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Flashcards by rebecca.a.briggs, updated more than 1 year ago
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Created by rebecca.a.briggs
over 10 years ago
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| Question | Answer |
| applied anthropology | application of anthropological data, perspectives, theory, and methods to identify, assess and solve contemporary social problems (integrate with communities/organizations and try to take action) |
| intersex | pertaining to a group of conditions reflecting a discrepancy between the external genitals and internal genitals (the abnormal condition of being intermediate between male and female) Significance: showed that gender identities are not completely accurate, one is not necessarily a boy or a girl |
| ethnography | the scientific description of the customs of peoples and cultures, fieldwork in a particular cultural setting; description of a culture usually based on the method of participant observation. Significance: allowed anthropologists to understand other cultures and societies in a more specific and holistic way |
| ethnicity | identification with and feeling part of an ethnic group and exclusion from certain other groups because of this affiliation. Significance: Significance: based on perceived cultural similarities and differences in society/nation. Fredrik Barth: only exists when people claim a certain ethnic identity for themselves and are defined by others as having that identity- on-going negotiations of cultural boundaries between groups of people, discrete categories are maintained despite changing participation and membership, and identities don’t have to be exclusive (can belong to more than one group) |
| multi-sited research | research in multiple times and places towards a common goal |
| Mitochondrial Eve | mitochondrial eve refers to the fact that most humans share 99.9% of their DNA and every human shares the same common woman ancestor who gave birth to all of the human diversity in the world. *150,000-200,000 years ago. *traced back to africa |
| Domestic-public dichotomy | contrast between women's role in the home and men's role in public life, with a corresponding social devaluation of women's work and worth. Significance: women earn less than males and 40% are single mothers, which increases poverty |
| gender | SOCIAL categories differentiated by psychological characteristics and role expectations; traits and characteristics of genders vary in different cultural contexts |
| Kula ring | trobriand islands, bronislaw malinoski; made famous by the father of modern anthropology, who used this test case to argue for the universality of rational decision making (even among natives) and or the cultural nature of the object of their effort. Significance: showed that gift giving (reciprocity) was important for political relations as well as someone's way of life |
| Potlatch | competitive feast among Indians on the North Pacific Coast of North America. gave away items such as blankets, food, and pieces of copper to gain prestige. significance: a ceremony used to display wealth and status. Also incorporates redistribution (and maybe reciprocation) into their culture |
| Divine king | a king that rules and serves as a mediator between the people and the supernatural-in some societies the ruler was identified with a particular god and was god himself. significance: responsibility of an individual for weather and the lands fertility- the power of the few to rule over the many-usually divine king royalty was inherited depicting the stern |
| ideology | a way of looking at things in a comprehensive vision or worldview. Significance: without ideology, thoughts, ideas, or beliefs, there would be nothing to back the power of civilizations-structures social interaction; tied to the belief systems of particular societies |
| Boasians | Franz Boas and his students; race egalitarians, who argued races were biologically equal, and most were Marxists or socialists. A common misconception is that Boasians denied races existed. they also promoted the four-field approach. significance: advocated the 4 field of anthropology, and that biology did not determine culture |
| Ascribed status | inherited status that comes from being born into a family that has power. significance: royalty and power cannot be earned in the society-calls for a stern social structure with little lee way in advancing |
| developmental anthropology | focuses on social issues and the cultural dimension of, economic development, helps to plan and guide and carry out development policy |
| ethnographic analogies | comparing modern and ancient societies- whether they had similar size or similar social structure-comparing like with like. significance: holistic and comparative study- allows us to realize what things were useful, significant, and successful to societies because they are still in existence today. |
| domestication | an evolutionary process whereby humans modify the genetic makeup of a population of plants or animals. With domestication plants get larger, animals get smaller. significance: without domestication the people would have a hard time surviving on little amounts of produced food. It would be hard to survive in a sedentary lifestyle. domestication of both plants and animals allowed for a non-nomadic life with settle civilizations |
| resistance | opposition to the dominant social order. significance: can result in revolution and restructuring of a society |
| problem-oriented ethnography | ethnography to answer research questions |
| gender stratification | unequal distribution of rewards(socially valued resources, power, prestige, and personal freedom) between men and women reflecting their different positions in a social hierarchy |
| cuneiform | mesopotamian writing system developed as a means of recording production and taxation. significance: first forms of writing discovered. allowed people to document things |
| historical particularism | Idea that histories are not comparable; diverse paths can lead to the same cultural result, based on the principle of cultural relativism, rejects the comparative method, rooted in the notion that each culture is unique and intelligible only in it's terms |
| ethnocentrism | the error of viewing one's own culture as superior and applying one's own cultural values in judging people from other cultures |
| Agency | the actions of individuals, alone and in groups, that create and transform a culture. significance: gives anthropologists the new perspective that daily practices, action, and resistance can make and remake culture |
| universal grammar | the argument that all languages have a common structural basis due to the brain containing a limited set of rules for organizing language |
