Anthropology Test Review for HSP3U

Jane Goodall

Discovered that chimpanzees are omnivores, capable of making and using tools, and showed close similarities between human and primates.

Charles Darwin

Came up with the theory of evolution by natural selection.

terms: heritability, variation, survival of the fittest

Heritability

Organisms inherit characteristics from their parents.

Variation

There is a lot of variation within species.

Survival of the Fittest

Traits aiding survival are passed to offspring.

Lucy

She was one of the oldest and most complete hominid fossils found (3.2 million years ago) and provided evidence of bipedalism in early human ancestors.

Ardi

Oldest and most complete hominid skeleton discovered (4.4 million years old).

Franz Boas

Found out that differences in human behaviour are determined through cultural differences obtained from social learning.

Margaret Mead

Studied the iKung tribe in Samoa and found that children had no social rank and gender differences were ignored until age 15.

Charles Van Gennep

First anthropologist who researched Rites of Passage (ROP) around the world, noting that most cultures have a ROP that follows a similar 2 stage process (segregation, transition, incorporation & reintegration).

Edward Sapir

Linguistic anthropologist who studied Indigenous Languages and helped revive them by recording the last speaker.

Primatologist

Physical anthropologist who studies primates, both living and extinct, to understand human evolution and nature.

Paleoanthropologist

Physical anthropologist who studies bones and stone remains of ancient ancestors.

Archaeologist

Physical anthropologist who studies the origins and development of people and their societies.

Ethnologist

Studies and compares cultures, focusing on social structures, customs, and behaviours of different societies.

Forensic Anthropologist

Gathers and interprets evidence to assist in the identification of human remains.

Linguistic Anthropologist

Studies human languages and how they affect and express culture as it has evolved over millions of years.

Cultural Relativism

Not judging a culture but trying to understand it on its own terms.

Functional Theory

The idea that every belief, action, or relationship in a culture functions to meet the needs of individuals.

Cultural Materialism

How materials and conditions influence how the culture develops.

Feminist Anthropology

Analyzes how female voices were included and how many cultures were dominated by men vs women vs egalitarian.

Postmodernism

The theory that states it is impossible to have any true knowledge about the world, suggesting that what we know is our own construct created by society.

Ethical Guidelines in Anthropology

Researchers must reveal to subjects that they are doing research; subjects must give their informed consent; there must be no secret research; there must be a clear purpose to the research.

Rites of Passage - Stage 1

Segregation - Stage where the individual is detached from their previous identity or status.

Rites of Passage - Stage 2

Liminal Phase - Individuals are in between their old and new identities, which could take hours, days, weeks, or even months.

Rites of Passage - Stage 3

The phase where the individual reenters society with their new identity/status, marked with scars, tattoos, symbols, body paint, or new clothing.

Rite of Passage

A ceremony or event marking an important stage in someone's life.

Aqiqah

A rite of passage involving sacrificing animals for the birth of a child.

Arranged marriages

Marriages set up by someone other than the two people getting married.

The Maori walkabout

A rite of passage where boys are isolated from their society and go out in the wilderness alone for six months.

Linguistic Anthropology

The study of how language influences social life.

Historical linguistics

The study of how languages are related and how people migrated in the past.

Structural linguistics

The study of how sounds are put together to make meaning.

Sociolinguistics

The study of how people use language in their culture to express status and context.

Hominids

Members of the biological family Hominindae, including humans, chimpanzees, gibbons, and gorillas.

First Hominid

Australopithecus.

Current Hominid

Homo sapiens.

Hominid before us

Neanderthals'

Natural Selection

The process through which populations of living organisms change and adapt over time.

Bipedalism

The adaptation to habitually walk upright on two legs.

Race

The concept that all humans originate from Africa and that there are more genetic differences within different races than between them.

Body Farms

Places where bodies are donated for forensic scientists to learn about human decomposition.

Stratigraphy

The arrangement of materials in layers.

Habitation site

A place where people have lived, marked by potholes, cooking pits, trash pits, or artifacts.

Culture

The shared standards, customs, symbols, and language that define a group.

Participant Observation

When a researcher lives among the culture being studied and participates in the group.

Field Notes

The anthropologist's written observations and reflections on places, practices, events, and interviews.

Reflexivity

thinking carefully about how we as researchers might influence the research we’re doing. It’s about being aware of our own role and any effects we might have on the outcomes.

Ethnocentric

Evaluating other people's cultures based on one's own cultural standards or beliefs.

Culturally Constructed

Created or shaped by a culture.

Ethnography

studying and describing how different people and cultures live and what their customs are.

Informant

reliable and knowledgeable person in a community or culture that provides the researcher with specific information about their culture and way of life.

Kinship

The relationship between members of the same family.

Matrilineal

A society where ancestry is traced only through the mother's line.

Patrilineal

A society where only the father's ancestors are recognized as family.

Bilineal

A system of ancestry tracing that recognizes relationships through both maternal and paternal lines.

Polygamy

A form of marriage involving multiple partners.

Monogamy

A form of marriage involving one partner.

Polyandry

A form of marriage involving one woman and multiple husbands.

Polygyny

A form of marriage involving one husband and multiple wives.

Body Language

Early communication focused on non-verbal cues such as grunts, facial expressions, and body language.

Arranged marriage

Marriages set up by someone other than the two people getting married

- financial stability, kinship functions, and child rearing are valued more than a couple's personal desires

Semi-Structured Interview

when a researcher is only staying in a community for a short amounf of time

advantage: Have some questions ahead of time allowing them to add on or make up the rest of them

Disadvantage: Easy to stray from topic

Unstructured Interview

involves asking probing questions to find out what the applicant is like

advantage: allows to test out initial ideas

disadvantage: questions are not prepared

Structured Interview

The researcher is very clear with the topic and has a set list of question

Advantage: organization, all questions are prepared

Disadvantage: Does not build a sense of trust or relationship as the questions are fixed and do not change regardless of the community or circumstances

What are the 4 things that forensic anthropologists can determine?

Age, gender (sex), Ancestry, cause of death

What is the difference between all primates and humans only?

Have social hierarchies

Long infant dependency on parents

Groom one another

Communicate with facial expressions & body language

Have grasping hands and feet and forward facing eyes

Humans only

Live predominantly in pairs

Have a speech centre in the brain

Which primate do we share most of our DNA with?

Bonobos and chimpanzees

share 98.5%-98.7% of their DNA with humans

What can chimps can and can't do?

Can:

Can create and use tools

Can learn basic gestures to communicate

Can solve simple puzzles

Can’t

Cannot speak or understand complex language