ANTH 2N Exam All Units

Southern Dispersal

large migration that brought modern humans to Asia and Australia

Sundaland

combined landmasses of Vietnam, Malaysia, Philippines, and parts of Indonesia

Sahulland

combined landmasses of Australia, Tasmania, and New Guinea

Wallacea

the separation of two major landmasses (Sundaland and Sahulland) via deep straits and islands

Reason megafauna went extinct in AUSTRALIA

not due to over hunting, likely due to human reconfiguration of native ecology, change in fire regime led to destruction of habitat of megafauna

Ethnographic analogy

encompasses both archaeological materials and contemporary people, compares current cultures to cultures only known via archaeological evidence

Characteristics of band-level societies

small groups (2-50 people), highly mobile with large range and low pop. density, hunter-gatherer economies with no economic specialization, economically self-sufficient, egalitarian

Beringia

first foothold in America, land bridge linkign Siberia and Alaska

Clovis culture

first major Paleoindian toolkit, highly mobile huntersassociated with big-game hunting, created distinctive stone tools such as fluted points

Reason megafauna went extinct in NORTH AMERICA

environmental changes, climate change, and hunting by Clovis people

Niche Construction

alteration of landscape to fit human needs

Multilinear Cultural Evolution

evolution does not follow one path, many possible routes

Technological requirements for social and cultural complexity

do not exist, different suites of technology used and different adaptions in different parts of world (i.e., some cultures never developed metallurgy)

Dynamics of Austronesia Migrations

large scale maritime expansion, oceans gradually explored and colonized, use of canoes, knowledge of ocean currents and stellar navigation

Origins of Domestication

humans selectively bred for traits that suited needs best

Origins of Agriculture

rooted in domestication, intentional farming of domesticated crops and animals

Agriculture impacts on human diet

less diversity in species consumed, greater diversity in recipes, increased malnourishment

Primary centers of agriculture (7)

Eastern North America, Mesoamerica, South America, Sub-Saharan Africa, Near East, East Asia, New Guinea

Requirments of Agriculture

propagation, cultivation/husbandry, harvesting, storage

Propagation

selection and sowing of seeds or breeding of animals

Cultivation/husbandry

tending of plants or animals during growth period

Harvesting

collection of plants when ripe or slaughter of animals at appropriate times

Storage

keeping seeds and maintenance of animals during non-reproductive periods to ensure annual reproduction

Early Agriculture Societies vs. Hunter-Gatherers

agricultural societies had higher infection rates, unhealthy (anemic, malnourished), less leisure time, but great efficiency of land use

Neolithic Revolution

initial adoption of sedentary agriculture and cultural changes it brought

Secondary Products

later use of renewable agricultural animal products beyond slaughtering for meat (wool, labor, milk and cheese)

Importance of landscape modifications

enabled use of land for agriculture (i.e., terracing for soil conservation and water retention)

Catalhoyuk

example of dense, large site, rich environment enabled population agglomeration

Gobekli Tepe and Lepenski could be built because…

situated in highly productive local environment, hunter-gatherers could collect surplus food and then expend labor on construction (localized phenomenon)

Traits of complex hunter-gatherers

development of complex (seasonal) sites and settlement patterns under right conditions, art and structures, efficient landscape use to make time for other projects

Sedentism

people remaining in once place throughout much or all of the year

Maize domesticated because

highly productive wild form, used and then selectively bred by humans over long period, eventually cultivated in areas beyond natural habitat

Origins of Eastern Agricultural Complex (3)

Mississippi, Ohio River valley, Ozark Mountains

Eastern Agricultural Complex composed of…

plants with edible seeds, plants that grew rapidly in areas of disturbance (pioneer species)

Poverty Point Culture

largest site of broad archaeological culture along Mississippi River, unusual early example of mound center enabled by highly productive local environment, possible site for feasts, rituals, and meetings

Later Stone Age

Africa’s Upper Paleolithic

Pastoral Neolithic

beginning of livestock domestication, mobile societies based on animal herding

Ceramic Paleolithic

North African developmental of “wavy line pottery”

Tribal societies function by…

headmen with charism and are well-respected (no great power or wealth but hold prestige), no centralized political structures, politics based on kinship, oaths and ordeals with headmen to mediate conflicts instead of assign guilt or innocence

Pastoralists

mobile, reliant on herds of domesticated animals, low pop. density, range animals over broad territory

Agriculturalists

highly sedentary, reliant on cultivation of plants, high pop. density, intensive labor investment in land

African biogeography during holocene

more hospitable, “green” Sahara and African Humid Period, playas (semi-permanent seasonal lakes)

East African Pillar Sites

Lake Turkana, mounds containing burials, circles of basalt pillars, cemetery and feasting sites used by early pastoralists

What happens during El Nino?

increased rainfall leading to flooding and mudslides, caused by equatorial winds carrying warm waters that disrupt the Humboldt Current

Domestication of llamas and alpacas…

rare example of domestication in Americas, used for wool, meat, and hauling loads

Amazonian Dark Earth

Anthrosol created by accumulation of nutrients from human activity, deposition of human waste improved soil for crops

Arborculture

tree cultivation (wild and domesticated)

Relationship between humans and fruit trees…

megafauna once dispersed fruit seeds via consumption, after extinction humans took over distribution

Caral Supe Culture

located on Western coast of South America, first complex society in Americas

Chiefdom Society traits

thousands to few tens of thousands of people, fixed leadership (unequal access to resources), settled existence with agriculture economies, economically self-sufficient villages with some economic specialization, potential to evolve into state societies

Major domesticate of Yellow River valley

millet

Major domesticate of Yangtze River valley

rice

Taro domestication (location and significance)

took place in China, New Guinea, and Polynesia, small scale horticulture instead of large scal eagriculture

Lapita Culture (spatial and temporal context)

archaeological manifestation of second major wave of Polynesian migration from 3500-2500 BP (thousand year span)

Cradles of Civilization (6)

Mesoamerica, Andes, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Indus Valley, China

Traits of State Level Societies

societies with many communities, fixed leadership positions (coercive authority and violence monopoly), always agricultural, extensive economic specialization, often fixed territorial boarders

Settlement and economic changes in complex societies

cities mark fundamental change, multiple levels of economic and social organizations

Emergence of social inequality…

inequality becomes institutionalized, competition for prestige - temporary positions of prestige result in permanent positions of power, social or environmental circumscription - population growth causes competition for finite resources

Primary States

first states to emerge, came about independently

Environmental Circumscription

isolated/surrounded areas (i.e., rich alluvial valleys bounded by mountains or deserts)

How environmental circumscription works…

people cannot pack up and leave during conflict, state structures arise to protect people and resources