Terms and Concepts Anthropology

zeitgeist

zeitgeist

the defining spirit or mood of a particular period of history as shown by the ideas and beliefs of the time.

relative dating

Relative dating is the science of determining the relative order of past events, without necessarily determining their absolute age

Uniformitarianism

the theory that changes in the earth's crust during geological history have resulted from the action of continuous and uniform processes.

biological anthropology

deals with the evolution of humans, their variability, and adaptations to environmental stresses

cultural anthropology

the branch of anthropology concerned with the study of human societies and cultures and their development.

scientific method

a method of procedure that has characterized natural science since the 17th century, consisting in systematic observation, measurement, and experiment, and the formulation, testing, and modification of hypotheses.

etic

Outsiders view on a given culture

strata

a layer or a series of layers of rock in the ground.

homozygous

having two identical alleles of a particular gene or genes.

gradualism

the hypothesis that evolution proceeds chiefly by the accumulation of gradual changes

archaeology

the study of human history and prehistory through the excavation of sites and the analysis of artifacts and other physical remains.

Mendelian trait

those traits which follow Mendel's rules of only 2 possible versions of a gene (1 dominant, 1 recessive)

fitness

the ability to survive to reproductive age, find a mate, and produce offspring

ethnocentrism/ethnocentric

evaluation of other cultures according to preconceptions originating in the standards and customs of one's own culture.

absolute dating

measure the physical properties of an object itself and use these measurements to calculate its age.

heterozygous

having two different alleles of a particular gene or genes.

aspects of anthropology

Holistic
Comparative
Humanistic
Scientific

linguistics

the scientific study of language and its structure, including the study of morphology, syntax, phonetics, and semantics

Mendel’s Laws of Inheritance

1. That there were 2 units of inheritance per male and female.
2. That there were dominant and recessive traits with the dominant one always showing when present.

emic

relating to or denoting an approach to the study or description of a particular language or culture in terms of its internal elements and their functioning rather than in terms of any existing external framework.

Holistic

looking at something as a whole

Comparative

The observation of specific social or cultural aspects of humans in order to test hypothesis

Humanistic

involves the recognition that professional inquiry takes place in a context of human value.

Scientific

the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics