Anthropology Unit 1: Introduction to Anthropology

Subfields of Archaeology

**Academic: Traditional, research-oriented, often affiliated with universities or museums, often guided by scientific interest or specific research questions, studies tend to occur over extended periods of time **Cultural Resource Management (CRM): Often done to preserve cultural sites threatened by development projects, mandated by federal or state law, projects often constrained by time and budget **Historic Archaeology: Societies/time period has written records also **Prehistoric Archaeology: Society/time period pre-dates written records

Culture is Integrated

**All aspects of a culture function as an integrated whole and each culture represents an integrated system. **Any changes in one area of culture can ultimately affect another part of the culture. **There are three main categories by which a culture is divided: superstructure, social structure, and infrastructure.

Culture is Shared

**All members of a culture will hold a shared set of values, ideas, perceptions, and standards of behaviors. **This does not mean that everyone within a culture will act and think the exact same way, rather there is often a range of acceptable behaviors, values, etc. **Culture cannot exist without society- an organized group of people who share a territory, language, and culture. **There are no known human societies that do not exhibit culture.

As a scientific discipline

**Anthropology is empirical - based on observations of the world rather than on intuition or faith. **Theory - An explanation of natural phenomena, supported by a reliable body of data. **Hypothesis - A tentative explanation of the relation between certain phenomena.

What do archaeologists study?

**Artifacts: Anything made, altered or used by humans (e.g. rock - used as a tool) **Features: Artifact that is often large, fixed in place and cannot be removed to lab (e.g. large wall, foundation, charcoal from fires) **Ecofacts: Information or articles from the surrounding environment

Cultural Resource Management (CRM)

**Branch of archaeology tied to government policies for the protection of cultural resources and involving surveying and/or excavating archaeological and historical remains threatened by construction or development. **A Pre-Columbian rock carving from Tecaltzingo in Puebla, Mexico. Notice the damage caused by modern graffiti. **CRM is also about the stewardship of archaeological sites for the benefits of all.

How Does Anthropology Differ From Other Disciplines?

**Comparative and Cross-Cultural - Many social science courses focus predominantly on contemporary Western culture while historically, Anthropology has focused on non-Western cultures. **Long-Term - Anthropology often examines societies historically and presently **Holistic - Anthropologists must be synthesizers and study societies in the broadest way possible often combining the study of disciplines to find interconnections and interdependence (ex. studying biology and culture together

What Do Anthropologists Try to Avoid

**Culture Bound Theories - theories that are based on the assumptions and values present in the culture of the individuals that created the theory or **Ethnocentrism - Belief that the ways of one's own culture are the only right ones

Applied Anthropology

**Sometimes seen as the "fifth field" of Anthropology OR as embedded in each of the four fields **Defined - use of anthropological methods to solve a practical problem, for a specific client

Culture is Symbolic

**Symbols are signs, emblems, and/or other things that are arbitrary but represent something in a meaningful way. **Language is probably the most significant cultural symbol, it is the transportation by which humans transmit culture from one generation to another.

Cultural Anthropology

**The study of different patterns in human behavior, thought, and feelings. **Focuses on humans as culture-producing and culture-reproducing creatures. **CULTURE = A society's shared and learned ideas, values, and perceptions, which are used to make sense of experience and which generate behavior and are reflected in that behavior.

The Concept of Culture

*A society's shared and socially transmitted ideas, values, and perceptions which are used to make sense of experience and which generate behavior is what defines culture. *Everyone at some point in one's early life will become enculturated into their culture, it is through this process that one learns how to become a member of their society.

Culture is Learned

*All culture is learned rather than biologically inherited. Individuals of a culture will learn the socially appropriate way to satisfy biologically determined needs. *The ability for learned behavior along with innate (instinctual) behavior is present in most all mammals. *Primates have the highest degree of learned behavior patterns.

Physical Anthropology

*Also called biological anthropology. *Focuses on humans as biological organisms, the process of evolution, and human variation. *Analyze fossils and observe living primates to reconstruct the ancestry of the human species.

Traditional vs. Modern Anthropology

*Traditionally most anthropological research took place on far-reaching societies where little to no information was known about the peoples and their culture. These early ethnographies were a focus on the life ways of these non-industrialized communities which were thought to soon disappear by "civilized" nations. *Modern ethnography has changed focus towards documented dying cultures and changing cultures in the face of globalization and forced assimilation.

