Exam 1
general anthropology
"four-field" anthropology, includes four main subdisciplines, or subfields. They are sociocultural anthropology, anthropological archaeology, biological anthropology, and linguistic anthropology
science
"systematic field of study or body of knowledge that aims, through experiment, observation, and deduction, to produce reliable explanations of phenomena, with references to the material and physical world"
informed consent
(agreement to take part in the research—after having been informed about its nature, procedures, and possible impacts) should be obtained from anyone who provides information or who might be affected by the research.
big man
(almost always a male) was an elaborate version of the village head, but with one significant difference. Unlike the village head, whose leadership is limited to one village, the big man had supporters in several villages. The big man thus was a regulator of regional political organization
village head
(always a man). A village head is chosen based on his personal characteristics (e.g., bravery, persuasiveness) and the support he can muster from fellow villagers. The position is not inherited, and the authority of the village head, like that of the leader of a foraging band, is severely limited.
difussion
(cultural borrowing, either directly or through intermediaries)
etic
(scientist-oriented) approach shifts the focus from local observations, categories, explanations, and interpretations to those of the anthropologist.
specialized state functions
- Population control: fixing of boundaries, border control, establishment of citizenship categories, and censusing. - Judiciary: laws, legal procedure, and judges. - Enforcement: permanent military and police forces. - Fiscal support: taxation.
agriculture
- intensive, continuous cultivation - greater labor demands (domesticated animals, irrigation, and terracing) - yield relative to labor is lower - reduces ecological diversity
ethnographic techniques
- observation - participant observation - conversation - interviewing - sampling: choosing a sample—a small, manageable study group from a larger population - interview schedules: ethnographer talks face to face with people, asks the questions, and writes down the answers. - questionnaires - genealogical method: ethnographers developed notation and symbols to deal with kinship, descent, and marriage. Genealogy is a prominent building block in the social organization of nonindustrial societies, where people live and work each day with their close kin. - key cultural consultants: people who by accident, experience, talent, or training can provide the most complete or useful information about particular aspects of life. - life histories: recollection of a lifetime of experiences provides a more intimate and personal cultural portrait than would be possible otherwise.
pastoralism
- people whose activities focus on such domesticated animals as cattle, sheep, goats, camels, yak, and reindeer - symbiosis with animals (both benefit) - diet supplemented by hunting, gathering, fishing, cultivating, or trading -
4.1 Identify the main differences between Elman Service's (1962) four types or levels of political/sociopolitical organization. 4.4 Compare (a) systems in which people are expected to avoid acquiring prestige with (b) systems in which prestige plays a part in social stratification.
4.1 - study pic on desktop
What might be one drawback of trying to use interview schedules with Paliyans?
A drawback an anthropologist might find when using interview schedules with the Paliyans is that the interview could involve extremely different answers in the eyes of the anthropologist that all actually mean the same thing. The Paliyans are very independent and things aren't really 'taught' to them over and over like in other cultures, so people in that society might be told by their mother what something is and never be told again. This is interesting for two reasons. First, they can be told when they are very young and simply forget so they form their own names for things. Also, if this is commonplace for the Paliyans then it can be expected that the mother has different names for things and is simply telling the child her chosen name for a certain object or thing. In Peter Gardner's excerpt about the Paliyans it talks about how three Paliyans all had different names for a simple brush plant that was used by all of them commonly for digging sticks. This would be a big problem when interviewing people separately because an anthropologist could easily get conflicting or confusing answers when, in fact, it's the same thing. Doing interviews individually could be very time consuming for an anthropologist, but actually provide them with very little information about the names of objects but would still be useful in for other things like genealogy.
Discuss how a state society is different than a non-state society.
A state is an autonomous political unit that encompasses many communities. It has a sociopolitical organization based on a central government and a stratified society. All states have systems that include population control, judiciary, enforcement, and fiscal support.
How do humans adapt to different environments?
Adaptation is the process by which organisms cope with environmental forces and stresses. Humans adapt culturally and physically.
Why would an anthropologist be concerned about real vs. ideal behavior?
An anthropologist would be concerned about the difference between real and ideal behavior of a society is because they are different things and a different understanding of a society. Ideal behavior is what people say they do and what people say they should do, but real behavior is the behavior of individuals and society that is actually observed by an anthropologist. Ideal behavior is a generalized idea of what a society does (like whether they are hunter-gatherers or agriculturalists) or what individuals do (are they a hunter, gardener, or...). An observation of real behavior throws generalization to the side and gives the anthropologist a clearer picture of what life is actually like for an individual in a certain society. Descriptions of ideal behavior can only give outsiders an idea of what the society or individuals are like. For example, a description of the Yąnomamö as horticulturalists would make many people believe that they don't do much foraging, but the Yąnomamö spend a lot of time doing such things and even moving camps just to harvest wild fruits they want to eat. Chagnon's description of their real behavior shed light on this fact, though. Chagnon also discusses how important individuals and their uniqueness are to a society, and real behavior of individuals is one key to understanding a society. Ideal behavior helps people make generalizations and correlations, but ideal behavior is a much more detailed and informative description of the people and society.
How is it that an applied anthropologist can come from any of the four subfields of anthropology? Give at least two examples.