| cultural relativism | the principle that all behavior should be evaluated in the context of the culture in which it occurs |
| lineage | unilineal descent group based on demonstrated descent |
| clan | type of stipulated descent-say that they descent from a common ancestor but do not actually trace genealogical links |
| Shamanism | a practitioner communicating with the supernatural or spirit world on behalf of a person or a group; may involve psychoactive substances and activities(trance, fasting) meant to achieve an altered state, dreams, or visions. common hunter gatherers, people go through extensive training/rites of passage to earn this position |
| Seriation | placing objects in a chronological sequence based on changes in form or style; relative dating method |
| archaeology | the study of material remains and cultural features in order to describe and explain past human behavior |
| neolithic revolution | the transition to economies based on food production and domesticated plants and animals. 50% or more of the diet coming from domesticated foods. village life |
| participant observation | a type of data collection in which the aim is to gain a close and intimate familiarity with a given group of individuals through an intensive involvement with people in their cultural. significance: in order for anthropologists to understand how cultures work in a holistic fashion, one must pay attention to the thousands of little details in a cultures everyday life |
| acculturation | modification of a culture by interaction with a different culture |
| sexual dimorphism | marked differences in male and female biology besides the contrasts in breasts and genitals. significance: defined sex, but created gender roles as well as gender stereotypes in society. but helps to tell sex or fragmented skeletal remains |
| patriarchy | political system ruled by men in which women have inferior social and political status, including basic human rights |
| focal vocabulary | a set of words and distinctions that are particularly important to certain groups (those with particular foci of experience or activity) ex: snow to skiers |
| "big man" | a leader in a small-scale society that may have supporters in several villages; leadership based on redistribution and reciprocity. significance: the big man's (usually achieved) status is increased by distributing more or reciprocating more items to other villages |
| Armchair anthropology | uses data collected by others (missionaries, explorers, colonial officials) to propose theories about other cultures |
| animism | belief in souls or doubles wherein plants, animals, and inanimate objects or phenomena possess a spiritual essence; an anthropological construct rather than an organized religion |
| Emic perspective | a description of a behavior or belief that comes from a person within the culture, focuses on local explanations and criteria of significance. Significance: an understanding of a potentially important part of a culture that may not have been easily understood or noticed from an outside person that was observing the culture |
| Etic perspective | a description of a behavior or belief by an observer in terms that can be applied across cultures, the research strategy that emphasizes the ethnographers rather than the local's explanations, categories, and criteria of significance |
| Kenyanthropus platyops | 3.5 million year old skull with partial jawbone. This raises the possibility that there were two hominin lineages 3.5 million years ago |
| dendrochronology | tree ring dating, each year a new ring, growth not constant. wet=large rings, dry=narrow rings |
| needs functionalism | for malinowski, biological needs were preeminent (food, shelter, sex) and societal practices evolved in order to satisfy those needs |
| Structural functionalism | customs and social practices function in order to preserve the social structure |
| foramen magnum | the opening in the skull through which the spinal cord passes to become the medulla oblongata. significant to anatomy of bipedalism |
| thomson's nose rule | rule stating that the average nose is longer in arid areas with lower temperatures; based on the geographic distribution of nose length among human populations |
| Broad Spectrum Revolution | eriod during which a wider range, or broader spectrum, of plants and animal life was hunted, gathered, collected, caught and fished Significance: revolutionary because it led to food production, more nutritional dies would increase knowledge of plants and animals which would lead to domestication resulting in the Neolithic Revoluti |
| Bourgeoisie | Owners of the means of production, middle-class people who own most of the wealth in a capitalist system. industrial revolution, opposite to proletariat |
| Proletariat | working-class people who must sell their labor to survive |
| Industrial alienation | people are alienated from the products they make; the product belongs to someone else. significance: workers have no personal relation with the product and co-workers, separating economic domain from social life |
| Pre-clovis hypothesis | Recently people believe that they came by sea, brought the clovis point with them (arrow head/tool technology) diffused out really quickly because there were already people there -- more of when they got here, and telling us when they settled -- one theory -- with this you can trace when they got here. option 2 -- they invented the clovis points and then spread as people dispersed - with this theory you cannot really date when they came because they would have invented it here |
| Peter Metcalf | He lived alongside the Berawans in order to study and understand their burial rituals (secondary burial) |
| Ethnology | the study of the characteristics of various peoples and the differences and relationships between them |
| Hegemony | a stratified social order in which subordinates comply with domination by internalizing its values and accepting its "naturalness"-as used by Antonio Gramsci. significance: socially accepted. dominance of a social group over others |
| city state | a central city and its surrounding villages, which together follow the same law, have one form of government, and share languages, religious beliefs, and ways. significance: early beginnings of modern day cities. more structured way of life |
| racial classification | the attempt to assign humans to discrete categories, purportedly on the basis of common ancestry |
| artifact | an object made by a human being, typically an item of cultural or historical interest |
| anthropology | scientific study of the human species and its immediate ancestors...the study of humanity |