Fieldwork

-Done on site, on location -Often involves digging, excavating and getting dirty -Almost twice as much time is devoted to detailed note-taking, mapping, writing and recording details

Infrastructure

-Economic bases; the mode of subsistence -The economic foundation of a society, including its subsistence practices, labor organization, job specialization and the tools/ material equipment used make a living

Samoan Culture

-Elders are highest on social ladder -Beat and yell at children to teach them to be obedient and quiet

Melanesian Culture

-No privacy so kids are able to watch their parent's sexual acts -Kids slap their parents and sometimes receive a grin in return -Children enjoy a lot of freedom and independence -Girls follow their fathers on fishing adventures and they then see their fathers naked - nakedness is regarded as natural -Obscene topics are talked about in front of young girls -Sexual life starts an early age - given freedom to explore with their companions

Stone Tools

-Raw Materials: Chert (flint), obsidian -Where is the raw material found? Near or far has different interpretations (ie, trade) -Stages of Construction: Raw material, finished point, debitage (garbage) -Function of the Tool

Social Structure

-Social organization; the patterned social arrangements of individuals within society -Rule-governed relationships- with all their rights and obligations- that hold members of a society together -Includes households, families, associations, and power relations, including politics -Rule-governed relationships- with all their rights and obligations- that hold members of a society together -Includes households, families, associations, and power relations, including politics

Analyzing Stone Tool Use

-Trying to found out the function of a stone tool is called a "use-wear" analysis -How to answer, "what the function of this tool is?" -Use the tool's "archaeological context", SEM (scanning electron microscope), edge wear analysis (microwear and scratches), polishes, phytoliths (microscopic silica residue of plants left on stone tool), experimentation -Use the ethnographic record for clues (i.e. look at historical or contemporary societies that may have similar objects)

As a humanities discipline

-Uses a holistic and comparative perspective -Examines greatness/weakness and success/failure of humankind -Appreciates shared human experiences

Medical Anthropology

A specialization in anthropology that combines theoretical and applied approaches from cultural and biological anthropology with the study of human health and disease.

Ethnohistory

A study of cultures of the recent past through oral histories; accounts of explorers, missionaries, and traders; and analysis of records such as land titles, birth and death records, and other archival materials.

Hypothesis

A tentative explanation of the relationships between certain phenomena.

Materialistic Perspective

A theoretical approach stressing the primacy of infrastructure (material conditions) in cultural research and analysis.

Idealist Perspective

A theoretical approach stressing the primacy of superstructure in cultural research and analysis.

Eliciting Device

An activity or object used to draw out individuals and encourage them to recall and share information.

Doctrine

An assertion of opinion or belief formally handed down by an authority as true and indisputable.

Discourse

An extended communication on a particular subject.

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

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.

Site Selection

Anthropologists primarily research cultures outside of their own, in a foreign country. This is based on the idea that studies done in one's own culture might bring biases to the research due to the familiarity with the group or culture being studied. A specific site may be chosen based on: *Finding funding *Securing permission to research *Deciding what focus the research will take

Forensic Anthropology

Applied subfield of physical anthropology that specializes in the identification of human skeletal remains for legal purposes.

Empirical

Based on observations of the world rather than on intuition or faith

Ethnographic Fieldwork

Best defined as extended on-location research to gather detailed and in-depth information on a society's customary ideas, values, and practices through participation in its collective social life.

The Nuer

Cattle serves as a key component to their infrastructure, social structure, and superstructure

Acculturation

Cultural modification of an individual, group, or people by adapting to or borrowing traits from another culture; also : a merging of cultures as a result of prolonged contact.

"Culture at a Distance"

During WWII and the Cold War, anthropologists were unable to study some cultures especially those in warring areas. Several prominent anthropologists began a technique of studying "cultures at a distance". They would focus on the analysis of newspapers, literature, photographs, and films. This information was sometimes used as propaganda and psychological warfare for countries at war.

Interviewing

Ethnographers must be consistently engaged in conversation throughout their research. This is the single best way to understand what people think about their own culture as well as the world around them. These conversations may take two approaches: 1. Informal interview - An unstructured, open-ended conversation in everyday life. 2. Formal interview - A structured question/answer session carefully notated as it occurs and based on prepared questions.