An applied anthropologist can come from any of the four subfields of anthropology (cultural, anthropological archaeology, biological, and linguistic) because applied anthropology is simply applying academic anthropological findings to the real world. More specifically, it is the "application of anthropological data, perspectives, theory, and methods to identify, assess, and solve contemporary social problems" (Kottak: Chapter 1). All four subfields of anthropology have this ability to identify and solve contemporary social problems because their findings have real world implications. The book also discusses how the field of anthropology is seeing an increasing number of anthropologists from all four subfields work in 'applied' areas like public health, family planning, business, market research, economic development, and cultural resource management (Kottak: Chapter 1). A good example of this transition would be an anthropological archaeologist that then moved on to do CRM and historical preservation work for a local city or even something like a national park. Another example would be a cultural anthropologist that is able to aid governments or opposing sides of any type in negotiation, deal making, and general peace. Cultural anthropologists can use knowledge of each culture's norms, practices, and ideologies to help each side understand the other and better facilitate relationships. Finally, an obvious example would be biological anthropologists using their knowledge to help aid decision making when it comes to disease and illness. I'm sure biological anthropologists have been involved some way or another with the government and the decision making regarding Covid-19.
What is applied anthropology and how does it relate to academic anthropology?
Applied anthropology uses anthropology to address contemporary issues and problems. An academic anthropologist can also be an applied anthropologist. Any anthropologist that is committed to making an impact on the quality of life in the world is an applied anthropologist
What are the four dimensions of kinship?
As defined in the lecture videos, kinship is the way that each society organizes and defines relationships between people in that society, and the dimensions of kinship include descent, marriage, residence, and kinship terminology. Each of these are different ways that societies believe they should organize themselves and classify their relationships. Descent revolves around the idea of belongingness. Descent can either be direct lineage or clan membership. Lineage is people that have directly descended from ancestors that they can state for a fact. This would be like someone being able to tell you who their parents are, who their parents were, and so on. A clan is more vague and it is claimed lineage from a common ancestor that could even include things like animals like in societies that have totems. Descent can be unilineal, either patrilineal or matrilineal, or cognatic meaning traced through the father and mother. Kinship terminology are the words that different societies use to classify individuals. From Kottak readings and lessons we learn that some societies have the same terminology for fathers and uncles as well as mothers and aunts. The United States uses an Eskimo classification pattern. Marriage refers to a society's belief on the perfect person that you should marry and the number of people you should marry. We already know that this varies widely across cultures. For example, Yanomami marry cross cousins while that would be unusual in the United States, and some cultures practice polygyny for different advantages when many industrial societies do not do so. Residence refers to where people should move after marriage, like whether the wife or husband should move to the other's village or should the couple move to a new location like seen in industrial societies.
What does a cultural anthropologist study?
At its base, a cultural anthropologist focuses on the study of human society and culture (Kottak: Chapter 1). The people of this subfield dive deep into societies as they analyze and interpret different aspects of individual groups and cultures as well as gather all of these findings together to then discuss and explain the similarities and differences between different societies and cultures. This is why I believe that cultural anthropology is the most obviously holistic and comparative of the four anthropological subfields. One of the best ways for anyone to learn culture and people is to get real world interaction with them. Cultural anthropologists gain these interactions through field work called ethnography where these researchers have traditionally stayed in small communities to study behaviors, beliefs, customs, social life, economic activities, politics, and religion (Kottak: Chapter 1). These cultural anthropologists also analyze things like societal norms, symbols, and laws as well as how all of these aspects of culture are shared and learned (Lecture Video:1.1). An analyzation done by a cultural anthropologist is not like anything you'll get from an economic or political scope because the cultural anthropologists focus is very local (Kottak: Chapter 1) and the goal is to get a true sense of life and what it's like to actually live in these certain places and experience the culture. Cultural anthropologists use a very bottom up approach to learning about societies which makes for very real and beneficial insights.
Explain why a band leader might behave in a humble or generous way.
Because band leaders live in egalitarian societies and lack authority to make decisions or enforce rules, they have to avoid offending others.
According to Chagnon's ethnography and Ray Hames, what type of subsistence system do the Yąnomamö utilize? Discuss how they meet the criteria for this subsistence type as defined by Kottak.
Chagnon stated that it was once thought that the Yąnomamö were foragers, but that was only because there was limited contact with them. After extended ethnographic fieldwork started, it became apparent that the Yąnomamö relied a lot on food cultivation for their diets. Chagnon said that while the Yąnomamö spend about equal time doing hunting and gathering type activities as well as food cultivation, the Yąnomamö food intake is dominated by the food that they grow in their gardens in the villages. Chagnon and Hames identified the Yąnomamö as horticulturists. An important aspect of horticulture is the slash and burn method. The Yąnomamö also used this method a lot when they were creating new gardens. This method was even more prevelant back before the Yąnomamö had much contact with westerners and their tools, so they had to burn even the larger trees that were too hard to cut down. More recently, the Yąnomamö tended to clear the larger trees and obstacles and then burn the brush and other debris to make way for new gardens. Also, horticulture is characterized by the use of very simple tools which the Yanomamö used to make their gardens; the most advanced tools they had came from the outside. Kottak also noted that horticulture is characterized by a fallow period and moving areas of agriculture for soil benefits. The Yąnomamö had a system of gradually moving their gardens to reap new soil and in the area that Chagnon studied mostly, he said that there were over 500 ancient gardens throughout from micro and macro movements.
What lessons can cultural anthropologists learn from the study of garbage?
Cultural anthropologists learned that the information they get from informants should be verified with peer-review or other methods, such as material-culture studies. This is known as real vs. ideal behavior.
Describe the subdisciplines of anthropology. Which subdiscipline is the focus of this course?
Cultural anthropology focuses on social and cultural similarities and differences, producing ethnographies and performing ethnologies. Cultural anthropology is the subject of this course. 2) Archaeological anthropology studies the past through material remains. 3) Biological or physical anthropology studies human biological variation in time and space. There are five special interests within biological anthropology. 4) Linguistic anthropology studies language in its social and cultural context.