| behavioral modernity | Traits used to distinguish present day humans and their recent ancestors from both other living primates and other extinct lineages. fully human behavior based on symbolic thought and cultural creativity. Two theories about its emergence: 1) upper Paleolithic revolution: the sudden dawn of creativity, rewiring of the brain to permit language and complex thought 2) gradual accumulation of knowledge, skills and culture occurring over hundreds of thousands of years. |
| exploitation colonialism | focuses on access to natural resources for export, fewer colonies involved |
| settler colonialism | involves large-scale immigration, often motivated by religious, political, or economic reasons |
| modern world system | in the modern world system, societies and nations are economically and politically interdependent (We are all tied together this world system) |
| Holistic | complete |
| genealogical method | procedures by which ethnographers discover and record connections of kinship, descent, and marriage, using diagrams and symbols. significance: in nonindustrial societies, extended kinship was the building blocks in the social organization. Ex: using the genealogical method we can further understand the structure of societies. Can show strategic marriages between villages to create political alliances |
| the industrial revolution | the transition to new, industrial manufacturing processes (socio-economic transformation through industrialization) |
| Homo habilis | East africa, former "handy man", fossil bones discovered with possible cut marks on them. use of sharp stones? production of stone tools? |
| theoretical perspective | a framework through which we collect and analyze our data and which color our interpretations |
| Franz Boas | "Father of American Anthropology"; advocated the "Four field approach"; using the Scientific Method to develop and test theories about human behavior; historical particularism |
| Intensive Agriculture | labor intensive; technologies that allowed farmers to extract more production from the soil (ex:irrigation, terracing) |
| Archaic Period | dense settlement of hunter-gatherers throughout the Southeast-highly effective with a broad spectrum of hunting and gathering. significance: it was the lifestyle before the domestication of plants and animals |
| polygamy | variety of plural marriage in which a man has more than one wife |
| woodland period | period of time characterized by widespread use of pottery, elaborate burial practices (burial mounds), long-distance trade, use of the bow and arrow, and the domestication of plants |
| capital | wealth or resources invested in business with the intent of using the means of production to make a profit |
| Syntax | the arrangement and order of words in phrases and sentences |
| Capital | wealth or resources invested in business with the intent of using the means of production to make a profit |
| syntax | the arrangement and order of words in phrases and sentences |
| social archaeology | based on understanding archaeological past must involve reconstructing past societies and social practices in their totality – taking ‘top-down’ view by focusing on systems, institutions and organization of society before attempting to look at the role of the individual and their actions-learning how past societies were organized Four methods – 1) settlement archaeology 2) burial analysis 3) monuments/public works 4) written records. Answers the question: “How do we know what we know about how past human societies were organized?" Significance: social aspects of life affect what is made, desires, or needed such as architectural changes and item necessity changes |
| regional center | any economic entity, public or private, which is involved with the promotion of economic growth, improved regional productivity, job creation and increased domestic capital investment. Significance: focal point of city states |
| subculture | different culture traditions associated with subgroups in the same complex society |
| fossil | the remains of a once living organism that has been preserved in the earth's crust. it has been mineralized |
| law of superposition | sedimentary layers are deposited in a time sequence, with the oldest on the bottom and the youngest on the top. Or, in an undisturbed sequence of strata, the oldest layer is at the bottom |
| medical anthropology | how illness is socially constructed, diagnosed, managed and treated; differences between disease and illness |
| natural selection | selection of favored biological forms through differential reproductive success |
| genotype | genotype is the actual alleles, genetic makeup of an organism |
| hominid | a member of the taxonomic family that includes humans, apes, and their immediate ancestors |
| multiculturalism | the view of cultural diversity in a country as something good and desirable; a multicultural society socializes individuals not only into the national or dominant culture but also in an ethnic culture. significance: encourages the practice of ethnic traditions |
| Assimilationist model | the process of change that a minority group may experience when it moves to a country where another culture dominates to the point that it no longer exists as a separate cultural unit. significance: causes the loss of cultures around the world as minority cultures are absorbed into dominant cultures |
| linguistic relativity | the structure of a language affects the ways in which its speakers conceptualize their world; we understand the world in terms of our language. significance: varying language structures could lead to varying understandings of other societies/cultures |
| proconsul | tree-dwelling, fruit eating hominoid; belongs to the super-family to which humans and apes also belong |
| primatology | the study of non human primates, including their behavior and social life |
| What are the four fields of anthropology? | cultural: describes, analyzes, interprets, and explains social and cultural similarities, linguistic: explores how language shapes communication, social identity and group membership, cultural beliefs and ideologies, and cultural representations of natural and social words. biological: study of past and present biological variation of humans. Anthropological archaeology: study of human culture through material remains |
| How does prejudice become discrimination? | Prejudice refers to devaluing or looking down upon a group of people because of assumed behavior, values, or capabilities. It is judging people on something basic. Prejudice becomes discrimination when there are policies and practices put into place that actively harm a group (that people are being prejudice) about and it’s movements. Discrimination is when prejudice becomes very serious, there are laws built into the judicial system to avoid discrimination and make it illegal. Although it is illegal, there are still some instances of it in the United States. |