Urgent Anthropology

Ethnographic research that documents endangered cultures, also known as salvage ethnography.

Ethnicity

Expression for the st of cultural ideas held by an ethnic group

Biocultural

Focusing on the interaction of biology and culture.

Advocacy Anthropology

Research that is community based and politically involved.

The Yanomamo

Some of Chagnon's Challenges included: -Sharing his food -Social isolation -Hygiene -Satisfactions in terms of food he eats -Diseases Culture: -Make distinction between things of nature and things of village -Feel they are superior to Jaguar

Linguistic Anthropology

Studies human languages - 1. Description of a language - the alphabets and building blocks of language and the way words and sentences are formed 2. History of languages - the way languages change over time 3. The study of language in its different social settings

Ethnology

Study and analysis of multiple 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

Bioarchaeology

Study of human remains as a record of cultural processes.

Ethnography

Systematic description of a single culture based on firsthand observation

Participant Observation

Technique of learning a people's culture through direct observation and participation in their everyday life over an extended period of time

Ethnocentrism

The belief that the ways of one's own culture are the only proper ones.

Gender

The cultural elaborations and meanings assigned to the biological differentiation between sexes

Cultural Relativism

The idea that one must suspend judgment of other people's practices in order to understand them in their own cultural terms.

Multi-sited Ethnography

The investigation and documentation of peoples and cultures embedded in the larger structures of a globalizing world, utilizing a range of methods in a various locations of time and space.

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

Archaeology

The study of human cultures through the recovery and analysis of material remains and environmental data -Studies material remains in order to describe and explain human behavior. -Study tools, pottery, and other features such as hearths and enclosures that remain as the testimony of earlier cultures.

Anthropology

The study of humankind in all times and all places (textbook definition), can also be the study of migratory patterns

Primatology

The study of living and fossil primates.

Paleoanthropology

The study of the origins and predecessors of the present human species; the study of human evolution.

Accurately Describing a Culture

To accurately describe a culture an anthropologist needs to seek out and consider three types of data (that could be different): 1. The people's own understanding of their culture and the general rules they share. 2. The extent to which people believe they are observing those rules. 3. The behavior that can be directly observed. There are many techniques that ethnographers rely on to answer these questions.

Globalization

Worldwide interconnectedness, evidenced in global movements of natural resources, trade goods, human labor, finance capital, information, and infectious diseases.

Informed Consent

*It is essential that ethnographers receive informed consent which is a formal recorded agreement to participate in research *Anthropologists often protect the specific identities of individuals in their research *CAN BE MULTI-LAYERED: University (Ethics Board), Observation Site/Country Visas, Communities, Individuals, etc.

Physical Anthropology: Subfields

*Paleoanthropology: Study of the origins of the human species *Primatology: Study of living and fossil primates *Human Growth, Adaptation and Diversity: Study of the ways the natural and cultural environment impact human growth and biological diversity *Forensic Anthropology: Specializes in the identification of human remains for legal purposes

Culture

A society's shared and socially transmitted ideas, values and perceptions, which are used to make sense of experience and generate behavior and are reflected in that behavior.

Superstructure

-Worldview; the perception of the self and the world around us -Society's shared sense of identity and worldview -Collective body of ideas, beliefs, and values by which a group of people makes sense of the world and their place in it -Includes religion and national ideology -Society's shared sense of identity and worldview -Collective body of ideas, beliefs, and values by which a group of people makes sense of the world and their -place in it -Includes religion and national ideology

All societies must do the same things!

