Cultural Anthropology

Cultural anthropology

The study of human cultures and societies, focusing on how people organize their lives, make meaning, and interact with the world around them.

It examines the diversity of human behaviour, beliefs, and practices, including everything from social structures and economic systems to artistic expressions and religious traditions.

Ethnology

Study of the characteristics of various peoples and the differences and relationships between each group. Basically means a study of a culture using the elements on the culture wheel

Culture wheel

How do we analyse a culture and compare it to another in order to draw meaning from it and learn from a culture

Archeology

Revealed through artifacts about habits, social customs, etc

When did civilizations emerge?

between 4000 and 3000 BCE

What made the change from a pastoral people (nomad) to cultivators possible

The development of agriculture, specifically the domestication of plants and animals. This allowed people to settle in one place, cultivate crops, and raise livestock, leading to a more stable food source and social structure.

How did people thrive?

Through adaptation, cooperation and resourcefulness

Which species was/were building these civilizations?

Pastoral people

Sumarians (first civilization)

Came out of Mesopotamia, characterized by advancements in agriculture, writing, and urban development. 

People of Pompeii

Taught us about daily life in the Roman world, highlighting aspects of social, economic, religious, and political life

Guanches of Easter Island

Offer insights into language and writing through their unique linguistic and cultural contexts. The Guanches are believed to have spoken a Berber language. The Rapa Nui developed the Rongorongo script, a unique writing system discovered on wooden tablets,

Mongoles

rode on horses and defeated armies due to speed, made them bigger in battle and psychologically made them seem undefeatable

Egyptians

some of the first to use tattoos, also taught us about their burial techniques like mummification which was thought to preserve the souls

How humans behave and change

. Colonization and Imperialism

• Forced adoption of foreign languages, laws, religions, and social structures through domination and assimilation.

📱 2. Technology and Globalization

• Innovations and global connectivity reshape communication, work, values, and cultural identity.

💬 3. Language Contact and Linguistic Shift

🏛 4. Legal and Political Systems

• Shifting political ideologies and laws redefine societal roles, rights, and moral norms.

🕊 5. Migration and Diaspora

• Movement of people spreads and blends cultures, often creating hybrid identities.

🧠 6. Education and Ideological Shifts

⛪ 7. Religion and Spirituality

🎨 8. Art, Media, and Popular Culture

• Artistic expression and media shape identity, values, resistance, and cultural storytelling.

⚖ 9. Social Movements and Resistance

• Activism challenges

🧬 10. Scientific Knowledge and Environmental Change

Ethnocentric

Judging something cultural yet from within the views of your own culture based on your perspective, what you are used to

Egocentric

views of your own MIND, preferences, and NOT those of a society

Cultural relativism

The idea that ethical and social standards are relative to the cultural context in which they exist, not universal or absolute

Symbolic interactionism

view of social behavior that emphasizes linguistic or gestural communication and its subjective understanding, especially in the formation of the child as a social being

Cultural appropriate

occurs when dominant groups adopt elements of a minority culture without proper understanding, acknowledgment, or permission, often leading to exploitation or reinforcement of stereotypes

cultural assimilation

the process where a minority culture adopts the dominant culture's values, behaviors, and beliefs.

acculturation

assimilation to a different culture, typically the dominant one.

diffusion

the spread of cultural traits, ideas, or innovations from one society or culture to another

Kinship

Human relations through mating, genealogy and adoption, can change between cultures

Fictive kinship

constructed kinships like godparents and family friends