Cultural Anthropology Exam 2

Adaptation:

The process by which a culture or society adjusts to environmental, social, or technological changes to survive and thrive. Adaptation can be biological, cultural, or behavioral.

Affine:

A relative by marriage rather than by blood, such as a spouse, in-laws, or other relatives gained through marriage.

Agriculture:

The practice of cultivating plants and domesticating animals for food, which allows for larger, more settled populations and the development of complex societies.

Authority:

The socially recognized and legitimate power that individuals or institutions have to make decisions, enforce rules, and influence others within a society.

Balanced Reciprocity:

A form of exchange in which goods or services are given with the expectation of a return of equal value within a specified time frame, often seen in close social relationships.

Band:

A small, kin-based group of foragers, typically consisting of fewer than 100 people, with an egalitarian social structure and informal leadership.

Berdache:

A term historically used by European anthropologists to describe Indigenous North American individuals who took on gender roles different from those assigned at birth; now more commonly referred to as Two-Spirit people.

Bilateral Descent:

A system of kinship in which an individual traces ancestry and inheritance through both the mother's and father's lineage, rather than favoring one side.

Bride Service:

A form of marriage exchange in which the groom works for the bride’s family for a designated period as compensation for marrying their daughter.

Bridewealth:

A customary practice in which the groom or his family provides goods, money, or other valuables to the bride’s family as part of the marriage arrangement.

Caste:

A rigid system of social stratification in which people are born into a fixed social group with limited or no mobility, often determined by occupation, religion, or heritage.

Chiefdom:

A form of sociopolitical organization in which a central leader (chief) holds authority over multiple communities, with a hierarchical structure and often hereditary leadership.

Clan:

A kinship group that claims descent from a common ancestor, often without being able to trace genealogical links, and serves as a social and political unit.

Class:

A system of social stratification based on economic status, occupation, and wealth, with the potential for mobility between classes.

Consanguine:

A relative by blood rather than by marriage, often used in discussions of kinship and inheritance.

Cross Cousins:

The children of a person's parent's opposite-sex sibling (e.g., father's sister's children or mother's brother's children). In many cultures, cross-cousin marriage is preferred or encouraged.

Cultural Construct:

An idea, concept, or perception created and maintained by a particular society, rather than being a universal or biologically determined truth (e.g., race, gender roles, or marriage customs).

Division of Labor:

The allocation of different tasks to different members of a society based on factors such as gender, age, or social status, often influencing economic and social organization.

Domestication:

The process by which humans selectively breed plants and animals for traits that benefit human use, leading to long-term genetic and behavioral changes in those species.

Dowry:

The transfer of wealth, property, or goods from the bride’s family to the groom or the couple upon marriage, commonly practiced in some societies as a way to secure the marriage arrangement.

Economic/Exchange Systems:

The methods by which societies produce, distribute, and consume goods and services, including systems like reciprocity, redistribution, and market exchange.

Egalitarian:

A social system in which individuals have relatively equal status, with minimal hierarchy and differences in wealth, power, or prestige, often seen in small-scale foraging societies.

Endogamy:

The cultural rule or practice of marrying within a specific social, cultural, religious, or kinship group, reinforcing group identity and social cohesion.

Exogamy:

The cultural practice of marrying outside one’s social, kinship, or cultural group, often to establish alliances and prevent inbreeding.

Extended Family:

A family structure that includes multiple generations and relatives beyond the nuclear family, such as grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, often living together or maintaining close ties.

Fictive Kin:

Social relationships that are treated as kinship ties despite not being based on blood or marriage, such as godparents, adoptive relatives, or close family friends.

Fraternal Polyandry:

A form of marriage in which multiple brothers share a single wife, often practiced to preserve family wealth and prevent land division in certain cultures.

Gender:

The cultural and social meanings assigned to differences between male and female bodies, encompassing identities, behaviors, and roles that vary across societies.

Gender Roles:

The socially constructed expectations and norms regarding behaviors, responsibilities, and activities deemed appropriate for individuals based on their gender.

Generalized Reciprocity:

A form of exchange in which goods or services are given without an immediate expectation of return, often seen in close relationships where trust and social bonds are emphasized.

Group Marriage:

A rare form of marriage in which multiple men and multiple women share a marital relationship, often involving communal child-rearing and shared responsibilities.

Horticulture:

A subsistence farming method that involves small-scale, low-intensity cultivation of crops using hand tools, often practiced by societies that rely on shifting cultivation or slash-and-burn techniques.

Hunter-Gatherer:

A subsistence strategy based on hunting wild animals, fishing, and gathering naturally occurring plants, typically associated with small, mobile, and egalitarian societies.

Incest Taboos:

Cultural prohibitions against sexual relations or marriage between close relatives, which vary by society but are nearly universal to some degree, often to prevent genetic issues and social conflicts.

Influence:

The ability to persuade or shape the behavior and decisions of others without relying on formal authority or coercion, often based on charisma, knowledge, or social relationships.

Kinship:

The system of social relationships that define family connections, descent, and inheritance, which can be based on blood (consanguineal), marriage (affinal), or social bonds (fictive kin).