1. Adapt to their natural surroundings 2. Adapt biologically to ecosystems and reproduce 3. Develop tools and shelter 4. Organize human labor to produce goods 5. Organize individuals into working groups 6. Develop a way of making collective decisions to govern 7. Develop knowledge, belief systems, and values

Eight Features of Civilization (Result of Western Culture and Ideology)

1. Cities 2. Organized central governments 3. Complex religions 4. Job specialization 5. Social classes 6. Writing 7. Public Works 8. Art & Architecture

Four Main Fields of Anthropology

1. Cultural Anthropology 2. Linguistic Anthropology 3. Archaeology 4. Physical/Biological Anthropology

Seven Categories of Analysis

1. Culture - all the things a society passes from generation to generation 2. Geography - the natural setting of a society 3. Biology - the study of all living things surrounding a society, including plants, animals, and microorganisms 4. Government/Authority - the sum total of ways in which society delegates authority to make collective decisions and the power to enforce those decisions 5. Social Structure - Organization of individual society members into groups or categories 6. Economy - The means and methods a society uses for the production and distributional goods and services 7. Technology

Five Characteristics of Culture

1. Culture is learned. 2. Culture is shared. 3. Culture is symbolic. 4. Culture is integrated. 5. Culture is dynamic.

Thinking like an Anthropologist

1. Observe without judgement 2. Infer (making educated guesses) based on logic and evidence 3. Compare and contrast without hierarchy 4. Acknowledge your bias and ethnocentrism but do not be limited by it "You can best serve civilization by being against what usually passes for it"

Research Methodology

1. Participant Observation (Ethnography) 2. Key Consultants 3. Quantitative & Qualitative Data 4. Interviewing: 5. Mapping 6. Photography & Filming

Molecular Anthropology

A branch of biological anthropology that uses genetic and biochemical techniques to test hypotheses about human evolution, adaptation, and variation.

Cultural Adaptation

A complex of ideas, activities, and technologies that enables people to survive and even to thrive in their environment.

Subculture

A distinctive set of ideas, values, and behavior patterns by which a group within a larger society operates, while still sharing common standards with that larger society

Holistic Perspective

A 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.

Symbol

A sign, sound, emblem, or other thing that is arbitrarily linked to something else and represents it in a meaningful way

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

Hadza

Hunter-Gatherer Society *Live in the bush *Hunting baboons in a tree (other animals: elephants, giraffes, zebras, etc.) *Women collect berries *Men collect honey and hunt *Free to do whatever you want, live without rules or calendars *Have no numbers past 3 *Use the moon to tell time *Communal - Don't brag when one hunts because they believe it is due to luck, rather share the meal with everyone else in the village *Approximately 30 people in the camp, enough to share a hardy meal *No feuds or warfare, rather split up into two different groups when there is conflict *Elder gets the best part of the meal: head, and then they share the brains *Don't know about the rest of the world or even about what is going on with Tanzania *Trade with other local people (e.g. honey for pipes) *Work for 4-6 hours a day and have leisure time the rest of the day *Hate snakes *No wedding ceremonies - couple sleeping close to each other near a fire are the equivalence of a married couple *Elder holds no authority - everyone is equal (no wealth or social class) *No one sleeps alone - sleep head to toe to head around the fire *Epme dance - takes place on moonless nights *Cooking style: meal placed directly on the fire *Eating style: Tug at hunk of meat with teeth then use a knife to slice your portion *Risky lifestyle - encounter malaria-laced mosquitoes, frequent thirst, and extreme heat *Not sentimental - bury body, place a few twigs on top of grave, and walk away

Key Consultant

In order to gain insight into the culture a particular member might be utilized. Often these informants or key consultants will be a member of the society being studied, who provides information that helps researchers understand the meaning of what they observe. *They may also provide vital information to the ethnographer about the history of the group.

Theory

In science, an explanation of natural phenomena, supported by a reliable body of data.

Culture-Bound

Looking at the world and reality based on the assumptions and values of one's own culture.

The Purpose of Anthropology

Make the world safe for human differences -Ruth Benedict

Challenges to Ethnographic Fieldwork

Mental Challenges *Culture shock *Loneliness/homesickness *Social awkwardness *Feeling ignorant and isolated Physical Challenges *Adjusting to food, climate and hygiene conditions *Need to be constantly alert for relevant conversation/events for one's research *Considerable time for interviews, notes and data collection Social and Political Challenges *Needing to gain acceptance within the community *Issues that arise due to researchers age, gender, religion, skin color or ethnicity (social identity) *Becoming the center of rivaling groups while trying to maintain neutrality

Environment

Natural resources in a society's habitat

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

Data Collection

Quantitative- Statistical or measurable information, such as demographic composition, the types and quantities of crops grown, or the ratio of spouses born and raised within or outside the community. Qualitative- Non-statistical information such as personal life stories and customary beliefs and practices.