| What is economic anthropology? What is its relationship to traditional economics? | Economic anthropology attempts to explain human economic behavior in its widest historic, geographic, and cultural scope. It has a complex relationship with the discipline of economics, of which it is highly critical. It originally focused on exchange/reciprocity as an alternative to market exchange. It is concerned with two main question: “How are production, distribution, and consumption organized in different societies?” and “What motivates people in different cultures to produce, distribute, or exchange, and consume?”. |
| What does an increase in single mother households mean for poverty? | it generally means that poverty increases because not only does the family depend on one income, women are often disfavored in the workplace. leads to gender stratification |
| how do descent groups traced to real or mythical ancestors have differential social hierarchies? | ones with a more direct link. in the study session she used Robert E. Lee and how a alot of people claim to be related to him: he’s someone’s great great great great great grandfather vs. someone’s cousin’s father’s aunt’s grandad’s brother in law or something. So the direct link would be higher than the latter |
| What does body decoration and ornamentation indicate? | Individual self-awareness, group identity, social signaling. humans became aware by marking themselves physically to either differentiate oneself or to be the same as ones group. Behavioral modernity and symbolic thinking-people are aware of themselves |
| Why did Spencer Wells (from the Ted Talk we watched in class) believe that humans left Africa so recently (60,000ya) as opposed to earlier? | we were going into the worst part of the last ice age. Africa was drying out during this time because the ice was sucking the moisture out of the atmosphere; turning into a desert. there were only a few habitable places on earth |
| describe what it means when Anthropologists claim that the discipline is both "holistic" and "comparative" | holistic meaning a whole or complete study that considers all facets of human society and uses multiple methods, and comparative meaning that it compares different societies to get the whole understanding correctly |
| What is physically different about anatomically modern humans compared to non-anatomically modern humans? | our brain size, skull differences, rationally. A more vertical forehead, a diminished brow ridge, a more defined chin, a more centered foraman magnum |
| Why did bipedalism begin to develop in our early ancestors | Scientists suggest bipedalism developed in the woodlands but became even more adaptive in a savanna habitat. Advantages include: the ability to see over long grass and scrub, to carry items back to a home base, and to reduce the body’s exposure to solar radiation. Physical characteristic differences: foramen magnum position shift more forward to center of skull, broadened and shortened top to bottom pelvis in bipedal hominins, legs of hominins grew much longer and stronger than their arms to hold body weight, feet of hominins grew longer and developed arches to more substantially support the body |
| What is meant by the term "Mitochondrial Eve" (as used by Spencer Wells) and about how long ago did she exist? | Mitochondrial eve refers to the fact that most humans share 99.9% of their DNA and every human shares the same common woman ancestor who gave birth to all of the human diversity in the world. 150,000-200,000 years ago. traced back to Africa |
| Why are exogamous marriages both biologically and socially adaptive? | Exogamous marriages are biologically adaptive because they lower the amount of harmful recessive genes and abnormalities that might accumulate in a population due to incest, and they’re socially adaptive because they sow seeds of reciprocity in different tribes/ link people into wider social networks |
| What is a vision quest? | A kind of rite of passage performed by a single individual. A vision quest is an example of an individual rite of passage. When one begins to enter adulthood, they go into the woods by themselves (separation) for intense spiritual communication. During this time they have liminal status, and when they come back they are incorporated into the society with their new status as an adult. |
| Explain how military training follows the steps of rite of passage | The three steps in a rite of passage are: separation – withdrawal from the group, liminality – occupying ambiguous social positions, and incorporation – reincorporation into the community/group with a different status. Military training is a type of communal rite of passage. When entering into the military one is withdrawn from his/her life and taken to a military training school/site, where they experience the next step liminality. Here they are no longer separated, because they are with others who are training, but still are not accepted into the new status – it is a murky stage. Finally they are reincorporated into society as a trained military member. |
| What are the characteristics of Karl Polyani's three economies? | Market principle, redistribution, and reciprocity. -The market principle: Buying selling, and valuation are determined by supply and demand. -Redistribution: Capital goes to a central authority and is redistributed. -Reciprocity: Principle governing exchange among social equals - various continuums (Generalized, Balanced, and Negative) |
| Why is race a social construct and not biological? | DNA shows that there is little genealogical difference among people, means of putting people in categories based on phenotypic (melanin) differences. A social construct b/c what is recognized as race varies among different social groups. Races are not biologically distinct. There is more genetic diversity within races than there are within races. many populations don't fit into any one of the races. color based labels are not accurate. genetic markers do not correlate with phenotype: 94% of all human genes are the same. 6% variation |
| what are some ways that anthropologists can tell when crops became domesticated? How does the phenotype change? | Traits of domesticated plants: increased size, decrease in natural means of seed dispersal, decrease in protective devices, seeds ripen faster, simultaneous ripening of the seed and fruit. Changes in animals: teeth change, select animals that will produce more wool, dogs/wolves-select the friendlier/less aggressive animals, smaller |
| What is a "cabinet of curiosities"? Describe the relationship between these cabinets and early anthropology? | "Cabinets of curiosities" was when well-off anthropologists would travel and bring back knick-knacks from unique cultures around the world. Eventually they developed into first Museums--misleading because they were taken out of their environment so the cultural context was different |