How does culture change?
Culture changes through diffusion (direct, indirect, and forced), acculturation, and independent invention
Complete this statement: Culture is ...
Culture is a collection of factors and influences. It is in the mind of members, socially transmitted, systemically organized, and historically transmitted. Culture is also shared, maladaptive, subject to change, universal, and all-encompassing. Culture is an integrated and instrumental way for us to overcome natural (biological) limitations.
How is descent different from kinship?
Descent is one dimension of kinship. Kinship is the way a society organizes itself and defines relationships between people. Descent is which kin you have that sense of "belongingness" for.
Explain why Elman Service's sociopolitical types are considered ideal.
Elman Service originally listed 4 different sociopolitical types in 1962 and they are bands, tribes, chiefdoms, and states. The first reason why these typologies are considered ideal is because the first three of those listed above aren't even seen in a pure form in today's society, or even when anthropology became a field of study. Bands, tribes, and chiefdoms that we see today all exist now in the context of state organization because they have interactions with states now. Another reason why these sociopolitical types are considered ideal is because the descriptions of them are much too simple to encompass "the full range of political diversity and complexity known to anthropologists" that are seen in real life (Kottak 113). Much like how the adaptive strategies, these sociopolitical types found in real life can be thought of as lying on some sort of continuum because each society has intricacies and varying political systems and institutions. For example, a chiefdom refers to a form of sociopolitical organization that is an intermediate between and tribe and a state. That definition right there makes it already obvious that chiefdoms can vary widely in structure and that no one definition of a typology can do a unique society and structure of life justice.
Discuss why idealized typologies might be necessary for anthropologists to make correlations.
Foraging, horticulture, agriculture, pastoralism, and industrialism are the five adaptive strategies that Yehudi Cohen used to develop a typology of societies. Cohen also stated that societies that share some similarities, which are unrelated and sometimes extremely distant, have these common features because they share an adaptive strategy. Knowing that societies can share many similar aspects due to a common adaptive strategy, anthropologists can use societies' strategies to then draw other comparisons and correlations. The reason that idealized typologies are necessary in these cases is because there would otherwise be no way for anthropologists to make generalizations about societies they do not know much about. Idealized typologies have assumptions about societies that are useful to anthropologists and if the assumptions hold true in a high percentage of cases, then the anthropologists can make the same assumptions about societies with the same typology. The typologies are really on a spectrum but using idealized ones might be necessary because not every factor and difference of a society can be factored in, especially if not much is known about it. A good example that Kottak discusses in his text is how agriculturalist societies tend to have more issues with infectious diseases compared to people with nomadic lifestyles, like pastoralists. This sedentary lifestyle makes the populations more prone to infection.
What is the main difference between a typical United States extended family and the Bosnia Zadruga?
Given that both the United States typical extended family and the Bosnia Zadruga are both types of extended families, they share similarities in the fact that relations and residence go beyond the simple nuclear family. However, these types of families come from two completely different cultures so they have glaring differences as well; after reading Kottak's chapter on families, kinship, and marriage, I think the biggest difference between extended families we see here in the United States and the Zadrugas of Bosnia is the unique (to me and our society) social relations found in within the Zadrugas. In Zadrugas, "social interaction was more usual among its women, its men, or its children than between spouses, or between parents in children" (Kottak 138). This is very different from what is common in the United States because, while it is an extended family living with each other, nuclear family relations are still very prevalent and somewhat dominant in the households. In many cases for Zadrugas, all of the men and women and children would eat together at separate times from each other which is not something we would usually see in the United States. Parents and their children would almost always eat together. The Zadruga kind of eliminated the importance of nuclear family relations while the typical extended family in our society emphasizes them still in extended families. Another example would be how fathers would have to treat all children in the Zadruga equally and how any adult in it could discipline any child. This would not be common in the United States because those nuclear relations are emphasized so much even when there are multiple generations and nuclear families living under the same roof.
Choose three types of foods that Chagnon mentions while living among the Yąnomamö, then discuss whether you would like to eat them.
I would like to start out with talking about the plantains that the Yąnomamö eat because it is the food that makes up a majority of their diet. I have had plantains before when they are cooked, and I really liked them because they turned out sweet and crispy. It would obviously be a lot different in the jungle so I would like to try the plantains the way they eat them and compare. I am a little wary of the plantain soup mentioned by Chagnon, though. Another type of food that I would love to try woiuld be all of the various wild fruits that they both cultivate and forage for. The wild peach palm fruit sounded especially good to try given Chagnon's description of it and how prized it is in the Yąnomamö culture. I also would be really interested in trying the wild fruit that Sibarariwä's had camped out for north of his village. It must be at least okay to have the whole village relocate for it. Something I probably wouldn't try would be the various insects that the Yąnomamö eat, especially the white grubs that breed in the palm trees when the Yąnomamö cut them. The picture looked absolutely disgusting and if Chagnon couldn't get himself to eat one after everything he had done then they're probably way too much for me.
What is the meaning of marriage in the United States?
It emphasizes an exclusive bond between two people and is concerned with sexual rights and parental responsibility. The domestic group consist of parents and children with roles based on age and gender. It is heavily sanctioned in moral and legal codes.
After reading about the various ethnographic techniques discussed by Kottak in Chapter 3, explain how Chagnon utilized different techniques to understand how the Yąnomamö obtain food.
