in which productive tasks are divided up along the lines of gender, age, skill, knowledge, interest, and other criteria -patterns of cooperation: the ways in which people organize themselves into groups for collective action -Allocation of resources: the way in which people allocate tools and labor towards production as well as the way in which the products of cooperative labor are distributed

divorce

-easier where little property exchanged -where women have high economic autonomy

negative reciprocity

-exchange motivated by the desire to obtain products, in which the parties try to gain all the material goods they can -where transfers are voluntary: --characteristic of trade, barter where haggling is the rule --both parties seek own advantage at expense of other party --may involve deceit, trickery --cultural norms often allow this against non-group members -where transfers are involuntary: --may involve stealth, theft, threat, or outright violence

marriage rules

-exogamous rules ("out-marriage") culturally prohibits individuals from marrying within their family or kin group (or, less often, village or settlement) -endogamous rules ("in-marriage") mandate that individuals must marry someone within their own social group

Horticulture; also known as:

-extensive cultivation, shifting cultivation, swidden agriculture, slash-and-burn agriculture -use of hand tools: digging sticks, hoes: person-power -clearing and temporary use of land (typically 3 to 5 years) -cultivation of many types and plants

foraging (hunting & gathering)

-food collectors; foraging societies are those that make their primary living by obtaining "wild" foods -foraging is frequently used to avoid privileging hunting over gathering -alternatively, societies characterized by an "absence of direct control over the reproduction of exploited species" (they don't rely on domesticated plants and animals)

forager workload

-foragers are not constantly working or on the brink of starvation -most work about six hours a day -diet breadth means there is usually something to ear -division of labor: --By sex: men generally hunt, women generally gather; not always clear cut: men do some gathering, and in some societies women also hunt --By age: foraging effort changes according to life course and childcare constraints

population density

-foraging set limits on population density and consequently on the complexity of social organization in these societies -foraging has low population density

grazers versus browsers

-grazers (cattle, sheep, horses) primarily eat grasses -browsers (goats, camels) primarily eat leaves of shrubs -grazers and browsers do not compete for the same food

key differences between horticulture and agriculture

-horticulture; polycropping, slash and burn, harvest crops throughout the year -agricutlure; moocropping, commercial fertilizer, harvest crops at one time

lineage and cousin marriage

-in unilineal descent systems: --your parallel cousin (through the parent of the same sex as the descent system) is in your kin group --your cross-cousin is outside your kin group -where lineage exogamy (the most common rule) is present: --your cross-cousin is a closely related relative outside your descent group -lineage endogamy is far less common --your parallel cousin is within your kin group --it's a way of keeping grandpa's property in the lineage

incest taboos

-incest taboo prohibition against sexual intercourse between certain kinds of relatives --endogamy, exogamy are about regulating marriage --incest taboos are about regulating sex -theories about incest taboos: --psychological: taboos are there to constrain inherent desires --structural: taboos are "elementary structures of kinship" ---taboos force sex and marriage outside the family, creating alliances between lineages --biological: avoidance of inbreeding depression ---reproduction between close relatives increases the chances of having children with harmful recessive traits -Westermarck Effect: individuals raised in close proximity to each other develop a sexual aversion --provides an adaptive explanation for sibling incest avoidance --proximate mechanism: childhood proximity --ultimate function: deter breeding -relationship to taboos: --taboos are an explicit cultural articulation of an aversion most people experience --contrast with psychological explanation: taboos restrain behavior most people desire

fictive kinship

-individuals who are called by kin terms but are otherwise not related by blood or marriage -characterized the roles and relationships of the people involved --example: your mother's best friend "Aunt" Sarah --implies a level of closeness and trust beyond other friends

agriculture; also known as:

-intensive cultivation, intensive agriculture -use of plows, animals for traction -continuous reuse of the same plot of land -focus on one or a few types of crops

kinship terminology

-kinship terminology serves a similar role in political rhetoric --Brother Number One --Uncle Sam

egalitarianism

-lack of social or economic inequality -differences in political power due to personal charisma -norms of modesty, humility -striving and bragging often subject to ridicule

environmental impact

-less environmentally disruptive than intensive agriculture --gardens allowed to return to bush after a few years --mosaic habitats encourage biodiversity --horticulturalists prefer to reclear secondary forest, not primary forest

forager health & life expectancy

-life expectancy at birth typically 35 to 40 - largely due to infant mortality -those that live to age 15 can usually expect to lice to 60 or later -better health than early agriculturalists

industrialism

-massive specialization of labor --in US only about 3% of workforce engaged in food production --most people engaged in other work --manufacturing moves from home (cottage/artisan) to factory --fracturing of manufacture, services -tremendous increase in per-capita energy use --previously, energy from plants via direct consumption, harnessing animals, or burning of wood --shift towards major dependence on fossil fuels, some minor energy, capture from wind, water, solar, nuclear power

seasonal cycle

-mobility often a response to the limiting resource (frequently water) -movement from one area to another as plant resources mature, animals migrate, etc. -people forage from this central site, bringing resources back to central camp -pattern called central place foraging

