Ch 1- Anthropology, Latin America and the Caribbean

relativistic fallacy

the idea that no moral judgement can be made about other’s behaviors or beliefs, that none can be condemned regardless of how repulsive they may seem

critical cultural relativism

which poses questions about cultural practices, and ideas about who accepts them and why and who they may be harming or helping

Latinos

are the fastest growing ethnic category in the US and they are also quite diverse

North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)

was a trade pact signed by the Uniteed States, Canada, and Mexico. It took effect on January 1, 1994, to remove tariffs and trade barriers across North America.

ethnoscape

the landscape of persons who constitute the shifting world in which we live; tourists, immigrants, refugees, exiles, guest workers and other moving groups and persons who constitute an essential feature of the contemporary world and appear to affect the politics of and between nations to a hitherto unprecedented degree

physical/biological anthropology

concerns itself with the evolution of the human speceis and the relationship between biology and cultural behavior

archaeology

focuses on social or cultural evolution, that is, the apperance, spread, and the disapperance of social groups over time, and the causes and consequences of the transition from small-scale and egalitarian to large, stratified societies

linguisitic anthropology

concerned with learning about the social and cultural life from the vantage point of language

cultural anthropology

studies culture, history, and social relationships of contemporary societies

culture

stands for the symbolic and material repertoire with which people in specific contexts make sense of the world around them

intracultural variability

the idea that most societies rearely have a homogenous culture

cultural relativism

means that other people’s beliefs, behaviors, and practices should not be judged from the standards of one’s own culture or prejudices

ethnocentrism

the act of judging other cultures using the standards and values of your own culture

critical cultural relativism

• which poses questions about cultural practices, and ideas who accepts them and why, and who might be harming or helping

• avoids the trap of adopting a homogenized view of complexity. it recognizes internal cultural differences and winners/losers, oppressors/victims

paradigms

a shared worldwide or basic framework that guides how researchers study human societies, culture, and evolution

political economy

studies how power, politics, and economic systems shape people’s daily lives and cultures

which countries colonized Latin America and Caribbean in the sixteenth and seventeenth centries and what language was it in ___ language

• Spaniards

• Portuguese

• French

• ROMANCE

endangered languages

spoken by only small clusters of people and they will soon disappear

cultural ecology

studies how human groups adapt to, use, and change their natural and social surrounding

ecological anthropology

this line of work stresses how habitats present opportunities as well as constraints for social and cultural development

landscape

a useful concept for appreciating the diverse environments that for millennia provided a lived habitat for LAC peoples

physiographic regions

define the enviornment stage where human cultures, subsistence, and settlement patterns evolve. anthropologists understand how physical landscapes shape human adaptation, trade routes and resource availability

Andes (Andean Cordillera)

they tower 5,000 mile long mountain chains straddling western South America from southern Chile

Atacama Desert

one of the driest coastlines in the world, dotted by valleys carbed by rivers flowing westwrd from the Andes

altitudinal life zones

refer to vertical ecological tiers in mountainous ranges such as the Andes or Himalayas, that human adapt to culturally and biologically

Altiplano

explores how human societies adapt, survive, and build complex cultures in the high-altitude, extreme environment

Llanos

are sparsely populated, gently sloping grasslands and savannas reaching 700 feet asl and marked by distinct dry and rainy seasons

Guiana Highlands

explores the rich indigenous cultures, historical ecologies, and social networks of the Guiana Shield region in northeastern South America

Brazilian Highlands

complex pre-Columbian societies, specifically ancestral groups who built deep pit-house villages, monumental earthen mounds, and managed distinct Araucaria forest and highland ecosystems from 1000 CE onward

Sertao

the semi-arid hinterlands of northeastern Brazil and they focuses on how local people survive droughts, shape their landscapes, and build rich traditions despite systemic poverty

Great Escarpment

• a massive, horseshoe shaped cliff and mountain system separating the high interior plateau from the coastal lowlands.

• a dramatic topography is critical for understanding indigenous San hunter-gatherer mobility, rock art distribution, and seasonal transhumanance patterns between the lowlands and alpine plateaus

Amazon Basin

studies the rich connections between native societies and their tropical forest environments

terra firme

refers to the non-flooded, upland tropical forests that make up the vast majority (about 95% to 98%) of the Amazon basin

what is the Amazonia two distinct regions

• terra firme

• varzea

varzea

refers to the seasonally flooded, nutrient rich floodplain forests white-water riers in the Amazon Basin

Pampas

are almost treeless plains and grasslands with moderate, Mediterranean-type climate and rich soils

Patagonia

explore how diverse societies successfully settled and survived in one of the world’s wind-swept, isolated, and extreme environments over more than 10000 years

Central Plateau (Mexican Plateau)

mostly commonly refers either to the Native American Plateau region of the Pacific Northwest (the Columbia-Fraser Plateau) or the Central Plateau (Altiplano) of Mexico

Mesa del Norte

the vast, arid northern plateau of Mexico which focus on the northern frontier of Mesoamerica, hunter-gatherer transitions, and interaction spheres linking central Mexico with American Southwest

Southern Highlands

are a string of high-altitude volanic ranges, intermontane basins, and forested valleys with rich soils extending south from the southeastern edge of Mexico’s Mesa Central through central Guatemala and southwest Honduras and El Salvador

Gulf Coastal Plains

they are streches of tropical forest terrain and low-lying coastal plains facing the Gulf of Mexico

Yucatan Peninsula

focuses on how ancient and modern Maya groups adapted to a flat, dry landscapes marked by seasonal rains, thin soils and underground sinkholes

cenotes

natural sinkholes expsoing underground water systems in the Yucatan Peninsula