| Explain how twins can have identical genotypes but different phenotypes. | Fraternal twins are formed from two different sets of DNA which causes different phenotypes. Although identical twins have the same genotypes, their phenotypes can differ. This is because their genes are expressed differently, even though they share the same DNA. |
| Explain the difference between punctuated and gradual evolution | punctuated is if an event happens that immediately affects the population. Gradual happens over time |
| What were some of the biological impacts of the earliest farming? | Women could have more children, fertility increased. There is evidence for the deterioration in health and longevity of Neolithic people: deformed upper spine, stronger arms, cavities, shorter. Increased evidence for stress both mentally (droughts cause worry) and physically (much more labor intensive). Changes in diet/poor nutrition, crowding-disease |
| How are multiculturalism and the assimilationist model different? | Multiculturalism is the celebration of cultural diversity in a country. It encourages the practice of ethnic traditions. it is the view of cultural diversity in a country as something good and desirable, a multicultural society socializes individuals not only into the national or dominant culture but also in an ethnic culture. In the assimilationist model, minorities are expected to abandon their cultural traditions and values and be absorbed into the dominant culture |
| What are the modes of production in industrial v. nonindustrial societies? | Modes of production are specific sets of social relations that organize labor. In non-industrial societies economic relations are one component of a continuum of social relations; often kin-based. In industrial societies, workers have impersonal relations with their products, co-workers, and bosses. (industrial alienation: workers have no ownership of the products they make) |
| What was the shift in war monuments that occurred with WWI? | Before WWI monuments were dedicated/honoring to victories and war heroes. After WWI monuments were used to commemorate the dead, memorials change from victory monuments to memorials |
| What is burial analysis and how could you determine an individual's status from this type of research? | the study of human skeletal remains which can tell us age, sex, and health--malnutrition is a good indicator of a lower status. Status can be determined by looking at how the individual was buried, the "grave goods" the person was buried with, but you have to look at both. Monuments are an obvious indicator. Particularly babies it is obvious--example of baby wrapped in gold when buried |
| What are the two major types of dating in archaeology? | relative dating: stratigraphy and seriation. Absolute dating: radiocarbon dating and dendochronology |
| Describe the emphasis at UGA on ecological and environmental anthropology and the relationship between these two terms. | Ecological-the study of cultural adaptations to the environment. Environmental:conservation and sustainability. they both deal with human-environment interaction. Environmental-how people conserve food in the context of global climate change |
| How can you determine bipedalism? | The position of the foramen magnum. It is more forward in the skull of a bipedal individual. Also the angle of the femur. Its knees bend in bipedal animals and are straighter in non bipedal animals. Stable arched foot with no opposable big toe and smaller toes are also characteristics |
| Explain the cultural practice of widowhood in the context of subordinate social status | Women are not allowed to remarry and they must carry the status of a widow for life. She will be looked at as bad luck for a husband. She can be in a public place with men, but has to wear black which represents her widow status; lose sexual identity, asexual. In India they are looked down upon, bad luck, forever alone. Traditionally, widows were supposed to throw themselves onto their husband's funeral pyres and kill themselves. Greece:can't remarry, although men can, but women can now enjoy "manly" things like coffee shops and other things women traditionally could not |
| What is Fredrik Barth's (European social anthropology) feelings on ethnicity? | ethnicity only exists when people claim a certain ethnic identity for themselves and are defined by others as having that identity--on going negotiations of cultural boundaries between groups of people, discrete categories are maintained despite changing participation and membership, and identities don't have to be exclusive (can belong to more than one group) |
| What is the difference between horticulture and agriculture? | Horticulture is characterized by non industrial plant cultivation done by hand without tools, slash and burn to fertilize. Agriculture is generally more productive and uses domesticated animals and tools as well as landscaping and irrigation |
| Why do scientists believe that we developed bipedalism? | Earth underwent a climate change which dried up the dense rainforests in Africa and turned them into savannas and deserts. This shift in climate forced our ancestors into the open and out of the woods which is believed to be the driving forces behind bipedalism |
| Discuss Arthur van Gennep's approach toward deconstructing a rite of passage and provide an example of a rite of passage. | Gennep deconstructed a rite of passage into three phases: 1)Separation-withdrawal from the group. 2)liminality- occupying ambiguous social positions, no longer separated but not accepted into the new status-murky stage 3)incorporation: reincorporation into the community/group with a different status. There are two types of rites of passage: individual rites of passage such as a vision quest, and communal rites of passage such as military training |
| What are the two main theories on the development of behavioral modernity? | 1) "Upper Paleolithic Revolution": sudden dawn of creativity, rewiring of the brain to permit language and complex thought, relatively rapid from mutation. 2)Gradual: accumulation of knowledge, skills, and culture occurring over hundreds of thousands of years. **Current consensus: a gradual process that sped up about 40,000-30,000 YA. Evidence for speed up=cave paintings of upper paleolithic |
| Give an example of when the US prescribed to the assimilationist model to the detriment of an ethnic group | The Dawes Act of 1887 in the US was set up after tribal land was wiped out where Native Americans could receive land if they acted like “white men”. They also attempted to assimilate them through education during this time. Native Americans were sent to White boarding schools to use their language and assimilate into the “American” (White) culture, big reason why a lot of languages are being lost now. |
| Name and describe three methods used in identifying an archaeological site | Presence of artifacts, local knowledge, standing architecture |