It is clear after reading Kottak's chapter discussing various anthropological methods and Chagnon's recollections of the Yąnomamö that Chagnon used a variety of techniques to understand their way of life, including their food cultivation and foraging techniques. The most obvious one would be observation which is what an anthropologist is doing almost constantly when doing ethnographic field work. Chagnon constantly took notes including what they ate and a bunch on the Yąnomamö's gardening practices. There is a picture in Chagnon's book of a Yąnomamö using A-frames to scale a plantain tree for fruits. Chagnon also did a lot of participant observation as well. He mentioned that he did things like hunt with the Yąnomamö for gamey birds, learned gardening techniques with them, and also foraged for some of his own food like fruits and insects as well. This was talked about directly when he discussed how the Yąnomamö would cut a certain palm tree to allow a certain grub to grow in there, however, he would not try it. Chagnon also did a large amount of interviewing and had many cultural consultants. These informants are discussed in detail when Chagnon was doing genealogy, but he talked to the Yąnomamö every single day and it can be assumed he also asked them about varying foraging and food cultivation techniques as he became more and more familiar with the language.
Why is it important for cultural anthropologists to avoid ethnocentrism when doing fieldwork?
It is important for cultural anthropologists to avoid ethnocentrism when doing fieldwork in order to prevent them from making exceptions for immoral actions. For example, in Chapter 2 of Mirror for Humanity, Kottak explains that ethnocentrism is "the tendency to view one's own culture as superior and to apply one's own cultural values in judging the behavior and beliefs of people raised in other cultures." If a cultural anthropologist studies a culture with a lens of superiority, the cultural anthropologist will be unable to truly learn about the culture and be unable to communicate what they have learned to others. Additionally, if a cultural anthropologist is rude to the people of that culture, they may never welcome cultural anthropologists again, taking the opportunity to truly study the culture away from other cultural anthropologists. In order to avoid this, cultural anthropologists must fully immerse themselves within the culture they are studying, and they must learn the customs and abide by them (as long as it is morally acceptable to do so).
patrilocality
Married couples reside in the husband's father's community, so that the children will grow up in their father's village
What postmarital residence pattern is predominant in the United States?
Neolocality: the couple establishes a new place of residence, rather than staying near either of their parents.
How does Paliyan culture challenge the concept of marriage in Western societies?
Paliyans have a loose marriage structure. There is no legal code or formal marriage ceremony. There are less distinct roles between parents and children. As long as the people involved agree to the arrangement, there are no restrictions on marriage arrangement, although most live monogamously.
Explain why Kottak prefers the term sociopolitical organization over political organization.
Political organization is one component of social organization that relates to managing public policy. This is less applicable to non-states, where there is no public policy or leaders holding authority. Sociopolitical organization is more encompassing and is more applicable to all types of political systems.
What is science and how is it different from other ways of knowing?
Science is one of mankind's ways of knowing and learning about the world. Science is a method approach to discovering new things and also testing old things we think of as fact or knowledge. Science relies on empirical evidence which includes things like observations and testable hypotheses. These hypotheses and observations can turn into things like scientific models or theories that are simply scientists' attempts at representing and simplifying the complex world that we live in into understandable ideas. That brings up another interesting aspect science; we know the world is completely complex and no one knows everything or anything for a fact, so science is an evolving field with its body of knowledge constantly being added to and refined. Nothing is concrete in science. Things have to be able to be tested repeatedly with the same results for something to be regarded as "true" which is why acceptance of data and theories revolves around peer review and scrutiny. Science also is not free from biases so that is another reason why peer review is necessary. Chagnon discussed this kind of when he talked about the protein deficiency theory and how some scientists were molding data to fit the narrative of the theory. The thing that makes science unique compared to other ways of knowing is that it only explores the natural and focuses on natural phenomena. It must be observable and testable.
What are some limitations of science? How do scientists overcome these limitations?
Some limitations are that science cannot support or contradict the existence of the supernatural, it is a simplified view of a complex reality, it is a work in progress, and it is not free of bias. Science overcomes limitations through discourse including the processes of peer-review and replication.
What problems did Chagnon have collecting genealogies and reproductive histories?
The Yąnomamö have stringent name taboos and avoid vocalizing the names of prestigious individuals or the dead. 2) Chagnon's recordation of the true names of individuals violated cultural etiquette, sometimes speaking of close-kin enraged the Yąnomamö—so much that Chagnon's life was threatened. 3) The Yąnomamö merge the terms of many relatives that we separate. 4) The Yąnomamö invented false names for everybody when Chagnon was collecting his data.
How do anthropologists study the evolutionary basis of culture?
The best way that anthropologists have to study the evolutionary basis of culture is by studying humans' ancient ancestors and their ways of life as well as changes over time. When studying our race's evolutionary change, anthropologists mainly focus on the group of beings that we evolved from. Hominids, the group consisting of all humans plus chimps and gorillas, and hominins, the group that leads to all human species but not chimps and gorillas, are key focuses in anthropological evolutionary study (Kottak: Chapter 2). By studying and examining the ways of life of our ancient ancestors millions of years ago, anthropologists can gain insight into how, why, and when our human race developed certain cultural traits that are the basis of our modern societies and often taken for granted. The four biggest traits that were developed as our ancestors adapted to life millions of years ago were "grasping ability and manual dexterity (especially opposable thumbs), depth and color vision, learning ability based on a large, visually orientated, brain, and substantial parental investment in a limited number of offspring" (Kottak: Chapter 2). As we already know, culture is learned and shared, so when anthropologists discover evidence of development of any of these traits or other cultural changes, they get a sense of when culture of our ancestors began to change overall. For example, discoveries of ancient tools made by hominins gives us an insight to when our race began to develop a culture based more on complex thinking, hunting, and dexterity which means a large change in the ways of life of these ancient animals.
Cultural Resource Management (CRM)
The branch of applied archaeology aimed at preserving sites threatened by dams, highways, and other projects.
