Anthropology 1010 Exam 1

Anthropology

the systematic study of humans

Cultural Anthropology

comparative study of human culture and society.

Main Source: descriptive ethnography's of a population, region, etc.

Enculturation

the process of learning a culture.

Rules+Values+Emotions

Culture

A grammar for behavior

-set of rules for behaving

-constrains choice

-but makes problem solving more efficient

Subculture

A group within society that shares norms and values different from those of the dominant culture

Society

A group of people who occupy a particular region and who depend on one another for survival/wellbeing

Ethnocentrism

emotional attitude that one's nation or culture is superior to all others or is more correct

Noble Savage Stereotype

-in the "state of nature" humans were good.

-civilizations has made humans bad

ex:indigenous populations are "natural conversationists living in a "state of harmony."

cultural relativism

perspective that cultures should be studied objectively and understood in terms of problems, constraints, and opportunities

-strong: all cultures are correct and equally valid, change is wrong

-weak: strive for objectivity is in describing people/behavior, tolerance unless strong reasons otherwise, not precluded making judgement for change harmful ideas

Emic/Etic Perspective

Using concepts, categories and distinctions meaningful to an ethnic group.

using concepts, categories, and rules of western science.

Ethnography

description of an ethnic group, fieldwork and writing, emic and etic perspectives

Ethnology

Attempt to find general principles or rules that govern cultural phenomena through cultural comparisons

Theory

often guides the kinds of questions

A set of basic assumptions, together with a set of derived proportions which are interlinked and testable usually explaining relationships between phenomena

Hypothesis

A possible relationship between two or more facts or phenomena

must be FALSIFIABLE

Evolution

the change in the genetic structure of a population over-time

change in informational structure of a population over time

Natural selection

differential reproductive success

Adaption

Traits designed to solve recurrent problems in a species or cultures past

complex, design, functional

skin color

grasping digits

bipedal locomotion

Discovery

Any addition to cumulative knowledge

Invention

creation of a product or process for the first time

novel, non-obvious, claimed

Innovation

Deliberate attempt to produce a new item by alternating an existing platform, processes or elements

Diffusion

Process where cultural elements are borrowed or introduced from one society and incorporated into a "recipient" society

acculturation

form of diffusion where a subordinated society adopts traits from a dominant society (could be reciprocal)

unforced

-Mukogodo preference for MAA language

forced

-missionaries withholding medicine from amazonian populations who do not convert

-Native American boarding schools in the us

Revolution

generally violent replacement of one's rulers/rules over a short time span. Restructuring of social institutions, positions, and values

Globalization

Massive flow of goods, people, information, and capital across huge areas of the earth's surface

integration of regional economy into international economy

Ethnogenesis

creation of a new ethnic group.

Ethnicity

-Identification with a population characterized by common ancestry, language, values, and customs.

-Common origins and intermarriage cause ethnic groups to share physical characteristics which also then become a part of their identification

race

the geographic pattern of variation in some biological traits that distinguish different population

Ethnic Tidying

-Preserve British land interests for white settlers

-Place "distinct" groups onto unique pieces of land (reserves).

-increased contact between ethnic groups

hypergyny

females marry up

Trivers-Willard Hypothesis

Parents (mostly mothers) will favor the sex that provide the greatest return on investment

Socio-linguistics

Ethnography of Speech

-the study of cultural and sub-cultural patterns of speech variation in different social contexts

Code switching

use language differently in different contexts

Pidgin/creole

Simplified communicative system using feature from one or more of the languages under contact, but lack the building blocks found in whole languages

-when kids learn pidgin, the create creoles

Universal Grammar

-basic set of principles, rules and conditions that form the foundation of all languages

-children apply this unconsciously to the sounds they hear

-1-6 years

Phonology

Sound system of a language

Morphology

System for creating ideas/words from sounds

-Morpheme= smallest unity of language that has meaning

three morphs: teach er and s

Semantics

System relating words to meanings

Syntax

System of rules for combining words into meaningful sentences

Comparative Linguistics

Science of documenting relationships between languages and group them into families

Artifacts

Communication via clothing, tattoos, piercings

Haptics

study of touch

Chronemics

study of different ways societies use/understand time

m-time:time is inflexible and lives are organized by scheduling

p-time: time flexible, fluid, social interactions not expected to proceed like clock

Proxemics

study of cultural use of space

kinesics

study of body position, movement, facial expressions, and gaze

subsistence

not just a list of foods

considers: resources available, technology used to extract food, settlement patterns related to food acquisition

Forager/ hunter gatherer

exploitation of wild food sources

seasonally mobile

small group sizes

highly egalitarian

fissionable

sharing norms

limited technology

limited time dedicated to work

Pastoralism

herd large groups of domesticated animals (herbivores)

requires much land

more produced but less that horticulture

opportunistic agriculture

mobile

trade essential

male dominated

low female status

ecology: grasslands and low rain

horticulture

small scale, low intensity farming

larger population

small surpluses

occasional h/g

slash and burn or Swidden

labor limited

Agriculture

large-scab, high intensity farming

largest populations

large surpluses

complex societies

land limited

Gathering

collection of wild plants, small land fauna and shellfish

small and non-mobile resources

use some sort of tool for extraction

hunting

actively looking for, killing, butchering, and consign animals

mobile species pursued and captured by some method, with the hunter having no guarantee of success

Foraging

people who have seasonal rounds, whereby they occupy a series of camps as they move about the landscape, but have no permanent home

Scavenging

locating and using animals that are already dead, rather than hunting and killing

opportunistic for humans, not planned

nomadic

living the life of a nomad; wandering

semi-nomadic

a member of people living usually in portable or temporary dwellings and practicing seasonal migration but having a base camp at which some crops are cultivated.

semi-sedentary

peoples practiced agriculture, but the less fertile land they inhabited required that they move periodically to a fresh site within their boundaries, where they would learn and burn the underbrush. Such land use restricted the amount of food each community could produce