| When are Durrington Walls and Stonehenge linked? | River Avon(link between world of living-Durrington Walls, and world of the dead-stonehenge) during the summer and winter solstice |
| Explain and give a historic example of independent innovation. | Independent innovation is the process by which humans innovate, or find creative solutions to problems; when faced with similar problems, people in different parts of the world come up with solutions, often similar. For example, the pyramids: ancient populations wanted to build structures that were really tall, but couldn't figure out how to do it; finally they realized that building a structure with a large base would allow the structure to be taller in height, so many civilizations in various parts of the world began building pyramids. Another example is stone tools |
| What are two historical roots of the modern world system? | Age of Exploration and Trade routes of the old empire (Silk Road) |
| Describe the environment change that occurred in the Upper Paleolithic. What evolved due to this change in climate? | End of upper Paleolithic, start seeing specialized cultures and tool sets due to niche ecosystems. Climate warmed, the glaciers were retreating--opening up more areas for settlement: the glaciers in Europe had been melting, thus, raising the sea level. This led to a more broad, wide range of food which is called the broad spectrum revolution. They started domesticating other animals and crops as well. With plenty of fish with the rise of sea level. People moved out and colonized. During major glacial phases, land bridges formed, aiding human colonization of new areas including Australia and the Americas |
| Why is the context of an artifact at an archaeological site so important to study? | The context of an artifact helps archaeologists better understand the purpose of the object. Without this association between other objects, it becomes more confusing to understand and potentially less important than it should be |
| What biological tendencies do we (as humans) share with other primates? | Opposable thumbs, grasping hands, stereoscopic vision, family groups, mothers have high level of involvement with offspring, long child rearing period |
| What happens when political organizations increase in size? | level of involvement, smaller scale is more egalitarian and everyone has a say, elected leaders in large scale, hierarchies in large scale |
| Why do people from different parts of the world have such different skin color? | 1. melanin: "natural sunscreen". produced by skin cells responsible for pigmentation. By screening out UV radiation from the sun melanin offers protection against sunburn and skin cancer. 2. People lived in different parts of the world where they were exposed to different amount of sun, therefore the melanin, which offers pigmentation, was needed in more amounts in areas where it was hot and sunny and less in areas where it was cold and not as sunny. This led to people in different parts of the world developing different skin colors. |
| What was Robert Hertz' framework for understanding death? | Robert Hertz’s believes that we must understand the journey taken by the body (burial), the soul (spiritual beliefs), and the mourners (family, friends, community). If one understands each of those journeys then one will be able to understand the role of death in any given society. |
| What three things discussed in class did the Industrial Revolution require? What were the socioeconomic effects of the Industrial Revolution? | Industrial Revolution requires: 1. capital investment-derived from transatlantic trade, 2. scientific innovation-machines and the power sources 3.raw materials and cheap labor-made available through colonialism. Socioeconomic effects of the industrial revolution: there was an overall increase in living conditions; however, uneven prosperity |
| What and where did Margaret Mead study? | studied under Boas. studied puberty and biological advancement in Samoan girls and compared it to that of American girls |
| What is a pro and con of using surveys to collect ethnographic information? How can these issues be accounted for? | Surveys allow you to reach a wider range and larger number of people, but they usually have a lower rate of return/response. It is also much more impersonal than face-to-face contact. They can be accounted for by combining them with other research methods, like ethnography. |
| What is the difference between disease and illness as viewed by medical anthropology? | Illnesses are culturally defined, they are conditions felt by an individual. Diseases are scientifically identified threats |
| What are the scales of human society put forward by Elman Service? | 1.Bands:small egalitarian groups of hunter-gatherers, early paleo indians. 2.Senmentary societies: kinship-based groups or segments, usually farming people, no formal political institutions. 3.Chiefdoms: larger stratified populations, class system, political and religious leaders. 4.States: secular leaders, social classes, armies, taxation, laws, expansive economy |
| Name two effects of European contact with the New World | Disease and disruption of powerful empires/traditional political and economic systems |
| In what ways does the study of archaeology differ from the study of art history? | Anthropology is interested in non-aesthetic elements of invention. Art history- This discipline is dedicated to reconstructing the various contexts in which a work of art was produced. (focuses only on art) Archaeology is holistic (looking at items in the light of all cultures and all aspects of culture), while art history is looking at one particular aspect of culture over time. |
| Where were the earliest states in the Old World and the New World? Provide an example for each. | Old World: Fertile Crescent – Babylon, UR (Mesopotamia) New World: Mesoamerica and Mexico Valley – Aztecs, Mayans, Incans ->Copan, El Salvador |
| What are three characteristics of monuments? | Displays leaders power – anchor social structures in the land – allow us to understand the labor of past societies 2.Built to remind and impress. 3.Capable of passing on meanings and messages between generations 4.Mutable and contingent forms: reused and reinterpreted across the passage of generations |
| Although this country is based on the principle of “separation of church and state,” in reality it is not always so clear-cut. Explain how this is so and provide an example of an area where we see the two realms intersect. | Ex. President is sworn in on a bible;;evolution vs. creationism being taught in schools; Healthcare and birth control Religion is fundamentality peoples world view. state does not impose but it can dominate a particular day such as christmas. it is a christian holiday but federal businesses are closed |