productivity vs. efficiency

-more productive but less efficient: --higher yields per unit land than horticulture --but lower yields per unit effort, and energy expended

foragers in the modern world

-most reduce to peripheral areas --arctic, tropical forests, semi-arid deserts --areas unsuited to intensive agriculture --sometimes living side by side with horticulturalists, pastoralists -increasing efforts to settle --reservations or out-stations --provisioning of health care, education --access to wage labor -But: --greater exposure to disease --poorer nutrition --drugs, alcoholism

polygyny

-one man is allowed multiple wives (allowed in most societies of the world) -common where there are large differences among men in resources: --pastoralists, some agriculturalists -appears where women are largely economically independent (Horticultural societies) -men increase their reproduction through number of wives -common polygyny: --one man marries two or more wives --each wife has her own dwelling and property (sometimes in a larger compound) --the husband stays with each wife in rotation -sororal polygyny: --one man marries two or more wives who are sisters --the husband and his wives share a common dwelling, common property, and common meals --characterized by less conflict among co-wives

monogamy

-one spouse -typical of minority of societies -typical of the majority of all marriages -common where: --both men and women are economically productive and resources complementary --foragers, some agriculturalists, modern-wage labor economies -serial monogamy: a pattern of consecutive monogamous relationships --men: circumvent monogamous norms --women: exercise greater choice

extended (consanguineal) family

-two or more nuclear families residing together -common where specialization of labor is necessary -where large amounts of cooperative labor are necessary -where some family members may be absent for extended periods

polyandry

-one woman is allowed multiple husbands (rare) -extremely rare -found in relatively extreme settings --associated with geographic circumscription --habitat saturation --high mobility and extended absences of men -most common form is fraternal polyandry --two or more brothers marry a single wife

inheritance

-partible inheritance: all children (sometimes of one sex only) have equal rights of inheritance -unigeniture: one child of one sex (usually a son) has rights of inheritance of most of the parents property --primogeniture: the oldest son is the heir --ultimogeniture: the youngest son is the heir

postmarital residence rules

-patrilocal: couple lives with or near the parents of the husband -matrilocal: couple live with or near the wife's parents --avunculocal: couple live with or near the husband's mother's brother -ambilocal: postmarital residence is optional between either the wife's or the husband's kin -neolocal: couples live apart from both parents, establishing a separate dwelling and independent household

paleoindians

-people who lived in the New World between 11,500 and 10,000 years ago -they hunted "megafauna", very large animals that became extinct at the end of the Pleistocene Epoch

kin selection

-predicts food sharing will favor more closely related individuals over more distantly related individuals -diminishing returns: value of resource is worth less to the donor than the benefit to the recipient -if the recipient is sufficiently closely related, giving is with the cost to the donor

reciprocal altruism

-predicts reciprocal sharing of food within pairs over time, independent of kinship

forms of exchange/distribution

-reciprocity -redistribution -market

Fission-fusion group dynamics

-resource patches are small; support only a few families -seasonal abundance can lead to larger groups -seasons of stress can lead to smaller groups -creates a fission-fusion pattern of group membership over the course of the year -population density and growth rate typically low

pastoralism & subsistence risk

-sources of pastoral risk: drought, disease, risk -managing risk: --animals themselves are food stored on the hoof --mobility allows high flexibility --mixed herds broaden the portfolio ---less subject to disease ---less subject to drought ---different sized animals have different reproductive rate ---different sized animals favor different terrain --animal exchange/herd sharing

horticulture today

-still widely practice -confined to peripheral areas: --areas not suited to intensive agriculture --tropical forests --slopes and hills --smaller islands -horticulturalists subject to: --attempts to permanently settle them --property regimes that don't recognize collective or usufruct rights --attempts to "modernize" their farming products --blamed for environmental degradation not caused by them

pastoralism

-subsistence strategy that relies primarily on the care of domesticated herd animals -most horticultural and agricultural societies also keep domesticated animals --associated with sedentary living --feeding livestock from surplus food production -pastoralism differs in terms of: --greater mobility --feeding of livestock primarily from wild resources

redistribution

-the collection of products or money by a central authority, followed by distribution to the groups members

levirate

-the custom whereby a man marries the widow of a deceased brother --a form of social support --keeps wife and children with the deceased husband's kin

sororate

-the custom whereby, when a man's wife dies, her sister is given to him as a wife --common where brideprice is practiced --maintains ties between kin groups established by marital exchange

economic system

-the norms of governing production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services within a society

culture as adaptation

-the primary means of adaptation -people adapt to the environment, but people also alter the environment

domestication

-the process by which people control the distribution abundance, and biological features of certain plants and animals in order to increase their usefulness to humans --begins around 10,000 BP in Old World --around 4,000 to 5,000 BP in New World -both plants and animals --used for food (meat, milk) --and other uses (skins, wool, cotton, fiber) -why domestication? --old, unilineal thinking: greater efficiency, route to civilization --revised thinking: more on adaptation of necessity in the face of growing population, circumscription by other groups