Why does Kottak describe ethnography as "anthropology's distinctive strategy"?
The reason that Kottak describes ethnography as anthropology's distinctive strategy is because there is no one specific way of doing ethnography that is "right" or "wrong". Ethnography is doing field work in particular culture to learn about it, but every culture and area has differences and unique qualities, so the ethnographic work done there varies as well. In other fields like math chemistry, there are certain methods and practices to study aspects of that field, but anthropologists doing ethnographic fieldwork must adopt their own strategies as they delve deeper into the society they are studying and the relationships they create. Anthropologists use common methods like interviewing, observation, participant observation, conversation, genealogical mapping, and more to study specific societies, but the anthropologists must adapt each method to get the most out of it in each situation. Think about Chagnon and his genealogical interviewing efforts. He realized he was being fooled by the Yąnomamö in many cases and had to re-strategize so that he could get accurate information and create a real kinship map after 6 months of wasted work. "Ethnographers adopt a free-ranging strategy for gathering information" and have to adjust to varying scenarios so that they can uncover a picture of unique lifestyles (Kottak 43). What is so distinctive about ethnography is that each anthropologist has to devise their own way of going about it.
Giving examples, explain why Kottak states that there is no single explanation for polygyny.
The reason that Kottak states there is no single reason for polygyny is because, like other anthropological phenomena, each society is different and unique so there are varying reasons we see things in specific societies. Men, women, families, and the societies that they live in can have very different reasons to practice polygyny and even encourage it in many scenarios. In some societies, women generally marry later than men, so there ends up being more widows than widowers, and sometimes the women remarry into polygynous unions so that promotes polygyny in those societies. There are also societies in which having multiple wives is an indicator of a man's household productivity, prestige, or social position (Kottak 156). In this case polygyny would be allowed and encouraged (mainly by men I am guessing) so it would be very prevalent in those societies. Polygyny would also be supported by women in some cases when they think it could be beneficial for them too. For instance, one wife could be overloaded with house work and want another, lower ranked, wife to help her in things like food cultivation for the family. Polygyny can also be common when the men visit different villages throughout the year, and potentially for long periods of time, so they want wives in other villages while they are there. Having more than one wife can also be politically advantageous; we know that marriages foster alliances and political friendships so both women and med can favor polygyny when it would be advantageous for both of their groups.
Why does Kottak stress that in non-industrial societies, marriage is not always about romantic love?
The reason that Kottak stresses that marriage is not always about love in non-industrial societies is because that phenomenon is very strange to people that live in industrial societies. In societies like ours, the idea of marriage is thought of as completely voluntary and a personal choice with it revolving around two people choosing to be together and potentially starting a family together. People in industrial societies generally get married when they are "in love", but marriage in non-industrial societies can be a result of many different causes or underlying advantages. Kottak states that in non-industrial societies there can be romantic love between the individuals. But marriage is more of a group concern. The reason for this is that marriage is one of the primary ways that people in such societies can convert strangers into friends which is important when creating and maintaining personal and political alliances (Kottak 148). This is the idea of Exogamy which is the custom and practice of seeking someone outside one's own group, and this phenomenon has great value for those involved because it links people of different groups into a wider social network that can provide a lot of benefits in times of need for both sides. Marriage can help create alliances for both political gain and safety. Chagnon discussed this when talking about marriage in the Yanomami and how women would be offered to men of other tribes a lot to foster lasting relations with them, and, hopefully, lasting peace. Another example is how prominent market women of West Africa would sometimes take a wife for the purpose of strengthening their social status and economic importance in society.
Discuss how political systems are correlated with adaptive strategies.
The reason that political systems are correlated with adaptive strategies is because different political systems and institutions are needed to organize the different needs and priorities of the varying adaptive strategies which imply very different ways of life. This idea relates to the discussion in chapter three about how the different adaptive strategies can be used by anthropologists to draw correlations between societies that have very little relation. Political systems are one of these correlations that can usually be made due to the different adaptive strategies creating specific needs and priorities that must be addressed in those societies. This idea isn't as simple as drawing the conclusion that a society with a sedentary lifestyle would have more issues with diseases, but common political systems can be seen across unique societies because the different adaptive strategies create related priorities and social environments that tend to be organized in similar ways. For example, the adaptive strategy of foraging tends to have a band type of organization (Kottak 113) because foragers do not need larger, more complex societies to meet their needs. However, horticulturalists and pastoralists lean more towards tribes because of the extra and more complex labor needed in those typologies to meet needs. For industrial societies that "mastered" food production, larger, denser populations was a consequence which led to much more complex societies and, thus, the more complex sociopolitical organization - states - are more common for those societies.
Why do we say that anthropology is holistic and comparative?
The reason that we say anthropology is holistic and comparative is because anthropology itself is a "comparative science that examines all societies, ancient and modern, simple and complex" (Kottak: Chapter 1). Anthropology focuses deeply on this idea of a cross cultural perspective; humans cannot learn everything about our race by only studying one group or society, but rather we need to explore many societies and cultures to learn about differences, similarities, and influences they have on each other. Anthropologists realize this importance of comparing and contrasting groups of people and the way they live(d) so that we can gain a better understanding of those people. Through this cross-cultural lens, we might better be able to understand from where certain societies got special materials, developed certain linguistic features, specific physical traits, things they traded for or stole, and so on. Societies and cultures are constantly influencing each other and impacting peoples' ways of life so it makes sense that these groups should be compared to better understand how they live(d) and possibly why as well. Cultural anthropology is probably the most holistic and comparative of the subcultures of anthropology because "culture is a mechanism that we use to explain behavior and explain differences and similarities between groups of people" (Lecture Video:1.1).