| What is the archaeological - or cultural - significance of the early evidence of stone tool use? Also, what are these stone tools called and where were they first found? | The significance of the early evidence of stone tools shows the evidence of forethought and intentionality- which is a change in the culture Stone tools allowed the addition of meat into the diet which helped provide more calories for survival The site where the stones were first found were in the Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania. The tools were called Oldowan Tools. Also thought that Homo habilis was the first to use tools, this discovery found that they were not the first. |
| Why are cultures not disappearing as early anthropologist thought? | Cultures are fluid and evolve and trying to preserve what we think a culture should be is irrelevant, preserving and stagnating a culture not good, ethnocentrism- see own culture as developing and superior, not disappearing but adapting to the new. |
| What insight to Basques and Kurds provide anthropologists into the concept of nationality? | Nationality isn’t necessarily based on the actual nation, but with the area someone associates themselves with. (Basques don’t identify with either country, have own traditions, etc) |
| Who were our first ancestors to radiate out-of-Africa? Describe the characteristics of both of these species. | Homo Erectus: fire, clothing, traveling in groups, hunting Homo Habilis: toolmaker, the handy man |
| What is the difference between sex and gender? Why are both of these ways of defining people problematic? | Sex is defined as biological categories of male or female differentiated by genes, hormones, and reproductive organs and is constant across cultures. The assumption of only 2 categories is problematic. Gender is defined as the social categories differentiated by psychological characteristics and role expectations; These traits vary in different cultural contexts. This is also problematic because expectations of how one should act or look are imposed upon someone just because of gender boundaries. |
| Explain how the three components of Immanuel Wallerstein’s World Systems Theory are related to one another: Core, Periphery, and Semi periphery.... | 1. Core – dominant position in the world system; nations with advanced systems of production (have gone through industrial revolution) 2. Semi-periphery – position in the world system intermediate between the core and periphery (might have advanced industrial means but not so much as core) 3. Periphery – weakest structural and economic position in the world system → Peripheral nations supply cheap labor and raw materials to nations in the core and semi-periphery, who then take that labor and materials through industrial processes transforming them to high profit consumption goods, and then sell them back to peripheral and semiperipheral countries… |
| How do enculturation and acculturation differ? | enculturation is the process by which a person learns his or her culture. Acculturation is the exchange of cultural features through continuous contact over time |
| What are the two main phases of colonialism? | 1. Exploitation colonialism: focuses on access to natural resources for export, fewer colonies involved; trade may be only allowed with the “mother country.” 2. Settler colonialism: involves large-scale immigration, often motivated by religious, political, or economic reasons...land is the key resource |
| Why do states collapse? Please give 4 explanations. | Often times the same cleavage lines that were forged together to form the state were the same things that disintegrate them. Invasion, disease, famine, prolonged drought, warfare -- things that threaten their economies and political institutions. States may collapse when they fail to keep social and economic order or to protect themselves against outsiders. Citizens might degrade the environment usually with economic costs -- such as deforestation which lead to erosion which lead to a decline in the water supply. Overuse of land may deplete the soil of the nutrients needed to grow crops |
| How do some anthropologists believe environmental circumscription led to social stratification in the first state societies? | When the climate started getting variable they were on smaller parts of land, not always near major rivers, so the theory is that as people started farming (increase population/limited land) so people were living in close quarters, when they started running out of food/resources they started going to war with each other...people who lost either: 1. killed 2. left the area/exiled 3. subordinantes (slaves/taxed citizens) So, this is the idea that started hierarchy and inequality |
| What are some benefits of collecting genealogies and life histories? | Genealogical approach is used to understand current social relationships and reconstruct history. Life-histories: can let us know how people perceive, react to, and contribute to changes that affect their lives |
| What is the difference between achieved and ascribed status? | achieved status is a social you have earned throughout your life. Ascribed status is a social status that was inherited |
| What plants and animals were domesticated in East Asia? What plants and animals were domesticated in the New World? | East Asia: Millet, rice, water buffalo, east Asian pig. New World: Maize, potatoes, tomatoes, and guinea pigs, llama, dog, turkey, |
| Describe the Laetoli Footprints found in Tanzania, and their significance for paleoanthropology/archaelogy | first good evidence of bipedalism, and travel in family groups Australopithecines were capable of bipedal locomotion (no dragging marks on ground) There were also different size footprints found belonging to a male, female and a child. This served as a marker. the males of the species were much larger than the females. Suggested that they had family groups. |
| Who is Svante Paabo? What is his profession? What was his contribution to the study of Neanderthals? | identified FOXP2 gene (associated with language) and analyzed human genome and discovered that we share DNA with neanderthals. |
| Explain the difference between ethnicity and race, and how both are considered socially constructed categories | Race, like ethnicity, is a cultural category rather than a biological reality. When an ethnic group is assumed to have a biological basis it is called race. Ethnicity is based on perceived cultural similarities and differences in a society or nation. Ethnicity can also be defined as people sharing a common name, descent, or territory. Both are considered socially constructed because people have to claim a certain ethnicity or race for themselves; they are defined by on-going negotiations of cultural boundaries between groups of people. |
