Unit 3: Cultural Patterns and Processes

Adobe homes

Use the local clay and vegetation as the building materials for the thick-walled, well-insulated homes that allow people to stay cool in the summer and warm in the winter. Streets, homes, building materials, and architectural styles are culturally influenced.

What are land-use patterns shaped by?

Cultural patterns and practices.

long-lot-settlement pattern

A linear settlement pattern in which each farmstead is situated at one end of a long, narrow, rectangular lot. (Each plot of land has access to a major linear resource, usually a river or major road.

Food motifications

Immigration, intermarriage, technological innovation, and the availability of ingredients and simplifications of traditional foods are inevitable over time.

Material culture

The physical, visible objects made and used by members of a cultural group; includes buildings, furniture, clothing, food, artwork, and musical instruments.

Non-material culture

Intangible elements of culture including a wide range of beliefs, values, myths, and symbolic meanings passed down from generation to generation within a given society. 

Cultural trait

A single aspect of a given culture or society.

Local cultures

Rural, ethnically homogeneous culture that is deeply connected to the local land; the opposite of a popular culture.

Indigenous cultures

A local culture that is no longer the dominant ethnic group within its traditional homeland because of migration, colonization, or political marginalization.

Popular culture

Heterogeneous culture that is more influenced by key urban areas and quick to adopt new technologies; the opposite of a local culture. 

Cultural attitudes

Concepts and ideas in a society that are shaped by cultural opinions, beliefs, and perspectives.

Language

A mutually agreed upon system of symbolic communication.

Polyglots

A person who is fluent in more than two languages.

Religion

A set of structure