Contrast the economic systems of industrial and non-industrial societies.
There are a few key differences between the economies of nonindustrial societies and those of industrial societies. The overarching contrast between the two is the separation of work and home life that is found in industrial societies that is not found as much in nonindustrial societies. First, this difference is seen in the modes of production in societies which is are "set(s) of social relations through which labor is deployed to wrest nature by means of tools, skills, organization, and knowledge" (Kottak 96). In industrial societies, labor is bought with money and there is a social gap between those buying and selling labor - the bosses and the employees. However, in nonindustrial societies labor is largely a social obligation for the common good of the group. This is kin-based mode of production and it is typical of " foragers, horticulturalists, pastoralists, and many agriculturalists, especially those lacking state organization" (Kottak 96). In nonindustrial societies, the means of production are more shared and intimate than what is seen in industrial societies; in nonindustrial societies, people are less individualist as they are more of a collective group that work together, but also live, celebrate, and care for each other. Contrastingly, in industrial societies, people simply sell labor to bosses who can fire them and work with people they largely do not know outside of that setting. Overall, I would say the biggest difference lies in the fact that non-industrialists are working together for a common goal and industrialists are mainly fending for themselves outside of direct kinship.
What attributes do humans share with other primates?
There are many answers including ability to learn from experience, ability to change behavior, tool use, capacity to aim and throw, habitual hunting. We are also all hominids.
Discuss three different ways societies punish deviant behavior.
There are many different ways that societies can punish its people for deviant behavior given that societies have varying political and social systems and institutions. An obvious example that we see in our everyday lives in the United States is how citizens that act in a deviant manner can be arrested, fined, imprisoned, or even be given the death penalty based on formal laws, rules, or regulations that that person acted against whether they knew it or not. This is what is seen in most state systems with complex societies that end up having formal rules and such and also people with proper authority to enforce those rules. However, the punishment of deviant behavior can look a lot different for the less complex, nonindustrial societies that don't really have formal rules or laws or ways of holding people accountable for acting in ways that the rest of the people in the society do not see fit. For example, the Yanomami have no formal rules or way of ruling each other, but they do have common ways that they act out against each other when a person does something 'wrong'. Let's say a Yanomami man tried to steal the wife of another. People would see it as completely normal if the man whose wife was stolen to go beat the other with a club. Also, if a wife committed adultery, it would be normal for the husband to beat her. In the Yanomami culture there are informal norms of handling unwanted behavior that no one enforces; it is on the individual. For example, Chagnon was treated 'poorly' many times, and it wasn't until he started to retaliate (like the time he sent everyone's canoe's adrift) that he earned more respect. Tribes can have a little more formality when dealing with deviant behavior, especially with pantribal sodalities. The more defined leadership roles in these societies mean that heads of them can take more of the lead in dolling out punishment like in the case of leader's seizing wealth of a person for disobedience when trying to hunt buffalo (Kottak 120).
What are mechanisms of cultural change?
There are three main mechanisms of cultural change that Kottak discusses in his textbook (of which all of this analysis comes from). The first mechanism of change discussed is the process of diffusion, the borrowing of traits between cultures. As we know, cultures are not isolated, which is why anthropology is so holistic, so cultures are constantly sharing things and ideas. Diffusion can be direct, as with trade, indirect, when ideas and things move through intermediaries, and also forced, when one culture imposes their customs on another. The second mechanism of cultural change discussed is the process of acculturation which is an ongoing exchange of cultural traits from continuous first-hand contact between groups. Acculturation can change and blend the cultures of groups, but each individual culture still remains distinct from the other. A good example of acculturation would be two countries that share a border and continuously trade that develop a mixed language to easier facilitate trade and also share cultural practices with food and technologies. The third mechanism of cultural change discussed is the process of independent invention, which is simply humans innovating to find solutions to common problems. People of different societies face similar issues and have innovated similarly as well which is why some cultural generalities exist. A big innovation often creates many smaller, interrelated changes in a society. A good example of independent invention is how societies have created many different modes of transportation over the years as needs of people have evolved in the modern world.
Who are the Yąnomamö? How do they live?
They live in small villages called shabonos (40-300 people) in the tropics of Venezuela and Brazil. 2) They live in interfluvial plains and are considered "foot" people, avoiding large rivers. 3) They conduct frequent intervillage warfare. Warfare is a series of graded forms of violence. 4) They have headmen. There are many possible answers to this question from Chagnon in Chapter 1. As you continue reading Chagnon's ethnography, you should keep a place in your notes and compile information there about the Yąnomamö, using the terms you are learning. In other words, practice taking notes on the Yąnomamö as if you were a cultural anthropologist. For example, your future notes might include information on kinship structure, marriage partners, religion, etc
How would a Brazilian feel about the American meaning of "family"?
To a Brazilian, family includes parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, grandparents, and cousins. For Brazilians, the family of orientation predominates, rather than the family of procreation.
Does the Yąnomamö village headman, Kalobawä, have authority or power? Illustrate your answer with details from your Chagnon ethnography.