reciprocity

-the transfer of goods between individuals or groups -with the aim of: --helping someone in need by sharing goods --creating, maintaining, or strengthening social relationships --obtaining objects for oneself -"a mutual give-and-take among people of equal status" --no use of money or medium of exchange --a range of forms: sharing, hospitality, gift giving, barter

kinship terminology

-the words used to identify different categories of kin in a particular culture -not all societies recognize the same kinds of kin --example: we use "aunt" and "uncle" whether the individual is a blood relative --we distinguish the sex of siblings but not of cousins --In Indonesia, the sex of siblings isn't distinguished, but the relative age is -kin terminologies based on sets of distinctions: --sex --generation --relative age --consanguineal (blood) versus affinal (marriage) relatives --laterality (mother's versus father's side)

tolerated scrounging/demand sharing

-transfers motivated by demands or threats -thing given valued less by donor than the cost of refusing --costs can be merely social --or potentially violent --characterized by feeling of resentment on part of donor -common in small scale societies --generosity defined differently: those who give willingly when asked

diminishing returns

-value of resource is worth less to the donor than the benefit to the recipient

arranged vs. "love" marriage

-western norm: bride and groom choose each other based on love -in many societies others arrange the marriage -Arranged marriage: marriage in which family members besides the bride and group contract the marriage --usually the parents of the bride and groom, often with help of matchmake --common where families control substantial heritable property --marriage seen as something too important to be left to the emotions and passions of youth

descent

the culturally established affiliation between a child and one or both parents -governs inheritance of group membership

generalized reciprocity

the giving of goods without expectation of a return of a gift of equal value at any definite future time

money

FUNCTIONS OF MONEY -a medium of exchange --recognized as acceptable for all transactions -a standard of value --allows comparisons across different goods and services - a store of value --allows value to be exchanges at future times with less risk of spoilage FEATURES OF MONEY -durable --goods that spoil or rot do not make good currency -divisible --allows for a finer gradation of pricing in exchanges -controllable --the supply must be limited because of scarcity or difficulty of production -portable --facilitates exchanges

forms of pooling and redistribution

POOLING -tribute: goods (typically involving food) rendered to an authority such as chief) -taxation, corvee labor -insurance REDISTRIBUTION -social support: from haves to have-nots, insurance -public goods: infrastructure, common defense -special interests: from many for the benefit of few

usufruct rights

the ability to use an operate an asset without ownership

kinship

a cultural defined relationship established on the basis of blood ties or through marriage (or adoption)

potlatch

a form of redistribution involving competitive feasting practiced among Northwest Coast Native Americans

descent group

a group of kin who are descendants of a common ancestor, extending beyond two generations

lineage

a group of kin whose members trace descent from a known common ancestor (through links of one sex)

leveling mechanism

a practice, value, or form of social organization that evens out wealth within a society

cargo system

a ritual system common in Central and South America in which wealthy people are required to hold a series of costly ceremonial affairs

clan

a unilineal kinship group whose members believe themselves to be descended from a common ancestor but who cannot trace this link through known relatives --a collection of two or more lineages

food-sharing in Lamalera

food shared between households is called befall -not governed by formalized norms -voluntary

demographic transition

horticulture populations grow causing a need for an agricultural society

cognatic descent

is a kinship system in which individuals trace membership in a corporate group or clan through both females and males to a common ancestor -provides a way of defining discrete corporate groups in bilateral descent systems

bilateral descent

is a kinship system in which individuals trace their kinship relationships equally through both parents -kindred all the bilateral relatives of an individual --in a bilateral system each individuals kindred is "ego-centric" --only full siblings share the same kindred --your kindred overlaps, but is not the same as, those of other relatives -common where property held collectively by families is less important --hunter-gatherer societies --modern wage-labor societies -allows greater flexibility --often co-occurs with ambilocality --can call upon aid from both mother's and father's side --can move easily between groups --more even distribution of individuals to resources

collateral kin

kin descended from a common ancestor but not in a direct ascendent or descendent line, such as siblings and cousins

lineal kin

kin related in a single unbroken line, such as grandfather-father-son

polygamy

marriages in which there are two or more partners

central place foraging

people forage from a central site, bringing resources back to central camp

paradox of altruism

provides a benefit to another at the cost to oneself; may tell us something about cooperation more broadly

consanguineal kin

relatives by blood

affinal kin

relatives by marriage; in-laws

peasants

rural cultivators who produce fro the subsistence of their households but are also integrated into larger, complex state societies

balanced reciprocity

the giving of valuable goods with an expectation of future return from the recipient of roughly equal value -Key characteristics: --time delays tend to be immediate, of short duration, or based on customary occasions for giving and receiving --amounts given and received perceived to be of roughly equivalent values --failure to reciprocate results in shame, gossip, loss of standing or reputation, or even violence

globalization

the integration of resources, labor, and capital into a global network -companies can move where regulation is weaker

monocropping

the planting of only one type of crop

kinship system

the totality of kin relations, kin groups, and terms for classifying kin in a society

subsistence strategy

way in which societies transform the material resources of the environment into food -Hunting and Gathering: mobile/complex -Agriculture: horticulture/ intensive agriculture -pastoralism -industrialism