| What is the difference between polytheism and monotheism? | the belief in many gods vs. one god |
| Explain how the 'carving up' of Africa has caused political strife today... | hunting gathering groups who had territories divided, paid no attention to ethnic group and language differences from class/ TA review session: Put borders where there were no borders before and this disturbed trade. Also, put up lines in regard to hunting and gathering |
| What are the major biological and cultural adaptations associated with: Australopithecus afarensis; Australopithecus boisei; Homo habilis Homo Erectus; Homo neanderthalensis; Homo sapiens | Australopithecus afarensis: sexual dimorphism, large molars (ate vegetation), fully erect and bipedal, example of gracile australopithecines Australopithecus boisei: example of robust australopithecines, thick bones, sagittal crest for chewing muscle, strong jaw and large teeth homo habilis: original “handy man” - migrated out of Africa with erectus, used stone tools Homo erectus: moved out of Africa, fire, sapien-like body (bigger brain, smaller jaws), hunters, produced tools, seasonal central places, made clothes Homo neanderthalensis: large noses and prominent brow ridges, larger skull, interbred with homo sapiens at some point, made a glue from birch bark (“first industrial process” Decoding Neanderthals). Homo sapiens: smaller jaws, bigger brains, diminished brow ridge, defined chin |
| What did archaeologists find in holes around Stonehenge and what do these finding reveal about the social hierarchy of the people who lived at the time? | Aubrey Holes: cremation burials discovered here. recently archaeologists: re-dug bones in order to find clues about the people (type of lifestyle). mostly men between ages of 25 and 40--likely means they had higher social status, Stonehenge may have been a burial ground for elite members in society |
| What are the two definitions of Globalization considered by anthropologists? | 1. Globalization as fact: the spread and connectedness of production, distribution, consumption, communication, and technologies across the world → it’s the primary meaning of globalization as used in the social sciences 2. Globalization as contested ideology and policy: efforts by international financial powers to create a global free market for goods and services…the control of globalization by certain org and global forces → a political meaning that has generated considerable opposition |
| Compare and contrast the effects of the Neolithic Revolution and the Industrial Revolution on human societies. In what ways were they similar? In what ways were they different? How do these transformations demonstrate the links between biology and culture? | similarities: innovation, population growth, production, poor living conditions for workers/farmers (disease, sanitation, overcrowding), stratification, child labor differences: IR-middle class, loss of connection with product/boss (industrial alienation), neolithic was more food/tool based (basic needs), IR was more focused on consumer goods/machinery (wants, not needs) Link between biology/culture: culture is always fluid/adapting to new environments → trying to fulfill biological needs in most efficient way (production) → can lead to other innovations Both revolutions marked transitions in the main way (most) people made a living. The neolithic from a hunting based food source to an agrarian based food source and the industrial from an agricultural economy to an industrial economy. they are similar in that they revolutionized how people lived. In the N rev, instead of being in hunting tribes roaming the land, people settled into farms. They specialized to grow more crops and began to trade. They needed common defense against pillagers. They developed new kinds of tools and homes for the new lifestyle. They developed new kinds of travel to get produce to market. In the I rev, people left the farms and swarmed to cities. They developed new kinds of travel to move goods around, etc. Another similarity was that both took more work. Farming (in temperate climates) could be work every day, depending on how much it was supplemented with hunting. They differed in lots of ways- farming was mostly good for people. Sweatshops not so good. Farming spread people out. I rev clustered people together. Farming built up a new trading system, based on barter. Ind rev built up a trading system based on money... |
| Identify the genus and species of the crania represented in this diagram and describe the adaptive strategies (economy and diet) and key technological developments associated with each species | (According to the slides, 1 is chimpanzee, 2 is australopithecine, 3 is Homo erectus, 4 is Neanderthal, and 5 is Homo sapien; which means that they told us wrong in the review session) Just want to make sure everyone notices that and doesn’t get it wrong because the TAs were wrong. 1. chimpanzee: small brain size, brow ridge, no chin, foragers (mostly vegetation, a little meat), similar parenting/social groups, thumbs, stereoscopic vision 2. Australopithecine: smallest hominin brain (in this chart), brow ridge, strong jaw, big teeth, foragers, evidence of early bipedalism (footprints of family), still had some tree adaptations 3. Homo erectus: “rockstar”: fire→ meat, smaller jaws/teeth, bigger brains (still smaller than ours though), hunting/cooking with tools, hunter-gatherers, first to leave Africa (with Habilis) 4. Neanderthal: larger brains than sapien, brow ridge, really strong, hunter-gatherers, bred out with sapiens, left Africa → Europe, same FOXP2 gene for speech, groups 5. Homo sapien: slightly brain, definite chin, no brow ridge, smaller teeth, language, social/hunting groups, food production (Neolithic revolution), advanced tools |
| You are a cultural anthropologist preparing to conduct fieldwork. Pick a field site and define an anthropological question that you are interested in exploring. Describe the methods that you plan to use and why you would choose those methods to answer your question. | ... |
| With reference to theories and concepts discussed in class, explore the ways in which the language that we use to describe the world around us also constructs how we experience that world. Use the U.S. census as an example of how this process might work. | Just taking a shot at this...I think this would be with race and ethnicity. We use specific labels when it comes to race and ethnicity in our language and it’s reinforced with the U.S. census by it asking us to pick a specific race or ethnicity. I also remember her mentioning how different cultures haraive different words for the same thing. she mentioned how a tribe in the amazon described the color of the sky as being green just like the canopy of the trees because thats how they visualize the world around them. |
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