To understand whether Kalobawä has power or authority in his Yąnomamö village, it is important to distinguish the two terms. According to Kottak (111), power is a term to describe one's ability to exercise one's will over others and authority is the formal, socially approved use of power. Given that authority revolves around formal structure and political hierarchy at times, I would say that Kalobawä has very limited authority because the Yanomamö is a very egalitarian society and people are much of the same when it comes to doing their own work. Kalobawä is still a strong leader, his ability to lead is just kind of known, though; there isn't a real formal structure to his position. He doesn't have no authority, though. Chagnon (139) noted that he is "occasionally called upon by the nature of the situation to exercise his authority". I gathered that these situations tend to revolve around relations with other villages and resolving violence, but Kalobawä is usually distinguishable as a man of authority only for the duration of the incident. Kalobawä is a laid back and wise headman that Chagnon says leads by example, so I think Kalobawä has more power than authority. He usually doesn't need to say or do much for people to realize what he is implying should be done or not. Power is simply the ability to exercise that will over others, and while it isn't very in the open, Kalobawä does have a good amount of power and following from being such a trusted and wise leader. For example, Chagnon discussed a time that he was able to persuade a member of his village from violence just by the implication that he was going to protect his visitors. He can also persuade individuals from doing something dangerous with a comment like "go ahead and do it if you want to, but don't expect sympathy from me if you get hurt" (Chagnon 136). He can make others work as well by starting to do work himself. People look to him for direction a lot so in that sense he has a good amount of power.
Compare a village head to a big man.
Village headmen and big men both have limited authority. They have no right to issue orders. The village head has leadership in a single village and a big man has supporters in several villages or regional scale. A big man also has more wealth than others in the village.
What does Kottak mean when he states, "culture is contested"?
When Kottak states that "culture is contested" he means that, while a common culture may be shared by all members in a particular system or society, individuals that make up that system still compete with each other over whose ideas, values, and beliefs will prevail, or dominate among all of the different ideas of individuals (Kottak: Chapter 2). Individuals all interpret and interact with cultural "norms" in different, and often opposing, ways which creates a kind of battle of which aspects of a certain society's culture dominates the others. Culture can be contested because a society's culture may direct individuals to do certain things, but every individual still has personal choice. Individuals experience and internalize cultural messages, but then they influence culture themselves by converting their private interpretations of culture into public messages that battle with opposing views about the same cultural rules (Kottak: Chapter 2). A good example of this contestation of culture is in the differing views about how families should be organized in the United States. Overall, the traditional culture in the US favors a nuclear family with a husband, a wife, and children all living together. However, with more LGBTQ+ couples gaining rights and confidence to be open about their ideas and having families, that status quo is being challenged and many traditional people frown upon that idea. This normal family make-up is also being challenged by immigrant families that favor more extended households and kinship.
extended family household
When the expanded household includes three or more generations, like the Bosnian zadruga.
What behavior do you see in Yąnomamö life that exemplifies a patrilineal-patrilocal complex?
Yąnomamö are both patrilineal and patrilocal, keeping males together in the same village, men dominate in terms of prestige, women are oppressed and have no political prestige.
mode of production
a way of organizing production—"a set of social relations through which labor is deployed to wrest energy from nature by means of tools, skills, organization, and knowledge"
power
ability to exercise one's will over others
correlations
associations or covariations between two or more variables
national culture
beliefs, learned behavior patterns, values, and institutions that are shared by citizens of the same nation.
What individuals are considered ideal marriage partners for Ego in Yąnomamö society?
bilateral cross-cousin marriages (mother's brother's children or father's sister's children)
dowry
bride's family or kin group provides substantial gifts when their daughter marries
biocultural
combining both biological and cultural perspectives and approaches to analyze and understand a particular issue or problem
norms
cultural standards or guidelines that enable individuals to distinguish between appropriate and inappropriate behavior in a given society
exogamy
custom and practice of seeking a mate outside one's own group, has adaptive value, because it links people into a wider social network that nurtures, helps, and protects them in times of need
clan
descent group based on stiplulated descent
subcultures
different symbol-based patterns and traditions associated with particular groups in the same complex society.
mechanisms of cultural change
diffusion acculturation - ongoing exchange of cultural features that results when groups have continuous firsthand contact. independent invention - process by which humans innovate, creatively finding solutions to problems
foraging
economy and way of life based on hunting and gathering—was humans' only way of making a living until about 12,000 years ago - tend to be egalitarian
emic
emic approach investigates how local people think. How do they perceive and categorize the world?
popular culture
encompasses aspects of culture that have meaning for many or most people within the same national culture
pastoral nomadism
entire group—women, men, and children—moves with the animals throughout the year.
How do cultural anthropologists learn new information about humans?
ethnographic field work and ethnology
reciprocity
exchanges between social equals, people who are related by some kind of personal tie, such as kinship or marriage. - generalized: most closely related people - balanced: distance and need to reciprocate increases - negative: most extreme
international culture
extends beyond and across national boundaries. Because culture is transmitted through learning rather than genetics, cultural traits can spread through borrowing, or diffusion, from one group to another.
potlach
festive event within a regional exchange system among tribes of the North Pacific Coast of North America
state
form of sociopolitical organization based on a formal government structure and socioeconomic stratification.
authority
formal, socially approved use of power
pantribal sodalities
groups that extend across the whole tribe, spanning several villages. Such sodalities were especially likely to develop in situations of warfare with a neighboring tribe.
intellectual property rights
has arisen in an attempt to conserve each society's cultural base—its core beliefs, knowledge, and practices. Much traditional cultural knowledge has commercial value. Examples include ethnomedicine (traditional medical knowledge and techniques), cosmetics, cultivated plants, foods, folklore, arts, crafts, songs, dances, costumes, and rituals.
cultivation continuum
horticulture - low labor, shifting plot end agriculture - opposite end
food production
human control over the reproduction of plants and animals (12-10K yrs ago)
means of production
include land (territory), technology, and the available labor supply. (relationship between worker and means is more intimate in non-industrial societies)
cultural consultant
individuals the ethnographer gets to know in the field, the people who teach him or her about their culture, who provide the emic perspective.
