ANTH 105 Final Study Guide

Four Subfields of Anthropology

Archaeology examines peoples and cultures of the past. Biological anthropology specializes in evolution, genetics, and health.
Cultural anthropology studies human societies and elements of cultural life.
Linguistic anthropology is a concentration of cultural anthropology that focuses on language in society.

Artifact

the remains of an object, such as a shard of broken pottery or glassware

Feature

nonmoveable element of an archaeological site

Assemblage

composed of heterogeneous elements or objects that enter into relations with one another

Cultural Material

the physical aspects of a society, the objects made or modified by a human

Archaeological Method
1- Excavation
2- Survey
3-Survey techniques and Materials

1- excavation is the exposure, processing and recording of archaeological remains
2- discovery and recording of archaeological sites or other human-created features
3- survey a region to record as many archaeological sites as possible, often as a preliminary operation for selecting a single site to excavate

Experimental Archaeology

field of study which attempts to generate and test archaeological hypotheses, usually by replicating or approximating the feasibility of ancient cultures performing various tasks

Stratigraphy

science of rock layering, with particular concern for composition, geographic distribution, and geological and chronological importance

Dendrochronology/Tree-Ring
dating

technique archaeologists use to determine the age and environmental conditions of a site when it was occupied

Residue Analysis

generic term used to describe the characterization of traces of organic products from the past

CRM

cultural heritage management within a framework of federal, state, and local laws, regulations, and guidelines

Paleolithic

a time in human history when foraging, hunting, and fishing were the primary means of obtaining food

Neolithic

characteristic of the last phase of the Stone Age, marked by the domestication of animals, the development of agriculture, and the manufacture of pottery and textiles
10000 bc ish

Worst Mistake of the Human Race

adoption of agriculture

Symbol

the gestures, objects and language, which form the basis of human communication

Symbolic Culture

ability to learn and transmit behavioral traditions from one generation to the next by the invention of things that exist entirely in the symbolic realm

Kiva

a space used by Puebloans for rites and political meetings

Neolithic Revolution

transition period from a lifestyle of hunting and gathering to one of agriculture and settlement

Grave Goods

items that people are buried with

Craft Specialization

the assignment of specific tasks to specific people or subsets of people in a community

Social Complexity

groups with complex social systems require more complex communicative systems to regulate interactions and relations among group members

Complex Societies

State with a large population wherein its economy is structured according to specialization and a division of labor

Interpretive Theory of Culture

assumes culture doesnt exist past individuals

Ethnocentrism

thinking one's own group's ways are superior to others

Cultural Relativism

not judging a culture to our own standards of what is right or wrong, strange or normal

Participant Observation

watching community members and then taking part of the practice as well

Signal

an instinctive sound or gesture that has a natural or self-evident meaning

Linguistic Competence

term used by speech experts and anthropologists to describe how language is defined within a community of speakers

Communicative Competence

mastery of the socially and culturally appropriate speech

Speech Community

a group of people who share rules for conducting and interpreting at least one variety of a language or dialect

Dialect

regionally or socially distinctive variety of a language, identified by a particular set of words (vocabulary) and grammatical structures

Code-Switching

process of shifting from one speech community to another, depending on the social context or conversational setting

Language Death

a process in which the level of a speech community's linguistic competence in their language variety decreases, eventually resulting in no native or fluent speakers of the variety

Language Revitalization

an attempt to halt or reverse the decline of a language or to revive an extinct one

Kinship

the web of social relationships that form an important part of the lives of all humans in all societies

Nuclear Family

parents living with their children

Consanguine

being related by blood

Affine

being related by marriage

Bilateral Descent

Tracing an individual's descent through the father's male line and the mother's female line

Unilineal Descent

recognizes only a single line of ancestors through males or females

marriage

a union between a two or more people such that the children born are recognized as legitimate offspring of all partners

endogamy

custom of marrying within your community

exogamy

custom of marrying outside your community

monogamy

practice of having one spouse

polygamy

practice of having more than one spouse at a time

neolocal

husband and wife move away from their family to start their own somewhere new

patrilocal

wife moves to live near the husbands family

matrilocal

husband moves to live near the wifes family

cultural ideal

a cultures ideology [can be of a person, lifestyle, etc.]

individual variation

differences among individuals that are either permanent or change slowly (e.g. body size, fat reserves) in relation to the dynamics of group movement

rite of passage

a ceremony or event marking an important stage in someone's life, especially birth, puberty, marriage, and death.

class

socio-economic ranking (ascribed or achieved)

caste

the idea of ones social ranking being ascribed

race

categorizing the physical differences between people

gender

a social construct categorizing the characteristics of women and men

gender role

the role or behavior considered to be appropriate to a particular gender as determined by prevailing cultural norm

gender performance

idea that gender is something inscribed in daily practices, learned and performed based on cultural norms

two spirit people

term used within some Indigenous communities, encompassing cultural, spiritual, sexual and gender identity

sworn virgin

a woman sworn to celibacy that gains the same rights as a man

economic anthropology

field that attempts to explain human economic behavior in its widest historic, geographic and cultural scope

political anthropology

the analysis of power, leadership, and influence in all their social, cultural, symbolic, ritual, and policy dimensions

applied anthropology

the use of anthropological knowledge and skills to solve real-world problems

medical anthropology

concerned with human health, factors that contribute to disease, ways populations deal with disease

ethnomedicine

medicine created based on cultural knowledge (alternative medicines)

biomedicine

medicine created based on biological knowledge