Levirate:

A cultural practice in which a widow is expected or encouraged to marry her deceased husband’s brother, maintaining family alliances and economic stability.

Lineage:

A kinship group in which descent is traced from a common ancestor through a known genealogical line, often forming an important social and political unit.

Market Economy:

An economic system in which goods and services are exchanged through buying and selling, with prices determined by supply and demand rather than centralized distribution.

Marriage:

A socially and culturally recognized union between individuals that establishes rights and obligations related to reproduction, inheritance, and family alliances.

Marriage Exchange:

The transfer of wealth, goods, or labor between families as part of a marriage arrangement, which can take the form of dowry, bridewealth, or bride service.

Matrilineal:

A system of descent and inheritance in which lineage, property, and identity are traced through the mother’s line rather than the father’s.

Matrilocal Residence:

A post-marital residence pattern in which a married couple lives with or near the wife’s family, reinforcing matrilineal kinship ties.

Medium of Exchange:

An item or system used to facilitate trade, such as money, shells, or other culturally recognized forms of currency that hold value within an economic system.

Moiety:

A kinship division within a society that splits the population into two complementary social groups, often used to regulate marriage, alliances, and ceremonial roles.

Monogamy:

A marriage system in which an individual has only one spouse at a time, which is the most common form of marriage in many societies.

Mother’s Brother:

A significant kinship figure in matrilineal societies, where a maternal uncle often plays an important role in a child's upbringing, inheritance, and social responsibilities.

Negative Reciprocity:

A form of exchange in which one party seeks to gain more than they give, often through bargaining, deception, or theft, and is most common in relationships between strangers or enemies.

Neolocal Residence:

A postmarital residence pattern in which a newly married couple establishes their own household independent of both the husband’s and wife’s families.

Nomadism:

A way of life in which people move frequently to exploit seasonal resources, commonly practiced by hunter-gatherers and pastoralists.

Nuclear Family:

A family unit consisting of two parents and their children, often considered the basic social unit in many societies.

Parallel Cousins:

The children of a person’s parent’s same-sex sibling (e.g., father’s brother’s children or mother’s sister’s children), often treated differently from cross-cousins in terms of marriage rules and kinship roles.

Pastoralists:

Societies that rely on the domestication and herding of animals for subsistence, often practicing nomadic or semi-nomadic lifestyles to find grazing land.

Patrilineal:

A system of descent and inheritance in which lineage, property, and identity are traced through the father’s line.

Patrilocal Residence:

A postmarital residence pattern in which a married couple lives with or near the husband’s family, reinforcing patrilineal kinship ties.

Phratry:

A kinship group composed of multiple clans that claim a common ancestor but may not be able to trace direct genealogical ties.

Polyandry:

A form of marriage in which a woman has multiple husbands, often practiced to limit population growth and maintain family land in certain cultures.

Polygamy:

A broad term for marriage systems that involve multiple spouses, including both polygyny (one man with multiple wives) and polyandry (one woman with multiple husbands).

Polygyny:

A form of marriage in which a man has multiple wives, often practiced in societies where large families are economically advantageous.

Postmarital Residence Patterns:

The various ways in which newly married couples establish their living arrangements, including patrilocal, matrilocal, neolocal, and avunculocal residence patterns.

Reciprocity:

A system of exchange in which goods and services are traded between individuals or groups, often categorized as generalized (without immediate expectation of return), balanced (equal exchange over time), or negative (attempt to gain more than given).

Redistribution:

An economic system in which goods or wealth are collected from members of a society and then distributed by a central authority, often seen in chiefdoms or state societies.

Sanctions:

Social mechanisms, either formal (laws, fines) or informal (shaming, ostracism), that enforce norms and regulate behavior within a society.

Serial Monogamy:

A marriage pattern in which a person has multiple spouses over their lifetime, but only one at a time, commonly practiced in societies with high divorce and remarriage rates.

Slash and Burn (Shifting) Cultivation:

A horticultural practice in which land is cleared by cutting and burning vegetation, then cultivated for a few years before being left fallow to regenerate, common in tropical regions.

Social Control:

The ways in which societies regulate behavior and maintain order, using norms, laws, sanctions, and informal pressures such as gossip or moral codes.

Social Distance:

The degree of closeness or separation between individuals or groups based on factors such as kinship, economic status, ethnicity, or cultural differences.

Sororal Polygyny:

A form of polygynous marriage in which a man marries multiple sisters, often believed to reduce household conflict due to the preexisting familial bond.

Sororate:

A marriage custom in which a widower marries his deceased wife’s sister, ensuring the continuation of social and economic ties between families.

Subsistence:

The means by which a society obtains food and other necessities for survival, including foraging, horticulture, pastoralism, and agriculture.

Totem:

A symbol, often an animal or natural feature, that represents a clan, lineage, or social group, believed to hold spiritual significance and often associated with ancestry.

Tribe:

A sociopolitical organization consisting of multiple kin-based groups with a shared cultural identity, often led by informal leaders and relying on subsistence economies.

Unilineal Descent:

A kinship system in which descent is traced exclusively through either the mother’s (matrilineal) or father’s (patrilineal) lineage, rather than both.