Chiefdom (mostly ag)
intermediate between the tribe and the state. In chiefdoms, social relations are based mainly on kinship, marriage, descent, age, generation, and gender—just as in bands and tribes. However, although chiefdoms are kin based, they feature differential access to resources (some people have more wealth, prestige, and power than others do) and a permanent political structure.
sociolinguistics
investigates relationships between social and linguistic variation. How do different speakers use a given language? How do linguistic features correlate with social factors, including class and gender differences
human rights
invokes a realm of justice and morality beyond and superior to the laws and customs of particular countries, cultures, and religions. Human rights include the rights to speak freely; to hold religious beliefs without persecution; and not to be murdered, injured, or enslaved or imprisoned without charge. Such rights are seen as inalienable
survey research
involves sampling, impersonal data collection, and statistical analysis.
market principle
items are bought and sold, using money, with an eye to maximizing profit, and value is determined by the law of supply and demand
longitudinal research
long-term study of an area or a population, usually based on repeated visits.
polygyny
man has more than one wife
endogamy
mating or marriage within a group to which one belongs. Endogamic rules are less common - think caste system in India
lobola
opposite of dowry
levirate
opposite of sororate
society
organized life in groups
transhumance
part of the group moves with the herds but most people stay in the home village.
Are the Yąnomamö patrilineal or matrlineal?
patrilineal (shaded descents of fathers side
What is the rule that when a couple marries, they move to the husband's community?
patrilocality
neolocality
pattern of postmarital residence, in which married couples establish a new place of residence away from their parents,
descent group
people who share common ancestry—they descend from the same ancestor(s). Descent groups typically are spread out among several villages
office
permanent position, which must be refilled when it is vacated by death or retirement. Such vacancies are filled systematically, so that the political system that is the chiefdom endures across the generations, thus ensuring permanent political regulation.
Enculturation
process by which a child learns his or her culture.
ethnography
provides an account of a particular culture, society, or community. During ethnographic fieldwork, the ethnographer gathers data that he or she organizes, analyzes, and interprets to develop that account
anthropological archaeology
reconstructs, describes, and interprets human behavior and cultural patterns through material remains.
globalization
series of processes that work transnationally to promote change in a world in which nations and people are increasingly interlinked and mutually dependent.
core values
set of characteristic core values (key, basic, central values) integrates each culture and helps distinguish it from others.
incest
sexual contact with a relative, but cultures define their kin, and thus incest, differently.
symbols
signs that have no necessary or natural connection to the things they stand for, or signify.
band
small group of fewer than a hundred people, all related by kinship or marriage - common in foraging societies
peasants
small-scale farmers who live in state-organized societies and have rent fund obligations. They produce to feed themselves, to sell their produce, and to pay rent.
hegemony
stratified social order in which subordinates comply with domination by internalizing their rulers' values and accepting the "naturalness" of domination
Linguistic Anthropology
studies language in its social and cultural context, throughout the world and over time.
Draw your family kinship chart. You only need to draw your nuclear family, but make sure you include a description and a chart
study lesson 5 assignment picture
Biological Anthropology
study of human biological diversity through time and as it exists in the world today. - Human biological evolution as revealed by the fossil record - genetics - growth and development - biological plasticity (the living body's ability to change as it copes with environmental conditions, such as heat, cold, and altitude) - primatology
cultural anthropology
study of human society and culture. This subfield describes, analyzes, interprets, and explains social and cultural similarities and differences
Anthropology
study of humans around the world and through time.
economy
system of production, distribution, and consumption of resources; economics is the study of such systems.
ethnocentrism
tendency to view one's own culture as superior and to apply one's own cultural values in judging the behavior and beliefs of people raised in other cultures.
expanded family household
that includes a group of relatives other than, or in addition to, a married couple and their children.
Applied Anthropology
the application of anthropological data, perspectives, theory, and methods to identify, assess, and solve contemporary social problems.
family of procreation
the family formed when a couple's first child is born
family of orientation
the family in which a person grows up
hominins
the group that leads to humans but not to chimps and gorillas and that encompasses all the human species that ever have existed.
adaptation
the processes by which organisms cope with environmental forces and stresses, such as those posed by climate and topography or terrains
holism
the study of the whole of the human condition: past, present, and future; biology, society, language, and culture.
cultural relativism
the viewpoint that behavior in one culture should not be judged by the standards of another culture.
social control
to "those fields of the social system (beliefs, practices, and institutions) that are most actively involved in the maintenance of any norms and the regulation of any conflict"
cultures
traditions and customs, transmitted through learning, that form and guide the beliefs and behavior of the people exposed to them. Children learn such a tradition by growing up in a particular society, through a process called enculturation.
cultural rights
vested not in individuals but in groups, such as religious and ethnic minorities and indigenous societies. Cultural rights include a group's ability to preserve its culture, to raise its children in the ways of its forebears, to continue its language, and not to be deprived of its economic base by the nation in which it is located.
redistribution
when products, such as a portion of the annual harvest, move from the local level to a center, from which they eventually flow back out.
horticulture
- nonintensive, shifting cultivation - slash + burn technique - simple tools - has fallow period (ag does not)
What is prestige avoidance?
In egalitarian societies, people may be expected to behave modestly and stay "out of the limelight." In such societies, there are usually several ways of doing so, and people may be censured for acting in ways that give them prestige.
sororate
custom of substituting dead wives with ones from same group - keep ties
lineage
descent group based on demonstrated descent.
ethnology
examines, compares, analyzes, and interprets the results of ethnography
tribes (horticulture, pastoralists)
typically have economies based on horticulture and pastoralism. Living in villages and organized into kin groups based on common descent, tribes have no formal government and no reliable means of enforcing political decisions.
polyandry
woman has more than one husband
