Anthropology Final

Stone tools, shells, and animal bones

What was buried c the dead 50,000 years ago that suggested our ancestors were preparing for an afterlife

Venus figurines

Small clay sculptures that began appearing across Eurasia and seem to express ideas about fertility or motherhood and may have been viewed as magical

Sir James Frazer

Attempted to compose the 1st comprehensive study of the world’s major magical and religious belief systems and was dismissive of these spiritual beliefs

Sir E.B. Tylor

Sir James Frazer’s contemporary was less dismissive of unfamiliar belief systems, but defined religion narrowly as “the belief in supernatural beings”

Emile Durkheim

Sociologist that recognized that religion wasn’t a belief in “supernatural beings,” but a set of practices and social institutions that brought members of a community together

Marcel Mauss

Suggested that religion and magic were 2 opposite poles on a spectrum of spiritual beliefs

Clairvius Narcisse

Died 18 years earlier, but came back to life because of a priest that gave him a “potion” and was forced to work and several other zombies were found the same year

Bronislaw Malinowski

Conducted research in the Trobriand Islands and believed that religious beliefs met psychological needs

Kula ring

A tradition in the Trobriand Islands where men build canoes and sail on long and dangerous journeys between neighboring islands to exchange ritual items

George Gmelch

Documented forms of baseball magic among professional athletes

Dame Mary Douglas

Find it useful to explore the ways in which definitions of sacred and profane structure religious beliefs

Karl Marx

Philosopher and historian viewed religion as an ideology, a way of thinking that attempts to justify inequalities in power and status

Divine rulers

Were believed to be empowered by the gods themselves, in ancient egyptian and I can societies

Clifford Geertz

1 of the anthropologists responsible for creating the symbolic approach and defined religion as a system of symbols which acts to est powerful, persuasive, and long lasting moods and motivations

Erebus

Greek deity representing darkness

Nyx

Greek deity representing night and gave birth to Aether and Hemera

Navajo

This culture organized the universe in a set of 14 plates stacked where creation began at the lowest lvls and spread to the top

Aram Oroi

A pastor from the Solomon Islands that compares mana to turning on a flashlight

Sir Edward Burnett Tylor

Created the 1st anthropological description of animism and believed it was the earliest type of religious practice to develop in human societies

Nirvana

Practice in Buddhism which means release from suffering

Victor Turner

1972 defined ritual

Arnold Van Gennep

1909 Described rites of passage as being carried out in 3 stages

Separation, liminality, and incorporation

What are the 3 stages of a rite of passage as described by Arnold Van Gennep

Scott Hutson

2000 Anthropologist who has described similarities between the altered state of consciousness achieved by Shamans and the mental states induced during a rave

Muhammad

Prophet of Islam

Moses

Prophet of christianity and Judiasm

Joseph Smith

Prophet who founded the church of latter day saints

David Koresh

Prophet and leader of the branch davidians

Animatism

A religious system organized around a belief in an impersonal supernatural force

Animism

A religious system organized around a belief that plants, animals, inanimate objects, or natural phenomena have a spiritual or supernatural element

Anthropomorphic

An object or being that has human characteristics

Cargo cult

A term sometimes used to describe rituals that seek to attract material prosperity. The term is generally not preferred by anthropologists

Collective effervescence

The passion or energy that arises when groups of people share the same thoughts and emotions

Cosmology

An explanation for the origin or hx of the world

Cultural appropriation

The act of copying an idea from another culture and in the process distorting its meaning

Filial piety

A tradition requiring that the young provide care for the elderly and in some cases ancestral spirits

Magic

Practices intended to bring supernatural forces under one’s personal control

Millenarians

People who believe that major transformations of the world are imminent

Monotheistic

Religious systems that recognize a single supreme god

Polytheistic

Religious systems that recognize several gods

Priests

Full-time religious practitioners

Profane

Objects or ideas are ordinary and can be tx c disregard or contempt

Prophet

A person who claims to have direct communication c the supernatural realm and who can communicate divine messages to others

Reincarnation

The idea that a living being can begin another life in a new body p death

Religion

The extension of human society and culture to include the supernatural

Revitalization rituals

Attempts to resolve serious problems, such as war, famine or poverty thru a spiritual or supernatural intervention

Rite of Intensification

Actions designed to bring a community together, often following a period of crisis

Rite of passage

A ceremony designed to transition individuals between life stages

Sacred

Objects or ideas are set apart from the ordinary and tx c great respect or care

Shaman

A part time religious practitioner who carries out religious rituals when needed, but also participates in the normal work of the community

Sorcerer

An individual who seeks to use magic for his or her own purposes

Supernatural

Describes entities or forces not governed by natural laws

Zoomorphic

An object or being that has animal characteristics

Cultural performance

A performance

Status

Position in society

Status set

All of the statuses we holdW

Ascribed status

Status that can’t be changed

Achieved status

Status that is earned, accomplished or obtained

Roles

Sets of behaviors, obligations and privileges that c the status

Hegemony

Power so pervasive that is rarely acknowledged or recognized, yet informs everyday actions

Agency

An individual’s ability to make independent choices and act up on their will

Wearing clothes

What is the example of hegemony used in class

Front space

Carefully constructed arenas designed to control the audience’s perception of the actors

Back space

Private zones wherein actors can do away c pretense

Communities of practice

A group of people who engaged in a shared activity or vocation, such as dance or medicine

Biosociacial communities

A group of people who form a community based on a dx or condition

Visual anthropology

The anthropological studies of all visual representations such as dance and other performances

Milton Singer

1950’s introduced the idea of cult performances

Richard Schechner

A performance studies scholar provided a distinction between the words cultural performance and performing culture

Erving Goffman

Sociologist who coined the term presentation of self

Sincere performers

Believe in the part they are playing

Social comparison theory

Psychologists use this to explain the ways in which we compare ourselves to those within our social spheres in order to evaluate our own accomplishments and standing